Ears to Hear 13 | "Pointing with His Finger and Saying 'This One'"

00:00 Speaker 1 And Hashem did not give you a heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

00:08 Speaker 2 Ears to Hear. Audio programs for the students of the Temimim, from the worldwide Ata organization.

00:15 Speaker 1 So anyone who comes along today and says, “But the Rambam has answers against this,” is simply distorting the words of our Sages and the words of the prophets and holy figures of Israel. What is accepting his kingship? It is the height of hiskashrus with the Rebbe. All these years, we wanted to connect ourselves to the Rebbe. Here we accept the authority of a king—of the King—and the Rebbe encourages it. Of course it has to come from the people. Certainly it has to be our call.

00:45 Speaker 2 Shalom aleichem to all the students of the Temimim in Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch yeshivos throughout the Holy Land and the entire world. We are now beginning a special program in the Ears to Hear audio series, a program steeped in and permeated with a spirit of steadfast hiskashrus with the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach shlita, and with our main concern: the coming of the days of Moshiach. “He points with his finger and says, ‘This is it.’” In this program, we would like to speak with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Elishansky, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chassidei Chabad Lubavitch in Haifa, about the central place of Melech HaMoshiach in the process of Geulah even before the Geulah; about the shift that took place in 5751 regarding the identification of the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach, both within Chabad and outward-facing, to the entire world; and about how we must follow the path our King set out for us, the royal road, without veering right or left on the matter of accepting his kingship. Let’s begin now with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Elishansky. Shalom aleichem, Rabbi Elishansky. Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach.

01:57 Speaker 1 Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach. How are you, Rabbi Mendy?

01:59 Speaker 2 Boruch Hashem, boruch Hashem. We have the privilege of meeting with the students of the Temimim on this program to discuss a very particular subject within the matters of Geulah and Moshiach: the identity of Melech HaMoshiach before the Geulah. So—

02:10 Speaker 1 Boruch Hashem.

02:11 Speaker 2 This subject already has the rabbi fired up.

02:14 Speaker 1 This subject is important to every single person.

02:17 Speaker 2 Boruch Hashem. So let’s begin with an initial question, one that will lay the groundwork for the whole conversation, for the whole program. Before we focus on how central Melech HaMoshiach is before the Geulah, in our lives and in general, let’s first take a moment to understand whether there was a shift at all on the Rebbe’s part regarding Moshiach’s identity. Because one could still say that things are vague, that not everything is proof and not everything is clear. So before we talk about how important this is, or how necessary it is to identify Moshiach before the Geulah, was there, in the first place, a shift on the Rebbe’s part in this matter?

02:52 Speaker 1 Why ask whether there was a shift regarding Moshiach’s identity? Ask whether there was a shift.

02:57 Speaker 2 In general.

02:58 Speaker 1 If you limit the shift to that alone, then you really do start asking questions. But first of all, there was a shift. Anyone who takes the sichos of 5751 sees a shift, particularly the Rebbe’s “The time for your redemption has arrived.” What’s more, there were Jews who wanted to publicize the subject of Moshiach. I’m not talking yet about the Rebbe being Melech HaMoshiach—we’ll get to that shortly—but about this itself: that this is the last generation of galus and the first generation of Geulah. Rabbi Alter Eliyahu Friedman did not receive the Rebbe’s permission for the introduction to his book MiGolah LiGeulah, and he himself related this several times back then. He writes explicitly that when he submitted it to the Rebbe in the 5740s, it was absolutely forbidden. Then suddenly, in 5751, he thought: if the Rebbe is already speaking about Moshiach with such a storm, saying, “The time for your redemption has arrived,” and is already beginning to speak about the matter—and even before “the time for redemption has arrived,” the Rebbe had begun lifting us to another level. You call that a shift? What a shift! There was already a tremendous storm: the world was ready for Geulah and was being shaken in anticipation of it. He submitted it to the Rebbe, asking if he could, and received [unclear] such a strong answer. So he himself writes that a shift had taken place. He himself speaks about it. So—

04:05 Speaker 2 So there was a shift—a general shift concerning Geulah.

04:08 Speaker 1 A general shift concerning Geulah, yes. People began speaking about Moshiach as something present and real, being revealed now. The Rebbe had always spoken about its being revealed now, but all at once the Rebbe brought it out into the open with tremendous force. So what does it mean that there was a shift? With regard to bringing the identity to the fore, there was certainly a shift.

