THE ETERNAL HOUSE OF YAAKOV [CONT.] A DAILY ...subsequent generations on) Yud-Tes Kislev, was (not...

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THE ETERNAL HOUSE OF YAAKOV[CONT.] D’var Malchus | Likkutei Sichos Vol. 15, pg. 231-242

OBLIGATORY WAR VS. OPTIONAL WARThought | Rabbi Chaim Ashkenazi

MEGILLAS “DIDAN NATZACH”: THECELEBRATION OF THE S’FARIMHei Teives | Rabbi Yosef Karasik

SHLUCHOS SPEAK ABOUT THE POWEROF THE CHANUKA LIGHTSChanuka | Chani Nussbaum

GIVE YOUR SOUL TO THE REBBE!Shlichus | Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz

RALLY IN ANNAPOLISShleimus HaAretz | Raanan Isseroff

HUNDREDS ATTEND 8TH EUROPEAN News

STORIES ABOUT S’FARIMInsight

A DAILY DOSE OF MOSHIACHMoshiach & Geula

[Continued from last issue]10. Every matter can be discussed in terms of its

general and particular application. Thus, in our case,the following observation is made. Although ingeneral the verse in Yeshayahu speaks about thefuture era, the time of the Third Holy Temple – whenthere will be the ultimate perfection of “out of Tziyonshall the Torah come forth, and the word of G-d fromYerushalayim,” and of consequence, the perfection of“Your kingdom is a kingdom of all times, etc., inevery generation” – in particular terms, however,these two concepts exist (albeit not in a state ofperfection) in different eras:

With regard to the Jewish people’s devotion toG-d, there is the following distinction between thetime when the Temple stood and the time of exile.66In the Temple era, G-dliness was openly revealed.Thus, the Jewish people’s service of G-d was thenmotivated (primarily) by love [of G-d] andwillingness [to serve Him], providing them withpleasure in their devotion. However, in the time ofexile, when G-dliness is not openly revealed, theservice of G-d is (primarily) motivated by a sense ofcommitment (kabbalas ol) – fear [of G-d] and self-nullification.67

Likewise, when speaking about the Temple eraitself, there is a distinction between the time of theFirst Temple and the Second Temple.68

The First Temple was built by King Shlomo at thetime [in Jewish history] when “the moon attained itsfullness,”69 meaning that there was then a completerevelation of G-dliness, a full revelation of the Divine

Attribute of Understanding, the“World of Freedom.” Thus, Jewswere then in a state of freedom,not subjugated to the gentilenations. The world wasilluminated then by a loftyrevelation from the Holy Temple.Also, the Divine service of theJewish people was in a manner ofrevelation, motivated by love. Thisstate of revelation is an expressionof the level of “Tziyon,” fromwhich “the Torah come[s] forth,”as discussed above. However, inthe time of the Second Temple,when the revelation was not in thesame manner – as the Gemarasays,70 “‘[Go up to the mountainand bring the wood; build theTemple and I will take pleasure init] and I will be glorified

(v’echavda) [says G-d]’71 – ‘V’echavda’ is missingthe letter Hei [at the end of the word, teaching usthat] five things [Hei being numerically equivalent tothe number five] were missing in the Second Temple:the ark, the lid of the ark, etc.” – and the Jewishpeople were under the rule of the gentile kingdoms,the Divine service then was (primarily) with fear [ofG-d] and self-nullification, the level of“Yerushalayim,”72 as discussed above.

The same distinction applies in the two parts ofthe verse, “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all times,”and “Your ruling is in every generation,” insofar asthey parallel the difference between the two eras.73That is, in the time of the First Temple, theexperience was at the level of “kingship,” both withregard to the Jewish people – that there Divineservice was in a manner of “His kingship theywillingly accepted” – and also with regard to theworld at large, for it was then a time of rest andtranquility.74

In the time of the Second Temple, however, theexperience was at the level of “[imposed] rule,” bothwith regard to the Divine service of the Jewish people– serving G-d out of fear, through subjugating [one’sinclination] and compelling [one’s behavior] – aswell as with regard to the world, being a time of warand a time when many nations ruled over the Jewishpeople. Indeed, Jews needed to experience that era inorder that they come to perceive the [Supreme]authority of the Holy One Blessed Be He.75

[To be continued, be”H]

THE ETERNAL

HOUSE OF

YAAKOVLikkutei Sichos Vol. 15, pg. 231-242Translated by Boruch Merkur

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NOTES:

66 See Likkutei Torah Bracha 98b; Seifer HaMaamarimYiddish beg., maamer beginning with the words, “Kol

Dodi,” 5709, Ch. 2 ff.

67 See Footnote 67 in the original.

68 See Likkutei Torah Rosh HaShana57c ff.

69 Zohar I 150a. See Shmos Rabba16:26, among other places.

70 Yoma 21b.

71 Chagai 1:8.



74 See Melachim I Ch. 5. SeeLikkutei Torah BaMidbar 3:4 ff.,among other places.

75 See Likkutei Torah D’varim ibid,Rosh HaShana 56d: “‘Your ruling is in every generation’– even the Generation of the Flood and the Generation ofthe Dispersion [from Babylonia],” etc. – see Footnote 75in the original.

In the time of the Second Temple,however, the experience was at thelevel of “[imposed] rule” ...being atime of war and a time when manynations ruled over the Jewish people.Indeed, Jews needed to experience thatera in order that they come to perceivethe [Supreme] authority of the HolyOne Blessed Be He.

27 KISLEV – 3RD DAY OF CHANUKA: MOSHIACH WILLREVEAL THE SECRETS OF THE SECRETS

The revelation (of the level) of the oil of Torah onChanuka and (with greater fortitude in thesubsequent generations on) Yud-Tes Kislev, was (notonly due to the imperative need of the matter causedby the increase of darkness in the world, but) alsoand most importantly because we continue to getcloser to the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, who iscalled Moshiach for the anointing of oil, as iswritten, I have anointed him with My holy oil.Indeed, through Moshiach there will be the main andcomplete revelation of the oil (razin d’razin – thesecrets of the secrets) of the Torah, as he will teachthe secret of its reasons and its hidden mysteriesuntil that time (the days of Moshiach)….(when) thesole occupation of the whole world will be to knowG-d…

This means that the main study will then be of thesecrets of the secrets of the Torah.

(sicha, Shabbos Parshas Mikeitz 5752)

28 KISLEV – 4TH DAY OF CHANUKA:PUBLICIZING THE MIRACLES G-D DIDFOR US AND THEIR CONNECTION TOTHE REDEMPTION

There must be the recognitionand thanks to G-d for the miraclesHe does, and in particular whenwe are standing close to the daysof Chanuka, the main concept ofwhich is pirsumei nisa (publicizingmiracles)…

Besides the concept ofgratitude, this also relates to thecoming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu atthe True and CompleteRedemption, as the Gemara states,G-d requested to make ChizkiyaMoshiach, [and] the DivineAttribute of Judgment said,‘Chizkiya, for whom You did allthese miracles (saving him fromSancheriv and healing him fromhis illness) and who didn’t singpraise before You – you will makehim Moshiach?’

We derive from this the maininstruction:

Since we are already holdingafter all these matters, and theRedemption has not yet come, themost proper thing is to be involvedin the matter of pirsumei nisa to

publicize to oneself and to others everywhere themiracles that G-d does with us, out of the knowledgethat it is connected to the True and CompleteRedemption!

(sicha, Shabbos Parshas VaYeishev 5752)

29 KISLEV – 5TH DAY OF CHANUKA: SEARCHING FOR THECONNECTION TO MOSHIACH IN EVERYTHING

Since the Jewish People deal with and areimmersed in the coming of Moshiach, it is thusunderstood that first and foremost, we must searchfor the connection with I will await every day that heshould come. In our case, as we stand during the daysof Chanuka – even though Chanuka includesnumerous concepts, first of all, we emphasize itsconnection with the Redemption:

The reason for the holiday is the miracle of thecruse of oil in relation to the kindling of the menorain the Beis HaMikdash, and afterwards, there was thededication of the Beis HaMikdash. This immediatelysends a Jew a reminder, increasing within him even

A DAILY

DOSE OF

MOSHIACH

& GEULA:27 KISLEV - 5 TEIVES

Selected daily pearls of wisdom from theRebbe MH”M on Moshiach and Geula.Collected and arranged by Rabbi Pinchas Maman Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

more the concept of I will await every day that heshould come , the building and dedication of theThird Beis HaMikdash, the lighting of the menora byAharon, the Kohen Gadol, at the True and CompleteRedemption through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

Furthermore, it can be said that this is the reasonwhy the Jewish People (immersed in I will await everyday that he should come ) search for the connectionwith the coming of Moshiach in every mitzva andholiday, as in the days of Moshiach, there will be thefullest revelation of the true concept of this mitzvaand holiday.


ROSH CHODESH TEIVES: PREPARING ONESELF AND ALLJEWS TO GREET MOSHIACH

Everyone must prepare themselves and all Jews in

his location, his city, etc., to greet MoshiachTzidkeinu, by explaining the concepts of Moshiach,as elucidated in the Written Torah and the Oral Torahin an acceptable fashion, specifically includingstudying the subject of Moshiach and theRedemption, particularly in a manner of wisdom,understanding, and knowledge .

(sicha, Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sara 5752)

THE CHANUKA LIGHTS SHALL NEVER BE NULLIFIED – INTHE STRENGTH OF THE AVODA OF THE LOWER REALMS

The advantage of the Chanuka lights over thelights of the Beis HaMikdash is that (specifically) theChanuka lights shall never be nullified (Ramban, beg.of Parshas B’Haalos’cha), i.e., the light of theChanuka candles is the most lofty illumination.

It should be noted that the main miracle ofChanuka was that Torah and its mitzvos were

returned to [the Jewish People] (Shaarei Ora, B’ChafHey Kislev) after the Greeks tried to cause them “toforget Your Torah, etc.” The Jewish people devotedthemselves with self-sacrifice, avoda from below toAbove on the level of ohr chozer (reflected light), forwhich it can be said that this is the reason that theChanuka lights shall never be nullified. Indeed, theyare comparable to the eternality of the second set ofthe luchos, which were given through the avoda oft’shuva.

(Seifer HaSichos 5747, Vol. 1, from pg. 97)

2 TEIVES: THE LESSON FROM CHANUKA – AS LONG ASMOSHIACH HAS NOT YET COME IN A REVEALED SENSE,OUR DAYS ARE LACKING

We must increase from day to day (according tothe instruction from the days of Chanuka to increase

continually ) in those matters thatactually bring the Redemption andin a revealed state. Among them:

Strengthening the faith, thelonging, and the anticipation forthe coming of Moshiach, to thepoint that a person constantly feelsthat as long as MoshiachTzidkeinu has not yet actuallycome and in a revealed state, hisdays are lacking – and as in thewords of Yaakov Avinu, even onehundred and thirty years are few ,since the Redemption has not yetcome in actual deed.


3 TEIVES: WHEN MOSHIACH COMES– WHAT ABOUT OUR BUSINESS

MATTERS?There are those who are concerned that the

Redemption will come immediately, and being openpeople, they express in speech their astonishment andconcern, asking: When Moshiach will come, what willbecome of all the activities and matters achieved overthe many years in the exile? – the businesses theyestablished, the assets and property theyaccumulated, the friends, the connections, and more.

Answer: There is nothing to fear, sinceRedemption does not mean that the entire conduct ofthe world, the good things accomplished in the exile(according to Torah), will be nullified.

On the contrary, Redemption includes all the(good) concepts of exile, such that they rise to thelevel of Redemption, to their truest and fullest worth.

(sicha, Shabbos Parshas Acharei-K’doshim 5751)

The Jewish people devoted themselveswith self-sacrifice...for which it can besaid that this is the reason that theChanuka lights shall never benullified. Indeed, they are comparableto the eternality of the second set ofthe luchos, which were given throughthe avoda of t’shuva.

4 TEIVES: AT THE REDEMPTION, WEWILL MOVE TO ERETZ HA’KODESHTOGETHER WITH OUR WEALTH

At the time of the Redemption,the entire Jewish People will returntogether with the synagogues,houses of study, and houses ofg’millus chassadim (benevolence),with the s’farim and writings inChutz LaAretz, starting with thesynagogue and house of study ofmy revered teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe, leader of ourgeneration, literally where we arenow, in Beis Rabbeinu Sh’B’Bavel.

Similarly, there are the privatehomes of every Jew who madethem into literal houses of Torah,prayer, and benevolence, and theirsilver and gold with them (and inthe greatest quantity) – to ourHoly Land, to Yerushalayim theHoly City, to the Third BeisHaMikdash.

(sicha, Shabbos Parshas VaYechi 5752)

5 TEIVES – DIDAN NATZACH : THEREDEMPTION OF THE S’FARIMBRINGS ABOUT THE REDEMPTION OFTHE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM EXILE

The mitzva of pidyon shvuyim

(ransoming captives) on HeiTeives also brings about (by “thereward of a mitzva is a mitzva”)the truest and fullest pidyonshvuyim through G-d, the salvationof the entire Jewish People (and allconcepts of Torah and all things)from the exile to the True andComplete Redemption.

