|
Obviously
Permissible To Say “Yechi”
By
Menachem Ziegelboim
Interview
of Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Volpe, rav in Kiryat Gat and rosh kollel
of Yeshiva Zichron Yehosef in Yerushalayim, Author of Yechi
HaMelech and Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach, Books that posit the
necessity of publicizing Moshiach’s identity as part of the
besuras ha’geula
*Rabbi
Volpe, you received sharp directives from the Rebbe about not
writing or publicizing inyanei Moshiach. Does this
interview with Beis Moshiach oppose those
directives?
I
did receive a sharp directive from the Rebbe in 5744 (1984) in
connection with the printing of my book Yechi HaMelech.
The Rebbe also spoke sharply about this at the farbrengen
on Motzaei Shabbos Bereishis 5745. By the way, after the
frightening sicha at that farbrengen, when I hung my
head as I went by for kos shel bracha, the Rebbe gave me a
bottle of mashke for Kiryat Gat in an especially gracious
manner, and said to me, “In His angels He finds fault.”
However,
seven years later, in 5751, when the Rebbe spoke about learning inyanei
Moshiach and Geula, Rabbi Yehuda Yaroslavsky ordered me
to ask the Rebbe again whether the time had come to print the
book. I then received permission from the Rebbe to print the book
once it was edited by yedidim mevinim (discerning friends).
One of those people was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Wechter. I have his
letter of approval from back then, where he writes about the
Rebbe’s answer to me: “What is to be understood from this is
that regarding the book in general, there is nothing to be
concerned about, unlike the directive of 5744.”
The
Rebbe himself told me to get approbations from specific rabbis. I
received approbations from the battei din in Eretz Yisroel
and New York. The letter from the beis din in Eretz Yisroel
was handwritten by its secretary, Rabbi Yehuda Yaroslavsky, and
signed by all rabbanei Anash.
Therefore,
cynicism founded on the Rebbe’s warning of 5744 simply misleads
the public. It is like saying that the Rebbe’s refusal to accept
the Chabad leadership back in 5710 is still in force today, ch’v.
*Why
do you bring that as an example?
Because
it’s exactly the same thing! Moshiach is the highest position of
leadership. When it comes to a nasi in general, Chassidus
explains that it is the people who arouse his desire to rule.
Fleeing authority is the natural tendency of a true king, and the
same holds true for the kingship of Moshiach. We see that
at first the Rebbe strongly opposed accepting the Chabad
leadership, as noted in Yemei Bereishis, and then
the Rebbe accepted the position. So too, with Moshiach. Although
the Rebbe negated the idea outright at first, with time the Rebbe
accepted the idea more and more openly. You cannot refer to
statements that were made on the subject sixteen years ago in
order to prove that the situation today is just the same as it was
in 5744!
I
reiterate: the impetus to print Yechi HaMelech came
from the beis din rabbanei Anash, who gladly gave their
approbation. When the Rebbe received a copy of the book, he wrote
an incredible blessing to me testifying to his absolute consent.
*Yet
recently it was said that as late as 5752 you still received notes
from the Rebbe against writing about Moshiach’s identity?
That
statement is taken out of context. After the Rebbe’s directives
about learning inyanei Geula and Moshiach, N’shei
Chabad of Eretz Yisroel asked me to prepare a booklet for them on inyanei
Moshiach, which they would distribute in the thousands, in
order to include everyone in this study. In the material I
prepared, there were open hints as to Moshiach’s identity. When
the N’shei Chabad gave the draft to the Rebbe, they received the
aforementioned note. I realized that the Rebbe did not want the
first official Chabad publication on inyanei Moshiach, and
which was meant to be distributed to the masses as a beginner’s
primer on the subject, to refer to Moshiach’s identity. This is
because first you have to teach people about the concept of Geula
in a general way, and only then can you identify Moshiach without
putting people off.
At
that specific time, and even prior to it, the Rebbe allowed people
to be signed up for kabbalas ha’malchus, and the
Rebbe gave brachos to members of Anash who wrote to
him and addressed him as Melech HaMoshiach, and who
told him about their work in this area.
I’d
like to point out that at that time this answer of the Rebbe did
not deter rabbanei Anash in Eretz Yisroel and abroad from
activities referring to the revelation of the Rebbe MH”M. I have
copies of the piskei din of the months of Nissan and Sivan
5751, as well as Adar II 5752, with which the rabbanim sent
R’ Dovid Nachshon and R’ Avi Taub to travel to the resting
places of the Rebbeim in Russia and the Ukraine. The purpose of
the trip was to read the psak din and the Pa’N
there, which said, “to bring about the revelation of the Rebbe shlita,
Melech HaMoshiach, before all eyes.” The Rebbe was informed
of the trip and gave his blessings and many directives to these
two shluchim.
