A gathering on 25 Adar 5748 in Kfar Chabad: the Rebbetzin's birthday and the conclusion of Shloshim since her passing

00:02 Speaker 1 During one of the days of shiva, several people from a certain chassidic court came to comfort the Rebbe shlita. The Rebbe asked them, “How is your father?” They said he was weak. So the Rebbe asked, “Why doesn’t he come out to the chassidim?” They said he didn’t have the strength, may we be spared. The Rebbe said, “So what does that matter? Chassidim can bring a Rebbe out.”

00:44 Speaker 2 Bring a Rebbe out.

00:45 Speaker 1 Chassidim, through the power of chassidim, can accomplish things beyond nature, things that natural strength cannot accomplish. These words are a lesson for us. In these days, each of us knows—and there is no need to elaborate or explain—what matters touch us to the very depths of our souls. And we, too, must be open to the power we have, the power of chassidim. Chassidim can bring a Rebbe out. Through the power of chassidim, by gathering together, asking and praying. That is our strength. And, with Hashem’s help, with that strength we will go forward and accomplish what is needed, bring nachas to the Rebbe shlita, and he will lead us to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu very soon indeed.

01:50 Speaker 2 I think this has to penetrate the consciousness of every one of us—men, women and children, at home and throughout the family—that the period we are in right now, these very days, is an extraordinarily decisive one, and success in this period depends on each of us. The Rebbe places hopes, great hopes, in the actions and deeds of chassidim throughout the world: that we will understand and grasp the importance of the situation, throw ourselves together into the work the Rebbe asks of us, bring the galus to an end, and bring the Rebbe’s Geulah. That is the call of the hour. We must recognize how serious this is. “Awake, awake, for your light has come”; “Shake yourself from the dust, arise.” Each person must shake off the gray, everyday concerns, the trivial matters that hardly count when it comes to galus and Moshiach, and devote himself once and for all to everything the Rebbe wants. We have a tendency. We constantly hear from the Rebbe that we are minutes, mere hours, before Moshiach’s coming. Moshiach’s coming goes together with making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms. We have heard this ever since Yud Shvat 5711: we, the seventh generation, must bring the Shechinah down to earth. That is what making a dwelling place in the lower realms means. And we have become accustomed, when events occur—sometimes shocking events, one descent after another—for any chossid who hears the Rebbe’s sichos to think about them and try to connect them to that descent, to the descent down to the lowest possible place, so that afterward, through it, the Essence of the Infinite can be revealed in that very descent. And I think that although it says in Tanya that this world is the lowest world, and we see from everything that happens in this world that there is no world lower than it, nevertheless, sometimes things happen that, seemingly, even with the starkest possible description of how far one can descend in galus, we could not have imagined

04:16 Speaker 2 for ourselves. Now, we have just come through the period of Didan Notzach. What was the period of Didan Notzach? After more than thirty years, someone got up and decided that 770 did not belong to the community of chassidim. After everything that had happened. If we had asked someone four years ago whether, in imagining the greatest descent possible, such a thing could happen, there is no doubt he would have answered no. It was unthinkable. However far down you might try to imagine a descent, you could not imagine such a thing. And yet we saw that it happened, bringing the Rebbe distress and a lack of peace of mind for more than two years. Plain and simple. If we saw that the leader of the Jewish people was not himself, that something had happened—such a great descent, a descent in this world that could not have been imagined, for all the descents and all the exiles and all the destructions, that such a thing could happen. And yet, in the end, the Rebbe rises above it and we say l’chaim. There is some rejoicing that we merited to see Didan Notzach openly, with joy. Then came a descent beyond all proportion. If we had asked any one of us a few months ago whether it was possible to think, whether a person could sit down and, even trying to imagine the worst, picture such an attack on the Rebbe’s home—could such a thing happen? He would have answered no. That was it: we had faith that the Rebbe would soon lead us toward the Geulah. Could there be a descent like this? We could not have imagined it. So we cannot come before Hakadosh Boruch Hu with a complaint—but it is a genuine complaint—when, after we had already merited a little taste of nachas and joy following the matter of