It can further be stated thateven this concept (the connectionof pidyon shvuyim to theRedemption) is particularlyemphasized in relation to thepidyon shvuyim of the s’farim – asis known, the concept of theRedemption depends upon therescue (purification and elevation)of all the sparks of holiness thatare now in captivity in the hidingand concealment of the world.Furthermore, since all theseconcepts begin and are drawnfrom the Torah. It is therebyunderstood that the accompanyingstrength comes from its similarconcept in Torah – the rescue ofthe concepts of Torah found incaptivity.

(sicha, Hei Teives 5752)

The mitzva of pidyon shvuyim(ransoming captives) on Hei Teives

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the salvation of the entire JewishPeople...from the exile to the True and

Complete Redemption.

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THE NEVER-ENDING WAR

The chassid, R. Zalman Moshe,of blessed memory, once sat at afarbrengen and said “L’chaim” –again and again and again…and hisface turned red, while thoseassembled waited impatiently tohear his words. He raised his voiceand said: Do you think that life is a“shpilalaike” (a child’s game)?This is a war! There’s a yetzer tovand a yetzer ha’ra (a goodinclination and an evil inclination)!

Torah speaks about two wars

that are liable to occur at the timeof the entry into Eretz Yisroel andits settling.

a) Milchemes mitzva (anobligatory war) – in whicheveryone must go and take part. b)Milchemes r’shus (an optional war)– where there are all types of“exemptions” by which a personcan stay home and remain behindin a protected area, such as theHome Front Command and thelike.

According to their simpleinterpretation, these two forms ofwar are explained as follows: An

obligatory war is within theframework of the requirement todestroy the seven nations that werein Eretz Yisroel prior to the arrivalof the Jewish People from Egypt.Since their actions were so utterlycorrupt, we were commanded “youshall not allow any soul to live,” inorder that we shall not learn fromtheir conduct.

An optional war is waged for thepurpose of expanding the bordersof Eretz Yisroel, which is not anobligation, and particularly not forevery individual.

As is known, everything writtenin the Torah is eternal and existsforever, and although it must befulfilled at every moment, evennow, it is not always possible to doso in the physical sense. In ourtimes, it is often only possible tocarry out the mitzva’s innermeaning, and therefore, mitzvos ofthis type constitute guidance anddirection in Avodas Hashem.

Thus, despite the fact thatsituations of obligatory war andoptional war simply don’t exist nowin the simple sense, they do exist inAvodas Hashem in all generationsand at all times.

As is explained in Tanya,Chapter 9, there is a constant stateof war between two kings over onesmall city – the body – and thegood and evil inclinations serve theG-dly soul and the animal soul

A person is obligated to make war evenregarding the permissible, and it is awar with himself over why he needs it.In the language of the Zohar, “Bread iseaten by the sword” – and in thelanguage of the Rebbe Rashab, at themoment that a person sticks his forkinto a piece of meat, he determineswhether it will be in the realm ofholiness or ch”v in the three klipos ofimpurity. Delivered at a chassidicfarbrengen.

OBLIGATORY WAR

VS. OPTIONAL WARBy Rabbi Chaim Ashkenazi, Rav, Chabad Community, Tel Aviv, Eretz YisroelTranslated By Michoel Leib Dobry

respectively.Even in the spiritual war of our

times, there are two possibilities:Milchemes mitzva and milchemesr’shus (obligatory war and optionalwar).

WHAT IS ANOBLIGATORY WAR INSPIRITUAL TERMS?

Milchemes mitzva is a war onthe fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos– if his hand will put on t’fillin, ifhis body will wrap itself in a tallis,if his ears will hear the sound of theshofar, Kaddish, K’dusha, thereading of the Torah, and Torahclasses, if his mouth will speakwords of Torah, if his eyes will lookupon a seifer Torah and other holyobjects, if his legs will go to shuland the beis midrash, etc. – or not.

The good inclination wants thelimbs of the body to do onlymitzvos, good deeds, Torah, andt’filla. In contrast, the evilinclination only desires things thatare halachically forbidden, and ithas no desire whatsoever for any ofthe obligatory mitzvos.

The entire Jewish People are onthe same level in this war; men,women, and children old enough todo mitzvos must all go out tobattle. There is no excuse that canbe used to avoid the issue, exceptin a case of pikuach nefesh, whenTorah permits certain things.However, if there is no problem ofpikuach nefesh, there can be noexcuses. Furthermore, if a personwon’t do the mitzva or if hetransgresses with one of his limbs,he is deemed wicked, meaning thathe lost this obligatory war.

In the case of obligatory war, aperson can’t choose whether or nothe will participate, because he issent to the front against the evilinclination, even against his will.

However, it is possible and evennecessary to request in davening

each day, “Don’t lead me to atrial,” i.e., no war should occur inmy lifetime. This means that weshould request that G-d not bringus to the front to wage a dangerouswar in which we don’t know forcertain if our protection is suitableor if we have the appropriateweapons for such a serious battle.

Yet, at the moment that we arealready enlisted and on the fierybattlefield, it is forbidden to showrecklessness, for this is a milchemesmitzva, and there is an obligation toclear out the evil, as is said: “Andyou shall clear out the evil fromamong you.”

There are no changes in thesematters. Throughout all thegenerations, we have beencommanded to achieve victory inthis war, and not to give the evilinclination a foothold in any of thelimbs of the body, and therefore, aperson must stand on his watch.

From generation to generation,the sages of Israel have added moreand more restrictions, because theysaw a need to protect thecommunity, otherwise they mightch”v fail the test in one of themitzvos with one of the limbs of thebody. What is the reason for theadditional stringencies, customs,and hiddurim?

The reason will be understoodwhen we contemplate the parable ofwar: Since today’s weaponry ismuch more destructive, therefore,the form of protection must bedifferent. In previous generations,there was no need for bombshelters because there were nobombs, and there was no need forgas masks because there were nobiological or chemical weapons.

It should be clear to everyonethat we cannot compromise and saythat since all of these modernweapons of war didn’t exist at onetime, it is therefore possible to goout to battle with just a spear, asword, a lance, and a shield. Only

someone who has absolutely noconcept of reality and lives in thedistant past could possibly say sucha thing.

Similarly, we find in relation tothe spiritual milchemes mitzva.Since a person is obligated in thiswar, and today the weapons of theyetzer ha’ra are more developed,more harmful, and moredestructive, transmitting itspoisonous contents and evencausing damage from greatdistances, we therefore must add inour own protection – and in everygeneration, the wise of thecongregation established the mode

of protection and how far we mustdistance ourselves from evil. Even ifthey didn’t do so explicitly, theymade certain that each and everyperson understood the need tointerpret from the seventypermissible gates – as is brought inthe seifer Reishis Chochma – inorder that they shouldn’t come ch”vto one of the forbidden gates.

Just as in relation to a physicalwar, when it is impossible to say,“They didn’t use to protectthemselves this way in my great-grandfather’s day, yet theyremained alive, healthy, and

A person isobligated to make

war evenregarding the

permissible, and itis a war with

himself over whyhe needs it.

whole,” similarly, in a spiritual war,you can’t say, “My grandfatherdidn’t have all the stringencies ofour generation, yet he stillremained an outstanding, G-d-fearing Jew.” First of all, no oneknows who remains complete in hisyiras Shamayim and who doesn’t,because these are matters of thesoul. Secondly, and mostimportant, these updated weapons(movies, Internet, chat rooms…)pertain to you (and not to yourgrandfather), and they are mostdangerous, to the point that youneed the double and tripleprotection that our Rebbeim taught

us about.The Shulchan Aruch sets the

limits on the area under a Jew’scontrol, and one mustn’t be a wiseguy and start cutting corners.Halacha does not change over thegenerations, rather, there areadditional restrictions, because theweapons of “the opposing forces”in our times try more than in thepast to question the control of theShulchan Aruch over our lives, andeven ch”v to conquer our homesfrom within.

Therefore, we have to defendourselves with all our strength in

the territory we have conquereduntil now: Clothes that were onceimmodest are also immodest today,even if they are publicized by“models” who wear yarmulkes.Speech and body language deemedin the past as crude are stillinappropriate today for a chassidicyoung man to express, even if it isalready accepted practice among“chassidishe” singing groups.Meetings in places with immodestdisplays or visiting sites where it isquite easy to come across themwere forbidden and remain sotoday, despite the fact that we nolonger have to go out of our waybecause of them…

It is interesting to note that thisgeneral principle is clear andunderstood to everyone whenapplied in the area of kashrus, e.g.,what food was forbidden to eat –impure animals, treif, neveila, etc.It would never cross a person’smind to say that such things arepermissible today.

However, there are foods thatwould never have been placed upona kosher table before, despite thefact that they are totally kosher,without a drop of anythingforbidden mixed in. Today, suchproducts are manufactured with thehighest quality kashrus supervision,yet no one would ever consider thepossibility that totally forbiddenfood had become permissible in ourtimes, to the point that someonewho was not a card-carryingchareidi would dare to eat it. G-dforbid! What is forbidden isforbidden “until his soul departs,”in the words of the well-knownchassidic singer:

“Someone who is not a chassidsays: What’s permissible ispermissible until his soul departs,and what’s forbidden is also a littlepermissible. But the chassid says:What’s forbidden is forbidden, evenuntil his soul departs, and what’spermissible – is also a little

forbidden…”

WHAT IS AN OPTIONALWAR IN SPIRITUAL

TERMS?The final words of the song

“What’s permissible – is also a littleforbidden” allude to the spiritualmilchemes r’shus waged overoptional matters, i.e., all worldlymatters which are within the realmof the clean and permissible, yet astate of war exists in connectionwith them.

A person is obligated to makewar even regarding the permissible,and it is a war with himself overwhy he needs it. In the language ofthe Zohar, “Bread is eaten by thesword,” and in the language of theRebbe Rashab, at the moment thata person sticks his fork into a pieceof meat, he determines whether itwill be in the realm of holiness orch”v in the three klipos of impurity.

In addition to the fact that thisis called an optional war because itis waged over optional matters,there is another reason: We havethe option to decide if we will wagethis war or not. This means thatthere is also a positivecommandment of the Torah, as iswritten, “And you shall be holy,”“Sanctify yourselves in what ispermissible for you,” and if aperson doesn’t sanctify himself, heis deemed “degenerate with thepermission of the Torah.” However,the realm of the permissible coversa very wide area, where eachindividual must assess himselfproperly on how he can (andmust!) sanctify himself in thosethings permissible to him.

Some people may requiregreater sanctification regardingpermissible thoughts that serve nopurpose in their Avodas Hashem,while for others it is permissiblespeech or permissible action.

For example, in matters of

eating and drinking, what types offood and drink can and must wegive up? Ice cream, butter, sugar inour coffee and tea, bread fresh outof the oven, or other delicacies?

Each person has what he needsand he is not required to give suchthings up, but anything more thanthat is in the realm of physicaldesires from which he mustdistance himself. To know wherethe distinction is between an actualneed and a mere desire, what isessential and what is superfluous, aperson must be “one who speakstruth in his heart,” and it would beproper for him to consult with hismashpia.

Among other things, it would beappropriate to check, together withhis “Aseh lecha rav,” whether he’sstretching the rope a bit too far,trying to prevent himself forciblyfrom permissible things that hetruly needs for his bodily existence,and turning instead to forbiddendesires. For if he pulls the rope tootightly, it will snap, and he maytumble ch”v into forbidden desires.

For example, a person startsobserving Torah and mitzvos, andhe misses very much the noisymusic that he was accustomed tohearing in the past. If he will allowhimself to listen only to niggunim,it is possible that he will be unableto withstand the serious restrictionsthat he has imposed upon himself.Therefore, at a certain stage, themashpia suggests that he listen towhat is commonly called today“chassidic music,” consisting ofrhythmic styles reminiscent oftoday’s music, yet with stringentlykosher content.

EACH PERSON AND HISOWN “SANCTIFY

YOURSELF”This means that we have here a

ladder with many rungs and levels,and it is impossible to jump to the

top of the ladder if we’re stillholding at the simplest and loweststages. Everyone knows that youcannot demand from a child thatfrom the moment he becomes barmitzva he must refrain from eatingeven permissible things just as it isforbidden for him to eat non-kosher food. You can’t tell him thathe must sustain himself on drybread and plain mineral water.Even fruit, vegetables, meat, andfish... He should eat only what hisdietician says he has to eat in orderto live.

Not only do we not demand thisof a bar-mitzva boy, we don’t evenplace such restrictions on adults.One of the reasons is because thisis an extremely high level on theladder. Someone going down startsfrom the top of the ladder, whereassomeone climbing upward startsfrom the lower rungs of the ladder,and he must make certain that he isestablished firmly at the level wherehe’s holding before moving up tothe next stage.

The purpose of this test is todetermine whether abstaining frompermitted things have an influenceon him and to what degree. Thequestion is not only if he can livewithout eating certain foods, butwhether his spiritual state is firmand at ease, and whether thosearound him feel comfortable in hispresence. In other words, does hisabstinence take its toll in otherthings, i.e., his physical and mentalhealth?

