Evening of chizuk for anash

00:06 Speaker 1 We’ll talk about the question asked earlier, and I’ll read another question that I’ll try to address along with it. Here’s the question: How can we explain that the Rebbe said the Frierdiker Rebbe was Moshiach, and so on? The questioner notes that this did not come to pass, and asks about the Rebbe now. What does he mean by “it did not come to pass”? If he means that the Rebbe said it after the Frierdiker Rebbe’s passing—and that is the substance of the question—then the question is how the Rebbe could have said it, not why it did not come to pass. We’ll address that shortly. There’s also a question here about Gimmel Tammuz and the possibility of passing, and the questioner says that we seem to have ignored the Gemara. But the very fact that the Gemara says it can happen in two ways resolves the matter. As the Sdei Chemed brings in his introduction, if Moshiach is from among the living, that is the natural process, of which it says, “Humble and riding on a donkey.” If Moshiach is from among the dead, that is the miraculous process described as Moshiach coming “with the clouds of heaven.” On the contrary, that is the case when “they merit it”: if they merit it, he comes with the clouds of heaven, miraculously; if they do not merit it, he comes naturally. The Rambam presents the natural process of Moshiach. Since the Rambam is a book of halachah, the Rebbe always explains that the natural process must take place. A miraculous process may take place if they merit it, but the natural process must take place. That is why the Rebbe always cited the Rambam’s words: a king will arise from the House of David, fight the wars of Hashem and be victorious, build the Beis Hamikdash in its place, and gather the dispersed of Israel. That completes Moshiach’s work, and then he is certainly Moshiach. So that is the natural process. The fact that miraculous developments are possible does not mean that Moshiach himself must specifically be resurrected

04:27 Speaker 1 from the dead. What is essential is that the Moshiach who began the process complete it. So, in the natural course of events, that is what we expected before Gimmel Tammuz. And if Hakadosh Boruch Hu wishes to perform miracles, there are miracles enough: He can bring back to life the Moshiach of the previous generation, the Frierdiker Rebbe. Then, too, Moshiach would be from among the dead. Because it does not mean—this also answers the second question, where they say it will not come to pass. G-d forbid. The words of tzaddikim endure forever. And if the Rebbe said of the Frierdiker Rebbe that he is Moshiach—and this is especially emphasized—the Rebbe did not just say it once; the Rebbe says it all the time. In the sicha to the shluchim, the Rebbe explicitly emphasized the words “the Moshiach of our generation.” The Rebbe added the word “the only Moshiach of our generation.” What does “the only one” mean? The one and only. It is known that the Rebbe spoke about the Frierdiker Rebbe and his connection with him, saying that their soul is one soul. He used the expression, “His soul is within me.” So the Frierdiker Rebbe is Moshiach and the Rebbe is Moshiach, and in practice it is one and the same matter. Thus it will indeed come to pass, when Moshiach builds the Beis Hamikdash and gathers the dispersed of Israel. Moshiach will be from among the dead—that is, the previous Rebbe—and from among the living, as we thought before Gimmel Tammuz that it would be the Rebbe. In this way, both possibilities will be fulfilled. Now, there is a choice as to who will be Moshiach, and he can, in fact, come every day and at any moment. So before Gimmel Tammuz, since the leader of our generation is the Moshiach of the generation, we had to think that Moshiach would come at that very moment. We were not to entertain such a possibility, with the Gemara’s statement being fulfilled through the Moshiach of the previous generation. Since we are now after Gimmel Tammuz, this is not the only possibility. It continues everything the Rebbe said in connection

07:10 Speaker 1 with the Frierdiker Rebbe. Some of those things he meant about himself, and one could say he meant all of them about himself—especially since we say it is one soul and one matter. So it is all one: “He and His attributes are one.” And the Rebbe says, “He who redeemed them first will redeem them last.” As the Rebbe explains, from Chochmah down to Malchus there is one continuous progression. The same applies from the leader of Chassidus onward, to the point that the Rebbe says that, as it were, he himself is literally Moshiach Tzidkeinu, because “He and His attributes are one,” and every Jew has a spark of Moshiach. The Rebbe explains the whole matter of “to dust you shall return”: the Baal Shem Tov said that he really could ascend to heaven in a whirlwind, but he wanted to fulfill “to dust you shall return.” The Rebbe explained that his purpose was to refine the lowest level. And the Rebbe hoped all along that “to dust you shall return” could be fulfilled through “and let my soul be as dust to all.” But in the end, the process is a process of this kind. It does not mean, G-d forbid, that there was a halt or anything of the sort. The process can be quicker, since Moshiach can come at any moment; but if he tarries, it is a slower process. It is still a process. It is moving forward all the time. There is no retreat, G-d forbid. It can only move in a stronger current or a weaker current. That is the only difference. At present, the reality is that we are after Gimmel Tammuz. We must know that the Rebbe established in particular that the seventh generation is the last generation, and that the Rebbe gave instructions for all matters. He retained the leadership for himself. Clearly, what we learned from there applies here as well: the leader of our generation must be a soul in a body. So what can be said about this is that during these months the soul still has a connection with the body, through the first year, as the Rebbe always explained

