Ears to Hear 23 | "The Savior of Israel Has Been Born"

00:00 Speaker 1 And Hashem gave you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear.

00:08 Speaker 2 Ears to Hear. Audio programs for the Temimim, from Ata Haolami.

00:15 Speaker 5 First of all, these words need to be publicized to everyone: we merited—we simply merited. We received a gift from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In our generation, we received the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, as a gift.

00:37 Speaker 2 Shalom aleichem to all the Temimim in Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch yeshivos throughout the Holy Land and the entire world. We’re now beginning a special program in the Ears to Hear audio series, a program permeated with matters of Geulah and Moshiach, and especially with the central mission of the leader of the generation: to bring Moshiach in actual reality. We’re focusing this program on preparing for the days ahead, for 11 Nissan, the birthday of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. Every chossid and every Tomim feels his heart stir with love for the Rebbe and connection to the Rebbe, and especially with the desire to carry out our central task: welcoming Moshiach Tzidkeinu in actual reality. Joining us for this special program is Rabbi Shimon Yehuda Pizem, executive director of the Achdus Chassidim organization[?]. Shalom aleichem. Yechi HaMelech, Rabbi Shimon.

01:24 Speaker 5 Shalom aleichem. L’chaim and blessings. Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach now.

01:29 Speaker 2 Yechi HaMelech, yechi HaMelech. Boruch Hashem. We’re sitting down for such a special program on the eve of 11 Nissan. We want to talk about the essence of this special day. What are you feeling?

01:39 Speaker 5 We’re looking at the current chapter of Tehillim, chapter 123: “To You I lift my eyes.” I think those words contain the whole point. “To You I lift my eyes”—we lift our eyes to the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. We give him alone everything we can give, everything within our power. We give it to the Rebbe. And there’s something very, very powerful here. When the Rebbe spoke in the sichos about Shir Hamaalos, he explained that it comes through song, through joy. Yet at the same time, there’s longing and pleading: “To You I lift my eyes.”

02:28 Speaker 2 “I lift my eyes.”

02:29 Speaker 5 Yes, “until He shows us favor.” “So our eyes are toward Hashem our G-d, until He shows us favor. Show us favor, Hashem, show us favor.” But it’s with joy. We have such tremendous longing for the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. It’s been more than thirty years since we’ve merited to see the Rebbe with our physical eyes. And that burns in our hearts. When you think about what’s happening here, you can sometimes become truly brokenhearted. [unclear] You’re utterly shaken by this situation, by not seeing the Rebbe with your physical eyes. It’s a terrible thing. At the same time, the Rebbe says that the way to prevail, the way to bring about the Rebbe’s revelation before our physical eyes, is Shir Hamaalos.

03:18 Speaker 2 Joy.

03:18 Speaker 5 Shir Hamaalos. We go forward with joy, even with the longing and the pleas: “Show us favor, Hashem, show us favor.” With joy, with a feeling of happiness that we merited to be connected to the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. We merited that Hakadosh Boruch Hu placed us in this generation, and we merited that it’s going to happen this very moment.

03:42 Speaker 1 “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to their masters’ hand, as the eyes of a maidservant look to her mistress’s hand, so our eyes look to Hashem our G-d, until He shows us favor.”

03:56 Speaker 2 So with that tremendous drive, on the one hand thirsting, hoping, and endlessly yearning to see the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, in the true and complete Geulah, and on the other hand filled with tremendous joy—with that drive, we stand before 11 Nissan, the birthday of the Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach. Each of us understands that he needs to stop, spend time alone, reflect, and understand what he needs to do to prepare for this great day. So let’s try to understand, in simple terms, what we need to focus on. What’s the initial, most basic focus that will help us understand that our avodah needs to change—

04:34 Speaker 6 Why “most basic”?

04:35 Speaker 2 The fullest possible focus. To bring our avodah to its fullest in connecting to the Rebbe and bringing Moshiach’s coming in actual reality.

04:41 Speaker 6 That’s hashgachah pratis. You said “most basic,” so let’s focus on that for a moment. A chossid needs to approach things by asking, “What does the Rebbe want from me? What does the Rebbe expect from me?” Not the minimum and not the maximum. “What does the Rebbe want from me?” That’s the fundamental approach. Then comes the second stage: each person needs to use his own judgment to understand what he can actually do without it becoming a matter of breaking the vessels, because the Rebbe wants a great deal from us. The Rebbe wants us to be entirely devoted to G-dliness, to reach a state where G-dliness is what we desire most, and all our material affairs are completely permeated with G-dliness. Now, each person according to his level and his spiritual state, and so on. That’s where judgment is needed. But the approach, the guiding line, is to know first of all, before anything else, what the Rebbe wants from you: that you do what the Rebbe wants. Before anything else, the Rebbe wants you to act precisely in accordance with his expectations. And as for the Rebbe’s expectations of you, as we said, you need to use judgment: know how to adapt them to yourself and keep at it. But once you know that first guiding line, it’s neither minimum nor maximum. That’s simply the point. There are, however, foundations. So what is the foundation of 11 Nissan? How does a chossid look at 11 Nissan? The foundation is, “If not for this day…” Without this day, 11 Nissan, it’s impossible even to contemplate what would have happened here if, G-d forbid, we didn’t have the Rebbe. What would have happened? So the first thing, the foundation of everything, is to praise and thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu for giving us the Rebbe. As I was saying—

06:31 Speaker 6 This is a point from a sicha of 5751 in which the Rebbe speaks about it. The Rebbe’s wording in the declaration in that sicha is, “It must be announced and publicized.” We need to publicize to all the people of the generation that we have merited. We need to publicize to all the people of the generation that we have merited—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose and appointed a person with free choice who would devote himself, incomparably so, and so on. All right, but first of all, those words: we need to publicize to all the people of the generation that we have merited. It’s a privilege. We simply merited it. We received a gift from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In our generation, we received the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, as a gift. That’s the most—

07:10 Speaker 2 That’s the foundation of everything. We simply merited it.