Therefore, there are no specialand detailed sections in ShulchanAruch on the concept of “Sanctifyyourself in what is permitted toyou”; it is expressed in mostgeneral terms: A person should notthink that since wine and meat arepermissible, there are noboundaries whatsoever. This is notthe case. Rather, we must strivethat things should be done for thepurpose of our sustenance, all for

our Avodas Hashem.Every person’s needs and

intentions are different. RabbiYehuda HaNasi was blessed withconsiderable material wealth, yet hederived no benefit from this world.Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa sustainedhimself each week on a smallquantity of carobs. Yet, noteveryone is on the level of RabbiYehuda HaNasi or Rabbi Chaninaben Dosa. Therefore, each personmust make certain for himself

which level of war is suitable forhim in both qualitative andquantitative terms.

However, this assessment is notenough. In addition, a person mustdetermine whether his abstinencefrom different things influences hissurroundings, i.e., it shouldn’tinterfere with others. For in matterspertaining to the individual, he candecide how and to what degree hecan devote himself. However, there

There are manythings permissible

for him that hecan sacrifice, butwhen he is living

with someone elsewho needs these

things very muchand can’t go

without them,such a person has

no right to denythem to someone

else.

are many things permissible for himthat he can sacrifice, but when he isliving with someone else who needsthese things very much and can’tgo without them, such a person hasno right to deny them to someoneelse.

This principle pertains torelationships between friends,husband and wife, parents andchildren. One such example is aperson who works with people whoneed the air conditioner turned on,while he is interested in denyinghimself the pleasure. Another issomeone who considers it a luxuryto buy new clothes for a baby whocan easily do with hand-me-downsfrom older siblings, whereas hiswife feels that without new pinkoutfits, she won’t be able toexperience properly the joy of herdaughter’s birth… This is similar toa father who eats his omelet onlyafter it gets cold in order that hewon’t enjoy the taste, and hedoesn’t consider how his childrendon’t like their omelets when theylose their flavor.

The above applies only to therealm of the permissible, meaningthat they are part of the “optionalwar,” in which participation is notmandatory. This stands in contrastto the “obligatory war” againstthings that are forbidden to all andthus there can be no compromise.What is forbidden is forbidden toall, except for things includedwithin a vow regarding a ban that aperson placed upon himself.

ISKAFIA – FOR HIMSELF,BUT NOT UPON OTHERS

In the spiritual avoda called“milchemes r’shus,” there is anothermost important level: A personmust wage war with himself onpermitted matters and not forceothers to adhere to his standards.

No person has the right torefrain from giving to others byclaiming that it’s a non-essential

physical craving, and how can Icause this person to fail throughthis worldly pleasure? Maybe it ispreferable to give him bread andwater? If a person needs help in hishousehold expenses or in making awedding, we have no right to say,“Settle for less – buy usedfurniture, get married without aband or floral arrangements…” G-dforbid that we should do such athing! We are not the masters overthe property that G-d has placed inour hands in order to give toothers. If G-d says that these thingsare permitted, then we must makecertain that others have thematerial good they need. As forwhat they do with it and how muchof it is for the sake of Heaven,that’s none of our concern.

A Jew must raise to holinessthose things that are within therealm of the permissible, and whenhe gives them to others he hasalready brought about theirspiritual elevation. (In contrast,forbidden things are elevated byresisting them, albeit in anincomplete sense, as only a smallportion of the klipa within them isrefined when a Jew ejects it.)

This is the claim of the nationsof the world in Rashi’s firstcommentary on the Chumash: “Youare thieves, because you conqueredthe lands of the seven nations.”Similarly, the Gentiles claim:“We’re prepared to accept the factthat a Jew has to keep his distancefrom forbidden things,” as Tanyastates that a Gentile’s evilinclination is from the non-Jewishdemons that lust for forbiddenpleasures. But a Jew’s evilinclination is from the Jewishdemons that desire only permittedpleasures, and this is something theGentile simply cannot understand,as he says: Why does the Jewabstain from what is permitted,“isn’t it enough what the Torah hasforbidden you?”

If the Torah permitted it – it ispermissible without limit. How canwe place limitations upon theinclination towards permittedthings when the Torah allows themand gives us permission to enjoythem?

On this point, Rashi commentsthat this is the reason why theTorah starts with “In the beginning,G-d created,” etc. – in order thatwe can understand that “when Hewished, He gave it to them, andwhen He wished, He took it awayfrom them and gave it to us.” Yet,while these things were given for aperson’s enjoyment and they arepermissible, nevertheless, the sameCreator Who created thempermissible is also the One Whosaid that everything depends uponHis will. If it is based upon His will– for the sake of Heaven, for theneeds of a Jew’s Avodas Hashem inthis world – it is given to us. If thiswill is lacking, it is given to thenations of the world. In otherwords, despite the fact that thesethings are permissible, since a Jewdoesn’t use them for the sake ofHeaven, they derive from the powerof the klipos.

THE BATTLE FOR OUR HOME

Until now, it was clear whatbelonged to the realm of theforbidden and thus included inmilchemes mitzva, and what iswithin the realm of the permitted,belonging to milchemes r’shus.

However, there is anothercategory which consists essentiallyof permitted things, yet they borderon the forbidden. This means thatthey were formed with the objectiveof bringing a person close to theborder of the forbidden, and heneeds to pay special attention to thesmell of neveila concealed withinthem. For example, let’s take acertain garment regarding which itis possible to argue whether it looks

chassidish or not, however, upontaking a much closer look,particularly when you contemplateupon who made it and with whatpurpose in mind, you reveal that

the purpose is bring the wearercloser to the forbidden zone.Similarly, we find regarding certainplaces to eat, e.g., restaurants andcoffee houses, where one can

debate whether it demonstratesproper modesty or not, and ifrefusing to patronize such anestablishment is warranted and notjust being overly “farfrumt.” Forthe purpose of this type of leisureto appeal more to the “eirev rav,”making the claim that we appeartoo “chareidi,” a fact that certainpeople wouldn’t find particularlycomplimentary or respectable.These borderline examples seek tobring us closer to a treacherouslysteep slope, from where we mightch”v slip into the depths of the“other side.”

While a war over things of thistype may be regarding optionalmatters, this is an obligatory war,similar to what is stated inShulchan Aruch, Hilchos Shabbos,sec. 329: When non-Jews come toa city, even for straw and stubble,i.e., purely economic matters notdirectly related to human life, if thisis a city close to the border, it ispermissible to violate the laws ofShabbos to go out to war againstthem. This is because the situationmandates an obligatory war, and itis a mitzva to violate the laws ofShabbos under such circumstances,since the city is close to the borderand its capture can open the pathch”v. This is similar to what isstated in Shulchan Aruch, HilchosShabbos, sec. 329: When non-Jewscome to a city, even for straw andstubble, i.e., purely economicmatters not directly related tohuman life, if this is a city close tothe border, it is permissible toviolate the laws of Shabbos to goout to war against them. This isbecause the situation mandates anobligatory war, and it is a mitzva toviolate the laws of Shabbos undersuch circumstances, since the cityis close to the border and itscapture can open the path ch”v.

Maybe it would be better tochannel our resources elsewhereand not waste them on suchinsignificant matters? Nevertheless,

the Shulchan Aruch rules thatShabbos must be violated! This isan obligation, and we are notallowed to come up with excuses,because this is a war for our home.The Torah reveals to us that theGentile is not looking for straw andstubble but to invade theboundaries of Eretz Yisroel.Likewise the goy within us – theyetzer ha’ra – wants to break theholy boundaries that G-d hasestablished in the Torah regardinghow and what distinguishes theJewish People from the othernations of the world. Therefore,even if the changes that he is tryingto instill seem small and marginal,since his whole purpose is to bringus closer to the dangerous spiritualborder, we must fight him in a totalwar until we achieve the true andcomplete victory of the Jew withinus – the G-dly soul and the yetzertov.

Guarding the borders is doublyimportant in these times ofdarkness and confusion, when the“forbidden side” tries to dress up ina rabbinic cloak to penetrate ourhome with innovative norms ofbehavior. In the merit of ourplacing firm boundaries that willrepel the forbidden forces, use thepermissible to fight them at theborder, and place limitations uponpermitted things deemedunessential – we will merit to seevery soon “Here comes Moshiach,”when the boundaries will be madeindistinct in a positive sense, andEretz Yisroel in the future willexpand throughout the world,preceded by Yerushalayim and theBeis HaMikdash, meaning that theholiness will break through theboundaries and add from theholiness to the mundane, when “hewho breaks open the way goes upbefore them” and “Yerushalayimshall be inhabited like un-walledtowns.” Amen. May His will befulfilled.

In the merit ofour placing firmboundaries that

will repel theforbidden forces,

use the permissibleto fight them atthe border, and

place limitationsupon permittedthings deemed

unessential – wewill merit to seevery soon “Here

comes Moshiach,”when the

boundaries will bemade indistinct in

a positive sense,and Eretz Yisroelin the future will

expand throughoutthe world.

CONGREGATION LUBAVITCH770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York

All Shluchim, Anash and Tmimim are cordially invitedto the Grand Farbrenegen in honor of

HHEEII TTEEIIVVEESSDidan Notzachthe victory and liberation of the seforim

which will take place IY"H on Thursday,

Hei Teives (January 5th) 5766

at Beis Moshiach 770 Eastern P''kwy

8:30 pm

Special English speaker

The Gabboyim

Long Live The Rebbe King Moshiach Forever And Ever

watch it live on

WWW.770LIVE.ORG

SHLUCHOS SPEAK ABOUT

THE POWER OF THE

CHANUKA LIGHTSBy Chani Nussbaum

All seemed lost. The business wasfailing, his family was falling apart,his health was precarious. There wasno way out. That evening he wouldtake his last walk with his daughter,and at midnight he would quietly goout to the river and…

The illuminated menora that hesaw on the road, as he walked withhis daughter, and the shliach’sinvitation to the Chanuka party,

saved his life. Today, he is alive,breathing, active, and a believer. Yes,he is one spark that was ignited bythe Rebbe’s shluchim on Chanuka.

I spoke to four shluchos andasked them about sparks which wereignited on Chanuka and about theirChanuka activities.

Do you have any stories aboutneshamos that were ignited onChanuka?

Mrs. Zaltzman: We arrived hereon shlichus on Chanuka. Every ZosChanuka we celebrate our “birthdayon shlichus.”

Ten years ago, my husband camehome to light the menora lookingupset. When I asked him whathappened, he said that he had justbeen on Mivtza Chanuka at thehospital. As he was walking down thehall, a nurse who knew that he spokeRussian asked for his help. Therewas a Russian young man there withhis parents. His condition wascritical and his parents spoke onlyRussian. She wanted him to tell theparents what his condition was andto offer them support.

The young man had been foundunconscious in a stairwell and hewas taken to the hospital. Hisparents had made aliya shortly beforethis and their son had gone off toCanada in the hopes that his parentswould follow, but they didn’t havethe necessary papers. He missedthem terribly and fell into adepression and an anorexic state.When he ended up in the hospital hisparents somehow made it to Canadato be with him.

My husband was distraught overthis and wondered how he couldactually help them. Then he had anidea. This was at the time whenstories about miracles of the Rebbe’smikva water were publicized and myhusband called my son and askedhim to send him a bottle of thewater.

When it arrived in Toronto, myhusband rushed to the hospital and

gave it to the man’s mother. Heexplained to her what it was and toldher to try and give a few drops of itto her son. He also asked the nurseto help her without drawing thedoctors’ attention. The mother gaveher son some drops of the water thatnight, despite his critical condition.

The next morning, the phonerang. I was afraid to answer it butmy husband took the phone. Themother shouted, “The unbelievablehappened! He woke up!”

When my husband went to seehim two weeks later, he still lookedlike a skeleton, like a Holocaustsurvivor, but baruch Hashem, herecovered. His parents returned toEretz Yisroel and took care of theirpapers and then moved near theirson in Canada.

If you met him today, you’d neverimagine that such a tall, strappingman was once on the verge of death.It was a Chanuka miracle whichmade a kiddush sheim Shamayimand a kiddush sheim Lubavitchthroughout the city.

The second story took place eightyears ago, November 14, 1999. In alocal park, a Russian boy wasmurdered when a band of hooligansjumped out and beat him. He was anonly child.

This story shook up the city and

PARTICIPATINGSHLUCHOS:

Mrs. Chiena ZaltzmanToronto, Canada

Mrs. Bracha HeintzUtrecht, Holland

Mrs. Chani SlonimDijon, France

Mrs. Odeya WhitePerth, Australia

Rabbi White lighting themenora in Perth, Australia

my husband was called for hisopinion. The boy’s name was MattiBaronovski and this story was in theheadlines for a long time. Wedecided to put up a big menora inthe park, in his memory. Every yearwe have a public menora lightingthere, every night of Chanuka, andthe boy’s mother attends it. Wealways take the opportunity to talkabout justice and good in the worldand the cessation of violence, andfrom there we get to speak aboutMoshiach and Geula as well as theimportance of a Moment of Silenceand the Seven Noachide Laws.

Over the years we have noticedthat following these menoralightings, the government hasstrengthened its support of Jewisheducation here.

27 years ago, when we camehere, the Russian Jews that we workwith were ashamed of being Jewish.Today, they are proud, and this isespecially apparent on Chanuka.

