The
Revelation That Makes It All Worthwhile
By
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Ginsberg
The late
Mashpia, Reb Mendel Futerfas, related: It was in the early days of the Rebbe
Rayatz’s nesiyus, before the episode of his arrest and imprisonment. The
members of the Yevsektziya, the Jewish branch of the Communist Party, were
running rampant, supported and encouraged by the secret police. The mission of
this self-styled “Society to Obliterate Religion” was to find and stamp out
every vestige of Jewish observance in the Soviet Union.
The
situation was intolerable and getting worse. Shuls and mikvaos
were closing one after the other. Rabbanim, shochtim, and
melamdim were being rounded up and sent to Siberia. Jews were forced to work
on Shabbos; if they refused they were immediately fired from their jobs, branded
“enemies of the state,” and unable to support their families. But worst of all,
Jewish children were suddenly subject to mandatory education, to be
systematically instilled with the Communists’ heretical poison. All methods of
persuasion were employed by the Yevsektziya, from strong-arm techniques to
ridicule and intimidation to brute force.
At that time
the Rebbe Rayatz had recently ascended to leadership, and the infrastructure he
would eventually establish for “spreading the wellsprings outward” was first
taking shape. The Rebbe’s emissaries were sent all over the Soviet Union,
fanning the faint sparks of Yiddishkeit wherever they might be found.
Their function also included gathering information, which was then sent back to
the Rebbe: in one location they were requesting a maggid shiur; in
another, they needed money to buy machinery so they would not have to work on
Shabbos; in a third, they needed help with building a mikva, etc. In
other cities and towns the Rebbe’s emissaries organized minyanim or
located children whose parents wanted them to learn Torah.
This
information would be acted upon immediately: a maggid shiur would be sent
out to wherever he was needed; funds would somehow be raised to buy the
necessary equipment, enabling dozens of Jews to avoid desecrating Shabbos. Most
of the Rebbe’s assistance, however, arrived in the form of Rabbanim,
shochtim, mohelim, and melamdim, as the Soviets’ main
objective was the complete cessation of Jewish education for the young. The
Communists were well aware that “without kids, there can be no goats.” By
inculcating atheism into the minds of the next generation, the Jewish religion
would die a natural death, ch’v.
Standing up
to the Yevsektziya required literal mesiras nefesh. Agents and informers
were everywhere; no place was really safe. Any Jew who dared display his
Yiddishkeit out in the open knew that sooner or later he would be accused of
being a “counterrevolutionary” and face exile or even worse. This was the
atmosphere in which the Jews of Russia lived.
Around this
time, there was one particular Jew whose house was being used as a center for
all these clandestine activities. It was there that all the local Jews came to
daven and farbreng, and where the melamdim held their
classes. This Jew and his family lived in constant fear. In the natural order of
things, it was beyond the realm of possibility that the secret police would
not show up one day and arrest them, as had already happened to many of
their friends and acquaintances.
The pressure
was unrelenting. Eventually the Jew decided that he couldn’t take it any longer,
as his daily existence was simply unbearable. At that point he went to the Rebbe
Rayatz and had a yechidus. Describing his family’s nervous state, he
begged the Rebbe to relieve him of at least some of his responsibilities.
The Rebbe
heard him out, and when the Chassid was finished complaining the Rebbe replied:
As you know, the mikva in your community is no longer functioning. In
order to ensure the continuation of our people, every effort must be made to
enable Jewish women to keep the mitzva of taharas ha’mishpacha. I
am, therefore, charging you with building a mikva in your home. Find
workers you can trust and speak to Rabbi so-and-so for technical guidance, to
ensure that everything is constructed according to Shulchan Aruch. G-d
willing, after the mikva is built, you will then see to it that those who
need to know are aware of its existence…
The Jew had
no illusions about what the Rebbe was telling him. Not only was he not
relieving him of any responsibility, the Rebbe was entrusting him with an
illegal mission that was far more dangerous than anything he had undertaken
previously. His efforts would have to be doubled; moreover, by publicizing the
mikva’s existence to dozens of families who only might take
advantage of it, he was endangering his family even further. All he needed was a
single informant to go to the secret police and it was all over. And the Rebbe
wasn’t making any promises - that he wouldn’t be arrested or even remain alive…
The man was
completely broken. He burst into tears and began to cry.