07:12 Speaker 6 We simply merited it. And the Rebbe gives us himself in such a wondrous way. He holds nothing back from us. And as for the point to reflect on before anything else: Hayom Yom, the daily calendar of Chabad chassidim. What does the Rebbe say in Hayom Yom? On 11 Nissan, the Rebbe shares with all of us this seemingly personal matter of his. This was written in 5703: on his birthday, a person should spend time alone and recall his memories. First of all, on 11 Nissan, everyone needs those moments of being with the Rebbe. Time—what you’d call quality time. My own quality time alone with the Rebbe, without making a show of it. No one needs to see or notice that you’re doing it. That’s one of the foundations of Chassidus: without making a show of it. Spend time alone with the Rebbe and recall your memories. Your memories, too—first of all, in the sense of what the Rebbe gives me, what the Rebbe has given me until now, how much the Rebbe directs me, guides me, and lifts me up. Everything the Rebbe has done for me—[unclear].

08:29 Speaker 2 In other words, “recall his memories” isn’t about my own [unclear] in relation to the things I need to do. First of all, it’s: What does the Rebbe give me? I’ll recall what the Rebbe gives me.

08:37 Speaker 6 That isn’t the plain meaning, but yes, I’m including it.

08:39 Speaker 2 It’s a starting point.

08:41 Speaker 6 That isn’t the plain meaning. Yes, the plain meaning is to bring up one’s memories. What was there in your own personal experience? I say, first of all, think about what the Rebbe gives you, and so on. Delve into it, see it, and be moved by it. Just thinking about it seriously for a while will bring your feelings, your understanding, and your clarity to the surface: what the Rebbe gives me all the time, and my obligation to thank the Rebbe. My gratitude to the Rebbe for everything he gives me awakens a feeling of love for the Rebbe. How much the Rebbe loves me, how much he cares about me—and my love for the Rebbe. Then comes the point of the plain meaning: bring up one’s memories. Where do I also need to make corrections in the things the Rebbe expects of me, wants from me, and demands of me, which I still need to fulfill? One should return and correct them. The foundation of this whole matter of hiskashrus is that I have to invest in it: to learn the Rebbe’s maamarim, the Rebbe’s sichos, the Rebbe’s letters, the Rebbe’s Torah, and to act—to actually do it in practice. That’s the point. Not just—there’s a point quoted in the sichos, I think from the Rebbe Rashab, that hiskashrus has to lead to action, to doing the Rebbe’s work. What the Rebbe demands of us in spreading Chassidus, in working inwardly on ourselves, and in working with others. Ahavas Yisroel, a sense of responsibility—all of it permeated with the aim of bringing Moshiach’s coming, bringing the true and complete Geulah in actual practice, and doing it all in a way of living with Moshiach. Living, living as a Jew who lives with Moshiach. Conduct—the Rebbe spoke about miraculous conduct. In [unclear], the Rebbe spoke about Nissan 5750. In general, about [unclear], everything is good.

10:47 Speaker 6 [unclear]. The Rebbe speaks a lot about miraculous conduct in connection with the month of Nissan in general, but in [unclear], the Rebbe says that a miracle becomes a Jew’s nature. What’s demanded of you now is to be in a state beyond measure and limitation. Not only—the Rebbe says—not only beyond... why not, not only, not only without limit, beyond even “without limit.” There’s an expression like that in the sicha. Not only beyond a boundlessness that is beyond boundlessness, but to be something of an entirely different kind and manner.

11:14 Speaker 2 [unclear], boundlessness and [unclear].

11:16 Speaker 6 Something entirely different. In other words, to become a new reality.

11:19 Speaker 2 You’ve put these things in very general terms, as a preview, and you’ve said what needs to be said. Now let’s take a moment to look at each point you mentioned, break it down, make it easier to grasp, get to know it, and understand what it means. We spoke about stopping to reflect on what the Rebbe gives me, and, in turn, what I give the Rebbe in my relationship with him, all the way to the most important point: bringing Moshiach. So perhaps we can separate those three points and take in each one. First, the initial point: what does it mean to reflect on what the Rebbe gives me? To put it very... it isn’t pleasant to say this, but those who actually experienced the moments when they saw the Rebbe received everything in a very tangible way. It’s much easier for them to recall those things. How can Temimim and chassidim today begin with this point—thinking and reflecting on what the Rebbe gives me? How does it show itself? What are the details? What, specifically, should we think about and understand here?

12:18 Speaker 6 L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim, and blessings.

12:19 Speaker 2 L’chaim and blessings. L’chaim, l’chaim.