04:23 Speaker 2 In other words, even before the book Yechi HaMelech, you take MiGolah LiGeulah as a precedent, without any connection yet to Moshiach’s identity—

04:31 Speaker 1 And there’s a shift and then there’s a shift. I want people to understand what “a shift” means in general. I’m talking about the shift toward Geulah, as you said, but I want to explain that there are different kinds of shifts. There was a shift concerning the broader message. Concerning the specific identity, there was never a shift.

04:46 Speaker 2 Avraham Pariz [?]?

04:48 Speaker 1 Avraham Pariz [?] farbrenged with Temimim: “The Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach, the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach.” One of the early shluchim in the United States walked past him and said, “Tell me, who told you to farbreng with people like that?” He was farbrenging with the Temimim in a sukkah near [unclear]. He said to him, “Who asked you to farbreng like that?” Rabbi Kazenovsky says, “No, I write to the Rebbe about this, and he has never objected.” Or when they publicized it by helicopter in 5730, or when—Rabbi Ashkenazi a"h related that in 5730 he was upstairs in the library and heard Reb Chatzhe [?] Abramsky speaking there with Rabbi Eliezer Plotzkinsky. They were talking, and Plotzkinsky said to him, “[unclear] in Chabad, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Moshiach’s Sefer Torah, [unclear]. I’m already ready.” So even then they spoke about his identity, and even then there were those who said, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe is pointing to himself.” It was in the newspapers. Recently my brother-in-law, Moshiach Friedman [?], published newspapers from that time. In other words, it reached the Rebbe; people submitted it to the Rebbe. The Rebbe did not speak out against it. For some reason. In 5745 the Rebbe spoke about how one may not proclaim, “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu Verabbeinu,” like Hallel, “the Rebbe is our righteous Moshiach.”

05:56 Speaker 2 And essentially, it went from something among individuals to something public.

05:58 Speaker 1 I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it, but what’s clear is that—after all, they had sung that niggun before, but in the middle of a farbrengen they suddenly began singing it, and apparently there was a certain excitement there, and the Rebbe stopped it immediately and explained. I was there. I was a child, but I remember the shouting and the—

06:17 Speaker 2 On Rosh Hashanah 5745.

06:18 Speaker 1 It was in 5745, Tishrei 5745. I remember where Wolper [?] was standing, and across from him—I remember the look on the Rebbe’s face, the shouting. It was 5745, and the Rebbe said, “A soul that breaks through boundaries—this is Moshiach.” For us, whether it is forbidden or permitted depends on just one thing: What does the son of Amram say?

06:40 Speaker 2 But can you let me make this precise?

06:41 Speaker 1 If there was a shift, it was like this: when chassidim spoke about the Rebbe being Moshiach, that was something positive. When they brought it out into the open, there was a shift.

06:51 Speaker 2 Right.

06:52 Speaker 1 First of all, among ourselves people always spoke about it. And when it was something like that farbrengen of Reb Avraham Pariz, and he would write to the Rebbe about it—what’s the question at all?

07:01 Speaker 2 Or the times the Rebbe spoke of the Frierdiker Rebbe as Moshiach.

07:04 Speaker 1 That’s already—the Rebbe himself—

07:05 Speaker 2 The Frierdiker Rebbe is Moshiach.

07:06 Speaker 1 The Rebbe himself said that. Or “Avinu Malkeinu.” Once, my brother was in Mexico, and Markowitz, a Chabad benefactor there, asked Rabbi Groner, “Tell me something you remember from the Rebbe concerning Moshiach.” So he said, “I remember that at a children’s gathering in 5707, the Rebbe spoke to J.J. Hecht”—he was a young man then—

07:27 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

07:28 Speaker 1 “—and told him to gather the children beneath the Rebbe’s home. He told him they should say, ‘Avinu Malkeinu, send a complete recovery to our master, teacher and Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.’”

07:34 Speaker 2 In 5707.

07:35 Speaker 1 In 5707. J.J. Hecht was startled. He said, “I can’t.” So the Rebbe said to him, “All right, you can’t.” He stepped aside, and the Rebbe stood up and said it to them himself.

07:42 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

07:43 Speaker 1 So speaking about the Rebbe being Moshiach—certainly. That’s the most straightforward thing, right?

07:49 Speaker 2 But taking it from there and bringing it out into the open—that was [unclear].

07:52 Speaker 1 That’s where there was a shift. What was the shift? It became something the Rebbe wanted and encouraged—and not only encouraged, but pushed for. And people who don’t open their eyes or read the history—chas veshalom that we should call it history, but I mean the sequence of events—are simply burying their heads in the sand.