Mrs. White: Three years ago weput up a large menora here, for thefirst time in history (this was at thebeginning of our shlichus). OnShabbos Chanuka, a woman and hertwo sons came to shul. We saw thatshe was very emotional. When shepassed by the menora she was verymoved and she asked herself: Wheream I at? What am I doing to mychildren? And she began toremember her roots and decided togive her children a Jewish education.I remember this well, even though itwas some years ago, because it waswhen we were first starting out onshlichus here.

I have another story. Two yearsago, my husband was asked to go fora few days to Bali, an Islamiccountry that is part of Indonesia. It’sa tiny island and we are the closest toit. Surprisingly, there are Jews there,and even some Israelis on business,who fled to this quiet island in orderto escape the tumult of the world.

Since my husband is the closestrabbi to this island, he was asked to

bring some of the joy and mitzvos ofChanuka to the Jews there. Myhusband has an Australian passportso he had no problem traveling there.When he arrived, he arranged a partyand they lit a large menora that theybuilt (otherwise, there is no menorathere) and everybody was moved. Itwas truly light in the darkness forthem. In the few days that myhusband was there, he tried to spreadlight among the Jews, as much aspossible (neiros Chanuka, t’fillin,etc.).

Two months later, we got a phonecall from a Jewish man who has livedon the other side of this city for anumber of years. He was seekingsome spirituality and he told us thathe started looking for something andwas feeling very lonely. When myhusband asked how he came tocontact us, he said that his goodfriend met my husband in Bali onChanuka and he advised him to callsince he was impressed by the rabbi.He was sure that the rabbi would behappy to be in touch with him.

Naturally, we invited him forShabbos – and he came. He comesregularly to the Chabad house now.So sometimes, you have to travel faraway in order to find someone whois close by. My husband felt that thetrip to Bali on Chanuka wasworthwhile, even for just this man inPerth.

Mrs. Heintz: There’s a Jew herewho came right after the Holocaust.His entire family perished and hewas in a Jewish orphanage. He met aJewish girl but was afraid to marryher since she was also a Holocaustsurvivor and both of them had deepscars because of it. He ended upmarrying a non-Jew and had twochildren.

When we made a Chanuka partyfor children, we did not invite hischildren, as they are not Jewish. Atfirst he was furious and he cut offties with us, but after a few months,he called out of the blue and told usthat he had left his non-Jewish wife.

“My soul simply could not standbeing marrying to a non-Jew,” hesaid with astonishing candor.

He became more and moreinvolved in Judaism. Every Friday hewent with my husband to the mikvaand on Shabbos, to shul, eventhough it takes two hours to getthere. He ended up marrying theJewish woman he met at theorphanage years before.

This story gave chizuk to us andto other shluchim to stand on ourprinciples and not invite gentilechildren to our events. There isnothing to fear! A Jew must be proudof being Jewish and we have to stateour position to those who are notJewish.

In general, the very fact that wecan spread light within the darknessof our place of shlichus, despite ourbeing alone here, without friends andfamily and chinuch for our children,is the daily miracle.

Mrs. Slonim: One year, as weplanned our Chanuka party, wewanted to rent a big hall for all theJews of the city, because the light ofChanuka attracts even the mostdistant people. We arranged the

27 years ago,when we came

here, the RussianJews that we work

with wereashamed of being

Jewish. Today,they are proud,

and this isespecially

apparent onChanuka.

details with the owner of the hall. Heinformed us that along with the hallwe were also required to hire a DJ.We had no choice but to agree to thisthough on condition that we wouldbring our own CD’s with Jewishmusic to add to the festiveatmosphere.

In the middle of the party, theowner of the hall came over to usand began asking all kinds ofquestions about the Jewish music,Chanuka, etc. We wondered abouthis interest in all this when hesuddenly said, “My name is Eliyahuand I am Jewish!”

Apparently, the lights of Chanukahad ignited his Jewish neshama.Nobody knew he was Jewish and hehimself barely knew about it. Thiswas on the fifth night of Chanuka.

Here’s another story about aneshama that became involved inJudaism thanks to the mitzva ofChanuka. This was a Jew who wasvery distant from Judaism. He wasan artist and he built a two-meterhigh wooden menora for us. Myhusband invited him to the menoralighting and even gave him the honorof lighting the menora. He was so

affected by this that he decided toleave his gentile girlfriend and hebegan keeping mitzvos. He studiedmedicine while keeping Shabbos,which entails great mesirus nefesh.He became more and more involvedwith us and with Judaism.

My husband once told this storyin our shul and he concluded with,“Who knows how many otherneshamos were illuminated becauseof Ner Chanuka?”

Do you do anything special onChanuka in order to attract people,and do you have a public menora?

Mrs. Zaltzman: We have anumber of public menoros. EveryChabad house in our area isresponsible for lighting a publicmenora separately, but we make theChanuka party together. Every daythere is a party in a different place.Last year, for the first time, weorganized an evening for the Russianpopulation with a singer andspeakers in Russian who spoke aboutChanuka. A large crowd came andthe program was very successful andspoken about for a long time tocome.

I’d like to mention that we could

not do it without the shluchimYisroel and Chaya Karpilovsky andLevi Yitzchok and NechamaJacobson.

As I mentioned before, we have apublic menora lighting in the park, inmemory of the boy who wasmurdered. That’s instead of lightinga menora at the municipality. Thepark is a more central place andmany, many people participate.

Mrs. White: We have a largemenora in the center of town foreight days, in order to publicize themiracle of Chanuka. Our menora isfour meters high, and it is set upevery day of Chanuka in the yard ofthe Chabad house, which is locatedon the main street. That is, exceptfor the first night, when we set upthe menora in the city’s main parkand have a barbecue and otherattractions. We get a big crowd andlight the menora together.

On one of the days of Chanuka,we build a Lego menora with thechildren out of a 3000 Lego pieces.As we build it, the children learnabout Chanuka. When we finish it,we put the Lego menora in thestorefront of the only kosher store inthe area.

Mrs. Heintz: We don’t have apublic menora here, but we organizea party in a home with music. Arabbi comes, usually from Antwerp,and he speaks. We have special artsand crafts for the children in aseparate room (each year, a differentproject). Of course, we also havedoughnuts, dreidels, and Chanukagelt for the children.

Mrs. Slonim: It was only afterten years here on shlichus that westarted putting up a public menora.Until then, we tried to get a crowdby having a special program at theChabad house, with music, latkes,and warm wine which the FrenchJews really enjoyed.

In recent years, we have also beenable to put up a public menora, oncea new mayor was elected. His Jewishdeputy loved the idea of a public

Rabbi Zaltzman at a Chanuka event

menora and always participated inthe lighting. This year will be thefourth year that we are doing this. Atfirst, there was opposition from someJews here who don’t like to identifythemselves as being Jewish. Nowthough, people are excited about it,and there are people who never cometo the Chabad house but they cometo the menora lighting. We have anofficial program, at the end of whichwe give a gift to the deputy mayor.

We advertise the menora lightingthroughout the city. The municipalityalso has electronic billboards thatpromote it (see picture), and baruchHashem, we get positive feedbackfrom the Jews here. We give out apage with “Maoz Tzur” in French,and they all stand there holding acandle and sing together. Every year,I am moved by it.

The schoolchildren prepare a playor choir for Chanuka. We also giveout Chanuka gelt, dreidels, anddoughnuts.

Do you consider giving outdoughnuts a goal in itself or ameans to a goal?

Mrs. Slonim: People enjoy eatingthe doughnuts and they warm theheart, but that is not the goal. Wehave a microwave oven there to heatup the doughnuts or people take thedoughnuts in a bag and they canwarm them up at home, if they like.It gives everyone a warm feeling, butit’s a means to an end.

Mrs. Zaltzman: Agreed. Thedoughnuts are a means to an end.Don’t forget that here in Torontothere are plenty of kosher bakeriesthat sells doughnuts. They startselling them about a month beforeChanuka.

Since many Jews here are familiarwith Chanuka, there are manyparties made by variousorganizations, so we have to dosomething special to attract a crowd.

Mrs. Heintz: I think it’s also agoal unto itself. The doughnutswarm people up to Judaism. Here in

Utrecht, many Jews don’t know whatlatkes or Chanuka doughnuts are. Ingeneral, the atmosphere they createis definitely important.

Mrs. White: You don’t needlatkes to publicize the miraclebecause the candles are lit and theneshamos are attracted to the light.We don’t give out latkes at the bigmenora lighting, but latkes definitelyhelp fill the days of Chanuka withJewish content.

Over here, it provides for tworelated outreach activities – a latkeworkshop, where the girls come tomy house and make latkes, and thenwe distribute them at the local seniorcenter.

Chanuka is a holiday ofpublicity, the publicizing ofmiracles. How much should beinvested in advertising?

Mrs. Zaltzman: I think itdepends on each place. We have ourown newspaper in which weadvertise special events. In a small,

quiet place where people hardly goout in the street and they won’t seeflyers, it’s better to call peoplepersonally. I think that invitations inthe mail are less effective becausepeople look at the mail less thesedays. In an area where thepopulation is mostly young, email isuseful.

My husband has a weeklyprogram on the radio and televisionand he announces the Chanukaparties in three languages: English,Russian, and Hebrew. You have totailor your publicity to the place youlive in.

Mrs. Heintz: You have to put asmuch as you can into advertising,preferably, in a central place in town.We advertise in the newspapers, viaemail, and also by making personalphone calls.

Mrs. Slonim: In my experience,you have to invest a lot of money andeffort into advertising, more than youhave. We must do the maximum

An electronic billboard announcingthe “grand public lighting” in Dijon

because a shliach doesn’t do theminimum, and the Rebbe does notremain in debt.

Mrs. White: How much to investin advertising? I don’t understandthe question. Until the Rebbe isnisgaleh! Aside from that, there’snothing that says to stop, whether viaphone calls, which is the mostpersonal, or email, which is thequickest. You have to advertise everyway possible.

How are you preparing forChanuka this year?

Mrs. Heintz: We are planning aparty, as we do every year. We haveto make phone calls and prepare thefood. Every year we discover moreJews.

In Utrecht we really feel thegalus. We have a minyan here onlyfor Musaf on Shabbos. There arevery few Jews here and we try toreach them. It’s not easy, since theJews here are not especially

interested in their Judaism. Theyneed to be drawn in through apleasant atmosphere, good food, andcongenial company. Sometimes, theresults are not immediately apparent,but we have to keep on working asthis is what the Rebbe wants.

Mrs. Zaltzman: Since we’vebeen here on shlichus for many yearsnow, we have opened severalbranches. Every branch has its rabbiand he plans his own event, exceptfor the big gathering that I describedearlier.

Every night there is a publicmenora lighting somewhere else andthe first night there is a centrallighting. On Motzaei Shabbos wewill have a Melaveh Malka forreligious mekuravim. Every night atthe school there will be a party foranother class with the parents’participation. They will make cookiestogether or do a small project whichthe child can make with his parents.

Baruch Hashem, Toronto is full ofChanuka parties.

Mrs. Slonim: We will sendeverybody an invitation. Themunicipality will have an electronicbillboard, as they do every year. Weare thinking about making a specialevent this year. We want to broadcastthe simultaneous menora lightingsaround the world, which the peoplehere have never seen. The goal is toattract more people since Moshiachis at the threshold.

Mrs. White: Here in Australia,with the summer about to begin,Chanuka is connected with CampGan Yisroel which followsimmediately afterwards, and we haveto prepare for both at the same time.We are also moving, so we have a lotto do. I hope we merit the hisgalus ofMoshiach before Chanuka becausewe are doing our part in spreadingthe wellsprings outward.

Lighting up the darkness in Australia

REWARD FORA CARPENTER

In the town of Rudnia lived aJew whose family name wasDvorkin (he lived in Leningradlater on), and he was thecarpenter who made the bookcasesfor the Rebbe Rashab’smanuscripts. The Rebbe Rayatzonce said to him, Since you gavenachas ruach to a tzaddik, youhave merited that your son will goin the way of Judaism.”

(L’sheima Ozen, p. 136)

THE REBBE’S REQUESTOn Shmini Atzeres 5680

(1919), the Rebbe Rayatz held afarbrengen with the olderbachurim in yeshiva, as wascustomary. He told them that heonce traveled with his father toGermany. His father asked that heaccompany him on his trip to visitan old Torah scholar who was not

well. When they got there,servants greeted them and afterreceiving permission from thehost, they were brought up to thetop floor of the house, where thedistinguished man lay in bed.

The man was very happy withthe Rebbe’s visit and a livelydiscussion ensued. The old mantold the Rebbe about a book hehad written that he was about topublish, and the Rebbe asked tosee it. After the Rebbe examinedthe book for a long time andleafed through it from beginningto end, he placed the book on thetable.

Before leaving, the Rebbe hadone request of the old man, but hesaid that he would tell him hisrequest only on condition that hewould fulfill it. The manconsented. The Rebbe’s requestwas that the manuscript be burnedin his presence. The old man dulyburned the book in the fireplace inhis room. The Rebbe thanked him

and left.(Shmuos V’Sippurim, vol. 2, p. 53)

MIRACLES AT THECONVENTION OF

RABBANIMThe mashpia R’ Shmuel Levitin

a”h related:During the meeting of

rabbanim in Petersburg in 5603(1843), which was attended by theTzemach Tzedek, the gaon R’Yitzchok of Volozhin was presenttoo. At the end of the meeting, R’Yitzchok said to the TzemachTzedek that he was very surprisedby something that took placeduring the meeting.

