Yud-Beis Tamuz - the12th of Tamuz

The 12th day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz, marks both the birthday of the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, and his liberation from Soviet prison and exile.

When the Bolshevik revolution succeeded in overthrowing the Czarist regime in 1917, it set about destroying religion. Judaism, and particularly Chabad, was a prime target. The Previous Rebbe, devoted himself to keeping the flame of Judaism alive in the early days of Communist Russia.

So powerful was the Previous Rebbe's impact that at one point he was even offered a deal by the Communist government! He would be allowed to continue to support rabbis, ritual slaughterers, etc., and even continue to encourage Jews to attend prayer services on one condition: He had to stop educating the children in the ways of the Torah.

To the Previous Rebbe this was unacceptable, and he refused, saying, "If there are no kid goats, there will be no adult goats..." Without the proper Jewish education for our children, we as a nation, cannot survive. And even when the Previous Rebbe reached the shores of America, he continued to strengthen Jewish life by establishing schools here as well.

The Previous Rebbe showed great courage and determination when it came to preserving the Jewish way of life through Jewish education. He stood up to both Communist oppression and to those here in America who told him that it couldn't be done, that yeshivot couldn't thrive in this modern new world. His legacy, Chabad schools the world over, has outlived Soviet Communism and at the same time continues to prove that those who doubted him were wrong.

The Previous Rebbe was a living example of his teachings. His strength and courage were not for his own personal needs, but for the spiritual needs of the entire Jewish people.

Let us stand strong together, and demand from G-d the thing we need most, the arrival of our righteous Moshiach and the true and complete Redemption.

PARSHAT - Balak

Parshat BALAK

Balak focuses on the blessings given the Jewish people by the gentile prophet Bilaam. Balak, the king of Moab, feared that the Jews would attack him and his people on their way to Israel, and so he hired Bilaam, a gentile prophet to curse the Jews.
Although Bilaam sought to do Balak's bidding, whenever he prepared to deliver curses G-d put blessings in his mouth and he was forced to utter them. So powerful are his blessings that they are recorded in the Torah for eternity and we say them in our prayers.

Among Bilaam's prophecies is the only explicit allusion to Mashiach in the Torah: "A star shall shoot forth from Jacob."
This allusion is chosen, because Mashiach's coming will introduce new light into our existence, brightening our horizons.

Other sources explain that the star to which the verse refers is an analogy for every individual Jew. Every person is a source of positive energy, radiating light.

Chassidut fuses the two and explains that every person is a star, because every person contains a spark of Mashiach within his soul. There is in our souls - and in all existance - an element that is one with G-d. This is our personal star. And this is our spark of Mashiach.

The coming of Mashiach will initiate an era when the G-dliness which is at the core of every being will come to the surface.
This will not nullify the existance of any entitiy; instead it will allow every entity to redefine itself, and allow its true spiritual nature to surface.
May it happen now, amen!


Shabbat Shalom!

Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe - M'sirat Nefesh/self-sacrifice

The level of devotion and deep love a Tzaddik has for a fellow Jew is quite palpable. They have made colossal sacrifices in their lives to help others. The following is an example of the tremendous self-sacrifice a Tzaddik, a Rebbe, underwent to help his fellow Jews in Communist Russia.

The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, was living in Stalinist Russia during the rise of the Communist Regime. Every effort was being made to undermine Judaism, especially from the Jewish Communists known as the Yevseksia. In spite of great threats to his life, the Previous Rebbe worked tirelessly and with complete self-sacrifice to strengthen the material and spiritual situation of the Jewish people throughout Russia.

Like many of the Chabad Rebbes before him, he was arrested several times and on one occasion, sentenced to death. Only through an open miracle was he saved.
In these terrible times in Russia, any efforts to strengthen Judaism meant certain death for whoever was caught doing so. If a Jew wanted his child to learn Torah during these years, he wouldn't dare take the risk of being caught organizing a school or arranging group Torah observance. But the Previous Rebbe DID put his life on the line to take that risk throughout his entire lifetime.

If he would have practiced Judaism quietly in his own home - learning Torah doing mitzvot and praying - his life would have been so much easier. Instead he was pursued relentlessly by the KGB for his work in helping other Jews keep their observance of Judaism alive by establishing underground schools for their children, ensuring the availability of kosher food, arranging clandestine circumcisions, and keeping ritual baths open wherever possible - all to ensure that the physical AND spiritual lives of this fellow Jews would continue for his and subsequent generations.

REBBE - There is a Jew in Brooklyn...

One day Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Schwartz, of Brazil, gets a phone call from a very distraught parent:

"Our daughter has informed us that she intends to marry a non-Jew. We have tried everything to dissuade her, but our arguments, appeals, threats and tears have all been to no avail. She refuses to discuss the matter with us and has moved out of our home. Rabbi! You are our only hope! Perhaps you can impress upon her the gravity of the betrayal against her people, her parents and her own identity!"

"That evening I rang her bell", he relates, "She listened politely to me and promised to consider everything I said, but I came away with the feeling that I had had little effect on her decision. And so I called the Rebbe's secretary, and asked for the Rebbe's advice as to what might be done. A few minutes later the secretary calls me back and says: "The Rebbe says to tell the young woman that there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because she intends to marry a non-Jew."

"Who is this Jew?" I blurted out.