08:14 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

08:14 Speaker 1 Burying their heads in the sand. When someone comes along and says, “Where did you get this idea that you have to proclaim that the Rebbe is Moshiach? It’s from some half a sicha, some hint.” Excuse me, I’m not talking only about the fact that there is an entire sicha saying that one must proclaim “Yechi HaMelech.” In practice, they did not proclaim “Yechi HaMelech” afterward.

08:28 Speaker 2 For all sorts of reasons.

08:29 Speaker 1 If they had proclaimed it, the Rebbe would have accepted it as a matter of course, as we saw later when someone was stirred to do so in 5751. But no, because it didn’t—it didn’t work. It didn’t work.

08:39 Speaker 2 That doesn’t mean it hadn’t been written before.

08:40 Speaker 1 Yes, but the main thing is that you come and try to prove from the fact that the Rebbe said “sorry” and they did not make an announcement then, that even afterward—this is burying your head in the sand. I do not even want to use a harsher word than “Pravda,” for a very simple reason: it is a sin against the truth. We have a teacher, we have a “son of Amram,” and each of us is commanded to investigate the matter.

09:04 Speaker 2 So how do you explain the fact that people did not wake up at that time? They will tell you there were obstacles and delays, and this and that.

09:10 Speaker 1 I don’t know. Look, even in 5751 the Rebbe said [unclear]. But I’m not investigating what happened; that’s spilled milk. The Rebbe says to one of the shluchim: What happened until now is a matter for the angels above. What interests me—the Rebbe writes to someone—is whether, from now on, you are doing what needs to be done in cooperation with Tzeirei Chabad. In other words, what are you doing now about the campaign the Rebbe called “welcoming Moshiach”? That is the main concern of this time.

09:39 Speaker 2 So if we want to be precise, we come to 5751. When exactly can you point to it? Thirteen people who decided, “Come on, let’s [unclear].”

09:46 Speaker 1 I want to be precise. I only—we only used the word “turning point.” Bring evidence. What was it? When was it? Look, there is this whole period from the end of 5751. From when the Rebbe said “I have surely remembered you,” people in Chabad began speaking about it openly, at first at farbrengens. Then came 5752, and especially 2 Nissan, when Springer's interview came out, right at the beginning of the campaign with an advertisement in The New York Times. I remember it as if it were today. He asked the Rebbe for approval and received it, and he wrote to the Rebbe that he was going to publicize that the Rebbe is Moshiach and the matter of accepting his kingship.

10:19 Speaker 2 Those advertisements were on 3 Nissan. The three advertisements that—

10:22 Speaker 1 On 3 Nissan. There was something before that too.

10:24 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

10:25 Speaker 1 I heard it from a reliable source; I heard this too. My father also told me that he heard from a reliable source that the Rebbe even paid for the advertisement in The New York Times.

10:34 Speaker 2 Itzik Springer's.

10:35 Speaker 1 Itzik Springer's. What is there to discuss here? And he wrote to the Rebbe that he was publicizing it. Who can stand against the fact that Rabbi Dovid Nachshon began collecting signatures accepting the kingship, and the Rebbe wrote, “If so, all the better; let them continue”? And who? Shlomo ran with the most responses from the Rebbe about accepting the kingship. So I’ll explain the responses. The turning point was that chassidim began accepting the Rebbe’s kingship by signing, calling him “our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach,” and saying, “We accept your kingship.” When they wrote to the Rebbe that they were publicizing it, they received endless blessings for it. They saw that the Rebbe wanted it. The Rebbe encouraged it. What more do you need than this: three women came to the Rebbe in 5752, on Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh [unclear], and told the Rebbe, “Following your sicha, and following [unclear], we have taken it upon ourselves to be stubborn. We are going to hold a gathering for accepting the kingship.” The Rebbe gave them such a long blessing—really long and extraordinary. Then they wrote to the Rebbe: “We’ve decided to make an album about it. And not only that, we’ve decided to put it in the press and invite everyone.” And they decided more than that. Afterward, he wrote to the Rebbe about linking it with twenty-six locations. Chaim Boruch Halberstam[?] said he had never received such an encouraging response from the Rebbe, expressing so much nachas. The Rebbe wrote to him of “growing and growing nachas” because he had connected twenty-six locations to the gathering where Chabad people accepted the kingship.