Government representativeshad asked them what Chazalmeant when they said, “tovsh’b’goyim harog (kill the best ofthe goyim).” The Tzemach Tzedekasked R’ Yitzchok to respond. R’Yitzchok said that the originalversion said, “tov sh’b’goyim k’tol”(“k’tol” being an Aramaic wordthat means “kill”), which meansthat the best goyim are Catholics,but the copier had erred andthought “k’tol” meant “kill,” so hewrote “harog.”

Naturally, the governmentofficials did not expect an answerlike this and they wanted proofthat this is really what Chazalmeant. The Tzemach Tzedekasked for a certain old book ofMidrash of a certain printingwhich would prove what the gaonhad said, and they looked and sawR’ Yitzchok’s explanation verified.

Now, where did that idea forthat rationalization come from?Surely the Tzemach Tzedekhimself gave me that idea, andsince he didn’t want to be in thecategory of ‘migaleh panimba’Torah shelo k’halacha’ (onewho offers untrue interpretationsof Torah), he didn’t want to be theone to say it. Furthermore, after a

In honor of Hei Teives, Didan Natzach,Beis Moshiach presents Chassidishestories about s’farim and about theirauthors.

STORIES

ABOUT

S’FARIM

careful search in many oldeditions, this version of ‘k’tol’ isnot found anywhere. A miraclemust have happened for us at thattime.

(Likkutei Sippurim p. 104)

BOOK WITH KABBALAR’ Betzalel Wilschansky a”h

related that the Rebbe Maharashonce asked the chassid R’ DanTumarkin of Rogatchov that if hesaw a certain kabbala workavailable for sale, he should buy itfor him. When R’ Dan returned tohis city, a bookseller came to shuland set out his wares on the table.

R’ Dan saw the book that theRebbe had asked him to buy forhim. When he was told that theprice was three rubles, a relativelyhigh price, he began to bargainwith the bookseller, but the maninsisted on his price. R’ Dan

thought that after a few days whenthe book wouldn’t sell, the pricewould go down.

A few days went by and whenR’ Dan went to the bookseller hesaw that the book was no longerthere. He asked who had bought itand the man said a certain water-carrier had bought it.

R’ Dan found the man andasked to buy the book from himfor three rubles. The water-carrierreplied, I bought the book becauseI need it. Why should I sell it toyou?

R’ Dan said, I need it for myRebbe and I am willing to paymore.

The water-carrier said, So whydidn’t you buy the book to beginwith? Now I bought it, and I needit.

The next time R’ Dan went tothe Rebbe Maharash, the Rebbeasked him whether he was able to

buy the book. R’ Dan told theRebbe what had happened and theRebbe smiled and said, “ I havethe book now.”

(Likkutei Sippurim, p. 180)

THE MANUSCRIPTSTHAT SAVED ME

R’ Refael Kahn a”h related:At the beginning of 5676

(1915), when the Rebbe Rashableft Lubavitch, he left a box ofmanuscripts at the home of theChassid, R’ Zelka Parsitz inMoscow. The box containedmanuscripts from the Baal ShemTov, the Alter Rebbe, the MittelerRebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, theRebbe Maharash, and other greatmen. The box also containedmaterial on Kabbala, the BeisShmuel with notes of the AlterRebbe in the margins, theTzemach Tzedek’s handwrittenresponse, a work of the MittelerRebbe on Nigleh, and many otherprecious and importantmanuscripts.

When I stayed at the home ofR’ Zelka, I shared a room withhim. A few T’mimim and I openedthe box to look inside. We saw acertain manuscript entitled IgeresHaVikuach V’HaShalom, which Ithink was written by the TzemachTzedek, and I copied it.

Interestingly, R’ Zelka told usthat searches were conducted inhis room several times and theofficials never opened the box. Hesaid, This box saved me on severaloccasions. When he was asked tosend the box to the Rebbe he said:Who will protect me in my housefrom now on?

(Shmuos V’Sippurim vol. 1, p. 116)

THEN YOU WILLUNDERSTAND

R’ Shaul Dov Zislin a”hrelated:

A young man by the name ofLeib of Dannenberg went to theMitteler Rebbe. It was his firsttime visiting the Rebbe, and theRebbe told him to learn Tanya andImrei Bina. The Chassid learnedthese two s’farim throughout thefollowing year. He had somequestions on Imrei Bina and hewent to the Rebbe.

The Rebbe told him, When myfather wrote the Tanya, he wasparticular about every letter Vav,but I did not write Imrei Bina likethat. Study it once, twice, three,four, and five times, and then youwill understand it.

(Shmuos V’Sippurim, vol. 1, p. 49)

S’FARIM=GEULAR’ Chaim Mordechai Perlov a”h

related:I once saw a maamer of the

Tzemach Tzedek on the topic ofGeula. It was a long maamer inwhich the Rebbe brings verses andsayings of Chazal from which wederive that the keitz (the end ofthe exile) will be in the year 5666(1905-6).

Just as we know about thekeitz of 5608 (1847-8), aboutwhich the Tzemach Tzedek said,“That is when Likkutei Torah wasprinted,” similarly, 5666 is whenthe Rebbe Rashab began saying

Hemshech 5666.(Likkutei Sippurim p. 113)

BEWARE OFTHEIR COALS

In Leningrad there was azealous Chassid who once visitedthe Rebbe Rashab’s library andsaw a book that he didn’t thinkbelonged there. Since he knewthat in such situations there wasno reason to ask questions,because in his opinion this was inthe category of halacha v’einmorin kein (one should actwithout asking for a ruling), hedecided to do as Pinchas did in his

zealousness, and he burned thebook.

Later on he was severelyreprimanded for doing this.

(Sicha Pinchas 5745)

WHAT TO THINK ABOUTThe mashpia R’ Groinem a”h

related:The Chassid R’ Avrohom of

Zembin was a merchant whowould send log rafts to Danzig inGermany. He once sent raftsworth 60,000 rubles and they allsank. In addition to losing all hismoney, he incurred great debtsand this prevented him fromconcentrating on his Torah study.He decided that it wasn’t good to

think about his debts whilelearning, but he had to devotesome time for it.

R’ Avrohom would stoplearning for a period of time andthink about his debts. Then heconcluded: Why should I thinkabout it? I have no money and thepossessions that remained weresold, so what is there to thinkabout?

He would then continuelearning.


THE ALTER REBBEAPPROVED OF IT

The Chassid R’ Michel ofOpotzk once asked the AlterRebbe whether Rabbeinu Ovadiaof Bartenura, the author of thecommentary on Mishnayos, hadruach ha’kodesh. The Alter Rebbeasked him what difference it madeand R’ Michel said: If he did nothave ruach ha’kodesh, I don’tneed to learn his commentary.

The Alter Rebbe said: You canlearn his commentary.


HOW DO YOU CHECKHIM OUT?

The people of the town nearZembin needed a new rav. Acandidate showed up and gave alecture and they thought theywould accept him as their rabbi,but they were bothered that he hadsaid certain things that seemed toindicate a lack of yiras Shamayim.They asked the Chassid R’Avrohom of Zembin what theyshould do and he said, Check hisbookcase. If you find a Zohar,take him as your rav, but if not,don’t take him.

They were most surprised thatthey did not find a Zohar in hishouse.


R’ Avrohom would stop learning for aperiod of time and think about his

debts. Then he concluded: Why shouldI think about it? I have no money and

the possessions that remained weresold, so what is there to think about?

He would then continue learning.

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THE UNUSUALYECHIDUS

New York was experiencing itsusual torrid summer weather andmost people from Brooklyn hadleft the asphalt and cement behindfor a summer in the CatskillMountains. This was 5745 (1985)and I was on K’vutza in 770. Thetalmidim on K’vutza learned inthe Chovevei Torah Shul onEastern Parkway, a five-minutewalk from 770.

On that long, summer day,when our story begins, it was veryhot and humid and most peopleremained in their air conditionedhomes or cars. It was Erev RoshChodesh in the late afternoon,nearly 6:30 when people in the zalbegan to whisper. Nobody knewthe source of the rumor but it

spread rapidly and what waspassed around was: all themembers of Agudas ChassideiChabad HaOlamis were called tothe Rebbe for yechidus.

Not only was this yechidussurprising, but people said thatsomething important and secretlay behind it. Those who knewthings hinted that it had to dowith something unpleasant, to saythe least. This frightened us andincreased our curiosity sevenfold.

Everybody in the beis midrash,the talmidim and staff, spokequietly about what was going onas the Gemaras closed. As soon asthe learning period was over,rather than go to eat supper, asthey usually did, the T’mimimdashed over to 770 to find outwhat was going on. Nevertheless,

the matter remained a secret.The yechidus took place on

Rosh Chodesh Tamuz, andnobody knew what was said bythe Rebbe. It all remained a secretfor a while but then someinformation leaked out.

I found out a little bit of whatwas going on from my friend,Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzki (nowshliach in Dnepropetrovsk). Hetold me that the Rebbe told themto quickly make a big library forAgudas Chassidei Chabad in EretzYisroel, and that the Rebbe wouldbe speaking publicly about this atthe Yud-Beis Tamuz farbrengenthe following week.

Word spread quickly and alarge crowd of Anash andT’mimim flocked to 770 for thefarbrengen.

SHOCKThe farbrengen began at 9:30

and the satellite broadcast endedthree hours later. At that point,the Rebbe spoke to the family ofAnash alone about the tragedythat had overtaken Lubavitch.This is a summary of what theRebbe said:

Three people broke into theprecious treasures of the MalchusChabad – the library of Agudas

The reading of the Megilla is toremember the miracle. This is true forPurim and for the Megillas Yud-TesKislev. * Rabbi Yosef Karasik recalls thegloom and joy of the days leading up tothe celebration of Hei Teives.

MEGILLAS “DIDAN NATZACH”:

THE CELEBRATION

OF THE S’FARIMBy Rabbi Yosef Karasik, District rav, Beit Chefer-Emek Chefer

Chabad, which is actually thetreasure of the Jewish people, ofthe leader and Nasi HaDor, theRebbe. They stole ancientmanuscripts and s’farim, drusheiKabbala and Chassidus, ofinestimable value, both materiallyand spiritually.

One of the thieves was veryclever. He was a relative who hadthe keys to the library, and heentered it secretly, stole thes’farim, and then sold them for afortune to antique buyers. Heeven stooped so low as to sell theepitome of holiness to the epitomeof tuma, the headquarters ofChristianity, the Vatican. This was

all for the love of money – ashocking, degrading deed!

This sicha was less than 45minutes and it was said with greatemotion and sadness. Thefarbrengen ended and the Rebbewent to his room and then wenthome. Most people remained in770 in shock. The Rebbe was inpain and most people werepowerless to help, and theyweren’t even sure exactly whathad happened.

It was obvious to all that theRebbe related to the theft of thes’farim in a frightening manner.The Lubavitch library is, in acertain way, the King’s Treasury,

the King’s Crown, and any attackon the library in this manner waslike an attack upon LubavitcherChassidim in general, and theholy of holies himself, the Rebbe!

FIVE FARBRENGENSTwo days of tumult in 770

went by and on the third day theRebbe went to the Ohel of theRebbe Rayatz. He returned late atnight and after davening, hefarbrenged and spoke again aboutthe terrible situation. The Rebbeemphasized that the theft was adirect affront to the Rebbeim, andyet another funeral for the RebbeRayatz! The Rebbe, referring tohimself by name, pleaded for thereturn of the s’farim.

The Rebbe asked for twothings: 1) that they write over theentrance to 770, “Beis AgudasChassidei Chabad, Ohel YosefYitzchok Lubavitch,” 2) in KfarChabad they should build a BeisAgudas Chabad with a library.They should start building before17 Tamuz, when the Three Weeksbegin. The Rebbe would pay forthe expenses and the firstpayment would be wired to thebank before the Three Weeks.

Less than 24 hours later, therewas another farbrengen and theRebbe once again devoted muchtime to this topic, speaking verysharply about it.

Two days later, at thefarbrengen of Shabbos ParshasBalak, the Rebbe spoke heatedlyabout the seriousness of thematter and he used very harshexpressions, such as, “Whoeverhas s’farim from this holy library,whether stolen or bought fromhim, knowingly or unknowingly,must return them immediately tothe owners. Holding on to thesestolen s’farim in one’s home islike holding an extremelydangerous ticking time bomb,which can explode and cause

terrible damage to oneself andone’s family!”

The Rebbe said the entirematter caused him great anguish.“I sit down to learn Gemara,Rambam, and the like and it ishard for me, because of theheadache and heartache from thisterrible situation!”

At the end of the farbrengen,the Rebbe emphasized again thenecessity in beginning to build thelibrary in Kfar Chabad before theThree Weeks began. He said, “Iam afraid that they will begin inthe Three Weeks, because theSatan himself is at work thesedays.”

What the Rebbe said at thesefour farbrengens was a prelude tothe sharp things he would say atthe farbrengen of Parshas Pinchas(the last sicha on the topic), afarbrengen that began as usual, at1:30. This farbrengen went on forseven hours until nearly eight PM.In the last sicha, which took twohours, the Rebbe spoke verysharply about the theft.

