דורשין שלשים יום לפני החג
Shevat 10, 5777
Would be 67 years since the Rebbe assumed his mantle of leadership
YOUR REBBE, MY REBBE
YOUR REBBE, MY REBBE
Embracing the Rebbe you never met
Musings of Mordechai Z. Hecht
Forest Hills, NY
“In the days of the Alter Rebbe the Chassidim had a familiar saying: "The piece of bread that I have is yours just as it is mine." And they would say the word "yours" first, "...yours just as it is mine." (Hayom Yom, Iyar 15)
I was speaking with a friend of mine just the other day and he told me we are coming up on twenty years of the Rebbe’s passing, “Twenty years, that’s huge,” he said. The Rebbe held his mantle of leadership as Rebbe for 44 years, so 20 is almost half the Rebbe’s years as Rebbe. My friend wanted to know, in his words, “How are we bringing the Rebbe to the world? He wanted to know how, I as a Chabad Chossid and Rabbi was bringing the Rebbe to my community.
Why do I need to bring “the Rebbe to the world?” “My whole life is dedicated to the Rebbe, it’s what I do,” was my reply; after all, I am a Chabad Rabbi. But then the conversation started to create a momentum and the questions were posed back and forth until finally we agreed on this question, “Why is the Lubavitcher Rebbe, whose 20th Yahrtseit we commemorate on Gimmel Taamuz, only a few weeks away, important to the world?” After all, people today want a leader, one who is alive and well, to hear, to speak to, to see and to embrace in a tangible way. 20 years is indeed a long time. The question stands bold and vivid in my head.
TASTE
In response, I considered the following: A few months ago I was at Yale University for a Shabbaton and a professor of Jewish studies, not necessarily a Chossid, repeated a thought from the the first Rebbe of Chabad, known as the Alter Rebbe - Reb Shneur Zalman of Liadi. He said that we all strive to learn and explore the meanings for mitzvot. In Hebrew the word for meaning is “Ta’amim,” as in “Taamei Hamitzvot,” and he said, “You know the word Taam also has another meaning in Hebrew which is ‘Taste.’ Very often in life when something is explained to us and we try to comprehend a concept and a reason for something, it can be difficult and often great conversation is needed for it be explained, understood, and ultimately appreciated for it to have an effect on your life. Especially, as we all understand, in order for someone to taste something, as in food, you can explain it all you want, but one needs to actually taste it to appreciate it. And the taste will eventually supersede any conversation or explanation or verbal description of the entity. The tasting will be the ultimate ‘reason,’ now, and for one to want to experience it again in the future.
“Many of you students may have been reluctant to attend this Shabbat meal,” he continued, “and perhaps you were approached and perhaps persuaded to join, but can you compare the ’taste,’ to the ‘words?’ Sometimes in life you need to taste it and experience it to truly come to the greatest reason and understanding of something”.
Trying to put the Rebbe into words, is difficult, to say the least. Quite frankly, to understand the Rebbe truly, you had to experience him – taste it for yourself first hand. And for that, one had to simply be there!
One of the saddest things that is the reality today indeed is that for someone who has not experienced the Rebbe in the past will have a most challenged time experiencing him in the present.
With that said, and as Tevye says on Fiddler on the roof, “On the other hand,” one of the most exhilarating things in life is our intelligence and our imagination. Any intellectual or student in college studying a topic or a subject under a professor, with an open mind and heart can come to be inspired and invigorated by mere words. We don’t eat everything we value or enjoy or comprehend; sometimes what we hear and learn can indeed open our minds, our hearts, and our souls to something special.
RADIO HOST
Think about how many times you heard something on the Radio and how it influenced you. Perhaps, buying a product, or even something as simple as agreeing with the thought of a talk show host or the like. To the point you can say, “I have a favorite talk show host.” Have you ever wondered why this is? This is because he touches your heart. He says, what you interestingly not necessarily know why even, things you like to hear. The talk show host becomes like your own mouth piece. He is expressing for you all those feelings you have conjured in your mind and heart, but simply don’t have the outlet to say. He does the dance and jumps for you on the radio for the whole world to hear. And for you, for us, that is relieving and exhilarating.
And then you shut it off. But, you still consider that talk show host your “guy.” And you know that any great talk show host has millions of listeners and “fans.”
SPORTS CHAMPIONS
One of the greatest crazes in America today is sports. It has become the religion of our youth in America. Have you ever wondered why we don’t get excited over simple players? I mean it took so much for them to be drafted the major leagues and yet the majority of us don’t go nuts over them. And why is it that everybody, most of us anyway, only wants to wear the gear of the best players? What is it about human beings – we all do it?! The answer is simple: innately we all want to achieve perfection – we want to be a part of that which is great and not just great, but the greatest.
IN JUDAISM
In Judaism this idea is all the same. There are many torah scholars and many great rabbis and teachers and thinkers and Jewish professors etc. But when I speak of great we cannot help but recognize the true greatest of our generation. There is a reason people flocked from all over the world, for decades, to see the Rebbe, to simply get a glimpse and have just a brief encounter. There is a reason the great rabbis amongst us have turned to the Rebbe for inspiration and guidance, from Chief rabbis in the UK and Israel, to great Chassidic Rebbes of the world, from Roshei Yeshivah – deans of schools – to small community Rabbis across the globe, from great community civil leaders to all Jews and even many gentiles who have changed their lives because of the Rebbe, his love, wisdom, advice, and yes, his emissaries, more than any other leader in our generation bar none. There is a reason in thousands of establishments and homes in the world, there hangs a picture, if not two or more, of the Rebbe. It is because we admire and aspire to become closer to what the Rebbe represents – true Torah values - on every level – he is our hero and our champion of life.
The Rebbe’s greatness is indisputable – those who know the stats know, and those who have tasted the experience know it even moreso.
YOUR REBBE, MY REBBE
And the reason I want to bring the Rebbe to you is simply because I am a Chossid and, “what I have, is yours as it is mine.”
But don’t just take it from me; learn about the Rebbe and his sphere of influence, his depth and profundity in all aspects of human and Jewish life. Learn about his views on Humanism, Modernity, Technology, Israel – the land and the People. Consider at least opening your mind and heart to study his 200+ volumes of teachings, watch and listen to some of the thousands of his exhilarating video and audio recordings, be inspired – you too can have a part in the Rebbe, the Rebbe of us all. And hey, you never know, you may just become a fan too; I did. J
"EVisit: www.ohelchabad.org