12:20 Speaker 6 Each person knows within himself how much the Rebbe gives him. Even in this strange period, when we don’t see the Rebbe with our physical eyes—may Hashem have mercy—that such a situation has come about, [unclear]. With our physical eyes we’ve seen such a situation, in which we have to stand firm and hold on, as the Rebbe says in the sicha of Vayigash 5747, even though “they have already embalmed him,” and say that he is truly alive. “Dovid, King of Israel, lives and endures,” as the Rebbe emphasizes in the sicha of [unclear]. The Rebbe speaks about this very forcefully there. There’s a recording of it; you can hear it in the Rebbe’s holy voice. The Rebbe dwells on it and repeats it again and again: “lives and endures.” “Dovid, King of Israel, lives and endures.” So the King of Israel lives and endures. From the moment he was born, he lived and endured, and that is eternal. It’s true that this is a very strange period, and we know it’s a test. We know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is testing us, because “Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know whether you love Hashem.” Do you love Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and so on? So we love the Rebbe. We love Hashem and we love the Rebbe, and we are faithful to the Rebbe’s holy words. And since the Rebbe told us there would be eternal life, and since the Rebbe told us in the clearest terms that this generation is the last generation of exile and the first generation of Geulah, and the Rebbe spoke to us in simple, clear words and had them published as an edited text for the entire world—that the revelation of Moshiach has already begun, and the only thing left in the work of shlichus is to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu, because the work of shlichus has been completed—then all our work now has to be permeated with welcoming Moshiach Tzidkeinu in actual practice, so that he, Melech HaMoshiach, can fulfill his mission and take the Jewish people out of exile. So...

14:27 Speaker 6 In this period too, and even more especially, there is the idea of “your place will be empty” and “you will be remembered, because your place will be empty.” On the one hand, we don’t see; on the other hand, “you will be remembered”—we see very strongly. We see the Rebbe and feel the Rebbe very strongly. Each person sees, knows, and feels in his own life how the Rebbe guides him, directs him, uplifts him, and cares for him. The Rebbe surrounds us with endless love. No one can come and say—no one can come and say that he doesn’t receive what the Rebbe gives him. There’s no such thing. That would simply be closing one’s eyes. Everyone sees and experiences in his own life that the Rebbe cares for him personally. It’s true that we are in a situation where we don’t see the Rebbe, and we want that situation to end immediately, with us seeing him with our physical eyes as he redeems us and takes us straight to the Third Beis Hamikdash. But everyone knows, sees, and feels that the Rebbe gives to him. Whether it’s through Igros Kodesh or in other ways, you constantly see how the Rebbe gives you strength and blessing. One person sees it when he suddenly comes across a video of the Rebbe addressing precisely the issue he was facing. Another opens a sicha of the Rebbe and learns it. Or someone suddenly comes to him with a point from the Rebbe, and all of a sudden the pieces of the puzzle fit together. You see that the Rebbe is directing and guiding you, leading you, caring for you, and looking after you. The Rebbe simply looks after me personally, all the time. That, too, is something each person experiences personally. We need to reflect on it. Right—where do we see it? If someone doesn’t pause and pay attention, then of course he won’t notice it.

16:11 Speaker 2 [unclear] Israel’s salvation. To thank Hashem for you, and those who dwell in tranquility.

16:20 Speaker 6 So according to what you’re saying, Rabbi Shimon’le, the first thing to understand is that “David, King of Israel, lives and endures”—even when we don’t see and even when we don’t hear. We know that all the influence coming through Moshe Rabbeinu, [unclear], all these things continue to flow, and nothing interrupts them, G-d forbid. But beyond that, this is something we experience in real life. It isn’t only what the Torah says. Each and every one of us experiences firsthand the blessings and influence that come from the Rebbe. And as you’re guiding us, what we need to do is simply think about it—stop and think. In the rush of life, we just don’t stop and think. This is the moment to stop and think about what the Rebbe gives us. Exactly. There’s an expression: “It’s all in your head.” I mean, okay, that’s a saying, but it’s true. It all begins in our awareness. It all starts in the mind, especially for Chabad chassidim, who were raised and educated to understand this point, each according to his own understanding: the point of Chochmah, Binah and Daas. You contemplate with your mind; you understand and grasp whatever you can of the Rebbe’s Torah, of Chassidus, of G-dliness. Then you reflect on it, delve into it, and it gives rise to a feeling in your heart. And from that feeling and that awakening—how does the Rebbe put it?—even a tiny fraction of it, each of us has some feeling of this awakening, of being drawn toward the Rebbe. He loves the Rebbe. And each of us has that feeling of awe, when he draws back, when it suddenly strikes him: “Remove your shoes from your feet,” in the strongest, most powerful way. We contemplate the Rebbe and the time in which the Rebbe is guiding us. We understand that this is the most precious, most exalted time. A time

18:11 Speaker 6 when G-dliness is revealed in the world to the greatest degree. The high point of the Geulah. It simply gives us strength and awakens us. What’s the word for it? Drive. It gives us motivation, gives us vitality, gives us a push to become more and more involved and carry out this wonderful, incredible shlichus—the mission the Rebbe wants from us: to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu, to truly live Moshiach, to live G-dliness, to live “there is nothing besides Him.” For that to penetrate and pulse through our whole reality, so that we become the Rebbe’s people, the people of Melech HaMoshiach. Rabbi Shimon’le, even though you’re already moving on to the next points, I’m still very drawn to that first point. Thinking about how much the Rebbe gives us—all the blessings, all the influence, everything that comes to us from the Rebbe—that’s what awakens our heartfelt feelings for the Rebbe. Since this program is a candid conversation, less official and less formal, can you speak from your own life? Does this really work: stopping to reflect and think about what the Rebbe gives me, until it strips away all the layers and brings me to open my heart to the Rebbe, to want to give the Rebbe everything? I mean, are these things real? Do they happen? Let me share a little. It isn’t easy. As chassidim, we were raised and taught that certain things, the things in your heart, are not something you express outwardly so readily. But let’s talk about the shlichus we live with. Let’s talk about Ichud Chassidim, the organization founded over twenty years ago. When it started, we were with Rabbi Shlomke Danziger, a shliach of the Rebbe and an exceptionally rare chossid. He served as the Rebbe’s representative in the Holy Land, was called the Rebbe’s ambassador, and was chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad. We were