09:27 Speaker 1 regarding the Frierdiker Rebbe. And now there is another point the Rebbe mentioned regarding the Frierdiker Rebbe: the three-month mark is approaching, when the fetus is called a fetus. There is the matter of the formation of the fetus. It is also known that the passing can be described in terms of what is written about Rosh Hashanah: before the new vitality of the coming year is drawn down, the previous vitality withdraws. And the melody with which our Rebbeim would pray on the night of Rosh Hashanah, and also before the shofar blasts, was—as the Frierdiker Rebbe’s sicha describes it—like a person weeping for his faithful father who has gone away, while knowing that after the shofar blasts he will return. So on the one hand, we must know that the Rebbe has passed away, meaning that he has been elevated in a way that is not visible to physical eyes. From our perspective, how is it written? Although Yaakov our forefather did not die, it says, “Yosef’s brothers saw that their father had died.” The commentators say that to them, since they could not see him, he had died; but in fact he had not died. The life of tzaddikim is spiritual life. At the same time, we must acknowledge the pain of not seeing him. But together with that, we have confidence—and these are the Rebbe’s words—because this is already the level of Malchus. And the Rebbe explained that what remains now is for us to act. As someone writes in the third question here: What is our work now that the refinements are complete? The answer is that the Rebbe himself said what the work is: we must live with the days of Moshiach. That is, it is based on what our Sages said: Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfills the Torah and mitzvos. “He tells His words to Yaakov”—this appears in the bar mitzvah maamar—“His statutes and judgments to Israel.” There are two explanations of this: first, Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfills them, and that gives us the strength to fulfill them. Then we must fulfill them, and in doing so we cause

11:48 Speaker 1 that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will fulfill it. The Frierdiker Rebbe explains there in the maamar that when Jews put on tefillin, they cause Hakadosh Boruch Hu to put on tefillin. When we live with the idea of Geulah and Moshiach, we cause Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, to live with it too—to bring Moshiach and make a dwelling for Him in this physical world. So what does it mean to live with Moshiach? The Alter Rebbe explains that although the Gemara says that when Moshiach comes, rolls will grow on trees and silk garments will grow on trees, those are results of Moshiach. What is Moshiach itself about? The Alter Rebbe says: the revelation of the infinite Divine light in this physical world. The Rebbe says that “all the days of your life, to bring the days of Moshiach” means that every thought, word, and deed of a Jew must be a vessel for bringing the days of Moshiach, for the revelation of the infinite Divine light in this physical world. A person needs to ask himself: Is this thought a vessel for that revelation, or does it obscure and conceal the infinite Divine light? That is our work now. Our work is not to carry out refinements, to break through the ice. We need to make vessels for the revelation. The revelation is already here; we just need to put out cups so that what is being poured has somewhere to go, so it can be received. L’chaim! There’s no l’chaim here, but we have to say it over water. As they say, you say it while drinking wine—so here it’s with water. L’chaim! May Hakadosh Boruch Hu grant that we see all the things the Rebbe spoke about in his sichos come to pass in actual reality. L’chaim, l’chaim. Long live our master, teacher, and Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever. L’chaim. Here’s a question that ends with the words, “I’d appreciate it if you would address this question.” What’s the question? Following what was mentioned earlier about the water: all publicity needs to be truthful. The invitations said the meal would be served at set tables. Does having refreshments on one table count as refreshments? Well, that’s true—

14:17 Speaker 1 even the question mentions a table... There are refreshments on the tables at the entrance too. See for yourself. As for the substance of the matter, I’m not one of the organizers, and there was no opportunity to pass the question on to them. We’ve addressed the question, though not answered it. Without a phone call to the organizers, I would guess the answer is probably a lack of funding. We also saw outside that there’s a financial problem, so perhaps this is meant to prompt people to contribute and help organize this gathering and others like it in the future. Another question is based on a sicha in Toras Menachem: even when a Jew has doubts about the Rebbe, he needs to study “The Torah that Moshe commanded us.” So why devote so much energy and precious strength to matters of faith instead of investing tremendous effort in studying the Rebbe’s teachings? Here, too, the answer is along the same lines: What are we doing now? We’re presenting the Rebbe’s teachings. We’re explicitly saying that people should study the Rebbe’s teachings. On the contrary, I brought this up not as a question but as an answer. Everyone, we need to sit down and learn. The call is for us to leave this evening strengthened in the good resolution to study the Rebbe’s teachings, to study the teachings of Moshiach, to study matters of Geulah and Moshiach. And as for the question, “Why do this instead?”—everyone, it isn’t a matter of “instead.” It’s like someone asking, “Why put on tefillin instead of davening?” We both daven and put on tefillin. We’ve been instructed to do both. Faith in Moshiach’s coming is the central issue now. And studying the Rebbe’s teachings is the central issue now. Studying the Rebbe’s teachings on Geulah and Moshiach brings it all together. We need to do everything positive, not see one thing as contradicting another. Another question: Why did people keep saying Moshiach would come on particular dates, such as Tisha B’Av and the like? They also said thirty days after the Rebbe passed away, when in fact it still hasn’t happened. The answer is simple: people should not—

16:53 Speaker 1 say that as a certainty. I say they should speak up. Tisha B’Av itself is a particularly auspicious day. The idea of thirty days is written about, too. But we are explicitly not allowed to set dates, if only because we need to believe it will happen today, not in a few days. Who gives us permission to push it off for a few days? On the other hand, if a Jew feels that finding some hint that it will certainly happen by then encourages him and strengthens his faith, good for him. But certainly no one says we need to proclaim such dates; we haven’t found that in the Rebbe’s sichos. On the contrary, the Rebbe teaches us to say, know, and understand that it is happening right now, this very moment, and tells us to publicize that and tell everyone. Should we still focus on the Moshiach campaign now, even though questions arise about whether we should perhaps focus on the other campaigns? Again, as I’ve said, this question stems from a lack of study of Geulah and Moshiach, and perhaps I’d venture to say more than that. For some reason, there’s a feeling, especially when people come to an evening like this, that people think: This is where decisions will be made; this is where things will be determined. Everyone, that is a complete mistake. We did not come here—and not just now; we, all Chabad chassidim, have never come together to decide what to do about the substance of these matters. We have never been given authorization to determine what needs to be done. We receive instructions from the Rebbe, and the Rebbe tells us to plan how to do it. We have no authority to decide what; we must find the ways how. The Rebbe said explicitly that the most important campaign is to welcome our righteous Moshiach. Does that take the place of the other campaigns? All the campaigns lead to that! When the Rebbe said this one was the most important, were all the others erased? It’s the same question again, as though everything were simply black or white. Yes, it is written in black and—

19:22 Speaker 1 white that the most important campaign is to welcome our righteous Moshiach. Another question. Rabbi Ofen would like to join in and add to the point we were discussing, but we’ll leave his remarks until after we hear from Rabbi Goldberg. He’s still sitting modestly to the side; we haven’t heard from him yet this evening. One of the questions we’ll put to Rabbi Goldberg is: On what basis do we now say that the Rebbe is the one who will redeem us? This question has come up many times and appears on a great many of the notes we’ve received. I’ve chosen one that sums it up. With your permission, perhaps we’ll allot about ten minutes—up to ten minutes—for the answer. Rabbi Goldberg, please.