12:01 Speaker 2 So essentially, you could say that it began in 5751 with the very proclamation of “Yechi” in front of the Rebbe—something that had not been customary before.

12:08 Speaker 1 At one point the call was “Yechi Adoneinu.” That was on—

12:11 Speaker 2 6 Iyar 5751.

12:13 Speaker 1 6 Iyar, but that was not the main thing. The main thing was that in 5751, and especially in 5752, they began collecting signatures accepting the kingship, at home or outside. And I want to explain. Among chassidim, as I said earlier, it is simply a given that you live with the knowledge that the Rebbe is Moshiach. And more than that: how can you not live with the sichos? When you study the sichos, you know—and why do I say there is no difference at all between inside and outside? Because once you study the sichos, you know that the Rebbe published these sichos in the Algemeiner Journal, and they also appeared in Hebrew in Kfar Chabad. What is written in those sichos? The Rebbe says about himself, “I am Melech HaMoshiach.” First he says—

12:47 Speaker 2 In addition to what—

12:48 Speaker 1 The Rebbe said, “The leader of our generation is Moshiach Tzidkeinu.” Suddenly we heard it in the clearest possible terms.

12:51 Speaker 2 Kuntres Beis Rabbeinu.

12:53 Speaker 1 What?

12:53 Speaker 2 Kuntres Beis Rabbeinu.

12:55 Speaker 1 In Bavel. After that, “Your redeemer, Menachem, is his name.” After that, it continued, and the Rebbe clarified and revealed it more and more in the sichos of 5752. But even before that, there were the Rebbe’s words that the older Temimim repeated to us when we came for Tishrei 5752. I remember the older Temimim telling me, “We were here when the Rebbe said ‘Melech HaMoshiach.’”

13:17 Speaker 2 You’re saying this was even before the turning point of 5753, when “Yechi Adoneinu” began clearly, with the satellite broadcast and all that. You’re taking it back to 5751 and saying, “This is where it all happened.”

14:49 Speaker 1 The turning point—

14:49 Speaker 2 Everything there was a development.

14:50 Speaker 1 The turning point came when they decided to publicize the acceptance of the kingship outside. 5753 was not the beginning; it was a continuation. It was an important event. It was dramatic. It was what you might call the king’s seal. When the Rebbe came out for the coronation on 10 Shvat 5753—and I’ll repeat here things that are being erased from history—Rabbi Chodakov did not publicize it. In Tzfas, we received the fax from him that was circulated then, saying that he went in to the Rebbe and told him there was opposition to the Rebbe coming out on the great day of 10 Shvat. Did the Rebbe want to come out? He asked the Rebbe. Did the Rebbe want to stay in? The Rebbe told him no. The Rebbe—so he asked the Rebbe, “Does the Rebbe know they are going to proclaim the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach?” The Rebbe told him yes, and he ruled that they should go out. It was explicit then. Where is that in today’s publications? There were all those who tried to prevent it, and Chodakov came and asked the Rebbe these questions, and said that the Rebbe wanted it.

15:41 Speaker 2 When people raise questions, they prefer questions and doubts to clear facts. So...

15:48 Speaker 1 Look, the Rebbe himself said that we already need to see his revelation so that the questions will end, with Moshiach in actuality. But I want to talk about documented things. Everyone who asked the Rebbe for a blessing received approval and encouragement, and even money.

16:02 Speaker 2 And we’ll get into that here. If—and who—

16:04 Speaker 1 And if someone wrote to the Rebbe, “This bothers me,” then I say to him, “Then don’t.”

16:07 Speaker 2 Okay, so let’s take a moment to define this point, to connect the pieces and draw a clear line on this subject. I mean the positive and negative responses in 5752—I mean. By 5753, Boruch Hashem, things had spread much more widely. It rests on this point, on this foundation: the difference in approach.

16:25 Speaker 1 There were all sorts of things; there were different responses even about Moshiach himself.

16:28 Speaker 2 But I mean the approach—the chassidim’s approach.

