Hiskashrus:
Preparing
For Yud Shvat
THERE
IS NOTHING HIGHER THAN HISKASHRUS TO THE REBBE
A
few days ago, a young man came to me and said in amazement that the
Rebbe Rayatz once told him that by being connected to him he would be
connected (through him) to the one that he (the Rebbe himself) was
connected to.
Since
he was very excited I did not want to cool him off, but the truth of the
matter is, it makes no difference to us (whom the Rebbe is connected to
). We are connected to him, and for us there is nothing higher.
What
does this resemble? You can say that a certain limb of the body derives
its life-force from the liver, the heart (which is above the liver), or
the brain (which is higher than the heart). But you cannot say or think
that it derives life from someone else’s brain. A living limb wants to
remain alive and does not want to weaken, ch’v. It must,
therefore, receive life from its own body’s brain. So too regarding hiskashrus
to the Rebbe, the head (the brain) and crown of our generation. (Sicha
eve of 2 Iyar 5710)
TO
PICTURE THE REBBE EVERY MORNING!
Every
morning — it makes no difference whether before or after Birchos
HaShachar (another version: before Modeh Ani or after Modeh
Ani) — everyone who saw the Rebbe must go off to a corner and
picture the Rebbe. This will give him the chayus to do what needs
to be done.
(Yechidus
5712 with Rabbi Leibel Groner,
MEDITATING
ON THE REBBE’S TORAH BY PICTURING HIM
Based
on what we said earlier, that a Jew has the ability to rise above and
beyond the limitations of the circumstances of time and place, it is
understood that this is emphasized even more by connecting to the Torah
of the baal ha’Geula [the Mitteler Rebbe] ...
And
in this itself there is a unique advantage when the study is in a way
that he pictures to himself how the author is standing before him...
Being
that there is such a command, “he should see him as though he was
standing before him,” you cannot say that since we do not have a
picture of the Mitteler Rebbe, we cannot, ch’v, fulfill this
order!
The
explanation is: The Sages say that by learning Torah one accomplishes
the idea of “it is Me you are taking.” Since “I Myself have
written and given,” i.e., Hashem invested His Essence [as He has
“written” Himself] into the Torah and, therefore, by learning
Torah one takes His Essence [as He has “given” Himself].
Since
“tzaddikim resemble their Creator,” one can say that the idea
of picturing the “author standing before him” is accomplished (also)
by meditating upon the Torah of the tzaddik, since the tzaddik
invested his essence in his Torah, “I Myself have written and
given.” And this is without a picture — similar to the concept of
“you are taking Me” even though Hashem has no physical body ...
Furthermore,
one should not remain satisfied with learning in a manner of “as
though the author were standing before him.” One should reach a
higher level in which the author is literally standing before
him, without the simile “as though.” (Sicha
ohr l’Yud Kislev 5740)
TO
HASTEN THE COMING OF MOSHIACH THROUGH HISKASHRUS WITH THE MOSHIACH
HA’KLALI, THE NASI HA’DOR!
The
avoda (mission) of every Jew is to reveal the spark of Moshiach
within him, and by doing so to hasten and draw closer and bring about
the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
Indeed,
in order for this avoda to be even easier, there must be a
connection with the nasi ha’dor, the general Moshiach [i.e.,
not just a spark of Moshiach] of the generation.
“He
revealed His secret to His servants the prophets.” As the Alter Rebbe
said, “the revelation of G-dliness through the tzaddikim, and
signs and wonders, etc., and in our case ... nasi doreinu (the
leader of our generation), by whom open miracles were seen (and to add,
that among the people here at the farbrengen there are those to
whom these “wonders” actually occurred! ... and even if these were
forgotten over time, it does not change the reality, and not only that,
but it is even engraved in their memory). [It is necessary to strive]
until [attaining] the hiskashrus of becoming a shaliach
of the nasi ha’dor — “a person’s emissary is like
himself” — for then it is easier to reveal the spark of Moshiach
within him, for this is the essence of the one who sent him, the general
Moshiach of the generation. [This avoda will, in turn, bring us]
to the point of the ultimate completion of the general mission, to bring
about the coming of Moshiach with the complete and true Redemption. (Sicha
night of Simchas Torah 5746)
MENTIONING
THE REBBE’S NAME IN “SHMA KOLEINU”
Once
when I went to the Rebbe, after we spoke, I asked: It’s a number of
years now that the Chassidim mention the name and mother’s name of the
Rebbe Rayatz in “shma koleinu” (of the Shmoneh Esrei), and
now, of course, they mention the Rebbe’s name, as well. Is this
proper?
The
Rebbe raised himself up and said, “Certainly after the words “reikam
al t’shiveinu”?
And
I answered, “Yes.” And he said, a groisen yashar koach! And
he added: “Mistama az Chassidim tu’en azoi iz faran a makor”
(no doubt if Chassidim do so there is a source for it).
(From
a letter of R’ Y. Goldin; Shevat 5712; Kfar Chabad #510)