06:26 Speaker 2 [unclear], something like this had to happen. We cannot imagine it. And why am I saying this? Because we heard from the Rebbe on that Shabbos of Parshas Mishpatim, Shabbos Mevarchim Adar, when he spoke about the half-shekel, opening the farbrengen with deeply shocking words. From both sides, from both sides. And there was the matter of providing the remedy before the blow. On the one hand, the Rebbe said that with the half-shekel, one half of the soul’s powers descends below, descends below in order to bring about an ascent in the other half. Then he described what a descent below means. He said: the lowest descent possible is to a place of revulsion. What is furthest from G-dliness? Sin. And as one moves further and further away, descending further and further from G-dliness, the descent can reach, he said, a place of revulsion. It happens that the powers of holiness have to descend all the way there. That is truly a descent, a descent so far that one could not imagine it reaching such a point. Because the purpose of the descent—its purpose, insofar as we can speak about such things—is this: if, G-d forbid, G-d forbid, it does not afterward turn into a visible ascent for each of us, then we must ask: what was this descent for? The descent did not accomplish its purpose; it did not bring the ascent and the elevation that should have resulted from it. And on whom does that depend? On whom—on people outside? On whom does this elevation depend, after a descent that cannot be imagined? On every person sitting in this shul and on every member of Anash, Chabad chassidim throughout the world. It depends on each one whether there will be

08:40 Speaker 2 that incomparable ascent. And the Rebbe spoke about something reaching that far. Right after the shiva, he said that we were entering a different period. We still sometimes hear the Rebbe speak about a period, but the feeling with which we heard him speak then about moving into a new period made us understand that this was a different period. We thought there could never be a descent like this. There are opponents, there are battles, there are all sorts of things, but a descent that could strike so deeply—none of us thought such a thing could happen. So he said a new period was beginning. For what purpose? To move from that period into joy: “You turned my mourning into dancing.” That must, without any doubt, bring a wholly disproportionate ascent and elevation, to the point that the Rebbe said we would be able to say, “I thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me.” Can we imagine the pain the Rebbe is going through, the anguish? This is not a normal time. It is not a normal time by any measure. So if the Rebbe says we must reach an ascent about which we can say, “I thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me”—that he is happy and thanks Hashem for the elevations, for the pain, and for this as well—why does he thank Hashem? Because he sees that an ascent grew from it that could not have grown without the descent. So if the Rebbe expects to see “I thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me,” what are we going to do? Is each of us going to carry on as before, each with his own affairs, while telling the Rebbe, “I’m giving over the whole family,” and working for the Rebbe’s work? We understand that what is needed here is a completely different change, a different degree of dedication and devotion, because this must bring about “I thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me.” And as long as

10:33 Speaker 2 If that ascent does not come through the work and actions of the chassidim, it does not happen. And if “I thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me” is not fulfilled, then we must ask: What was the purpose of the descent of the G-dly powers all the way to the place of death? Why did that descent have to happen? From this we understand how serious the situation is, how much each person needs to pull himself together and act—act on the very things the Rebbe asks of each of us. Some people think, some claim, that there has been some kind of withdrawal, some kind of distancing. They no longer see the same conduct, the same things. But when we look closely at what is happening, we see the opposite: revelations of G-dliness have begun, the like of which we have never seen, actual revelations of G-dliness in many ways. And if we look at the maamar of Yud Shvat this year—we all know that Yud Shvat is connected with the continuation of the histalkus—then surely these matters must have been included in that maamar. The Rebbe spoke about Atik. The revelation of Moshiach is connected with the inner dimension of Atik. And the Rebbe said that Atik is drawn down and comes to each person. He explained that when the Rebbeim spoke about a particular matter, they gave each person the strength to bring it into his own life: not only to the Rebbe who spoke about it, but to the chassidim as well. In other words, the Rebbe spoke about Atik. These are truly new things. What