16:31 Speaker 1 There is no doubt that among chassidim there was a great awakening then about accepting the kingship. Some opposed it. It did not seem right to them. You have to understand, it was something new, something sudden, and [unclear]; some people found it difficult. So naturally a debate developed around it. And the Rebbe did not say, “Go and say—or prove—that I am Melech HaMoshiach.” But the Rebbe did say, in his own words in [unclear] 5752, that part of publicizing Moshiach is “ver iz Moshiach, vos iz Moshiach”—who Moshiach is and what Moshiach is. Go and speak about who Moshiach is and what Moshiach is. The Rebbe did not put that in writing, though it is fairly explicit, but the Rebbe said it. The whole sicha is talking about the Rebbe, and I’ll explain why. When the Rebbe says that something new has now emerged concerning Moshiach—after all, in volume 21, in the sicha on Tazria-Metzora, the Rebbe explicitly says there were generations that did their avodas Hashem separately and held their belief in Moshiach separately. They believed, but the innovation in our generation is Tazria-Metzora together: within Tazria, you can already see the Geulah, Metzora. In other words, the idea of living with Moshiach at every moment, in everything—the Rebbe said that long ago. So what was new? The Rebbe says there is now a new gateway, the new thing that has now emerged: to accept Moshiach Tzidkeinu. What is new about that? Living with Moshiach? I recently asked a group of girls at a farbrengen—a huge group from one of the major seminaries in Eretz Yisroel—I asked them what the innovation was here. They began offering various explanations, and I showed them that all of those were already in the sichos. I drew especially on volume 21, the sicha on Tazria-Metzora. That is already there in volume 21. So in the end they reached the conclusion themselves that the Rebbe is speaking about accepting him. And when the Rebbe says that his shlichus has begun. But

18:05 Speaker 1 Even someone who wants to argue—fine, but there’s one thing you can’t argue with: the Rebbe encouraged it and paid for it. I want to tell a story here, and with it deliver what you might call the final hammer blow. N’shei Chabad. It’s a shame I don’t have the exact wording. Maybe I can even read it.

18:24 Speaker 2 At the 28 Av gathering.

18:26 Speaker 1 After the 28 Av gathering, they wrote to the Rebbe: “We want to be stubborn.” The Rebbe says that it is in the merit of N’shei Chabad—the righteous women of this generation—that the Geulah will come. And if I may say so, as Reb Zushe Posner said—sorry, Reb Zushe the partisan—Reb Zushe the partisan once said, “The time has come when the Rebbe can no longer rely on the chassidim; he has to rely on the women and children.” We won’t use that now to beat anyone up, but we certainly have to learn from it. They heard that the Rebbe was speaking about and encouraging acceptance of his kingship. The same group that had said they wanted to be stubborn informed the Rebbe that they planned to hold a gathering celebrating a king and queen. That is what they took upon themselves ahead of Tammuz. At Chanukah, looking ahead to Tammuz, they took upon themselves to hold a celebration to accept the kingship of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. And right at the outset, the Rebbe wrote to them about it: “I will mention it at the Ohel. The time is opport, and the matters and the need are great,” and so on. When they saw that response, they said, “We have encouragement from the Rebbe.” You have to understand: all of this was new, and they were learning what the Rebbe intended and how to be stubborn in order to bring the Geulah. So the moment they received that encouragement—they were doing this out of stubbornness—they gathered again and took upon themselves to publicize it through every electronic medium and in the American press. Not only that, they decided to connect as many other women’s gatherings as possible with theirs by satellite. Then, ahead of Shabbos, ahead of Chanukah, they wrote to the Rebbe—either at Chanukah or just before it—that women in a number of other places around the world would gather at the same time as N’shei Chabad in Crown Heights and accept the Rebbe’s kingship. They also wrote that it was being publicized in the press everywhere. What did the Rebbe tell them?

20:30 Speaker 1 Listen to the response: “Received. The response is yes, and may it be an ongoing undertaking of gathering together. The time is opport. As our Sages said, ‘Whoever adds, more is added for him,’ and especially the blessing of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, whose addition is...” and so on. “The time is opport during the continuing days of Chanukah, when the light increases from day to day.” Notice that the Rebbe connects that daily increase with “a mitzvah is a lamp and Torah is light,” and so on. An increase in the lamp of mitzvah and the light of Torah—the light of Chanukah—in connection with accepting the kingship. “[unclear] I will mention it at the Ohel.” Well, a response like that? So they prepared an album showing what was planned and sent it in to the Rebbe. In the middle of his Melaveh Malkah meal, according to the secretaries and attendants, the Rebbe answered them about the album they had submitted. “It was already included in the blessing in the previous response.” But the Rebbe was in the middle of Melaveh Malkah! When does the Rebbe stop? This was connected with Dovid Malka Meshicha, King Dovid, Moshiach, so the Rebbe stopped in the middle of the meal. The Rebbe wrote, “Included in the blessing for the previous letter, the one mentioned above.” In other words, they had made an album of all their press publicity on Geulah, Moshiach, and acceptance of the kingship, and submitted that album of press coverage to the Rebbe. The Rebbe wrote to them, “Included in the blessing for the previous letter. In that blessing I already spoke about adding to the gathering, but it should go from strength to strength, as more days, more auspicious days, and more meritorious actions are added. And action is the main thing, as ruled by [unclear]. I will mention it at the Ohel.” With responses like these, what more do you want? Now listen. Women in London wrote to the Rebbe that they had taken upon themselves classes on Geulah and Moshiach. They had avoided accepting the Rebbe’s kingship. The Rebbe wrote to them, “May they go from strength to strength. Blessing.” Then the Rebbe wrote, “And surely you will be in contact with N’shei Chabad here regarding their recent celebration.” N’shei Chabad—

