Obviously Permissible To Say “Yechi” Part 2
By Menachem Ziegelboim
(Click here for Part 1)

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

* When Kfar Chabad Magazine was about to print an article by Rabbi Yoel Kahn about “Moshiach in each generation,” the Rebbe wrote to them that if they did so, they would be better off closing down the publication. How do you explain that?

You have to ask Kfar Chabad that question, since after that directive, in issue #558, they did publicize an interview with Rabbi Kahn, explaining at length that the Rebbe is Moshiach. He presented a number of proofs: 1) Chassidim in every generation knew their Rebbe was the Moshiach of that generation. 2) In our generation, the Rebbe informed us that this is the generation of Geula, so the leader of this generation, the Rebbe, is obviously Melech HaMoshiach. 3) We heard this as a prophecy. 4) The Rebbe approved this when he edited these sichos and said that Moshiach is the one who announces the besuras ha’Geula from the “Small Sanctuary in the Diaspora.” 5) The Rebbe approves of this now by encouraging the proclamation of “Yechi Adoneinu.”

R’ Yoel Kahn recorded all this after the abovementioned directive forbidding him to write about Moshiach’s identity. Kfar Chabad published the interview after that directive.

What is clear from all this is that nobody has any doubts whatsoever: all the directives that at one time did oppose publicizing Moshiach’s identity became irrelevant once the Rebbe accepted the coronation.

* Rabbi Groner received an answer from the Rebbe that “the one who has to be Moshiach will be told so from Above, and until he is so informed he himself remains unaware of this.”

Rabbi Kahn clarified this point in the same interview. He said that there are two aspects of Melech HaMoshiach’s realization that he is the redeemer: 1) The knowledge that he is Moshiach and he will redeem the Jewish people when the time comes. 2) The knowledge that he must actually go out and redeem the Jewish people. The Rebbe’s comment refers to the second point (which seems to have occurred at the time that the Rebbe publicly accepted the coronation). You can read for yourself what Rabbi Kahn says about this.

* All these quotes were said before Gimmel Tammuz. Have things changed since then?

No one can say in the Rebbe’s name that things have changed. Thinking that things have changed would only be a personal opinion. Obviously this is absolutely the opposite of everything the Rebbe said explicitly in the sichos of 5710 – that what happened on Yud Shvat doesn’t change the belief that the Rebbe is Moshiach:

“The event that occurred is only as we see it [externally] and is nothing but a test.” (Shabbos Parshas Zachor 5710)

“The Rebbe is with us now also in the physical sense.” (Yud Adar 5710)

“The Rebbe, my father-in-law, will come clothed in a body and take us out of Galus.” (Shavuos 5710)

Since the Rebbe said these statements about the Rebbe Rayatz, the concept applies to him as well.

For forty years after Yud Shvat 5710 we heard the Rebbe refer to the Rebbe Rayatz as Melech HaMoshiach; he also described him as the “only Moshiach of the generation.” The Torah tells us that a person is obligated to quote his teacher when he makes a point that his teacher has said. On what basis do these people now claim, in the Rebbe’s name, that what was true until Gimmel Tammuz is no longer correct? 

It’s shocking! The proclamation [“Yechi”] which the Rebbe referred to as “tochen inyan ha’hachtara” (it substantively expresses the idea of coronation) — which the Rebbe handwrote that it brings about “‘arise and sing those who dwell in the dust,’ the Rebbe nasi doreinu, to the extent that it brings about ‘arise and sing Dovid Malka Meshicha’” — has somehow become “forbidden” by the Rebbe and the beis din! When was there ever such a psak din?!

The Torah opinion of Rabbi Pinchas Hirschprung, z’l, and Rabbi Aharon Soloveitchik (may he be well) regarding the belief of Lubavitcher Chassidim that the Rebbe is Moshiach even after Gimmel Tammuz is that this belief is based on halachic sources.

* Nevertheless, in matters such as these, how can we act without a direct order from “daas Torah”?

First of all, I already mentioned that we have directives from rabbanim from before Gimmel Tammuz, and directives from the Rebbe that “Gimmel Tammuz” doesn’t change anything. On the contrary, the Rebbe said explicitly that the coronation that is expressed in the proclamation of “Yechi” is what leads to “arise and sing Dovid Malka Meshicha.”

Secondly, in the sicha of Chaf-Ches Nissan 5751, the Rebbe did not impose any request that activities or projects concerning Moshiach should be conditional on approval from a beis din or rabbanim. The Rebbe pleaded with us that one or two people who care about this matter should take action. We saw how the Rebbe encouraged every Moshiach project undertaken by individuals and the Rebbe did not ask them whether they had received permission from rabbanim. For the campaign to bring Moshiach is indeed a personal mivtza for each one of us, and we don’t need to hear specific directives from Moshe Rabbeinu about this mivtza. It is a mivtza of “why should we lose out” [said by those who had missed bringing the korban Pesach], which is personal and individual, and only after this personal cry does Hashem make it part of the Torah [i.e., like the mitzva of Pesach Sheini].