20:51 Speaker 2 I think this question, along with many other questions I’ve seen written here... In fact, this whole question-and-answer format, a symposium among us, seemed a little strange at first. Questions and answers: one person asks and another responds. We all know the right answer. Every single one of us knows it, and no one has any questions. There may be wishes, there may be longings, but the mind still gets in the way. I think that when speaking among chassidim, we also need to speak from the bottom up—that is, from a chossid’s feelings. We were brought up, throughout all these years, with two fundamental things the Rebbe taught the chassidim. The matter of hiskashrus from ’15—anyone who looks at the sichos from ’15 will see how the Rebbe demanded hiskashrus of the chassidim and gave it to them. There had never been this kind of hiskashrus with any Rebbe. Back in the early years, in 5710, the Rebbe related that a young man came in to see him and excitedly said he had been in yechidus with the previous Rebbe, who told him, “Be connected to me, and you will thereby be connected to the one I am connected to.” He meant the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe said, “Because he was so excited, I didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm. But the truth is that we need nothing more. What matters to us is the Rebbe, the intermediary through whom we connect with the Essence of the Infinite.” In other words, the Rebbe taught us that for us there is the Rebbe and nothing else. Then a period began in which the Rebbe started speaking a great deal about Moshiach. In the years before the Rebbe, under the previous Rebbes, Moshiach was not the main subject. When the Rebbe began speaking so much about Moshiach, it was immediately linked—by the Rebbe himself—to the idea that the leader of the generation is Moshiach. That was the meaning and spirit of what he said. And again, chassidim took this in not only—perhaps I can put it this way—not only

24:00 Speaker 2 Because this was something long held among chassidim: the Rebbe is Moshiach, because if there is a Moshiach, it is the Rebbe. The Rebbe is the revelation of the Infinite down here. If there is any revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu down here, it is the Rebbe; he is the intermediary through whom the Infinite is revealed down here. So if there is a Moshiach, it is the Rebbe. If we say that Moshiach is about to come, then of course it is the Rebbe. In other words, from a chossid’s perspective, this is so even if the Rebbe had not said those things indicating that he meant himself, and so on. We will get to that in a moment. But even without his saying it, it was clear to chassidim that there is no one else; there is only the Rebbe. So when we say that Moshiach is coming, we mean the Rebbe. That is a chossid’s connection to the Rebbe. When Gimmel Tammuz came, a chossid might ask himself: What now? To put it bluntly, is he looking for someone new? Is he looking for a new Moshiach, a new nasi? He would shudder just to hear such things. Every chossid would shudder at the very idea. So when this happens, is it only a pause in the meantime, and the Rebbe will return and redeem the Jewish people? Here he has doubts; he has a question. Can you disconnect from the Rebbe? Can you, G-d forbid, attach yourself today to someone else, to the one who would be called Moshiach? Some new face who would be given the name Moshiach? Can you imagine such a thing? Every chossid knows within himself that he cannot. It is utterly unthinkable to him. He has a Rebbe. He was with the Rebbe, he is with the Rebbe, and he will be with the Rebbe forever. As long as he exists and his soul

26:32 Speaker 2 exists, he has a Rebbe. That is what he has. He has nothing else. That is a chossid. So all these questions and answers are just technical matters of how to arrange things, how to explain this issue and this question. But the heart of the matter has to be much more inward and much deeper for every chossid, whoever he is: he was with the Rebbe, he is with the Rebbe now, and he will be with the Rebbe forever. There is no other possibility for him. He cannot think that something has ended and that the Rebbe is, G-d forbid, only someone from the past, and still remain connected to the Rebbe. That cannot be. It is impossible. The moment he thinks it is something from the past and that now we do not know, he suddenly becomes “I was foolish and did not know”—he does not know. He will be a real fool, not merely “foolish and did not know.” He will become disconnected. He simply—no, no, it is impossible. The moment he thinks it is something from the past, he lets that thought into his heart, into his yetzer hara, and he will simply become disconnected. And that alien thought, if it exists—I do not believe anyone has it—but if it does, it must simply be thrown out. One must not entertain such a thought for even a moment. Because it does not end with just the idea that this belongs to the past and now we do not know. The Rebbe instilled something else in us: the second foundation, that Moshiach is here, that this generation is the generation of the Geulah, and that we will welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu. He succeeded in instilling that in us. Once, it was not so, so, so tangible to us. Now it is tangible. The Rebbe instilled it in us over those years; it is part of us. We look at the world differently, and we know it is about to happen. Moshiach has to appear, and he is here. He is here; he has to. This is