22:31 Speaker 1 London received such a pointed answer from the Rebbe. It was as if he were saying, “Come on, don’t take the long way around. Get in touch.” They needed to hold a gathering to accept the kingship. The whole world was holding gatherings to accept the kingship, while they were holding a gathering about Geulah and Moshiach. Do you understand? Yes, there is what the Rebbe said, and there is what he did not say. So the Rebbe told them, “I want you to be in contact here.” Do you know what happened? At one of the gatherings, Rebbetzin Ashkenazi—may she be well for many good, long years, the wife of the late rabbi—called out, “Yechi Adoneinu HaRebbe.” She asked what had happened downstairs, and the next day the Rebbe gave her such encouragement at dollars. Righteous women.

23:21 Speaker 3 The Rebbe saw that the people were coming forward with such readiness. The Rebbe simply encouraged and pushed them forward.

23:29 Speaker 1 The Rebbe encouraged, pushed, and guided. In an explicit sicha, the Rebbe said that the proclamation “Long live my lord, King Dovid, forever” signifies the victory of Dovid’s kingship; before that, he speaks about “Long live the king.” When the righteous women of N’shei Chabad took this up in such a way—now listen to a story. I heard this from people who were directly involved: the parents of my brother-in-law, Rabbi Nisenblatt. There was a dispute in Jerusalem. The director of N’shei Chabad in Jerusalem said, “It drives people away. We mustn’t speak about Moshiach’s identity.” But the righteous Rebbetzin Nechama Greisman, a”h, the shlucha, had by then spent fourteen or fifteen years on shlichus in Jerusalem. She said, “I want to publicize it, have people sign on to accepting the kingship, and hold a celebration.” There was a dispute, so they decided to submit two letters to the Rebbe. One letter was from the director, explaining why not. The second was separate. Rebbetzin Nechama Greisman’s decision was that she would not even ask whether to do it; she would ask for a blessing for holding a gathering to accept the kingship. They sent the letters together. Rabbi Groner testified: “I brought them to the Rebbe. The Rebbe first looked at one, then at the other, and set them aside. Later, the Rebbe took Rebbetzin Nechama Greisman’s letter and wrote, ‘I will mention it at the Ohel, and may the undertaking continue.’ He gave a great blessing, and set the other letter aside.” Then the Rebbe told Rabbi Groner, “Give them the answer”—the answer on Rebbetzin Nechama Greisman’s letter, in which the Rebbe encouraged it. So anyone who comes along today and says, “The Rebbe prevented it,” and that there were answers against it, is simply distorting the words of the Sages and the words of the prophet and holy one of Israel. People ask: What is accepting the kingship? What is accepting the kingship? It is the pinnacle of—

25:10 Speaker 1 hiskashrus to the Rebbe. All these years we wanted to connect ourselves to the Rebbe. Here we accept the authority of the king—the King—and the Rebbe encourages it. Of course it has to come from the people. Of course there has to be a call from us. What does “They will seek Hashem their G-d and Dovid their king” mean? At the entire Chabad men’s gathering, they told the Rebbe at dollars—they passed by for dollars and said, “We want to hold a gathering of ‘They will seek Hashem their G-d and Dovid their king.’” The Rebbe encouraged them, smiled, and gave a dollar. And afterward, when they brought the Rebbe the drum from Mrs. Chava Cohen with “Yechi Adoneinu” written on it—what encouragement, what a smile! The Rebbe said, “[unclear].” The Rebbe took it, and there is a photograph of it. Who is it, then, who is distorting the Rebbe’s words? And afterward it was no longer expressed in speech; it was expressed in action. For a year and a half, with the strength he had left, the Rebbe encouraged “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed” with all his might. That is the message, the motto, what the Rebbe gave to the whole world. Yud Shvat, [unclear], broadcast [unclear]. However much they tried to dissuade the Rebbe from going, the Rebbe called out to the attendants and secretaries, “Nu, nu,” so they would take him to the gathering. The Rebbe came out and encouraged the entire crowd [unclear], with media everywhere on all sides. I want to sum up. That the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach is something engraved in us. How did that apostate Shimon put it? “We cannot prevail over the chassidim, because they imbibe their faith in the tzaddikim from their mothers.” That the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach is something one imbibes while still in one’s mother’s womb. It is not a question. That we live with it as a chossid’s hiskashrus to the Rebbe is certain; there is no question at all. What is new is that accepting the kingship, accepting the authority of everything that exists in some way in reality, comes not only from hiskashrus; it comes from—and not