20:25 Speaker 6 a group of young married men. Rabbi Ofer Mardovani [unclear] called us and brought us together with him, and we sat together. We came to understand what the Rebbe expects and what the Rebbe wants to see among chassidim, chassidic families and Chabad communities. What needs to happen for chassidim to be in a state of hiskashrus, to care, to have Ahavas Yisroel and look out for one another—and to do it on a genuine level? Things developed over the years. I can say very simply that with all the guidance we received from the Rebbe—thousands upon thousands of pieces of guidance over the years through Igros Kodesh—we see it plainly. The leadership of Ichud Chassidim and I see firsthand how the Rebbe leads and directs us at every step, in a way that has no parallel. It’s simply wonderful and amazing. Of course, it all follows the Rebbe’s guidelines. You don’t ask about everything. Not everything calls for that; the Rebbe spoke at the time about not asking across the sea. There are things the leadership needs to sit down and think through, and discuss with rabbonim, advisers and mashpi’im. But in general, throughout the entire journey, we see how the Rebbe directs and guides us in an amazing, wonderful way. I can’t go into all the details right now.

22:00 Speaker 7 But the point is that the more you reflect, the more you understand how much the Rebbe gives us.

22:03 Speaker 6 When you really begin contemplating what the Rebbe gives you, a feeling of love for the Rebbe awakens in you, and you care more and more about bringing the Rebbe joy and doing what will please him.

22:16 Speaker 7 In the cycle of life, another day passes, then another month, then another year, and so on. If you don’t stop and reflect on how much the Rebbe gives us, on the level to which the Rebbe lifts us—“He raises the needy from the ash heap”—if you don’t think about that, it can easily pass you by and slip through the cracks. But when you stop and reflect, you understand the deep meaning of it.

22:35 Speaker 6 Exactly. Before this 11 Nissan, we launched a campaign. We took the Rebbe’s letter in which he says that the custom of chassidim who were bound to their Rebbe in every generation was to set aside a special time to awaken feelings of love for their teacher and Rebbe. Simply to love the Rebbe—to feel love for the Rebbe in your heart. We took that and spread it in a way that, baruch Hashem, reached many, many Chabad communities and families in Israel. And that was in preparation for 11 Nissan. In a sense, Yud Shvat and 11 Nissan have that same point of hiskashrus, except that on Yud Shvat it’s more a matter of “our King.”

23:16 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm.

23:18 Speaker 6 And on 11 Nissan it’s more “our Father,” if you can put it that way. “Ana Nasiv Malka”—“I choose the King.” There’s the

23:27 Speaker 7 following idea

23:28 Speaker 6 that the Rebbe explains in the maamar Ana Nasiv Malka. In that maamar of 12 Nissan, the Rebbe dwells on this: “I don’t want Your Gan Eden. I don’t want Your World to Come. I want You Yourself.” There’s something more to it. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. I’m not claiming to offer an interpretation here, but I have a feeling that on 11 Nissan it’s more about the father, more about love. There’s love on Yud Shvat too; it’s always about love. But there’s something very powerful about 11 Nissan. And the distinction between Yud Shvat and 11 Nissan can be seen in a particularly striking way in light of what the Rebbe wrote in the sicha of Yud Shvat in [unclear]. There the Rebbe discusses the idea of eleven as it relates to the month, the day and the revelation: how it extends to the recipient and how it is from the giver. Then the Rebbe says, in explaining the connection between the eleventh month and [unclear]. And he continues—it’s simply amazing and extraordinary that the Rebbe writes this, publishes it openly and tells us this. He explains to us what this eleven is. “And it may be said that the eleventh day of the first month, Nissan, is connected with the beginning of the revelation, the birth of the level of eleven.” That’s when it all began. In a sicha the Rebbe says that the birth of the Jewish people took place on 11 Nissan. As is known, the Jewish people were born in the month of Nissan, while the eleventh day of the eleventh month is connected with

25:20 Speaker 6 the complete revelation of eleven, with the nesius revealed openly. So there is the birth of the level of eleven. There is that eleven, the

25:28 Speaker 8 the eleven, and there is

25:29 Speaker 6 the eleven—the level above hishtalshelus, “You are One, but not in the count.” Somehow it comes about as a birth, and then it comes to its full revelation, with the nesius revealed openly. These are two distinct things. There is “our Father” and there is “our King.” There is the birth, the beginning of the matter, its renewal; and then there is its manifestation with the nesius revealed openly.

25:53 Speaker 8 Remarkable.

25:55 Speaker 6 And here, on 11 Nissan, we need to awaken a feeling that this is about giving the Rebbe a gift—a real gift, one that measures up to what the Rebbe deserves. Let’s put it that way: according to the Rebbe’s understanding, not according to how we see ourselves. Each of us has his own yetzer hara. It constantly makes us feel small. It constantly makes us think we can’t do it. And against that, the Rebbe declared war and issued a challenge. Today we know that the Rebbe wants something from us now that is beyond anything we could have imagined.