Even the way the Rebbe satduring the sicha was different

than usual. He usually faced thefront, but this time he turned tothe left and spoke at length and ina very low voice so only a fewpeople could hear him. Entiresentences were inaudible. Somethought the sicha was directedtowards the Heavenly court so itwould annul the negative decree.

THE HEAVENLYCOURT’S DECISIONIn general, the Rebbe related

to the theft as an accusation anddecree from Above on Lubavitchas a whole. The Rebbe said:

“In the Heavenly court,accusations have arisen againstChassidei Lubavitch and theirwork around the world, and as aresult of this up Above, the Satanhimself dragged his emissary, thelowly thief, to the king’s palaceand took the most hiddentreasures. This contains a certainmeasure of accusation against theChabad kingdom, which can havea negative impact on Chabad ingeneral and the entire Jewishpeople, may Hashem protect andsave us!”

It is difficult to describe howanguished the Rebbe looked at thetime.

Altogether, there were fivesichos at five farbrengens. Fromthat point on, for many months,the Rebbe did not talk about itanymore in public. It becameknown though, that a committeehad formed whose goal it was tolocate the stolen s’farim and toreturn them to their rightful place.The committee’s work was donesecretly, although everybody knewthat something was being donebehind the scenes.

The Rebbe was involved in theentire process, with answers andinstructions, both written andoral.

The thief was caught red-handed. He had dozens of boxes

containing hundreds of s’farimand manuscripts that he hadn’tsold yet. A restraining order wasissued and the books weretemporarily placed in an escrowaccount in a bonded warehouseunder attorney supervision.Everybody waited for the courtcase, which would be held, byDivine providence, on Yud-TesKislev.

Anash and the T’mimim foundout that the main thief of thethree people involved was arelative of the Rebbe, who claimedthe s’farim were his as hisinheritance. This defied simplelogic and the Torah’s view that thelibrary was the treasure of all ofLubavitch and the Jewish peopleand not anyone’s private library(in addition to the fact that theRebbeim belong to all Chassidim,as will be mentioned later on).

The thief tried justifyinghimself and this increased theRebbe’s anguish:

Even if the theft was for sakeof money, it represents a negativesign from Heaven. All the more sowhen the motivation is alsoideological, where he claims aninheritance. Not only are hispocket and hand partners to atheft, but also his head is partnerto this crime. This is a far morenegative sign from Heaven.

For this reason, said theRebbe, in response to theHeavenly accusation onLubavitch, the movement had tobe strengthened, thus cancelingthe decree above and below.

THE KING DOESNOT TESTIFY

Before the court case began,the thief’s lawyers tried toundermine the Nasi HaDor byinsisting that he testify and bequestioned in court, which wouldobviously not be dignified. Thegentile judge, a cold person by

The gentile judge,a cold person by

nature but a wiseman, said the

Lubavitcher Rebbedid not have to

attend the trial.Even the non-Jew

understood thehonor of the

Rebbe’s position.

nature but a wise man, said theLubavitcher Rebbe did not have toattend the trial. Even the non-Jewunderstood the honor of theRebbe’s position.

When the news got out in 770,people rejoiced. People said theline from the Megilla, “ifMordechai is from the seed of theJews, if you have begun to fallbefore him, you will keep onfalling.” This small victory was aforetaste of the big victory tocome, with Hashem’s kindness,but let’s not get ahead ofourselves.

The court case in Brooklyntook nearly a month. These weredark and very gloomy days. Eventhe sky was gray.

The Rebbe went to the Ohelevery day and some said he fastedon those days. Anash and the

T’mimim worldwide said theentire T’hillim every day and gaveadditional tz’daka and prayed fortheir vindication and the return ofthe s’farim and the royal crown.The T’mimim and elderChassidim went to the courthouseevery day to be present as the fateof Lubavitch hung in the balance.

AT THE COURTHOUSE The yeshiva schedule changed.

The zal was moved to thecourthouse and instead ofGemaras, they had sifrei T’hillim.Rabbi Mentlick, the rosh yeshiva,sat there in fear as though hisown fate was being decided in theHeavenly court, for life or theopposite.

It wasn’t obvious which waythe case was going and what the

judge was thinking. There werestatements the judge made -suchas, “although 770 is a building ofstone, it is like a glass building,transparent and illuminatingoutward” – which werecelebrated, but there were otherthings that were said that madethem nervous. Rumor had it thatin cases such as these, the judgewas inclined to decide not in ourfavor.

One of the moving highlightsof the case was the video of theRebbetzin, Chaya Mushka,testifying. Her testimony had a biginfluence on the outcome of thecase. She said, “My father, theRebbe Rayatz, and his possessionsand his entire library belong to allthe Chassidim.” (The Rebbereferred to her testimony in thedays after her passing in 5788.)

CHANUKA ANDZOS CHANUKA

The court case ended duringChanuka and at the farbrengens atthe end of Chanuka, the Rebberevealed some of the goings-on inthe Heavenly court:

The Satan is accusing andclaiming that Chabad doesn’tdeserve the treasures of the librarybecause “Chabad is not activeenough.” Opposing him was ourbeloved Rebbe, who fought withall his might, entreating theChassidim to increase spreadingthe lights of Chanuka in alllocations, in order to cancel theharsh accusation.

The Rebbe said that theyneeded proof about the work ofLubavitch and everybody shouldtake pictures of the menorahs with

the signs that say, “ChabadLubavitch.” These would bepublished in a book by Kehos in abeautiful album called Let ThereBe Light. It would serve as the“defense writ” against the claimsof the enemy.

Chanuka was over and thealbum was published. Days andmonths went by and people waitednervously for the court’s decision.An entire year passed and theywere still waiting.

On the Tuesday after Chanuka,the 5th of Teives, a freezing coldwinter day, we T’mimim got upearly, as usual, for R’ Yoel Kahn’sChassidus shiur. After breakfast,my chavrusa and I, R’ NechemiaShmerling (now a shliach in KfarYona) were sitting in our usualplaces on the farbrengen dais tobegin learning Gemara. It was11:07 when we heard a cry fromthe end of the beis midrash, a roarof “DIDAN NATZACH!”

It took a few seconds to digestthe news and then Nechemiajumped up and shouted, “Wewon!” We ran outside where a fewT’mimim had gathered to hear thewonderful news: The s’farimwould be returned to the Rebbe!

An indescribable simcha burstforth from all supporters of Torahand Chassidus the world over. Thetension and fear that Chassidimfelt for twenty months dissipated.The simcha was overwhelming andthe singing and dancing went onfor a week nonstop. Day and nightthe Chassidim sang and danced inthanks to Hashem for the victoryof light over darkness and therestoration of the king’s crown. Itwas like a powerful stream ofwater that broke through a dam,filling all hearts with joy.

Rivers of vodka and whiskeyflowed and whoever could make itmade their way to 770.

It is told that when thesecretaries went to tell the Rebbe

the news, he sat with a seriousdemeanor and continued learning.

Despite the wintry weather inNew York at the time, there wastremendous warmth andexcitement, the fire of simcha shelmitzva. Some adopted the Chazal,“whoever did not see this simcha,never saw simcha in his life.” 770was nearly empty of benches andtables for the hours and days thatthe Chassidim celebrated.

THE REBBE’S SICHALet’s go back to Tuesday, Hei

Teives. Four hours of singing andrejoicing had passed since thegood news had gotten out and itwas time for Mincha. The Rebbecame down to the large zal (at atime when the t’fillos were usuallyin the small zal upstairs) and thesimcha intensified.

Then came the big surprise –the Rebbe was going to say asicha! The simcha continued withthe help of live music after thesicha.

The next day, the Rebbe wentto the Ohel and upon his return,he davened Mincha in the smallzal upstairs and then said anothersicha:

“It is an especially auspicioustime now and everyone can write apidyon nefesh with requests forwhatever they desire, and all willbe answered and fulfilled, withHashem’s help. The pidyon can bebrought to the Rebbe himself to770 until tomorrow afternoonbefore the trip to the Ohel, or canbe placed at the graves oftzaddikim, since all are connectedto the ‘tree of life.’”

The next day, the Rebbe wentto the Ohel with about ten sacksof pidyonos from people all overthe world. In the evening, therewas a farbrengen in the beismidrash and an official SeudasHodaa of the hanhala of AgudasChassidei Chabad. The guests of

Everybody shouldtake pictures of

the menorahs withthe signs that say,

“ChabadLubavitch.” These

would bepublished in a

book by Kehos in abeautiful albumcalled Let There

Be Light. It wouldserve as the

“defense writ”against the claims

of the enemy.

honor were the two lawyers, Mr.Nat Lewin and Mr. Shustek. Somesay that the farbrengen wastransmitted directly to the Rebbe’shouse and the Rebbetzin listenedto it.

TESTS FOR MEN,WOMEN, AND

CHILDRENA week passed and it was time

to get back to business, especiallystudying Torah from the s’farim.The Rebbe explained that the realvictory was of the s’farimthemselves, and therefore thereshould be intensified learning ofTorah with devotion and diligence,just as there was for the simcha of

the previous week.The Rebbe announced a

campaign of preparation for YudShevat. For the thirty days untilthe great day, there would be testsevery ten days for men, women,and children and reports of theresults of the tests would be givento the Rebbe.

The sound of Torah grewlouder. 770 was full at all hours ofthe day but the dancing and vodkawere replaced with Gemaras andsifrei Chassidus and other s’farim.

The immediate switch fromdancing and saying l’chaim tostudying Torah in depth, showed,yet again, the level of devotion andhiskashrus of the Chassidim to theRebbe, a love and devotion to

fulfill the Rebbe’s horaos.

THE MAIN THINGIS ACTION

In the days and years thatfollowed, the Rebbe taught threepractical lessons from the s’farimcase:

1. In order to strengthen thelibrary of Agudas ChassideiChabad HaOlamis, every author ofs’farim and whoever has rares’farim was asked to send them tothis library.

2. Everybody should have sifreikodesh in their house and add tothem, Nigleh and Chassidus, sothe house is full of holy s’farim.

3. Everybody should increase inthe study of Torah and Chassidus,in quantity and quality.

The event that occupied all ofLubavitch for over two years hadongoing repercussions, some ofwhich can still be felt today.

The s’farim were returned tothe library a year later, at the endof Cheshvan 5748, with theconclusion of the appeal in theSupreme Court in Manhattan.

I mentioned earlier that theRebbe heard the news of victory onHei Teives with great equanimity.Similarly, the return of the s’farimto the library in 770 was regardedvery seriously by the Rebbe.

Even before the wounds of thissad story had healed, a few monthslater, the night of 22 Shevat 5748,the Rebbetzin passed away.

* * *This is how I remember what

happened. If I erred in somedetails because of the passage oftwenty years or so, please forgiveme. You can read the sichos andthe history of Chabad, even as theevents are inscribed in the heartsof Chassidim and T’mimimforever.

May we soon merit the realDidan Natzach, the true andcomplete Geula.

I was on K’vutza in 5744, a timewhen all the Chabad houses andshluchim all over New York didn’texist yet. Rabbi Shraga Zalmanovwas one of the pioneers who set up,in 770, a sort of Chabad house forIsraelis who came from Brooklyn,Manhattan, Queens, and otherneighborhoods. As time went by, heacquired many volunteers to giveshiurim, as office people, drivers,and donors. (I am writing this frommemory and I did not speak with R’Zalmanov for this article. I hope mydescription is accurate.)

One day, R’ Zalmanov called meover during one of the breaksbetween s’darim and informed methat I was going to accompany himthat evening to a shiur he was goingto give to some Israelis. I agreed. Itwas a golden opportunity for me tosee how you can be mekarev Jewswith the power of Torah. Aftergetting permission from thehanhala, I went with him.

R’ Zalmanov drove somewherefar away, we went up in an elevator,and he knocked at a door of amodest apartment. Some guys intheir twenties and thirties werealready sitting there. R’ Zalmanovopened a Chumash and began toread the first verse of the parsha,and then elaborated on it withMidrashim and variouscommentaries.

People asked questions, madecomments, and a lively discussionensued concerning the verse. Thiscontinued with talk about mitzvosand halachos.

Then R’ Zalmanov went on tothe second verse and shared a lot ofinformation on this verse too. Therewere more stories, explanations,questions, answers – it was a greatshiur. In this congenial atmospherewe went from verse to verse, from astory to halacha, from a query to agood hachlata. I was enthralled. Ihad never seen anything like this

before. I was used to a shiur inGemara, a deep sicha, a maamer,something serious. Here I wasenjoying something light, butcountless important messages wereconveyed. It was simply fantastic.

* * *I remember one of the first

farbrengens in 770 that we had onthat amazing year on K’vutza. Wesat all night with the mashpia, R’Shlomo Zarchi, and focused on thewords “ten li ha’nefesh” (lit. “giveme the soul,” referring to the kingof S’dom telling Avrohom to givehim the people and to keep thebooty). The mashpia repeated thosethree words dozens of times,bringing out the idea that aChassidishe bachur has to knowthat the Rebbe is telling him, “ten liha’nefesh,” i.e., you have to bedevoted to the Rebbe, to histeachings and instructions, withmesirus nefesh. Ten li ha’nefesh!Give the Rebbe all of your ratzon(desire), all your energy, all yourtime, all of your soul.