28:55 Speaker 2 something that is going to happen, not something generations away. The Rebbe instilled that in us. So what is a chossid supposed to think? That the Rebbe belongs to the past and there is something new? He has to live with the Rebbe; he has to live with the Rebbe’s sichos. He has to live with the knowledge that it is about to happen, that Moshiach is here. So what would he be thinking? An utterly alien thought. He would simply bring himself to a state of complete disconnection from the Rebbe. This, then, is what a chossid needs to know. It should be clear to everyone that one must not, G-d forbid, even raise such a question. And if it does arise, he must remember that he is on the way to becoming disconnected—and no one wants that. So it is clear that the Rebbe will redeem the Jewish people. There are no questions about it, because the soul of Moshiach is the Rebbe. And some people ask all sorts of other questions. I have sometimes heard questions like this: Fine, the Rebbe will come and redeem us, but who says it will be the same holy figure we have known until now? That is a foolish question. This is the holy figure Hakadosh Boruch Hu created to be Moshiach. Why would it enter your mind that there needs to be a different figure? G-d forbid. Really. You can see where such a question comes from. We do not need someone else. G-d forbid... This is perfection. This was perfection. Just as I saw the Rebbe, it is clear that his body is whole and that his body will rise, and this holy body that we knew will redeem the Jewish people. Some ask: Perhaps it is the previous Rebbe? But it is one chain, with each one building on the one before him. So the Rebbe, who is the seventh and the last, includes within him the Alter Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, the Mitteler Rebbe; they are all present in the Rebbe’s holy figure. Even though each will rise separately.

31:05 Speaker 2 But we do not go backward; we go forward. And going forward, we have reached the final stop, which is the Rebbe. So why suddenly think it is someone else? We arrived here; we continued on. We did not stop at the Alter Rebbe; we went further. Hakadosh Boruch Hu went further and further until He reached the Rebbe, and with him He completed this line of Chabad nesi’im, culminating in the one who will be revealed as Moshiach. I understand that the Rebbeim must be included within him. But all these thoughts are beside the point. That is how a chossid feels. I will mention a letter—I remember a letter the Rebbe wrote on 26 Adar 5714—and there, too, you can see the Rebbe’s approach. He said... The letter discusses the histalkus of the previous Rebbe. And there he says these words to chassidim: “[unclear] his body and his soul—the bond cannot be severed, and then there is no interruption.” When there is a connection, a real connection, when a person feels he cannot be otherwise, that he cannot be without a Rebbe—it simply cannot be. If he has that feeling, that he cannot be without the Rebbe, then he will see that there is no interruption. He will see it, all his questions will fall away, and he will know with certainty that the Rebbe will redeem the Jewish people. That is from a chossid’s feeling. But to reinforce this: it is not just a feeling. Even if it were a feeling, that is how we would have to live, and that is how we would have to give life to others. This is what I live by, and we do not need to be ashamed to say it to anyone. It is the truth. To anyone who asks or says something, I tell the truth: this is how I live. Should I lie to you? This is how I live, and this is how I will give you life. If you want to accept it, accept it. If you do not want to,

33:06 Speaker 2 do not accept it. But that is the reality. This is what I live by, because it comes from a chossid’s feeling. But also, if we look at the Rebbe’s sichos—and let us go back even further, to 5710—how did the Rebbe demand that chassidim think? Before we even look at what the Rebbe said in the later years, how did he demand that chassidim think? Who can teach something different from the way the Rebbe taught chassidim? Are there better teachers? The histalkus was in 5710. For all that can be said about it, it was the year of the histalkus. The Rebbe became Rebbe immediately on Yud Shvat 5710, but for reasons we do not know, in practice he did not want to accept the nesius openly that year. During that time, the Rebbe held farbrengens with chassidim and taught them. He taught them how to be connected to the Rebbe, and he taught them about histalkus as well. So what did the Rebbe say? The Rebbe demanded of the chassidim—he told those stories then, and he demanded of the chassidim—that everything you were certain of before must remain just as certain now. Just as you knew and believed before that the Rebbe would bring the Geulah, so you must believe now. It does not matter where he will come from—here, through the window. Everyone knows those words, but we need to take the point to heart. The Rebbe taught the chassidim to think this way. No one can teach differently from the Rebbe. That is the source. So when Gimmel Tammuz came, the first thing we knew was how to understand what happened on Gimmel Tammuz: everything that was before must continue. That is how a chossid must teach himself; that is how he must think. Who tells me this? The Rebbe tells me. Who could come and say otherwise? All the other explanations are some sort of—creatures that...

35:20 Speaker 2 A human being. Human reason says this or that. But this is how a Rebbe educates chassidim, and if this is how a Rebbe educates chassidim, then this is how we must be educated. When we get to the Rebbe’s sichos later, we see that all the questions have answers. The Rebbe said it explicitly, several times. Anyone who looks at the later sichos can see that, from the outset, the Rebbe allowed for the possibility of something like Gimmel Tammuz. In simple terms, the Rebbe said—anyone who remembers the pattern at the Rebbe’s farbrengens knows that when he spoke about Moshiach, I think until 5747–5748, he would always mention that it should happen with kindness and mercy. Many people noticed those words. After all, Moshiach is kindness; Moshiach is mercy. Why do I need kindness and mercy? If Moshiach comes, that itself is kindness and mercy. “May Moshiach come with kindness and mercy”—what does that mean? How was it explained? In the straightforward way everyone knows: Moshiach can come whether we are worthy or not, and his coming can take various forms. So the Rebbe was asking that it happen with kindness and mercy—that Moshiach should come, but without people suffering troubles, without any of the things the Sages say might happen before his coming. Kindness and mercy. After 5747, the Rebbe changed his wording. When he spoke about Moshiach’s coming, he would often say: “without any interruption in the meantime,” “souls in bodies.” He would speak on the highest level, using the loftiest, most encouraging, most wonderful words one could hear, and then suddenly insert a phrase: “souls in bodies,” “without interruption.” What does that mean? Could Moshiach come with souls without bodies, or with an interruption? What is he ruling out here? What is he