26:27 Speaker 9 Be gracious to us. Ay, ay, ay. Be gracious to us, Hashem, be gracious to us.

26:35 Speaker 8 That’s really the second point we want to dwell on. Rabbi Shimon, you’ve given us the right perspective: how we need to sit down and contemplate what the Rebbe gives us. That’s what you’re instilling in us—the drive and, as you said, the honesty to face the Rebbe and recognize how much he gives us. So of course we need to give back to the Rebbe, to give him our whole selves. That’s the point we want to dwell on. I’ve reflected on 11 Nissan. I’ve reflected more generally on everything the Rebbe gives me—all the blessings, all the Divine flow, everything. And now I want to give to the Rebbe. What should that look like? How should it be expressed? In what specific ways can I know that I’m truly giving myself back to the Rebbe?

27:16 Speaker 6 First of all, before anything else, the main thing is the Rebbe’s directives in actual practice. The Rebbe’s directives. Everyone knows where to look for the Rebbe’s instructions, for what the Rebbe wants me to do. That applies in every area and every detail. It means that our entire daily routine, our lives, should follow the demands of the holy Torah and be illuminated by the light of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. It’s simple. When you contemplate that letter from the Frierdiker Rebbe—simply to love the Rebbe—you’re also reminded of the Rebbe’s letter explaining what hiskashrus is. He says that the Rebbe is the head and the mind. Every one of us needs to contemplate that the Rebbe is our head and our mind, and that through him and by means of him, all the Divine flow, materially and spiritually, is drawn down and bestowed. As in the sicha about “Chanina, My son,” where the Rebbe says that the entire world is sustained for the sake of “Chanina, My son,” and the Rebbe, the Nasi of the generation, is that “Chanina, My son.” Everything is for the Rebbe. Our whole existence here is only to fulfill the Rebbe’s will, and the Rebbe made us his partners in bringing the Geulah. As the Rebbe discussed in the sichos—there are several sichos, particularly the sicha of 28 Nissan. 28 Sivan. Good thing that wasn’t overlooked. The Rebbe speaks there about this partnership: that Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, needs a Jew’s partnership to bring the Geulah. When you contemplate that, you understand: you have a special opportunity. You’ve been given a special gift—the ability to bring nachas ruach to the greatest of the great, no matter what your standing or situation is. And so this contemplation gives us the awakening. It creates that feeling within us and brings us to actual practice: to make genuine, serious resolutions to give the Rebbe far, far, far more than I think I can. Truly according to

29:18 Speaker 6 the Rebbe’s understanding. But we must make sure not to fool ourselves or be misled. The Rebbe writes there about someone imagining things—mistaken imaginings in his mind. He thinks of all sorts of grand, far-off things that don’t fit his actual situation. We need to do the work in practice, thoroughly, in a way that we truly change and that the change lasts.

29:44 Speaker 10 So that we won’t be misled. Then what should we do?

29:46 Speaker 6 To avoid being misled, we need to sit down and consult your mashpia. Speak with your mashpia as honestly and sincerely as possible. Put everything on the table. Honestly lay out the truth about yourself. Where are you? What does “the truth about yourself” mean? Where are you really? What are you really absorbed in? And start dealing with it. First, deal with ourselves in our inner avodas Hashem. What are we absorbed in as we go through life? What things really draw us in, excite us, and carry us along, so to speak? That’s where we need to work. Don’t neglect those points. Whatever needs fixing needs to be fixed. That comes first in our private, inner lives—in our inner avodas Hashem, our work on ourselves. Alongside that is the work of shlichus, the shlichus.

30:39 Speaker 10 Alongside it—not afterward.

30:41 Speaker 6 Alongside it. In other words, you don’t say, “Until I speak with my mashpia and find time for it, I’m not going on mivtzoim.” That’s nonsense. That’s the yetzer hara itself.

30:48 Speaker 10 Yes.

30:50 Speaker 6 You need to bring the Rebbe something in actual practice. Bring the Rebbe—how do you say it—a return. What does the Rebbe gain from you?

30:58 Speaker 10 Write to me how many Jews...

30:59 Speaker 6 Yes, as the Rebbe puts it in that sicha. Yes. Write to me about [unclear]. Write on the note how many Jews you’ve influenced, how many Jews say Tehillim and make blessings because of you. How many Jews say Chitas because of you? How many Jews are connected to the Rebbe? How many Jews have written to the Rebbe? This is work we need to stay engaged in all the time, in actual practice: working daily to influence Jews to connect and bond with the Rebbe, to bring Jews to observe Torah and mitzvos in the spirit of the Geulah, to actually welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu, to accept the Rebbe’s sovereignty upon themselves, and to be connected with the Rebbe deeply and inwardly. As the Rebbe puts it in the letter, in the letter to Reb Shlomo Chaim [unclear]: that no one should raise a hand or a foot

31:39 Speaker 10 without

31:39 Speaker 6 without the Rebbe’s approval. That’s avodas Hashem, that’s the work of shlichus. It applies throughout our entire lives. These are our tasks, these are our goals. And all of it must be guided by the awareness that we are now standing at the very threshold of the Geulah.