But he was
not alone, as the Rebbe wept along with him. After a few minutes the Rebbe
composed himself and said, “In the times of the Beis HaMikdash, part of
the service on Yom Kippur included sending the goat to Azazel. The Torah
specifies that it had to be done by an ‘ish iti’; according to our Sages,
this person would not live out the year. Nonetheless, Chazal tell us that
the Kohanim used to compete with each other, as they all wanted the
z’chus of performing the holy avoda, despite knowing what it meant
for them…”
* * *
This,
explained the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach was the Rebbe Rayatz’s greatest mesiras
nefesh. Not only did the Rebbe lead and direct a secret network that
endangered his own life, but to send out others… (The Rebbe shlita’s
voice would break whenever he related this.)
The
mesiras nefesh of the Rebbe Rayatz and his shluchim was beyond
measure. It is said that the Rebbe Rayatz, together with another nine Jews,
swore that they would give up their lives “till the last drop of blood” to
uphold and disseminate Judaism throughout the Soviet Union, with each one
responsible for a different portion of the country. Operating under inhuman
conditions, these Chassidim made no calculations, at a time when there was no
hope for success in the natural order. When one Chassid succumbed, another
immediately took his place. And when the second one fell, a third was sent to
carry on.
It is was
this literal mesiras nefesh that led to the redemption that began on
Gimmel Tammuz 5687, when the Rebbe Rayatz was released from prison and the death
sentence was averted. On Gimmel Tammuz, the Rebbe Rayatz set out for Kastrama.
On Yud-Beis Tammuz, he was officially notified that he could return home. The
next day, Yud-Gimmel, he was actually released. The Rebbe arrived back in
Petersburg (Leningrad) on the 15th of Tammuz and recited the HaGomel
blessing. As is known, the Rebbe Rayatz later left for Riga, Latvia, then
Poland, and finally the United States. But the infrastructure he set up in the
Soviet Union continued to operate.
The end
result of the Rebbe Rayatz’s efforts was the fall of Communism and the collapse
of the Soviet Union’s totalitarian and atheistic regime. Not only does the new
Russian government allow Jewish observance, it actively helps Jews observe Torah
and mitzvos, and enables many to emigrate to Eretz Yisroel.
* * *
It states in
the Mishna: “He who reads the Megilla le’mafreia” - literally “backwards”
- “has not fulfilled his obligation.” As the Baal Shem Tov taught, anyone who
considers the wonders and miracles G-d performs for the Jewish people as history
rather than present reality is making a big mistake.
One of the
fundamental principles in Yiddishkeit is that all the events narrated in
the Torah, especially Yomim Tovim, are remembered and reenacted anew. They are
not merely historical occurrences. The lessons of the past are meant to be
applied to the present, in keeping with the directive to “live with the times.”
It is, therefore, very important that everyone familiarize himself with the
basic story of the Rebbe Rayatz’s arrest and liberation, as recorded in
Likkutei Dibburim, to determine those areas in which mesiras nefesh
is demanded of us now.
Chassidus
teaches that the Rebbe Rayatz’s redemption was not simply the salvation or
deliverance of an individual. It was more than the victory of a single person
(leading an unarmed force) against one of the mightiest empires in the world,
although that, too, was miraculous. And it was even more than the victory of
Judaism over its enemies (as the Rebbe Rayatz wrote in his famous letter, “The
Holy One, blessed be He, did not redeem me alone, but all those who love our
holy Torah and observe its commandments, and even those Jews whose only virtue
is to be called by the name of Israel.”)
On the
surface, the basic “story line” is that the Rebbe Rayatz was arrested because
the Yevsektziya was wicked and the Communists were evil, but that G-d, in His
infinite mercy, saved the Rebbe from their clutches. However, this
interpretation raises a logical question: Why was it necessary for the Rebbe to
undergo such suffering just so his Chassidim could have another celebration?
Wouldn’t it have been preferable to forego all the suffering, and just forget
about this particular day of geula?
The answer,
however, is that the exact opposite is true: The real reason the Rebbe was
arrested was that the time had come for a new revelation of pnimiyus ha’Torah
in the world, the next step in the road toward the true and complete Redemption.
The only way to reach this next stage was through mesiras nefesh, which
successfully brought about the revelation of Gimmel Tammuz and Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel
Tammuz.