37:47 Speaker 2 ruling out? In other words, the Rebbe was saying something here. At the time, people did not want to hear it—or it seemed they did not want to hear it—or they explained it away. Others interpreted it differently: he means the Jewish people; he means something else there. But when you look at the sichos today, what the Rebbe said amounts to this, if you put it in simple words: Everything I am saying now—the loftiest things, that it is about to happen, the prophecy, the path to the Geulah, the Nasi of the generation, the Moshiach of the generation, “the one and only Moshiach of the generation”—with all these expressions, he adds one more phrase. It was all written beforehand; it is all written. And the Rebbe said: It will happen, and it should happen “without any interruption in the meantime.” That means there could be some interruption, but only in the meantime, between one stage and the next. It would not be a complete interruption, but something temporary, when we would not see the Rebbe physically. That does not contradict anything said before. On the contrary, everything I said before might be fulfilled without any interruption in the meantime; but it might also be that we would not merit that, and there would be an interruption in the meantime. From the outset, then, the Rebbe allowed for this possibility. Anyone who looked at the sichos saw that he said all those lofty words, all those lofty things. He said in advance that even if Gimmel Tammuz were to happen, it would not invalidate any of it. Everything remains true: the Nasi of the generation, the Moshiach of the generation, the seventh Nasi, the generation of the Geulah—everything he said remains true. The only question is whether it happens with kindness and mercy or not, with an interruption in the meantime or without one. We did not merit the latter. So we are going through this difficult stretch.

39:57 Speaker 2 We are not here to make light of this stretch. No. There is nothing about it that consoles us; it is a real concealment, an extraordinarily difficult concealment. When you take it in fully, you do not see the Rebbe. That is concealment, and nothing in the world can console us for it. But concealment is concealment. However dark it is, we must not bring in mud and filth. Darkness does not give us license to put whatever we want into it. There is darkness; there is concealment. But we must not forget the truth: what the Rebbe taught us, and how the Rebbe connected us to him. He connected us to him as Moshiach. That is how he connected us. People are raising questions here, analyzing fine points in the sichos. I told someone that there are two ways to reach a conclusion. One is to find an explicit line, an explicit passage that says what you are saying: “Look, it says so right here.” But even when you find an explicit statement, someone can still come along with an interpretation. People offer one interpretation of the Rambam, then another, then another that twists the words. If his thinking is crooked, he will understand it crookedly, and you can argue with him. But there is another way to reach a conclusion: when the entire thrust of what was said points to it. We do not know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu exists because the Torah... Ask a Jew, “Where does the Torah say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu exists?” He will say, “What do you mean? ‘Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One’—an explicit verse.” The whole Torah is about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There is no Torah without Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The fact that the Nasi of the generation is Moshiach, that the Rebbe is Moshiach, is not something for which you need to scrutinize a particular word in a footnote. So if the meaning there

42:19 Speaker 2 is as someone asked, this way or that way? And when he said “the Nasi of the generation” there and mentioned the previous Rebbe, did he mean him, or did he mean something else? The entire thrust of what the Rebbe said over forty years led every chossid to understand it this way. Everyone understood it this way, and he wanted them to understand it this way. That was the understanding. The thrust of it all—the sichos, the maamarim, even what was said about the Nasi of the generation in the later years. True, it became more and more explicit: another hint, another word, another explicit passage. True, but that is not the point. It is the thrust of it all. From the Rebbe’s side, these things were so clear that before Gimmel Tammuz, this was simply how everyone thought. But then Gimmel Tammuz happened, and a person sets all that aside and starts building theories on his own. Gimmel Tammuz—and you build theories on your own? Connect yourself to the Rebbe and see what the Rebbe says. See how the Rebbe educated chassidim. Look at what the Rebbe said about a situation like this, and you will see. The Rebbe never... I do not know. There are chassidim sitting here, and each one can picture it for himself: What would the Rebbe say to him today about all these questions? Would the Rebbe tell him, “Friends, put everything I said aside; it was just a good intention”? Is that what the Rebbe would tell him? Or would the Rebbe stand there and say, “That is how it is. That is what was said, and that is how it will be”? I have no doubt that if a chossid closes his eyes, pictures the Rebbe, and thinks about what the Rebbe would tell him—whether, G-d forbid, these things should be put away in genizah, G-d forbid, or whether they stand forever and still stand today—each and every one will hear the right answer from the Rebbe: Everything I promised, everything I said, lives and stands forever and for all eternity. It is not affected by an interruption

44:39 Speaker 2 of a day or two. It will happen, and there is no other possibility. The reality is that the Rebbe will rise and redeem the Jewish people very soon indeed.

44:52 Speaker 3 Yasher koach to Rabbi Goldberg[?] for his heartfelt words. In fact, we heard one answer here to a great many of the questions that were asked. Still, the lot fell to me to be today’s moderator, and I owe it to the audience to address as many questions as possible. So even if some things have already been answered, we’ll at least read the questions. Let’s start with one addressed to me. It says to start where I left off—[unclear]—but apparently every question is a new beginning. “For Rabbi Elshinsky[?]: What about the questions in your shirt pocket?” Someone noticed that I have a few notes here in my pocket. I want to tell you, I’m sweating a lot, and they’re completely soaked. That’s their physical condition. But as for what’s written on them, perhaps now is the time. They’re mainly a few points that people in the audience suggested as resolutions. There was also a question here: “Was there an instruction from the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, to build a palace in Kfar Chabad?” I take it that everyone sitting here, apart from whoever wrote the question, agrees that this isn’t a question you’re waiting for us to answer. So that question and a few others have been set aside, simply so we don’t disrupt the proceedings. But the main things I have here are a few points addressing the question we were asked: What should we take away from this gathering? Clearly, first of all, we leave with a wealth of learning and, with Hashem’s help, I very much hope, with inspiration and renewed strength. But along with that, among the things people sent in was a proposal to take practical action—to do more, to really make a stir throughout the world about bringing the Geulah. At least as much as we did in the election campaign for Gimel. The idea is for everyone to go out and spread the mitzvah campaigns, bring more people closer to Judaism and, listen to me, bring them closer to the Rebbe and Moshiach; to spread Mivtza Moshiach and the message of the Geulah with the greatest possible energy