Ah, how sweet that farbrengenwas. Till this day, those words, “tenli ha’nefesh,” reverberate in my earsand soul. This expression ismentioned in the Rebbe’s sichos, forexample, in the sicha of B’Reishis(5745) when the Rebbe asks foradditional shiurei Torah and inadditional locations. For mepersonally though, at thisfarbrengen with the mashpia I heard

I’ve seen with other shluchim that allthey want is to give the Rebbe nachas. Itmakes no difference what theirfinancial status is, or their mood, orhow tired they are, or their personalneeds. “Ten li ha’nefesh.” That is amessage for all of us.

GIVE YOUR SOUL

TO THE REBBE!By Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz, Shliach, Beit Shaan

this expression as an aphorism anda declaration for the first time, andthey were etched into my mind andsoul forever.

When I came on shlichus to BeitShaan, it continued to echo. I havetried to be a devoted shliach to theRebbe, not skimping on the kochos,not counting how many hours ofsleep I manage to get, etc. I verymuch wanted to feel that I am livingup to the demand of “ten liha’nefesh.” I’ve seen with othershluchim that all they want is to givethe Rebbe nachas. It makes nodifference what their financial statusis, or their mood, or how tired theyare, or their personal needs. “Ten liha’nefesh.” That is a message for allof us.

I know some shluchim whonever, I mean never, shut off theircell phone because maybe a Jew inneed will call them. I’m not talkingabout having the phone on duringdavening or shiurim, and notShabbos or Yom Tov either, butduring the wee hours of the nightand the few minutes of rest in the

afternoon. The shliach knows thathe has no personal time because heis devoted to the Rebbe and toshlichus, and if a Jew needs help,then he has to be ready to help him.

Sometimes, when people ask meuntil when they can call me, I say,“until five in the morning, becauseafter that I go to the mikva.”

If you look at all the successstories that shluchim have, you seethat they are derived from two mainforces: the ko’ach of the Rebbe-themeshaleiach, and the ko’ach ofshlichus and the utter devotion tothe Rebbe – “ten li ha’nefesh.” If welook at any successful shliach andhis flourishing Chabad house, wewill see that it is founded on aunlimited devotion, with no setworking hours, i.e., a job thatutilizes all the soul powers.

If you get a close-up view of thework of shluchim, you can clearlysee that these are people who gavetheir nefesh (“ten li ha’nefesh”) tothe Rebbe, with genuine dedicationof all their kochos.

There are many cities where

shluchim began working withabsolutely nothing there. Theyinvested their money and energy inorder to implement various projectsand today, there are other shluchimwho have joined them who areresponsible for different aspects ofthe shlichus. The work is growingand developing from day to day,thanks to the absolute devotion ofall the shluchim.

I recently heard some littlestories about the shluchim in PetachTikva, one of them, about the girlsschool. For some years now, thegirls have been learning in abasement of a shul. The school grewand they had to find a morespacious area. Amazingly, themunicipality of Petach Tikvapressured the Ministry of Educationto officially recognize this Chabadschool in the government-religioussystem, and to allocate a buildingfor them. In the merit of thedevoted shluchim, the Ministry ofEducation gave its approval.

As a result of the tremendouswork of the Chabad house in PetachTikva, they amassed a huge debt toone of the government ministries.The ministry representative alreadybegan hinting about foreclosure butthen, upon the request of thesecretary in the office of the Chabadhouse, Rabbi Eliezer Veisfische, thegovernment agreed to divide thedebt into small payments, so theycould continue their work withoutany problems.

When shluchim “give the soul,”they enjoy tremendous success. Letus hope that the rest of the versewill be fulfilled, “and you take thebooty,” that Hashem will help all theshluchim with a full, open, laden,holy and broad hand, and everybodywill have plenty of money (includingall of Anash and friends of Chabadso they can be generous with theirmoney), so we can do all our workon the Rebbe’s shlichus and bringMoshiach now!

Rabbi Shraga Zalmanov

A busload of concerned men andwomen of Kan Tzivos Hashem EsHaBracha, Crown Heights,Brooklyn, gathered at 6:30 lastTuesday morning in front of 770 totravel four hours to Annapolis, Md.,to protest Prime Minister EhudOlmert’s meeting with PresidentBush and Abbas to finalize thegiveaway of Jerusalem and thereestablishment of Israel’s pre-1948borders.

The trip was sponsored jointly byChabad4Israel, Vaad MattehHatzala HaAm VeHaAretz, CrownHeights Women for the Safety andIntegrity of Israel, Chabad ofFlatbush, and Chabad of Baltimore.

The bus left packed with signs,T’fillin, flyers and a lot of hope for a“Chanuka Victory.” Just likeChanuka’s “Pach Shemen,” thesmall cruse of pure oil that wassupposed to only burn for one day

and miraculously burned for eightdays, so too the “pure-oil” of theRebbe’s ideas belief about ShleimusHaAretz (Preserving Israel’sborders) were burning in the heartsof the busload of Crown Heightsers.Aroused to action by the Rebbe’sideals, they took time off from theirwork and families to stand up forthe loss of life incurred daily, asIsrael abandons more land andplans to give up Jerusalem, theinternational and Biblical capital ofthe Jewish People.

Utzu Eitza V’sufar – The Jew-Haters (Even Among Our Own)Make Their Plans

It was a beautiful 59-degree daythat even the sinister nature of thetalks or the midwinter, weekdaydate of the conference – which waskept secret until the last minute –could not spoil. The bus met RabbiGafni, Shliach of Chabad ofBaltimore, on the highway with hisvan and car loaded with Chabadniksdistressed over Israel’s lack ofresponsibility and care for its owncitizens, whom the leadership issworn to protect.

Rabbi Nochum Light, Shliach ofChabad of Annapolis, preparedbreakfast for the demonstrators. Onthe bus were an inspired minyanand afterwards a DVD of the Rebbespeaking about Shleimus HaAretz.The bus arrived about noon at therally site of City-Dock outside theNaval Academy in Annapolis. ThePro-Eretz Yisroel group came upona miserable and depressing scene.

About 20 pro-Palestinian NetureiKarta were lined up, surrounded bypress and chanting anti-Jewishslogans. J. for J. and various otheranti-Jewish groups were also therein full force.

Joining us in support of EretzHaKodesh were Americans for aSafe Israel (AFSI) of Manhattan,led by Helen Friedman and her sonBarry, and a contingent led by Mrs.Devora Klar, Shlucha from Chabad

RALLY IN

ANNAPOLISBy Raanan Isseroff

Sign advertising the rally

of West Orange.Despite the overwhelming

presence of the Amalakim, the“pure oil” of the Chabad presencesaved the day for those earnest Jewsand non-Jews who recognize thedeep evil inherent in the innocentlynamed “peace” negotiations.

The question on everyone’smind: “Peace” for whom? TheGermans, too, had their form of a“Peace” process with the Jews.Would history repeat itself?

“Peace,” as defined by theagreement being forced down thethroats of Israel’s citizens by its owngovernment, reads like a Nazitextbook version of how to create aJewish ghetto: Arabs Get All; JewsGet None. In short: “GhettoIsrael”!

According to the plan currentlybeing agreed upon, the Arabs getJerusalem and land connecting theareas of the Palestinian Authority –officially called by the CIA’sfactbook website “The Country ofthe West Bank”(www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook) –to Gaza (See map). Israel officiallyconcedes East Jerusalem and all theland north and south as defined bythe pre-1967 borders.

The Chabadniks carried signssaying, “Bush & Olmert HaveDeclared War on G-d and His

Bible.” The signs made a deepimpression on all present. Reportersand photographers were all over theplace, and a number of Chabadnikswere filmed and interviewed.

After the rally the Chabadcontingent made a rousing dancethat caught the attention ofreporters.

After the rally, CongregationKnesset Israel of Annapolis hosted alunch, donated by Frank Storch,and held a press conference. HaRavMoshe Weissblum, Shlita, Rabbi ofKnesset Israel, thanked the rallyparticipants, who had traveled fromaround the United States, forcoming. While thanking theLubavitcher contingent for itsparticipation, he told us how hehimself had learned in TomcheiT’mimim in Lod in his youth.

Rabbi Weissblum invited RabbiYaakov Konsopolsky from CrownHeights to speak. RabbiKonsopolsky, author of the book,When Silence Is a Sin, pointed outthe fallacies of the Israeli peaceprocess and outlined the Rebbe’sposition on the integrity of Israelaccording to Halacha. The Rebbequoted the halacha many times, hesaid, that if a Jewish town isattacked on Shabbos, and even ifthe attackers come to steal onlystraw, then men, women andchildren must pick up arms and gofight. Here, unfortunately, Rabbi

Rabbi Menachem Gafni in the news Rabbi Noach Bernstein with a few friends

Map from CIA “World Factbook”website illustrating a country called

“Country of the West Bank”The caption on the CIA’s website

reads: West Bank is Israeli-occupiedwith current Status subject to the

Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement;permanent status to be Determined

through further negotiation.This illustrates clearly the Rebbe’s

many warnings that: “Sitting down totalks (negotiations about Peace in

exchange for land) is understood bythe Arabs and Americans to mean that

Israel is willing to give land away!”

Konsopolsky continued, Jews aredoing the work of goyim but thisdoesn’t change the halacha.

In listening, I recalled a yechidusthat Rav Meir Lau, Shlita, formerAshkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel,once had with the Rebbe (discussedat length in Rav Lau’s new bookrecently released in Hebrew, “AlTishlach Yadcha El Ha’naar”), inwhich the Rebbe asks Rav Lau: Inevery country in every time,

wherever Jews have lived, theyalways involved themselves inrevolutions: in American, in Russia,in France … In every revolution,Jews have held prominent roles. Butin Israel for the past 40 years Jewshave done nothing. Why is that?

Other speakers followed RabbiKonsopolsky, including MosheBeiden, a reporter from Israel, whowas inside the Naval Academy when

the “negotiations” were takingplace.

Since the occasion was also aSheva Brachos for a local couple,we all realized that while we hadthought we had came to protest, theobvious, deeper reason for beingthere was to be Someach Chossanand Kallah! The Sheva Brachoswere made, and the dancing waslike at a wedding: very leibadik!

One good thing came out of theprotest rally: Unity!

The Achdus of those present washeightened by the urgent danger toevery Jew. Israel’s showing ofweakness in the face of obvious evilencourages Jew-haters and terroristsaround the world to increase in theirworks, G-d forbid.

Around the world the anti-Semites see that when Arabterrorists attack Israel with suicidebombers and they pound Sederotand Ashkelon with missiles, Israeloffers them land, money and even acountry!

Around the world, word hasgone out that Jews everywhere are“Up for ransom.” No Jew is safe.

According to Chassidus,however, this dark predicament hasa deeper purpose: That ofincreasing unity between Jews andG-d – Ken Yehi Ratzon! Historically,if we look in Tanach, we see that G-d sent “Philistines,” Amoraim orother no-good-niks against theJewish people whenever they“slipped” in their connection to theOne Above, and these people weresent as a “reminder” that the Jewswere to turn to G-d in our distress.Then Hashem would send a savior:a Devora, a Gideon, a Yiftach, aShimshon or a Shaul HaMelech tosave His people. Today, if we lookat Israel and its problems, we haveour own “Philistines” in the flesh!What has changed?

According to the Rebbe’sconcept of “Leben mit der tzait,”that we live with the time, what

happens today corresponds to thatweek’s parsha and the time of theyear. On Tuesday of this week’sparsha, was discussed – What else?– the selling of Yosef HaTzaddik byhis own brothers! Today Israelis arealso being “sold” by their own“brothers” to the highest bidder.Israel is up for sale like a condo inManhattan.

Then of course we have the timeof year: the eve of Chanuka, ErevYud-Tes Kislev and of course themonth of Kislev itself! Today, we arereliving the days of the Yevanim (theGreeks) and, worse, the Greek-izedJews who worked with the Greeksto turn Eretz Yisroel into a Greekcountry and fought with the Greeksagainst their own people. Soundfamiliar…? Of course the talks witha modern day Antiochus coming onthe eve of Chanuka is not somethingwe can say is happenchance. And,of course, this is the time when theAlter Rebbe experienced amiraculous victory against themisnagdim and the maskilim. Today,Israel is fighting for her life thanksto the modern day “maskilim,” whoinsist that it is not enough thatIsraelis live like the non-Jew. Theymust have “mesirus nefesh” for“peace” and each Israeli must beprepared to enter Ghetto Israel forthe sake of peace by giving overtheir property and lives to “ourPalestinian brothers,” G-d forbid.

However, Dabru Davar VeLoYakum! As the Gemara says: “Thecure was created before thesickness.” The Alter Rebbe gave usChassidus of the Baal Shem Tov asthe cure. With Chassidus weincrease Jewish unity. And throughJews pulling together for thecommon goal of defending our landphysically and on a spiritual level,realizing where our bread isbuttered, so to speak, then G-d will(please G-d) do his thing and bringus a spiritual and physical victory.Ken Yehi Ratzon!

On Tuesday of thisweek’s parsha,

was discussed –What else? – the

selling of YosefHaTzaddik by his

own brothers!Today Israelis arealso being “sold”

by their own“brothers” to the

highest bidder.Israel is up for

sale like a condoin Manhattan.