27:04 Speaker 1 Only out of kabbolas ol to one’s Rebbe. This is accepting the kingship of Melech HaMoshiach, with everything that entails. That is certainly a tremendous step forward. For us, the Rebbe was always Moshiach, but this brings us to a new place.

27:17 Speaker 4 That really is an interesting question. Until now we’ve been discussing how the Rebbe, of course, proposes—leads the whole matter—

27:21 Speaker 1 Before that—wait, I understand, I understand that you want to ask another question. I’m trying to see where you’re going, but, with your permission, we have to sum this up first. Remember your question, because I want to finish the summary. The point is that we certainly live with Moshiach. Call it a turning point, a major turning point; call it—call it, uh, “something has changed in my heart.” It doesn’t matter. What matters most is that all of Chassidus was born as a foretaste of Moshiach and was born for Moshiach. Then the Rebbe comes, and the moment arrives when the Rebbe says to insist. Afterward, rabbis gather in Kfar Chabad and decide on a halachic ruling that he is Melech HaMoshiach. Then there are signatures, and the Rebbe encourages it endlessly. So what is the new development? Is it the earlier rejection, or is it the permission the Rebbe now gives? There is a concept in halachah called—I’m adding something to the summary—“a novelty extends only as far as its specific innovation.” That is also a saying of our Sages, and there is something even stronger. When someone introduces something new, departing from the usual practice, he has to bring all the sources, all the support, and all the proofs for the change he wants to make. Someone might say, “But he said no several times, and before this the matter was fairly hidden”—its public expression was fairly hidden. If the Rebbe suddenly gives approval for it and encourages it, that is the new development. And when you introduce something new, you have to give it your full authority and substantiate it. So people come and ask, “What did the Rebbe change? Prove it.” It’s the other way around. If even once he changed what he had said, then the burden of proof is on whoever says he still held the same position. Because the moment the Rebbe changes from what he said—though, so to speak, he isn’t changing. It simply hadn’t yet reached

29:12 Speaker 1 the time.

29:12 Speaker 5 Revelation.

29:13 Speaker 1 It’s revelation; it’s a process, with stages. G-d forbid we should call it a change. The Rebbe never changes. That’s why I don’t even like the word “turning point,” because it suggests change. G-d forbid. If the Rebbe reaches the stage where he introduces this, reveals it—new in terms of its revelation—and brings it into the world, and he gives permission, then, since this is such a major new development and he has put his seal on it, everything else falls away. After all, the Rebbe knows that he had said no all along. If he says yes even once, that means something here has changed. So the one who has to bring proof is the one who says nothing has changed. Those who say it has changed don’t have to prove it—especially since they aren’t saying he changed. They’re saying the time has come. The time for the Geulah has come. The time for revelation has come. Yes, they aren’t the ones who need to prove anything. When the halachic authority changes his ruling, he knows the halachah about not changing it; if he does change it, he has already taken responsibility for everything. And we are chassidim, so we’re with him. So what are you coming to ask? What’s the question at all? That’s the summary. Once the Rebbe began giving approval not only for signing a declaration accepting his kingship—which means that a chossid must accept his kingship upon himself, a chossid’s personal work—but also encouraging people to publicize it and bring it to others; and afterward the Rebbe took it further, giving approval to publicize it throughout the press and everywhere, to bring people to accept his kingship, encouraging it again and again. Above all, there then came an entire year of the Rebbe’s revelation before all the nations, and despite everyone who tried to interfere, the Rebbe came out before everyone. So if seeing and hearing a tzaddik should have an effect that is never forgotten,