32:06 Speaker 10 Before we get to the point about the threshold of the Geulah: what you’ve said, Rabbi Shimon, is that all this follows from contemplating how much the Rebbe gives me. It comes back, as reflected light, so powerfully that I give the Rebbe the dark corners of my soul—as you said, in my personal work, by clarifying things with my mashpia and so on—and also through the shlichus the Rebbe entrusts to us. That means putting all the Rebbe’s directives into practice, carrying them out with the greatest possible strength. That is the reflected light from contemplating what the Rebbe gives me. And within that, we now want to focus on the point of Moshiach.

32:42 Speaker 6 Moshiach is the essence. The Rebbe explained to us as clearly as could be that the point of everything, the point underlying all points, is Moshiach. Moshiach means the revelation of G-dliness in the world. It is the ultimate purpose of making a dwelling for Him in the lower realms: revealing G-dliness in the world in its full power. There is already revelation in the world in countless forms. G-dliness is bursting forth; there are revelations in which the Essence of the Infinite shines in the world with full force. This is what the Rebbe revealed to us. On our own, we know nothing. The Rebbe revealed it to us, included us in it, and told us that this is what is happening right now. And we need to reflect it in our lives. In other words, you love the Rebbe, you are connected to the Rebbe—or, more than that, as the Rebbe puts it, you are one with the Rebbe. It isn’t just a connection between two separate things. They have become joined and united, becoming truly one thing, one with His Essence. Yes, as the Rebbe puts it [unclear].

34:04 Speaker 10 That he should know he is one with His Essence.

34:06 Speaker 6 [unclear] Certainly he should know that he is part of the mission itself. Certainly. First and foremost, you are one with G-dliness. After that, it comes down into every last detail. So it has to be reflected in our reality, in our lives, throughout the whole course of the day, our entire routine by day and by night, and throughout the calendar year. It has to show how I am a Jew of Moshiach, a Jew who lives G-dliness, who lives with the certainty that he is coming now. Someone might come along and say, “Listen, I’m not cut out for that.” That’s not true. It’s the yetzer hara telling you that. You are cut out for it. Not only are you cut out for it; you are capable of the most wonderful and powerful things. The yetzer hara confuses us. It’s just that there needs to be an orderly approach to the work. Yes, there needs to be an orderly approach.

34:57 Speaker 10 In the lofty words, in the words that are so—

34:59 Speaker 6 But first of all, before anything else, as we said, it’s a matter of awareness. Awareness. Once you understand that the Rebbe means it when he speaks, that the Rebbe is telling the truth. The Rebbe isn’t merely finding merit in us. It’s not just that the Rebbe is like Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, finding merit in the Jewish people. When the Rebbe says something, he gives us the strength to do it. I’ll tell you a story. There were some community activists—it was in the 5730s—who received a response from the Rebbe to carry out a particular action. They sat down and discussed it, and concluded that they simply weren’t capable of doing it. What the Rebbe was asking was something very serious and demanding, and they couldn’t do it. They also couldn’t just tell the Rebbe, “Yes, yes,” and then not do it. So they informed the secretary, Rabbi Groner, that they couldn’t. He said, “I can’t tell the Rebbe such a thing.” Well, some time passed—two or three days, I don’t know the exact details—and the Rebbe asked him about the matter. He didn’t answer. From what I heard, the Rebbe spoke to him very firmly. He said the Rebbe really spoke to him firmly: “You’re the secretary. You have a mission, you have a role, you have a job here, and you need to do what you’re supposed to do.” So in the end, he told the Rebbe what they had said. The Rebbe said, “Do they think I didn’t know they couldn’t do it? But they need to know that when I say to do something, I also give them the strength to do it.” When the Rebbe tells us things like this in his sichos, the Rebbe gives us the strength to succeed. When we believe, we succeed. Someone told me that—at a farbrengen where this story was told, someone told me there was a continuation to it. The Rebbe said that when the Jewish people stood at the sea and Moshe Rabbeinu told

37:00 Speaker 6 them Hashem’s word, “Speak to the children of Israel, and let them journey,” if they had immediately started walking, they wouldn’t have needed the splitting of the sea. They would have walked on the water. If they had believed in the power of Moshe Rabbeinu and started walking, they would have walked on the water. And that’s really the point. We think of the splitting of the sea—wow, that’s something tremendous. But it’s also possible to walk on water. It takes just one thing: faith. “And they believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant.” As they say Reb Mendel used to say, “And they believed”—the “and they believed” applies to both Hashem and Moshe. As the Rebbe explains in his sichos, if, G-d forbid, there is a lack of faith in Moshe, that is a lack of faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It is also faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We believe in the Rebbe.

37:46 Speaker 11 Really, the faith—

37:47 Speaker 6 Once the Rebbe tells us—

37:48 Speaker 11 He gives us—the Rebbe gives us an instruction, and together with that instruction, we are given all the strength to carry it out.

37:53 Speaker 6 The moment the Rebbe says,

37:55 Speaker 11 “Do everything you can to bring Moshiach,” the greatest strengths are given for that.