At the same time, the International Campaign to Bring Moshiach was founded with the Rebbe’s explicit approval, despite the fact that a few years before, the Rebbe had strongly opposed the founding of such an organization.

Most importantly, even after Gimmel Tammuz, there was an explicit directive from the beis din rabbanei Anash of Eretz Yisroel that we must continue with our belief that the Rebbe is Moshiach and continue to proclaim “Yechi” publicly. This was decided at a gathering of all members of the beis din and the rest of the rabbanei Anash in Eretz Yisroel, in the main shul in Kfar Chabad on the afternoon of 6 Tammuz 5754. After many hours of discussion, Rabbi Yaroslavsky gave me the psak din written in his handwriting and with his signature. This is what the psak din says [free translation]: “At a meeting of the Vaad Rabbanei Anash with the rest of rabbanei Anash today, we discussed the printing of ‘Yechi, etc., ’ as it has been done until now in Kfar Chabad Magazine. The majority decided not to change anything and to continue now as before with no changes. The magazine will print the Rebbe shlita’s sicha of Beis Nissan 5748 which explains this. With honor and blessings, Yitzchok Yehuda Yaroslavsky.”

On the 17th of Tammuz 5754, another psak din was signed, saying that, based on the Rebbe’s sichos (which were quoted in full in the psak), “obviously the prayer, cry, and proclamation of ‘Yechi, etc.,’ is pertinent and necessary in even greater measure...and for many Jews it even expresses the point of hiskashrus to the Rebbe MH”M. [Therefore] we hereby set forth in a clear psak din that in mosdos Anash, schools, talmud Torahs, yeshivos, etc...and Chabad shuls...and amongst Anash in general — [it is proper] to continue to behave with no change at all.” The following rabbis signed this psak: Ashkenazi, Hecht, Yurkowitz, Hendel, Axelrod, Hertzel, and Volosov.

Who can oppose such a clearly stated affirmation? Who has the nerve to battle against thousands of Chassidim, talmidei Tomchei Tmimim, N’shei U’Bnos Chabad, the students of chadarim and schools, and against thousands of youngsters in kindergartens who cry “Yechi” with perfect faith?

Do the nasty words in recent weeks against thousands of Chassidim add to unity amongst Anash? Is this the way toward brotherly love, week after week besmirching those who stubbornly insist on believing what the Rebbe said? Did anyone consider the terrible frustration they cause thousands of young people by the attempt to uproot their faith, which gives them enthusiasm in their Torah study and avodas Hashem?

* They claim that Chassidim work on publicizing Moshiach’s identity without consulting the beis din. They say that when there is no discipline, it’s a short road to terrible actions, such as what we recently witnessed [i.e., the attack on Rabbi Bistrizky].

There is no one who obeys the rabbanim as absolutely as the thousands of Anash who believe with pure faith in what the Rebbe said. Beis Moshiach Magazine has a vaad ruchni which regularly consults with the rabbanim of the Crown Heights Beis Din. The Crown Heights Beis Din prints their public announcements in this magazine, which indicates that they do not disagree with the publicizing of “Yechi,” which the magazine promotes.

I might add that Beis Moshiach was the only Chabad publication that publicized the protest of the beis din of Eretz Yisroel against the attack on Rabbi Bistrizky. Others refrained from publicizing their dissent because of bizarre calculations that opposed the request of the rabbanim!

The beis din of the rabbanei Chabad in Eretz Yisroel has also expressed its faith in Beis Moshiach Magazine by granting interviews to the publication, such as those given by Rabbi Dovid Chanzin, Rabbi Yitzchok Yehuda Yaroslavsky, Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi, Rabbi Yosef Hecht, Rabbi Yonason Gurary, Rabbi Ben-Tzion Lipsker, etc. The assistant secretary of the beis din rabbanei Anash in Eretz Yisroel, R’ Menachem Mendel Gluckowsky, was recently interviewed by Beis Moshiach. He referred to the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach, and he is the one who proclaimed “Yechi” before thousands of Chassidim at the main gathering of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad on Yud Shvat.

* There are still some points that need clarification. People complain about using the word “shlita” regarding the Rebbe MH”M. There is no instruction about this from the beis din nor from the Rebbe, and perhaps this causes a chilul Hashem.

It’s painful to have to go over the same material again and again, because these claims are merely excuses. We can quote the Rebbe referring to the Rebbe Rayatz with the term “shlita” after Yud Shvat 5710. Here are a few examples:

1) Toras Menachem 5710, p. 27, footnote 24: “The Rebbe, my father-in-law, shlita, will lead us to the true and complete Geula.”

2) Toras Menachem 5711 p. 52: “And the main thing is that the Rebbe, shlita, should lead us toward Moshiach Tzidkeinu.”