47:17 Speaker 3 in the world. That will certainly, without a doubt or even a shadow of a doubt, bring the Rebbe nachas and bring his revelation and the complete Geulah closer. Another proposal is for each person to undertake to establish a regular class on Geulah and Moshiach. And here, perhaps, I’ll allow myself to share that in Tzfas, one of Anash took the initiative and set up an evening kollel for young married men. Every evening, a group of about fifteen of them gathers—including some who spend the whole day learning—and they come together again with a regular teacher to study the Rebbe’s sichos on Geulah and Moshiach in depth and breadth. They’re studying the sichos of 5751, and now it’s the turn of 5752; the teacher prepares the sichos together with the source references. That same man also undertook to give each participant a token payment. Attendance is recorded, and it’s developing very nicely. It’s certainly a model worth following. Between us, though, one thing is clear and agreed upon—

00:07 Speaker 1 The question is whether the world is an illusion. So they bring proof from the fact that it says, “In the beginning, Elokim created,” and from the fact that the Torah and mitzvos are true, that the world is real. Because what we feel is no proof. Perhaps it is an illusion. Only what the Torah says proves that the world is a real existence. Accordingly, we need to understand: What is the Nasi of the generation? It means that all forms of influence, both material and spiritual, pass through the Nasi of the generation. When the Jewish people needed meat, Moshe Rabbeinu could not provide it for them. This is stated in Chassidus. It was too coarse—meat desired for its own sake—and he could not lower himself to that level. What did Hakadosh Boruch Hu say? You are the Nasi of the generation; you must provide it. If you cannot lower yourself, take seventy elders, take intermediaries, and it will pass through them. But it is your spirit. “I will take of the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them.” Do the elders have something of their own? No. They only bring it into material form. But it is Moshe Rabbeinu’s spirit. The Rebbe established an army of shluchim and gave them the mission of bringing awareness of G-dliness, Torah and mitzvos throughout the entire world, leading to the days of Moshiach. Malchus is the last sefirah. There is nothing after Malchus. After Malchus comes the World of Action. Who is the World of Action? Men, women and children. There are seventy elders. They are analogous to the Rebbe’s shluchim, who bring the word of Hashem. And the Rebbe said that the time has come for a shliach to appoint a shliach. Accordingly, every single one of us, the Rebbe says, is a shliach of the Nasi of our generation. So if we ask whether the Rebbe is alive, we should ask whether we are alive. That is the answer to the question. We need to know that if there is G-dliness in the world, if there are Torah and mitzvos in the world, then there is someone who bears them, who

02:41 Speaker 1 brings G-dliness, Torah and mitzvos into the world. The only question is how: sometimes he brings them directly, sometimes they pass through channels, through shluchim, through... But who bears them? The Nasi of our generation, the Rebbe. And that is the concept of Moshiach. We said that [unclear] the Baal Shem Tov was the Moshiach of his generation, and so the revelation could have come—the Malchus within Kesser—in his generation. The Rebbe once said, as was mentioned earlier, that we have only the Nasi of our generation. In the early years, the Rebbe instructed people to sing the niggun “Eimasai Ka’asi Mar” [?], [unclear]. Afterward, the Rebbe said: What is the point of this? We have only the Nasi of our generation—but “Eimasai Ka’asi Mar” [?] as it is included within the Nasi of our generation. We also saw that every Rosh Hashanah or Yud Shvat, the Rebbe would say a maamar and mention all the Nesi’im in it. The Rebbe explained that this means the Nesi’im as they are included within him. It is as they are included within him. As for Moshe Rabbeinu, the Rebbe once spoke about the Frierdiker Rebbe as the successor to Moshe Rabbeinu, and about Hashem’s very Essence and Being. That is what the Rebbe mentioned in the sicha to the shluchim: His very Essence and Being—Moshiach Tzidkeinu. What is Moshiach? Moshiach is the revelation of the infinite light of Hashem. What does it mean to bring that into material form? And in the Rebbe’s words, His very Essence and Being is Moshiach Tzidkeinu. The Rebbe said that the Rebbe is His very Essence and Being clothed in a body. That is one point. So there is no question for us. [unclear] Nasi [?]. There is no change whatsoever. Accordingly, we need to know that we receive from the channel of the Nasi of our generation, after the flow of Chassidus had already been brought down through the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe. In his generation, when Likkutei Torah was printed, the Tzemach Tzedek was asked about the time of Moshiach’s arrival. They asked him why Moshiach had not come. He answered, “Is it a small thing that

05:23 Speaker 1 Likkutei Torah has been printed?” What more do people want? What was his answer? Likkutei Torah is Moshiach. We have Likkutei Torah, so we have Moshiach. But that is Moshiach as he exists in the third heaven, because the Tzemach Tzedek was the third Nasi, and he represented the attribute of Tiferes in Chabad, or the sefirah of Daas. Accordingly, it was not in a form that even the most uncomprehending person could receive, and therefore it had to descend through the chain. As the Rebbe Maharash said, we need Moshiach down here. So the sefirot below that followed, and through them all these matters penetrated, reaching even the root of the roots of all roots. And when we reached the attribute of Malchus, we saw over all forty-four years how the Rebbe brought influence and shone light to every corner of the globe. We see even now how his sichos live on and continue to illuminate. The main thing is faith. In the merit of faith our ancestors were redeemed, and men, women and children have faith that the Rebbe is Moshiach. That itself is the greatest proof that the Rebbe continues to be with us, and he will redeem us and bring us salvation, bringing us to our land very soon, with the complete Geulah.