37:58 Speaker 6 From the moment the Rebbe tells us that now the only thing left in the work of shlichus is to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu in actual practice, that means this is what we need to focus on. We need to believe in the Rebbe all the way and do it. From the moment the Rebbe tells us that every Jew can be like the Mitteler Rebbe—that’s the wording in Vayeitzei, too—just open our eyes and ears and see and hear that our entire reality is permeated with chassidishkeit, with a chassidic life. Yes, those extraordinary expressions. Yes, this is within reach of every single person now. We need to get there; we need to work on it. There needs to be an orderly approach to the work, yes, but we must believe what the Rebbe tells us: that this belongs to us. We can lift ourselves to a state where G-dliness is our life, where even the most tangible things in our lives are G-dly, spiritual matters, matters of the Rebbe; where our material affairs are completely permeated with G-dliness. To do everything out of our true desire, out of our G-dly desire. This belongs to us; this is where we are. The Rebbe has brought us to a place where we can live Moshiach, live G-dliness, live Geulah in every detail. To be truly joyful. To be in a state where we can brush off the world. To reveal this point of Moshiach everywhere in the world. To create an atmosphere and a spirit of Geulah. All of this is within our ability, because the Rebbe brought us to this point, because the Rebbe gave it to us, because the Rebbe has already done it. What remains depends on us. We just need to follow this path,

39:36 Speaker 11 and that is our guiding path.

39:40 Speaker 6 These points are the guiding path. This is what the Rebbe expects of us: that we be in a real place, living in a state of Geulah.

39:46 Speaker 11 Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever. That’s actually a very interesting point, because there are many, many dimensions to what you mentioned earlier: that if I have certain problems in my service of Hashem, or certain things I need to correct, then I need to grapple with them and deal with them, and only afterward move toward the unknown, toward what seems distant, as we might call it—welcoming Moshiach Tzidkeinu and “do everything in your ability.” And the idea, the insight you’ve just clarified, is that these are actually two parallel tracks: I work on my personal avodah, on my own “appoint for yourself a rabbi,” which is the first gift to the Rebbe, while at the same time working on the shlichus the Rebbe gave all of us together—to bring Moshiach. I bring that to the Rebbe fully, in parallel with my personal work. That’s the idea.

40:43 Speaker 12 Exactly. In the sicha of Parshas Vayeishev, Chanukah 5752, the Rebbe speaks about “Look at three things, and you will not come to sin.” The Rebbe says, “‘You will not come’ specifically—through looking at three things: the Third Redemption and the Third Beis Hamikdash.” Looking deeply, through contemplation of matters of the Geulah, has the effect that a Jew “will not come” to sin, specifically—that sin no longer has anything to do with him, and as a matter of course... That’s—

41:10 Speaker 11 Even permissible desires.

41:12 Speaker 12 As a matter of course, he becomes free of desires, even hidden desires. Why? Why is that? Because focusing on matters of the Geulah lifts you up. You’re in a completely different state when you contemplate matters of the Geulah and live Geulah. Then what interests you is G-dly matters. What interests you, what matters to you, what draws you, is G-dliness. It’s the Rebbe, it’s Chassidus, it’s Moshiach—that’s what matters to you.

41:39 Speaker 11 So you’ve actually turned the whole thing around. Instead of starting with my personal service of Hashem and my difficulties, I start from the other point—from Geulah and Moshiach—and that, in turn, lifts my entire service of Hashem to a completely different place.

41:52 Speaker 12 I think the point is that they happen in parallel. In other words, you can’t neglect

41:58 Speaker 11 Yes.

41:59 Speaker 12 that part.

42:00 Speaker 11 It’s just that this is the central focus, so to speak.

42:02 Speaker 12 The central focus is doing what the Rebbe wants. That divides into two

42:06 Speaker 11 areas.

42:07 Speaker 12 Broadly speaking, it divides into two parts. There’s the part of personal, individual work: dealing with this struggle, this difficulty, the negative feelings and negative thoughts. Alongside that, you’re constantly doing another concrete deed. Another concrete deed, another activity in a mitzvah campaign, more learning, or an actual action in thought, speech or deed. Through that you draw down G-dliness. You draw down G-dly light, and your whole being becomes illuminated with G-dly light. Practical results come only through actual deeds, only by using the soul’s garments of thought, speech and action. Yes, that’s how you actually draw down G-dly light. You can’t remain only in your thoughts. That’s not the point. You need to actually put on tefillin. You need to actually learn Chassidus. You need to actually help Jews. It has to be—how do you say it? With matzah, you can spend an entire night contemplating the tremendous virtue of matzah before midnight, after midnight, all those things discussed at length in Chassidus. But if you haven’t eaten matzah, you haven’t fulfilled the mitzvah. It’s not that... The question is, what spirit permeates it? Yes, it’s permeated with the idea of looking at the three things. It’s permeated with matters of the Geulah, and through that you’re lifted to a completely different place. And correcting those other matters, too, happens in a different way, in a way of Geulah, as the Rebbe explains in the sicha of Parshas Noach 5752.

43:27 Speaker 11 Parshas Noach 5752, yes.

43:28 Speaker 12 That point: we’ve now reached completion. The entire Jewish people have already completed everything they need to do. The Jewish people have completed everything needed for the true and complete Geulah to come. The honest reckoning is that the Geulah should come. Moshiach Tzidkeinu should come right away, literally, reveal himself and redeem us. Each person still has personal matters to correct. So yes, they need to be corrected, that’s true. But it’s done—the Rebbe speaks there about doing it more easily, with greater joy. Yes, because we are in a time when the Geulah is already—here, here, King Moshiach is coming.

44:01 Speaker 11 So, to sum up, the idea is—

44:03 Speaker 12 By the way, now that we’ve mentioned Noach 5752, the sichos that follow are where the Rebbe says most clearly that we have indeed already merited it.

44:11 Speaker 11 There is a revelation.

44:12 Speaker 12 There is an actual revelation, and so on, through to the sicha of Parshas Ki Sisa.

44:18 Speaker 11 And there, too, the Rebbe doesn’t set aside the second point.