*Did
what transpired on Chaf-Zayin Adar I 5752 change the enthusiasm of
Anash and the rabbanim regarding publicizing
Moshiach’s identity?
On
the contrary. On Yud-Alef Nissan of that year, dozens of rabbanei
Anash as well as dozens of rabbanim around the world
signed the well-known psak din that according to the Rambam,
the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach.
I
have a copy of the psak din, which has the names of all the
rabbanim of the beis din in Eretz Yisroel on
it: Rabbis Yaroslavsky, Bistritzky, Ashkenazi, Chanzin, Hecht,
Gurary, Gluckowsky, Lipsker, my uncle Rabbi Yehosef Gedalya Ralbag,
z’l, as well as other rabbanei Chabad, such as
Rabbi Druckman of Kiryat Mochkin, Rabbi Axelrod of Chaifa, Rabbi
Hertzel of Natzeret, Rabbi Ginsberg of Omer, Rabbi Glitzenstein of
Maale Efraim, Rabbi Gerlitzky of Tel Aviv, etc. It also contains
the signatures of all the rabbanei beis ha’din of New
York, and Rabbi Yisroel Yitzchok Piekarsky, z’l, and
Rabbi Pinchas Hirschprung, z’l.
How
can anyone claim, as some recently did, after the public actions
of all these rabbis, that this is “some bizarre, personal mivtza?”
There was no meeting of the beis din annulling the
previous psak din!
*Perhaps
the rabbanim deemed this psak din as
“internal” and not for publication, and they signed it even
though they did not think the Rebbe wanted the matter publicized.
Impossible!
A few months later I published my book entitled Yechi HaMelech
HaMoshiach, which explains the psak din of Yud-Alef
Nissan about “b’chezkas sh’hu Moshiach.” I
received the consent of all the rabbanei Chabad around the
world to print this book.
The
rabbanim of the Crown Heights beis din also gave
their haskama. Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik of Milano
wrote: “Fortunate are you that you merited to explain according
to halachic sources that the Rebbe shlita is Melech
HaMoshiach.” Rabbi Hillel Pevsner of France wrote:
“There is an obligation to coronate him, and even though ‘fire
descended in a flame,’ we have the mitzva of raising it
up as well.” And he concluded, “now the generation has been
found worthy, and the Rebbe shlita himself accepts the
coronation.”
All
of the above shows that the Chabad rabbanim in Eretz
Yisroel and around the world gave their consent that we publicize
and explain the psak din regarding the identity of
Moshiach. How did this suddenly become “some bizarre, personal mivtza,”
to the point that those involved in it are, as it were, “utterly
opposing the Rebbe’s wishes and are, therefore, absolutely
invalid as far as the beis din rabbanei Chabad are
concerned?”
I
have a very simple question to ask: Was there a psak din of
a beis din that negated publicizing that the Rebbe is Melech
HaMoshiach? Did any beis din convene and decide that
there is anything wrong with proclaiming “Yechi Adoneinu?”
Let someone show me that psak din!
Additionally,
Kfar Chabad Magazine publicized, starting at
the end of Tishrei 5753 until Gimmel Tammuz 5754, “Yechi
Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach l’olam va’ed”
every week (for 77 issues). If there were rabbanim (or
the editor of the magazine) who thought this distanced anybody
from the study of Chassidus, or that this opposed the Rebbe’s
wishes, would they have left the “Yechi” on the cover?
There is no greater publicity than that! All this was done knowing
about the sharp answer I had received back in 5744, and about the sicha
of Motzaei Shabbos Bereishis 5745, and about the
directive of Adar I 5752, yet they still proclaimed “Yechi”
publicly. So why are they suddenly recalling all those early
responses?
In
order to further demonstrate the absurdity in quoting answers from
5744, etc., allow me to quote the description in Kfar Chabad
Magazine in a special issue (544) about the Hakafos
of Simchas Torah 5753 [free translation]:
“The
huge crowd fired with intense emotion...burst forth
spontaneously...as one man with one heart, ‘Yechi Adoneinu
Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed,’
three times. The third time, the Rebbe shlita suddenly began
to encourage the entreaty with strong movements of his head in all
directions, and the cries, which soon turned into a moving song,
grew until they reached the heavens. Many people cried and all
felt the momentousness of the occasion, for our salvation is very,
very nigh...through the revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu,
Melech Yisroel.”