07:14 Speaker 2 Thank you, Rabbi Ofen. I think his remarks gave us answers to further questions about the tzaddikim of the generation. How do we see this matter—the prophecy that this is in our generation? What is the proof? That has already been discussed. Someone is asking for clarification, for an explanation of the importance of the encompassing aspect of proclaiming and calling out, “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu Verabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach Leolam Vaed,” particularly since this is a matter of hashgachah. These things are well known, and they were discussed earlier too. Rabbi Ashkenazi mentioned the matter, and each person knows exactly what it involves. There are details we are not addressing. Obviously, this is not the appropriate forum. Someone asked: What should one do? On the one hand there is the ruling of the rabbis; on the other hand, there is the question of relating to the Rebbe. If someone feels that it causes him not to relate to the Rebbe, I have never heard any rabbi tell anyone not to relate to the Rebbe, G-d forbid. And in most communities, I think, people manage very well. We will get to the details of how exactly to conduct oneself. We have several general questions here. As I said, we had to condense and combine some questions. Perhaps I will return to the subject of questions—the kinds of questions we have hardly discussed. Some questions are based, for some reason, on surveys or on assertions of fact made by the people asking them. Clearly, there is no point in getting into arguments over things like that. Someone here has written an entire note and ends: “What a shame for the Chabad empire in the north and elsewhere; those who understand will understand,” suggesting, G-d forbid, that something is being destroyed. I think there are representatives from the north sitting here—specifically from the north—and it seems to me that nowhere do the Rebbe’s mivtzoim continue and advance as clearly and beautifully as they do in the north, boruch Hashem. These are things we know firsthand. I do not know what area the questioner comes from, but in any case, as

09:29 Speaker 2 I said earlier, when it comes to surveys, we do not have time to get into that now, and certainly not to get into confrontations. We have two central questions to address. We will ask Rabbi Goldberg to answer one, and Rabbi Vechter the other. The question for Rabbi Goldberg is this: We have seen that some matters become subjects of dispute, sometimes causing a lack of unity. That is also true of the subject of Moshiach. Perhaps we should give priority to unity over publicizing the matter? That is one question. Another question has two parts. We will put both to Rabbi Vechter. Again, there is an assertion: someone has decided that talk of Moshiach is not accepted today. That is what he has decided, and it is there in black on yellow—not white; the note is yellow. I am reading it plainly. We said earlier, and will not repeat it, that if we are going to make assertions, one could certainly say the opposite. One can say that, but as I said, we will ask Rabbi Vechter to address it from his perspective, as he sees it. Another question: There are many mockers. Again, the questioner asserts that there are many. Why does he say that? I do not know. Someone here even gives an example: at a Chabad shul, people laugh and mock. Should one respond? How does one deal with that? Since the question has come up many times, we will at least ask our distinguished respondents to address it briefly as well. Rabbi Goldberg, please. We will ask you to repeat the question briefly and give a general answer, and then we will hear from Rabbi Vechter. We will add one more question here that is, in a way, connected to the previous one. We will ask Rabbi Goldberg to address the question and the answers, and if possible, very briefly—in just a few words.

11:46 Speaker 3 I don’t know. The question is: we’ve seen that some things become the subject of dispute and cause a lack of unity, and that’s what has happened around the subject of Moshiach. Perhaps unity should take precedence over publicizing it? I’m not exactly sure what the questioner means, but when it comes to printed publications, it’s clear that those responsible for publishing them—whether Tzeirei Chabad, Kehot, or anyone else—are the ones authorized to decide how to print and publicize them. But sharing this among Anash, among chassidim, or deciding how to speak to a Jew on the street—that is within everyone’s reach. And what a person feels inside is, presumably, what he should use to inspire others as well. The second question is: How can we go on believing that the Rebbe is Moshiach? Not long ago, people said quite explicitly that the Rebbe would live forever, and we saw that this did not happen. So perhaps we are mistaken about what comes next, too. Well, many people ask that question. But a person needs to think a little when he says, “If I was mistaken, perhaps I’m mistaken here too.” By that logic, he should stop looking, stop living, stop thinking. What does it mean to say, “If I was mistaken there, I’m mistaken here too”? If I learned a section of the Shulchan Aruch and discovered I had made a mistake—even if we accept that it was a mistake—does that mean the entire Torah is mistaken? Or that I can’t understand the Torah? That simply isn’t a reasonable approach. And when a person does make a mistake, he needs to understand why he made it. He shouldn’t conclude from it that he’s a fool who understands nothing and that everything is wrong. When

13:55 Speaker 3 we’re talking about this, the distinction is very sharp and very clear. There are things we said, and there are things the Rebbe said. What we heard clearly from the Rebbe was that the leader of the generation is the Moshiach of the generation, that this generation is the generation of the Geulah, and that he will redeem us. Those were clear statements. Naturally, when we heard these things from the Rebbe, and the Rebbe was in 770 saying that “the time of your redemption has already arrived,” a person would have had to be completely out of his mind to think otherwise. Anyone thinking normally, using all his IQ and all his understanding, would have understood that the Rebbe, as he was, would redeem us. The Rebbe did not say, “Listen, I’m telling you now that I will live forever, without any interruption, and I will bring the Geulah exactly as I am here now.” He didn’t say that. But it was clear to us that this was how things stood. So, ultimately, that was what we understood, and understood clearly. That was how one would have understood it on seeing the Rebbe and hearing his words. The other matter is what the Rebbe himself said. The Rebbe said that the leader of the generation is the Moshiach of the generation. The Rebbe said that this generation is the generation of the Geulah. Those are things the Rebbe said. So there is no question of a mistake about that.

15:32 Speaker 4 Now we’ll ask Rabbi Vechter to address the question about those who mock, and the claim some people make that these things aren’t accepted.