Hundreds of Anash andT’mimim, Shluchim and guestsfrom around the world packed theBeis Menachem Beis Moshiach UKhall for a farbrengen Thursdaynight, Motzaei Yud Tes Kislev. Itwas organized by Chaim YitzchokCohen, Menahel and Founder ofBeis Moshiach UK.

After watching a video of theRebbe, the emcee, Rabbi ChaimYitzchok Cohen called upon RabbiEphriam Rivkin to recite theRebbe’s chapter of T’hillim,concluding with “Yechi.” RabbiCohen mentioned that on thisauspicious occasion we muststrengthen our hiskashrus to theRebbe MH”M shlita throughfulfilling his directives, especiallythose regarding hafatzas B’surasha’Geula v’ha’goel.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman Gafne,Rosh HaYeshiva Ohr Temimim,held the attentive audience to words

of encouragement and spoke aboutthe connection between Rebbe andChasid and how this applies to eachand every one of us today. Wemust know that the Rebbe isincomparably greater than us, andtherefore we must follow all hisdirectives precisely.” Our avoda isto make sure that the Rebbe’sinyanim are not separate from us.We must carry on with all theRebbe’s inyanim, thereby bringingthe Geula.”

Rabbi Michoel El Malleh fromMilan Italy spoke about the eventsof Yid Tes Kislev and the story ofthe Alter Rebbe’s release fromprison 209 years ago.

Rabbi Shalom Ber Kalmansonreminded the participants thatdespite the darkness of Galus, wemust focus on the great light of theYemos HaMoshiach. “We must goout to the entire world with theRebbe MH”M’s great

announcement that the Geula isimminent, and we must prepare forit. Some say it is difficult topublicize the B’suras ha’Geula andthey convince themselves that it isimpossible to bring this message tothe public. Years after the Rebbeinformed us that the “time for yourredemption has arrived,” and thatthe world is ready to accept themessage about the imminentRedemption, how shameful it is thatsome are afraid of their ownshadows, claiming that we don’thave to say everything, and that noteverything is accepted. “I speakfrom experience. In where I serveas rav, I disseminate the B’surasha’Geula as the Rebbe wants us to,and I see how everybody accepts itand seriously prepares forMoshiach’s coming. When I speakto my congregation about theGeula, they understand exactlywhat we’re talking about, for the

HUNDREDS ATTEND 8TH

EUROPEAN MOSHIACH

CONGRESS IN LONDON UK

topic is not foreign to them. Theylive with Geula. “Everybody has todo this! After the Rebbe said theworld is ready, no Chassid cancome and say that the world is notaccepting it!”

Reb Chaim Yitzchok Cohen thengreeted the many guests who cameto London for the MoshiachCongress. Rabbi Cohen mentionedthat “The Rebbe began conqueringthe world through his Shluchim,who had to be moser nefesh to goout to a spiritual wilderness andtransform it into a place of Torahand Chassidus. Today there is nocorner of the world the Rebbehasn’t transformed into a placewhere Judaism flourishes. There isno question that the mesirus nefeshof the Shluchim will hasten theGeula with the revelation of theRebbe MH”M.”

Rabbi Cohen responded to theclaims that the Rebbe neverencouraged publicizing the fact thathe is Moshiach. “They ask whetherthe Rebbe ever referred to himselfas Moshiach. The Rebbe never saidthe words, ‘I am Moshiach,’ but ondozens of occasions he alluded tothis, almost explicitly, so that only afool could miss what the Rebbe wassaying. For example: When theRebbe said that 770 is numericallyequivalent to Beis Moshiach, andMoshiach is the Nasi HaDor, whosename is Menachem – doesn’t thatsay it all?

“These days we must strengthenour simple faith in what the Rebbesaid. Indeed we must strengthenour faith, faith that is aboveintellect, and follow all the Rebbe’sdirectives, especially in publicizingthe besuras ha’Geula on aworldwide scale.”

He continued to stress thatnotwithstanding all theexplanations, and that today morethan ever, although we see theRebbe’s impact in all areas of life,we are not satisfied with this, andwe cry out to Hashem: We want tosee our king!

The next speaker, Rabbi quotedthe famous Sicha in which theRebbe says that a Rebbe relates toeach Chassid the way the Chassidrelates to him. Whoever relates to

the Rebbe as a tzaddik in thesupernal realms, the Rebberesponds by relating to him as atzaddik who is indeed far away inthe supernal realms. However,when a Chassid relates to the Rebbeas he is right here, the Rebberesponds accordingly with muchgood b’gashmius and b’ruchnius asthe Rebbe is right here.

“The Rebbe said this about theRebbe Rayatz; all the more so doesthis apply to the Rebbe MH”Mshlita. The more we relate to him asChai v’kayam and here with us, themore hashpaos and kiruvim we willreceive b’ruchnius and b’gashmius.“This doesn’t just refer to feelings,but to actions such as daveningwith the Rebbe’s minyan with thesame hadras kavod we had onYomim Nora’im, when we saw theRebbe standing at the shtender.”

Rabbi Sholom Ber Kalmanson,Shliach of the Rebbe MH”M inCincinnati held the audiencespellbound for over one and halfhours encouraging hiskashrus tothe Rebbe MH”M during these lastfew seconds of Galus.

Rabbi Cohen thanked all thosewho worked hard to make theevening a success, and hopes to beable to upload the speeches ofRabbi Shneur Zalman Gafne andRabbi Sholom Ber Kalmanson onthe website www.chabad-uk.comwithin a short period.

Rabbi Binyomin Schlanger Rabbi Ephriam Rivkin

THE SPEECH OF REB CHAIM YITZCHOK COHENShalom Aleichem to all our honored guests.During a farbrengen, when Reb Mendel Futerfas,

a”h, demanded of himself and his students to do whatthe Rebbe demands, and not to hide behind “piousexcuses,” he would tell the following story:

When the Soviet government confiscated all privateproperty and nationalized it, it was absolutely forbiddento hoard anything. For if someone had private wealth, itshowed that he was one of the bourgeois who tookadvantage of the proletariat. He was carted off to thebasements of the KGB for interrogation so that hewould admit – willingly or otherwise – where he hidthe rest of his treasures (which he didn’t really have) sothat it could be returned to the workers from whom itwas “robbed.” Then he would be punished for trying tohide his crime.

In those days, when people hadhardly any money at all, the verypoor would deposit their last coinswith other Jews who were moreestablished than they. This way itwould be available to them in anemergency, during those timeswhen there was nothing to eat or ifthey needed money to bribe theCommunists.

Once a poor Jew left his lastpennies with his neighbor, whowas, relatively speaking, better offthan he. One day the poor mandesperately needed the money andwent to collect it from his friend.But his neighbor hardly rushed toreturn the money. He didn’t flatout deny that he had it, but healways pushed him off with various excuses. But thepoor man really needed the money, so he keptreturning to beg for it.

When the neighbor opened the door he greeted thepoor man warmly, invited him in to sit down, andserved him a glass of tea. Then he would discuss thisand that and time would go by, but he made sure notto get to the topic of the money. Every so often thepoor man tried to ask for his money, but the neighborignored him and turned the conversation to othertopics.

The poor man finally got up some nerve and said:Enough! Give me back my money. I need it urgently.Don’t push me off any longer!

The neighbor rolled his eyes upward and said,

“What are you worried about? ‘Cast your burden uponHashem and He will sustain you.’”

The Rebbe MH”M once spoke at length at afarbrengen about the greatness of action. The halachais that even if a person has the greatest of intentions, ifhe does not do an action, he does not fulfill the mitzva.

In the sicha, the Rebbe stressed that it isn’t enoughto appreciate the greatness of action “un kochen zich inderoif un hoben a geshmak in dem” (and to talk aboutit enthusiastically and take pleasure in it), for that isonly the pleasure in doing good, which falls short ofactually doing a good deed.

The review of the sicha that took place later wasdone well. The person explained it adeptly,emphasizing the greatness of action, and how pleasureand inner feelings on their own were not enough, etc.

But he reviewed it with suchenthusiasm that they said abouthim that he only internalised thepleasure and greatness of action,but the fact that we must actuallydo something didn’t occur to himat all.

This year begins the fifty-eighthyear of the Rebbe’s leadership. Weall understand that we must dosomething. We must do somethingbig, something to shake up theworld, starting with ourselves, ourenvironment, and the world atlarge. We cannot let this auspicioustime pass us by, ch”v.

As the Rebbe MH”M put it:Everyone must take it uponthemselves to add in the deeds,

Torah, and avoda of the Rebbe Rayatz ... especially inthe bittul and the hiskashrus to the Rebbe Rayatz,leader of our generation, “the leader is everything.”

Everyone, each person’s entire being, must bededicated to the leader of the generation, the MosheRabbeinu of the generation, “the first redeemer is thelast redeemer,” through fulfilling his shlichus, namely,“to bring about the days of Moshiach” in actuality.

Additionally, the knowledge that the Rebbe, theleader of our generation, will walk right in and look ateach of his Chassidim and mekusharim to ascertaintheir standing, etc., inspires us to finish all our work.

When the Rebbe not only spoke about actual deeds,but emphasized the “bittul and hiskashrus to the leaderof the generation,” we must remember that the Rebbe

also underscored the fact that the bittul and hiskashrusare expressed specifically through fulfilling his shlichus,to bring Moshiach.

So someone who tries to focus on bittul andhiskashrus and giving himself over entirely to theRebbe, but thinks that this can be done without beinginvolved in the shlichus of the hour – to bringMoshiach – misses the point! This is not bittul, this isnot hiskashrus, and it is not giving oneself over to theRebbe!

When it came time for the Jewish people to leaveMitzrayim, Chazal tell us that many Jews did not wantto leave. These were not isolated cases, for according toone explanation in Rashi it was four out of five Jewswho did not want to leave! That’s 80% of the nationwho died during the Plague ofDarkness! Only one fifth actuallyleft Mitzrayim. According to otherMidrashim, the numbers are evenlarger: only one out of fifty wantedto leave, or even one out of fivehundred.

(The Rebbe explains in a sichaof Acharon Shel Pesach, 1962, thatwe are told all this to teach us thateven if it seems to us that ourJewish environment is notinterested in leaving Exile, weshouldn’t let them discourage us.We have to do what we have to do,and in the end everybody will see itour way.)

Now among those Jews who leftMitzrayim there were great sinners!Micha’s idol, which appears in thebook of Shoftim, came fromMitzrayim. Micha himself was oneof the babies the Egyptians put into the wall of abuilding and Moshe Rabbeinu rescued him. This sameMicha took an idol with him out of Mitzrayim, acrossthe Yam Suf, had it at Mattan Torah, and throughoutforty years of miracles in the desert.

So many Jews did not leave Mitzrayim because theydid not want to go. It doesn’t say anywhere that theyworshipped idols. It is very possible that some of themwere even tzaddikim. Their problem was that theysimply did not want to leave. Micha, on the other hand,was an idol worshipper who took an idol with him outof Mitzrayim, but he did, in fact, want to leave.

The Rebbe explains (Likkutei Sichos vol. 11): Sincetheir sin was in the very matter at hand – in notwanting to leave – for this reason, they were not

allowed to leave, for “a prosecutor does not defend.”But even the greatest sinners, idol worshippers, couldleave simply because they wanted to leave. The Rebbegoes on to say that, in contrast to the Exodus fromEgypt, in the final Redemption, Moshiach will not leavea single Jew in Exile.

We can learn a tremendous lesson from this for ourtimes. Although it is true that everyone is guaranteed toleave Exile, nevertheless the Redemption will beachieved specifically through our work in Exile, and asthe Rebbe said, we must do “everything in your power”to bring Moshiach.

We certainly must learn Nigla and Chassidus, davenat length, do mitzvos b’hiddur, strengthen our ahavasYisroel, and do mivtzaim, etc., especially when we

know (as the Rebbe said) that atany moment the Rebbe can walk inand look at his Chassidim to seewhere they are standing.

However, if all this takes usaway from the goal to bringMoshiach, then even with all therighteousness in the world wewould have been left in Mitzrayim(back then).

But when we follow the leaderof the generation and want to leavethe present Mitzrayim and doeverything we can to make thishappen, then, even if, ch”v, oneserves idols, he will still leaveMitzrayim!

So there is no question that wemust take on good resolutions inTorah and mitzvos in general andin inyanei Chassidus especially, andin bittul and hiskashrus and

mivtzaim, but the main focus has to be the leader of thegeneration’s goal – to bring Moshiach.

Moreover, this must be done both internally andpublicly: Each of us must personally live withMoshiach, especially by learning inyanei Moshiach inthe weekly Dvar Malchus, the sichos of 5751-5752,where the Rebbe explains what is demanded of us inthese times and where the Rebbe describes the mosteffective ways to bring Moshiach. And at the same timewe must “publicize and proclaim” that Moshiach isalready revealed and all that remains to be done is togreet him or accept him so that he can do his shlichusand take the Jewish people out of Exile.

Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu MelechHaMoshiach l’olam va’ed!

Everyone must bededicated to the

leader of thegeneration, the

Moshe Rabbeinu ofthe generation

through fulfillinghis shlichus,

namely, “to bringabout the days of

Moshiach.”

THE ETERNAL HOUSE OF YAAKOV [CONT.] A DAILY ...subsequent generations on) Yud-Tes Kislev, was (not...

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