"His name is Mendel Schneerson."

So early the next morning I once again was at her door. "Listen", she said before I could utter a word, "whom I marry is my business. I respect rabbis and I heard you the last time, now please go away and stop bothering me."

"But there is one more thing I need to say",I told her. "There is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because you intend to marry a non-Jew."

"And who is this Jew?" she questioned.

"A great Jewish leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe," I replied. "The Rebbe is greatly concerned about the material and spiritual well-being of every Jew, and agonizes over every soul that is lost to its people."

I can show you a picture of him, I then rushed home, found a picture and hurried back to the young woman's apartment.

One look at the Rebbe's likeness and her face turned pale. "All week long", she explained, "this man has been appearing in my dreams and imploring me not to abandon my people. I have never met this man in my life, or even heard of him. But this is the man I have been seeing in my dreams..."

The Rebbe - a miner.

Once when the Rebbe was asked to elaborate on the nature of his position, he explained that he is a miner. Just as a miner digs into the depths of the earth, sifts through much dirt and stone, and ultimately comes up with jewels and precious metals, so, too, the Rebbe teaches and empowers us to penetrate to the depths of our being and reveal the inner G-dliness dormant within our souls.

Going beneath the surface of our personalities is not a new concept. The novelty here is not in the idea of digging, but what one comes up with when one digs.The Rebbe dug and came up with G-dliness.

The Rebbe operates from a different perspective. What is significant is not what he or other people see or want in this world, but what G-d wants. Why did G-d create the world? Why did He create this particular person and this particular situation? A person is to look beyond his own individual horizons and see a larger picture - a Divine picture.

We learn to do so as we connect with the Rebbe, study his teachings, follow his directives, and endeavor to understand his motivation.

Extending this approach further, one looks to the era of the Redemption. The world at large was brought into being with a goal. As our Sages comment, "The world was created solely for Moshiach."

For that reason it is important to learn about the era of the Redemption and appreciate the mindset that will prevail at that time. As we become more acquainted with G-d's purpose for creation, we are more capable of prodding that purpose into fulfillment and enabling the world to reach that desired state.

The Rebbe.

During the 44 years of The Lubavitcher Rebbe's leadership, he did not take a vacation, nor a personal day. The Rebbe never stopped. He was active seven days a week, 365 days a year. This is not an exaggeration. It is a matter of record, as the Rebbe's daily schedule was public knowledge. The Rebbe was watched 24 hours a day. Yet there was not one minute in which his personality did not shine.

During those 44 years, the Rebbe delivered thousands of public discourses. He responded to millions of letters and requests for advice and blessings from men and women everywhere, and to questions from organizations and institutions of all sorts. These requests included for health, marriage, children, livelihood, education, business, Torah and more.

The Rebbe initiated, guided and supervised a global network of institutions. In personal meetings he counseled countless individuals - Torahs scholars, simple folk and heads of state. Men, women, elders and children, business titans and troubled teens, men of letters and the ill.

The Rebbe spent the larger portion of his day immersed in Torah study and prayer.

Some saw the Rebbe as the consummate Lover of all Jews. Others observed his reverence for G-d. Some recognized his complete selflessness. Others were awed by his genius in Torah scholarship. Some saw him as the man of unparalleled activism. While others experienced the impact of his profound wisdom and keen insight. Some saw him as the paragon of absolute self-sacrifice.

He was recognized as the ultimate leader.

Yet it is his essence, which transcends the particulars of his person, from which all of the above emanated. From the very depth of his soul, from the core of his being, the Rebbe revered G-d, loved every Jew and was devoted to Torah and the fulfillment of G-d's will.

The Rebbe, Our Rebbe

The Rebbe's boundless love for all Jews was legendary. He would go to extraordinary lengths to help any Jew, spiritually or materially, regardless of location or spiritual status. The pain of any Jew was his pain. The joy of a Jew was his joy.

In his love for all Jews, the Rebbe did not distinguish between anyone. A Jew is a Jew, a piece of G-d, placed in a body. Scholar or layperson, college student or Chasid, happy or dejected, wealthy or destitute - all were welcome. All belonged. All were embraced. The Rebbe was always there, offering counsel and blessing, comfort and hope.

The Rebbe taught - through word and deed - that love for one's fellow is not based on the other person's social status, or even his personal piety. Such love is merely an appreciation of that specific quality and is thus limited to its cause. Instead, the Rebbe taught that love for the Jew's essence, the spark of G-d that is equally present in every one of us. Only such love is truly unconditional.

And it is this personal love for every Jew that is at the core of the Rebbe's intense desire to share with each and every Jew their inheritance - affording them the study of Torah and offering them the means to experience a Jewish way of life.

A prison chaplain once brought a group of Jewish inmates to a gathering that the Rebbe held. Before the gathering began the chaplain received the following message from the Rebbe's secretariat.: "The Rebbe does not want the prisoners to sit together. They should be interspersed throughout the crowd." The chaplain was puzzled by the request, especially because he had just gone to great lengths to arrange that the group sit together. One of the secretaries then explained, "The Rebbe feels that if your group were to be seated together, they will attract attention. People will ask who they are, and it will be known that they are prisoners, causing them embarrassment. To prevent this from happening, they should be seated throughout the crowd."

This is a Rebbe. Our Rebbe.