To
reiterate: The main point of Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel Tammuz is not the Rebbe
Rayatz’s liberation from prison, but the revelation of G-dliness for which all
the Rebbe’s pain and suffering was worthwhile. It is for this reason that the
15h of Sivan, when the Rebbe Rayatz was actually arrested, is considered an
auspicious day - so much so that in recent years the Rebbe shlita gave
out a special kuntres with a new Chassidic maamer in honor of the
occasion! (Kuntreisim have never been given out on days associated
with negative events, such as Tisha B’Av, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, etc.)
The
following is a freely translated excerpt from Volume 2 of Seifer HaSichos
5752, page 485, pertaining to Yud-Tes Kislev. However, it has been explained
in many places that the same principle applies to the geula of Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel
Tammuz. (See kuntres of Yud-Beis Tammuz 5751, Seifer HaMaamarim
Meluket, Volume 5.)
In the same
way that the giving of the (revealed) Torah occurred after and precisely because
of the Egyptian exile, so too the inner part of Torah was given (on Yud-Tes
Kislev) only after and because of the concealment of the Alter Rebbe’s
imprisonment (which was caused by the accusation against the revelation of
Chassidus in the higher realms). This is because “Whenever a new aspect of the
Torah’s light is revealed, particularly one so sublime, it is necessary to first
undergo a period of concealment and imprisonment, etc.”
Among the
reasons for this: In order to innovate novel concepts in Torah, there must first
be an increase and innovation in the person himself (i.e., the one who is
learning and innovating). As long as he remains on the level to which he is
already accustomed, his capacity for learning Torah will also be limited to his
regular abilities. It was precisely through the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment that
his inner and essential strengths were revealed, and through his redemption that
an innovation was effected (similar to the innovation of a servant, l’havdil,
after he is liberated from servitude to geula). The innovation (geula)
in Toras he’Chassidus that was revealed through him (which brought
Chassidus down into intellectual understanding), actually revealed the very
essence of Toras he’Chassidus.
The process
actually works in the reverse order, as it is Torah that is the source of all
Creation. We must, therefore, conclude that the real reason for the innovation
brought about by the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment and redemption was simply G-d’s
intention that the time had come for Chabad Chassidus to be revealed. The
imprisonment and redemption were a consequence of this, which caused an
innovation in the Alter Rebbe, leading to an actual innovation in Torah through
him.
The Rebbe
Rayatz brought a new and wonderful innovation in pnimiyus ha’Torah into
the world, which was a significant step in the process of drawing down the
Divine presence that was initiated by the Alter Rebbe, as explained in the
maamer Basi L’Gani 5710.
The Alter
Rebbe was the first to enable G-dliness to permeate the human mind, the “top
layer” of the physical world. The Alter Rebbe caused the Shechina to
descend from the “seventh firmament to the sixth” (the G-dly revelation having
remained in the super-rational realm of emuna and mesiras nefesh
after the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid).
As the
revelation was actually too sublime for the intellect to absorb, and completely
transcended the physical world, it was impossible to contract something infinite
into something finite. It was, therefore, necessary that the etzem pnimiyus
ha’Torah first be revealed, for only the etzem (the essence) is
powerful enough to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. In fact, because
the etzem transcends even the category of infinite and is not limited to
it, only the etzem can successfully meld the two, allowing the infinite
G-dly revelation to permeate the realm of limitation.
In order to
reach this wondrous level of revelation, the Alter Rebbe and his Chassidim had
to endure a great deal of suffering. They attained their goal on Yud-Tes Kislev,
“He has redeemed my soul in peace,” when the new revelation of pnimiyus
ha’Torah first commenced, revealing the pnimiyus of the soul, which
reveals, as it were, the pnimiyus of Hashem.
After
Yud-Tes Kislev, the Divine presence had only been brought down as far as the
“sixth firmament,” and the subsequent avoda of our holy Rebbeim was
required to bring it down even further. In order to do so, each Nasi had
to access higher and more essential levels of Divine light. Nonetheless, the
Shechina was still in “the firmaments.” It had not yet been drawn down to
earth completely, which is the final objective of “a dwelling place for Hashem.”