3) Toras Menachem 5711 p. 327: “Un der Rebbe, shlita, zol undz firen antkegen Moshiach’n.”

* Some people decided that all Moshiach signs should be put away because in 5751 there was a directive from the Rebbe about this. What can you tell us about the matter?

In this too, we can see the direction each person takes. There are those whose sole purpose is to reveal Moshiach’s existence in the world, and they find directives for doing so in sichos kodesh, Chazal, and Chassidus, etc. Then there are those whose sole purpose is to try to hide Moshiach as well as they can, and they too seek sources in sichos, Chazal, and directives from the Rebbe. Obviously their proofs are worthless. The proof is what was publicized in Kfar Chabad Magazine, issue 571, after Lag B’Omer 5753. The headline said [free translation]: “Throngs of Jewish children at Lag B’Omer gatherings and parades organized under the theme of ‘Inspiration in Inyanei Moshiach and Geula.’” The article said: “The children marched while carrying signs...“hinei hinei Moshiach ba,” and we must make the final preparations to greet him...and [strengthen our] faith in and anticipation of the speedy coming of Moshiach, as the Rebbe clearly stated.”

A box describes the succat Moshiach (Moshiach tent) near Miron, which had a giant video screen near it, and “people stopped and watched the Rebbe, shlita, and the great gathering of ‘Yechi’ in 770.” What did they do in succat Moshiach? They distributed, thanks to Merkaz Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, “hundreds of thousands of brochures entitled ‘Waiting for Moshiach’ [currently out of print] as well as signs.”

Please tell me: at that time, where were all those who now demand that we must “obey directives”? They proved with their own actions that the directive you refer to only applied to two signs the Rebbe rejected, and not to the Geula in general (just as they did not stop putting up signs about tzedaka simply because the Rebbe negated a specific slogan). They proved by their actions that after so many years during which the concept of Geula was accepted in the world, there is no reason not to hang up Moshiach signs and to distribute hundreds of thousands of brochures entitled “Waiting for Moshiach,” and even to show hundreds of thousands of Jews the “great gathering of ‘Yechi’ in 770.” So how could it be that they have suddenly remembered, after nine years, directives from 5751?

While we are on the topic of obeying orders, allow me to ask why it is that this rule does not apply when there is a directive to proclaim “Yechi HaMelech” about the Rebbe, bringing about “arise and sing Dovid Malka Meshicha?” Why doesn’t this rule apply to all the directives of 5751-5752 that are hidden deep in the archives? Why doesn’t this rule apply regarding the clear directive from Parshas Shoftim 5751 that we must publicize to all members of the generation that Hashem appointed the prophet of the generation whose directives we must obey, up until the main prophecy of “hinei zeh Moshiach ba?”

After all, those same people say that when the Rebbe tells us to do something, whether we understand it or not, whether it makes sense to us or whether we are perplexed, we must do it without being clever about it!

* Even those who do not oppose proclaiming “Yechi” ask why it has become “let him be killed rather transgress.” They say that “every shaliach of the Rebbe knows exactly what the Rebbe wants him to do...and it makes no difference whether he uses one expression or another, and whether he proclaims a certain slogan or not.”

How can a Chassid say regarding a phrase that brings about “arise and sing Dovid Malka Meshicha,” that it makes no difference which slogan he proclaims? It’s simply incredible that statements like these can be printed in the name of Chassidim, aside from the fact that they oppose explicit piskei dinim quoted earlier.

I never understood this. Who decided that the title Melech HaMoshiach would be less acceptable to the non-Lubavitch crowd than the title Nasi HaDor? According to their view, to tell a follower of another Rebbe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the nasi ha’dor is an insult. According to their view, it would be a chilul Hashem to say that the Rebbe is the nasi ha’dor after Gimmel Tammuz!

Furthermore, the Rebbe often said that the nasi ha’dor is Moshiach. How could the Rebbe be the nasi ha’dor after Gimmel Tammuz but not Moshiach? All this confusion comes from not being devoted to the Rebbe’s sichos, and from trying to find favor in the eyes of the world through intentional distortions.

Tens of thousands of Anash, including Beis Moshiach, will certainly not allow anyone to forget this burning fire, the fervor for Moshiach. With the strength of the first paragraph of Shulchan Aruch, which says “don’t be embarrassed before those who mock,” we will go out and burn the remainder of Galus with this fire, and together we will march with the rabbanei Chabad and all of Anash to the imminent revelation of our King Moshiach, with the wholehearted proclamation, “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed!”

The Rebbe often said that the nasi ha’dor is Moshiach. How then could the Rebbe be the nasi ha’dor after Gimmel Tammuz but not Moshiach?

Beis Moshiach was actually the only Chabad publication that publicized the protest of the beis din of Eretz Yisroel against the attack on Rabbi Bistrizky.