At
that time, my friend, Rabbi Aharon Dov Halperin, wrote the
following editorial in issue 545 [free translation]: “The height
of sacred emotion...was expressed on Simchas Torah...in a
proclamation, of which there has never been one as pure of
heart...and with pure faith, which burst forth from the depths of
tens of thousands of hearts, old and young, as well as
schoolchildren, crying out from the depths of their souls, facing
the [Rebbe]... ‘Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Melech
HaMoshiach l’olam va’ed.’ This burning fire, which
incorporates all longing for the Geula...with it one can
ignite and warm all the darkness of the world...until the
revelation of our king, Moshiach shlita.”
From
then on, Kfar Chabad continued to disseminate the besuras
ha’Geula and continued describing the thrilling moments when
“Yechi” was sung in 770 with great enthusiasm each
week. In issue 550, the editor wrote the following about
publicizing inyanei Moshiach and Geula [free
translation]:
“Regardless
of the differing approaches...all of us as one man with one heart,
are united around the prayer and proclamation, which is recited in
the Rebbe shlita’s court a few times a day in the
Rebbe’s presence: ‘Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu
Melech HaMoshiach L’olam va’ed’... under the
circumstances there isn’t even a need to stress the warning of
‘do not be embarrassed before those who mock.’ When involved
in the task of all tasks and the mission of all missions, and as
we derive our inspiration during the singing of “Yechi”
while facing the Rebbe, what difference does it make that somebody
outside the camp mocks?”
Do
you think that while writing these words, they forgot for a moment
the Rebbe’s sharp words about publicizing Moshiach’s identity?
And they just remembered it now?
*The
fact that Kfar Chabad wrote these statements
doesn’t explain how you can ignore that the Rebbe did make
statements that people should refrain from publicizing
Moshiach’s identity. The Rebbe even gave a reason, explaining
that it distanced Jews from studying Chassidus.
In
issue 558 of Kfar Chabad, this question was directed
to Rabbi Yoel Kahn, who answered as follows [free translation]:
“There
were orders, which, to begin with, were meant to change, and were
said only for that place and time. The order not to say that the
Rebbe shlita will soon be revealed as Melech HaMoshiach
was said from the outset with the intention of changing… When we
see with our own eyes how the Rebbe encourages the singing and
confirms it from time to time, obviously that means that now this
is permissible to say... From the fact that the Rebbe publicly
encourages it, it is most evident that we must inform the world...
As far as the fear that this will interfere with spreading the
wellsprings, the fact that the Rebbe now encourages this singing
— despite the fact that in the past he protested because of this
fear — proves that there is nothing to worry about now... This
revelation has affected the world such that the entire world has
become able to accept it.”
Rabbi
Yaroslavsky also referred to this in issue 559, saying [free
translation]: “Obviously there is no argument about praying,
reciting, and singing ‘Yechi’... Since we have been
promised prophetically in our times that Moshiach is about to
come, we are, therefore, certain that this refers to the Rebbe shlita...
When you see the real enthusiasm that people have, old and young,
and how the Rebbe shlita encourages the singing with the
nodding of his holy head, all your questions and wonders fall
away... As Chazal said, ‘Hashem does not bring about
mishaps through tzaddikim.’ Something the Rebbe approves
of and encourages on a daily basis cannot lead to any mishap, ch’v.”
*Does
the besuras ha’Geula, in fact, distance Jews from
Chassidus?
Positively
not! Whoever is involved in besuras ha’Geula sees
for himself that in recent years the world is a vessel to receive
the news without any concealment. What does distance people,
however, is the inner battle of a handful of Jews who oppose
simple faith, as it says, “Those who devastate and destroy you
will come from you.” This is what makes us a laughingstock. What
distances people from Chassidus is when that handful of people
encourages even outside rabbanim to go to war against the
Rebbe.
If
the world saw tens of thousands of Lubavitcher Chassidim holding
fast to their faith even after Gimmel Tammuz, and didn’t witness
the inner battles against it, this faith would quickly become
embraced, and the Rebbe MH”M would have been revealed a long
time ago and would have brought the complete Geula.
I
recently spent Shabbos in Kiryat Shmuel in Chaifa. Allow me to
tell you what I saw during my visit. My mechutan Rabbi
Shmuel Frumer is one of those who publicizes the besuras
ha’Geula on a grand scale. A huge “Yechi” sign
has been hanging on his house now for years on a main street in
town. It is because of his fiery faith that he has succeeded in
being mekarev hundreds of baalei teshuva, and
has raised them up to become full-fledged Chassidim. The belief in
Moshiach only hastens the kiruv of Jewish souls to
Chassidus, and not the opposite, ch’v. Hundreds of shluchim
around the world can tell you the same thing, including those who
work among the religious contingent, that now everyone has become
vessels for this faith. When they hear words that emanate from the
heart, they enter the heart.
(Click
here to continue.) |