It was the
Rebbe Rayatz, the s’fira of yesod, who began to direct the
Shechina “earthward.” (Chassidus explains that the five s’firos that
come before yesod - chesed, g’vura, tiferes,
netzach and hod - are “self-contained” in the firmaments, whereas the
function of yesod is to influence in a downward direction. For this
reason it is referred to as “kol,” “ki kol ba’shamayim uva’aretz,”
as it connects and unifies Heaven and earth.) This is reflected in the fact that
up until the Rebbe Rayatz, the Rebbeim were involved primarily in Heavenly
matters, whereas the Rebbe Rayatz, especially after Gimmel and Yud-Beis/Yud-Gimmel
Tammuz, concerned himself with even the lowest levels of existence. (The Rebbe
Rayatz deliberately chose to live in big cities; initiated the translation of
Chassidus into other languages; made sure that little children could learn
Alef-Beis, and that simple Jews could keep Torah and mitzvos, etc.)
In order to
accomplish this, however, even greater sacrifices were required than those made
by the Alter Rebbe. (The Alter Rebbe was “only” in danger of
receiving the death sentence, G-d forbid, whereas the Rebbe Rayatz was actually
sentenced to “the opposite of life.”) Because of the Rebbe Rayatz’s mesiras
nefesh, we merited the Chag HaGeula on which the Shechina
began to descend to the very lowest levels.
As is known,
the process of “bringing the Shechina down to earth” and establishing a
“dwelling place for Hashem” is to be completed by the “seventh generation,” the
s’fira of malchus, i.e., the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach. Without
going into it too deeply, the s’fira of yesod starts to bring the
Divine presence down to earth, but the main descent occurs with the s’fira
of malchus, when the true importance of the “lower realms” is finally
perceived. (By contrast, from the perspective of yesod, the lower realms
are only a means by which the Shechina can descend, rather than an end in
itself.)
We see this
reflected in the Rebbe shlita’s nesiyus, how with each successive
year he has reached “lower” and “lower,” extending himself to reach even the
“lost and remote.” The Rebbe has actively endorsed the utilization of every form
of modern communications and has included even non-Jews in his domain,
encouraging them to keep the Seven Noachide Laws.
We may
belong to a lowly generation, but that’s the whole point of the Divine plan: the
lower the better, the more effectively to establish G-d’s dwelling place on
earth.
We have now
reached the most decisive phase of all. The service of “refining the sparks” has
been completed and the “buttons have already been polished”; the only thing
remaining is the unique avoda of our generation to bring about the
complete revelation of Moshiach. Indeed, all that is necessary is that we “open
our eyes” to see how the whole world is ready, and accept upon ourselves “the
only Moshiach of our generation” so that he can fulfill his Divinely-appointed
task of redeeming the Jewish people and the entire world. Again, we must be the
ones to initiate it, without our having received an explicit directive, for the
ultimate objective is for G-dliness to burst forth from even the lowest levels
of existence.
If
mesiras nefesh was necessary in all previous stages, how much more so is it
necessary at present, as history reaches its culmination in the Messianic era.
Indeed, nothing can compare with the mesiras nefesh of the Rebbe
shlita, who “willingly risks his life” in order to win the battle. “Surely
he has borne our sicknesses, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him
stricken, struck by G-d, and afflicted.” Some have even concluded that “He was
cut off from the land of the living,” chas v’shalom, but that is only how
things appear to the physical eye, and the true reality is contained in the next
verse in Isaiah: “He shall see his seed (‘so too is he alive’), he shall prolong
his days, and the purpose of the L-rd shall prosper in his hand” - the true and
complete Redemption, immediately and at once.
This why it
is especially important now that we demonstrate not only mesiras nefesh
but uncompromising akshanus (stubbornness), together with genuine love
and achdus towards our fellow Jews. It is precisely through us, the
lowliest of all generations, that the Geula will come about, as the Rebbe
has enjoined us, “Do all in your power.” We must allow nothing to distract us
from our final goal, “to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu in actuality.”
We will be
“stubborn” and learn the Dvar Malchus each week and incorporate it into
our lives; we will be “stubborn” and continue to proclaim that the Rebbe is
Melech HaMoshiach. We must be ever vigilant that Moshiach and Geula
remain on the front burner. We will stubbornly convey the message that there is
a judge and counselor of our generation, who is the prophet and Nasi of
our generation. The Rebbe is chai v’kayam, and continues to lead and
guide each and every one of us individually. Jew and non-Jew alike have the
merit and obligation to obey his directives and advice, and to believe in and
publicize his prophecies, the main prophecy, of course, concerning Moshiach’s
imminent revelation. And we will stubbornly accept his sovereignty with the holy
declaration that will ultimately bring about his complete hisgalus before
the eyes of the world:
“Yechi
Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed!”
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