12:41 Speaker 2 we call Atik is connected with that level, because it was perceptible. I was not there, but I came afterward, during the shiva, and spoke with several people who were at the Yud Shvat farbrengen. They said you could see that a new flow of those lofty powers was being drawn into the world—the inner dimension of Atik, which Eitz Chaim and the Arizal say will be revealed when Moshiach comes. The Rebbe began drawing down this level to every chossid. Just think about that. And he said that the reason the Rebbeim speak about these things is that they bring them about in every chossid. When you reflect on it, you see very lofty things here. The whole conduct, too, and everything that happened after the shiva—the distribution of dollars at every turn. It has been an abundance, a constant abundance, beyond anything we expected possible: hours of it, and then hours more, again, without stopping. Some people may think that when the Rebbe said he would answer less, or answer more, or that he would not decide and people should consult with others, this suggests some further withdrawal. But when you think about it, you see exactly the opposite. You see exactly the opposite: it is a revelation. Sometimes a revelation cannot come face-to-face, in a way that can be received directly, because those below are not vessels for it. Chassidus explains that when a revelation comes from an exceedingly lofty place, it cannot always be received openly and calmly, before the recipient’s eyes, because one cannot see it. So it comes as a kind of glimpse, through various things that each person sees, as explained in several places in Chassidus. We need to understand that when the Rebbe said a new era was beginning, he also meant on his part—in terms of his influence, in terms of

14:39 Speaker 2 the abundance he bestows. And through that, a new abundance has begun for the chassidim as well, something that did not exist until now. It must find expression; it must be revealed in the actions of each of us. Everything we have done until now must be utterly incomparable to what we do in this new era. Our devotion to the things the Rebbe asks of us must be expressed in studying his teachings. We need to devote ourselves to studying the Rebbe’s sichos, and everyone must set aside regular times to study the Rebbe’s teachings. Each person has his own shlichus, and each has been involved until now in the Rebbe’s work assigned to him. There must be an increase above and beyond that. Why? Because there has been that descent of the holy powers, as the Rebbe said—a descent beyond all proportion, down to the place of death. So, as water reflects a face back to a face, there must be a corresponding action, purification and revelation within each of us, beyond all proportion to what came before. This is what depends on us. And there is no doubt, no doubt, that the Rebbe is watching, and that the Rebbe thinks and hopes the chassidim will understand this after he has said it both by hint and openly. Now he spoke about the shluchim, and here he [unclear] very, very strongly—as they say, he cried out very strongly. We all know what Likkutei Torah says about “very, very”: it means bringing the boundless into action. In other words, he demands this of the shluchim, and he says: Everyone who is a shliach of, of, of the Rebbe [unclear]—to fulfill the purpose. Now that there is work to be done outside, this is the matter of the red heifer. And the Rebbe did not

16:39 Speaker 2 say that—or I do not know, perhaps he did. In any case, we know what is written in Igeres Hakodesh. Perhaps he mentioned it in the sicha; I have not seen the transcript. Igeres Hakodesh says that Miriam’s passing is placed next to the red heifer: just as the red heifer purifies, so Miriam’s passing purifies. It is specifically the passing of Miriam. And where does this have an effect? Even outside—even, as Igeres Hakodesh says, within the three completely impure kelipos. Even there, in the place of death, it purifies from the impurity of death. Surely that was a clear allusion to this subject, to what happened. This is the passing of Miriam: a purification that reaches even the place of the three completely impure kelipos. And that is the work of the shluchim. This work must be “very, very” great, beyond all proportion to what came before. If we truly cry out “Ad masai”—“How much longer?”—and I have no doubt that everyone here, together with his family, is truly crying out “Ad masai”; and we are all in a state of shock, where at times we ourselves cannot quite grasp what is happening—then that cry of “Ad masai” must truly lead each of us to devotion and dedication. I want to conclude with one point that perhaps can be suggested. Incidentally, regarding the whole subject of when the Rebbe says to ask him and when not to ask him about certain things, so that, on the contrary, he will have more time to devote to Torah study: perhaps we can suggest that when the Rebbe needs more time for Torah study, it means he is preparing the Torah of Moshiach. That is the point. We should not understand this

18:30 Speaker 2 incorrectly: he is preparing for the revelation of the Torah of Moshiach. He needs to devote himself to this and prepare it for everyone, so that it can be revealed to each person. And if we devote ourselves to the things the Rebbe wants, then, without the evil eye, this new era will bring revelation—and this is simply the actual coming of Moshiach, the revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu in the most concrete sense. Then we will truly merit that the cry of the Alter Rebbe, which rises from the depths of the soul of every member of the community of chassidim, will be heard, and [unclear] with the revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, now, immediately.