44:20 Speaker 12 Right. A, B, C. There are three things here. Three things. We need to know that the descent is only external, only how things appear to our eyes. We need to know that the whole second stage is only for the sake of the third—for the Geulah—and we’re about to reach it immediately. And this is also the hashgachah pratis we spoke about: that we’ve reached this sicha, this point in Ki Sisa 5752. This whole strange period we’re in now—and, with Hashem’s help, it will end immediately with the Rebbe’s revelation before our physical eyes—is actually a time when we are already within the Geulah. We are already living in the time of Moshiach. We only need to open our eyes and see the true reality, as the Rebbe said many times. At the same time, there is the cry, the outcry and the pleading, expressed through song and joy. There is bitterness, but it is also permeated—and primarily so, in the Rebbe’s words in Beshalach—with a feeling of joy. There is the pain that we still haven’t received an instruction to build the Third Beis Hamikdash. The pain that there can be such a terrible situation, in which a mother of young children is murdered by a non-Jew in the neighborhood of the leader of our generation. Today—may Hashem protect and save us—such terrible things. The Rebbe—I don’t know if one can put it this way—but the Rebbe, as it were, protests it. The Rebbe feels the pain of it, cries out over it and says that this is Gehinom. [unclear]

45:56 Speaker 11 From

45:56 Speaker 12 [unclear] This is something that shakes a person. And at the same time, we also know the point, and that is what the Rebbe explains in the sicha of Ki Sisa that follows: the second stage is for the sake of the third. The descent is only external, only an appearance, and immediately, with Hashem’s help, Hakadosh Boruch Hu will bring us the revelation of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, before our physical eyes. And with Hashem’s help, we will celebrate true freedom from all matters of galus, with the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, at our head and boundless joy upon our heads.

46:37 Speaker 11 So if we put this in a nutshell, our first focus is that each and every one of us needs to contemplate our feelings of love for the Rebbe, and how the Rebbe gives to us, bestows upon us, blesses us, guides us and directs us to the right place along a clear path. The natural result is a reflection of that love back to the Rebbe: to give the Rebbe everything required of us in our personal service of Hashem and, at the same time, in the shlichus entrusted to us—carrying out all the Rebbe’s instructions in practice, with a strong focus on the one shlichus that remains: actually welcoming Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

47:10 Speaker 12 Exactly. That’s the point I want to place special emphasis on, because this is the burning concern for the Rebbe. This is what the Rebbe needs so much right now: to complete the shlichus and bring the Geulah in actuality. That is the shlichus entrusted to his holy, pure soul—to reveal His Essence, blessed be He, down here, making a dwelling for Him in the lowest realms. This work is his unique work. He has given us the privilege of joining him in his shlichus, making us shluchim and partners in this unique work of his soul. And we can do it. We need to believe it, because the Rebbe told us so. The Rebbe gives us the strength to do it, and we will succeed. And here, too, we need to think about the fact that it has to be done together. We need to do it together. All the chassidim need to come together, strengthen their connection with one another, and set aside all the side issues, all the undesirable things, all the different “yours and mine” issues we have with one another. We need to set all that aside and do everything in our power to work together to bring the Geulah in actuality. By “set aside,” I mean setting aside negative feelings and unkind thoughts about one another, and having genuine chassidic love—even when there are differing opinions. There are differing opinions; that’s natural. This needs to be the bottom line of our 11 Nissan farbrengen: to rise higher, become a new kind of person, rise above all the things that aren’t good, rise above everything negative. To live with the Rebbe, live Moshiach, live G-dliness together, act together and bring the true and complete Geulah in every way we possibly can.

49:19 Speaker 3 Yasher koach, Rabbi Shimon’le. With Hashem’s help, may these words have their effect, speak to the heart, be heard by the heart and accomplish what they need to. L’chaim, l’chaim. May we merit, through this farbrengen, the immediate revelation of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, right away.

49:31 Speaker 12 Amen. Right away. And the message is that every Tomim can bring light into his home. Every family has the opportunity to add more and more light, vitality and chassidic warmth filled with Geulah: a genuine connection to the Rebbe, a feeling of love for the Rebbe, and a sense of caring about the things the Rebbe expects of us. To live with the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. That’s what we at Yeshivas Chassidim are working toward, and you Temimim can bring it home. Along with all the activities you receive from Atah Haolami, you receive the full support you need as Temimim to live Moshiach and Geulah and carry out the Rebbe’s instructions in your lives. At Yeshivas Chassidim, we provide the tools so that you can show your parents how to bring this into the home as well. For example, right now there is the “Love for the Rebbe” campaign. We give a gift to the Rebbe, and every family can reflect each day on a special story about the Rebbe, talk about it with the children and make good resolutions. What gift am I giving the Rebbe? That needs to be the spirit: we love the Rebbe, we are connected to the Rebbe, and we give the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, a gift—the true and complete Geulah, and our devotion. We will bring the Geulah in actuality, with joy and purity of heart. L’chaim, l’chaim.

51:03 Speaker 3 L’chaim to the Creator of the world.

51:04 Speaker 12 Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, forever and ever. May we see each other immediately at 770, joined to the Third Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem, the holy city.

51:14 Speaker 3 Amen. Yasher koach, Rabbi.

51:16 Speaker 12 L’chaim.

51:16 Speaker 3 Yasher koach.

51:18 Speaker 4 Ears to Hear. Audio programs for the Temimim from Atah Haolami. For more programs, dial *6358. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, forever and ever.