30:57 Speaker 1 what about the bodily movements of every one of the tzaddik’s 248 limbs and 365 sinews, which he shows everyone? What question can there be? Especially since nothing happens with the Rebbe that does not affect all the worlds. What did the Rebbe say just before the first proclamation was made in front of him at a farbrengen? Before Rabbi David Nachshon came to make the proclamation, the Rebbe said, “And now a proclamation will be heard throughout the entire seder hishtalshelus, [unclear].” Then Rabbi Goldman signaled David Nachshon to come forward, and afterward Shemaryahu Arl[?] came too, and of course Avi Tao[?], and he shouted, “Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, forever and ever!” And those who were there, both before and after Gimmel Tammuz, all testified and said, “We had never seen the Rebbe derive such pleasure.” They all testified to it. So what is there even to discuss?

31:47 Speaker 5 So, to sum up, if we see how strongly the Rebbe pushes and encourages this, and of course we follow that course—we are Moshe’s people[?], with the Rebbe in everything, certainly in the Rebbe’s revelation as Melech HaMoshiach. I’m interested specifically in how this relates to the Temimim; after all, this is a program for the Temimim. We, too, certainly [unclear] in dealing with—

32:01 Speaker 1 Is that what you wanted to ask?

32:03 Speaker 5 Yes. In terms of our inner readiness for the Geulah, how much does the centrality of the Rebbe’s identity as Melech HaMoshiach give us something special in our fundamental preparation for Moshiach?

32:15 Speaker 1 I don’t understand. [unclear] A Tomim is born for kabbolas ol. All the declarations you sign are kabbolas ol. This is—this is basic: if it isn’t found within him, nothing of holiness will remain at all. That’s the ABCs; it’s the very first lesson. It’s the ABCs for all of us. And [unclear]. But in any case, we have an animal soul, and we aren’t completely perfect. So when the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, tells you, “I’m watching over you,” or, “I’m with you on your shlichus in a special way,” it gives you an awakening. People often say, “The Rebbe instructed me.” What does “instructed me” mean? He instructed me. Then it is much more alive for me. So when you’ve accepted the Rebbe’s kingship, you live with him 24/7. He is the king here with me, and he gives me the strength to accept his kingship. All this work isn’t only outward-facing, so that everyone knows Chabad now lives with Moshiach. It’s inward-facing too. By the way, it takes many, many years. But whenever there was trouble, I remember the chareidim in our city, Haifa, saying, “Oh, we need to call a fast.” And you’d tell them, “Friends, why fast? Talk about Moshiach! Ask Moshiach to solve all the problems.” No—there was trouble here, an epidemic there, [unclear], and terror attacks. Yesterday, for the first time, there was a notice in the shtieblach of Haifa. They announced a gathering in Haifa under the banner “Reveal the glory of Your kingship upon us,” to hasten the Geulah with mercy. The word “Moshiach” is a little difficult for them, but it was signed by the admired Sephardic rabbi of the Sephardic kollel, Rabbi Bargel[?], an outstanding Jew, and by the brother of Rabbi Grossman of Migdal HaEmek, together with Rabbi Grossman. Two Jews—one a Satmar-Vizhnitzer and the other [unclear]. Both are calling on the whole community to attend a gathering tonight under the banner “Reveal the glory of Your kingship upon us.”

34:01 Speaker 5 In other words, the idea of Moshiach is getting through.

34:02 Speaker 1 The idea of Moshiach is getting through. In the end, they’ll also proclaim the reality of Moshiach and—and point to someone. I mean, technically, there’s no way around that. I’m not talking now about the Rebbe’s perspective—about accepting his kingship, or about the fact that the Rebbe gave his approval, encouraged it, instructed it, and even funded it. I’m not talking about that. I mean from a practical standpoint: people who talk about Moshiach also look for who Moshiach is. That isn’t why we publicize it, but it certainly contributes on a practical level and, um, in terms of living with it, it gives—

34:39 Speaker 5 Something about Moshiach.

34:40 Speaker 1 The Rebbe says to live with Moshiach. There is no greater way to live with Moshiach than to live with a living Rebbe—with whom you live, and who is alive and enduring. But Moshiach, with all the initials—M. Sh.—the initials of “the Rebbe is alive.” Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, forever and ever!

34:55 Speaker 5 Thank you very much, Rabbi Elishansky[?]. With Hashem’s help, may these words have the best possible effect.

34:59 Speaker 1 Amen.

35:01 Speaker 6 Ears to Hear. Audio programs for the Temimim from Ata Haolami. For more programs, dial star six three five eight. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, forever and ever.