15:50 Speaker 5 As for the claim that these things aren’t accepted, there are several principles to keep in mind. First, it says that words that come from the heart enter the heart. That’s written in the Torah, it makes sense, and experience on the ground bears it out. Usually, the people who claim they can plainly see that these things aren’t accepted—and who already have statistics and figures, precise figures—are the very people who themselves have difficulties and doubts. It’s very simple: if someone speaks hesitantly, people won’t accept what he says. And I can testify that I’ve seen just the opposite. What I’ve seen doesn’t contradict what they report; that can be true as well. It depends on who is speaking and how they speak. It’s simple: when a person speaks plainly and with conviction, his words are accepted—perhaps not by everyone, but certainly by the great majority. I’ll tell two short stories. It’s getting late. Two short stories. A Jew called me after Gimmel Tammuz, of course. “My name is so-and-so. Are you Rabbi Vechter?” “Yes.” “Three years ago you wrote an article in Kfar Chabad”—it was my first article in Kfar Chabad, quite a splash—“saying it was one hundred percent certain, not ninety-nine percent, that Moshiach would come, and so on. What do you say now?” He said it in a mocking tone. I told him, “I say exactly the same thing now. I never gave a date, because the Rebbe never gave a date. But everything I said there is true. Not one word of what I said there has changed.” His voice immediately softened; his tone changed at once. “Oh, really?” He started asking a few questions, but that was just to go through the motions. He immediately sensed that the matter was straightforward. He raised a few questions, but that was the best answer for him. It showed him that I had no doubts. The same thing

18:34 Speaker 5 happened with groups of people I spoke to. This, too, was shortly after Gimmel Tammuz. Later, I heard how my words had been received. I heard two kinds of reactions. Some said, “He spoke at length and explained all sorts of things. I didn’t understand all of it, but I could see that he wasn’t confused, and that’s enough for me.” People spend a lot of time investigating and asking how to speak, what to say, and how to say it. Most people on the street don’t understand all these details anyway. The people raising all these questions are the ones writing about them; people on the street don’t know that much. They know the general point. It’s enough for them to see that you aren’t confused. That satisfies them. Anyone who goes out and speaks to people while being certain of it themselves can attest to that. Now, something else came up about mockery. Is there mockery? Yes. That’s true, too. But we mustn’t forget that this has been a test for the entire Jewish people throughout the generations. The Jewish people were mocked by the nations, religious Jews were mocked by secular Jews, and chassidim were mocked by the misnagdim. And we can add that Chabad was mocked even among chassidim themselves. It didn’t start today. So the more Jewish something is, the more it is mocked. If Chabad is the pinnacle of Jewish life, then Chabad’s leader is mocked most of all. [unclear] That’s how it goes. Why be shaken by it? There is mockery. Everyone knows the story involving Ponevezh, don’t they? It was written up here in 5714—a well-known, widely publicized story. One of the leading rabbis here in Israel had passed away, and the rabbi of Ponevezh said that he envied a Chabad bochur. It’s a well-known story. The Rebbe spoke about it at a farbrengen, saying that he had received letters about it. So, according to

21:22 Speaker 5 all the rules of logic, what should the Rebbe’s response have been? First, a telegram to Ponevezh telling him to stop talking like that: “It’s simply spreading Chabad influence.” That would be the first thing. Then the Rebbe would speak publicly and explain that he hadn’t meant it: “He meant this; he didn’t mean that.” Statements would go out explaining his words. What did the Rebbe do? Not only did the Rebbe not say that, and not only did he not remain silent; the Rebbe explained that the rabbi of Ponevezh was right. You can imagine what it was like for a Jew living in Bnei Brak or Jerusalem, surrounded by neighbors who were all talking about it and waiting for the Rebbe at least to deny the story. What happened? Exactly the opposite. The Rebbe encouraged it and showed that he was right. I don’t think that if the rabbi of Ponevezh had asked the Rebbe beforehand whether to speak that way, in that style, he would have received the Rebbe’s approval. That doesn’t mean we should do things to annoy people or do foolish things. But, on the other hand, we also need to know not to be ashamed. Mockery is natural. Anything that goes against the assumptions of the world gets mocked and fought against. It’s very simple. I want to finish with a short story. It’s very late. In the days of the maskilim, there were many maskilim in Vilna. Once they put on a performance, a satire: what would an army of Jews look like? So some young maskilim put on a show. One called out, “Who is the man who has built a house?” Well, a large part of the cast went out, declaring that they had built a house. Then they called out, “Who is the man who has betrothed a woman?” And another few fellows went out—naturally, they had betrothed women. They went on calling out the exemptions, and the hall gradually emptied. Between those who had betrothed women and those who had built houses, the hall was emptying out. Then they called out, “Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted”

23:55 Speaker 5 “Let the fainthearted go back to his home.” So almost the entire hall emptied out, and three old men remained. That’s what an army of Jews looks like—that was the joke they made. But there was one thing they didn’t show in the performance: those very three old men won the war. Yes, everyone else left, but they won. You know, for years people have made fun of Chabad: “Chabad is this, Chabad is that.” Every time there’s something new. But they don’t tell you that, in the end, Chabad won, and they imitate Chabad and carry on what Chabad started. They don’t tell you that. It’s the same now: they mock us, but in the end, with Hashem’s help, we will win. May Hashem help it happen very soon.

24:46 Speaker 6 Amen, may it be so. And as chassidim who long for the Rebbe, we fulfill “and they shall seek”—“and they shall seek Hashem their G-d and David their king.” And we proclaim, “Long live the King,” which also brings about the revelation of Moshiach’s existence. Very soon, all of us together will dance in the joy of the true and complete Geulah with the Rebbe, Moshiach Tzidkeinu, who will be revealed to us here below, within ten handbreadths, in a physical body. May he build the Beis Hamikdash in our days and gather the dispersed of Israel, immediately, right now, right now, right now. Have a good evening. Celebration twenty-nine—a year of Geulah and salvation.