Ears to Hear 29 | The Essence of the Holy Proclamation "Yechi Adoneinu"

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

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

00:14 Speaker 1 We always knew that the Rebbe is Moshiach. Always, from the time we first understood what a Rebbe is. The Rebbe and Moshiach are really one and the same. We need to actually welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu. That is the work. What does “welcome” mean? That he should come, that he should come? Then there would be no need to talk about it; he would come anyway. If the Rebbe says we need to do it, that means we need to accept the person of Moshiach. Since the Rebbe publicized this, we too need to follow that path and publicize it.

01:06 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 another program in the Ears to Hear audio series, a program permeated with a firm connection to the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach shlita, and with [unclear] to bring about the revelation of Moshiach in actuality. In this program, we want to speak with the mashpia Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Ofen about the meaning of the holy proclamation “Yechi Adoneinu.” We’ll discuss the kabbolas ol involved when every chossid accepts the Rebbe’s kingship, recognizing the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach, and what it means to express that acceptance by proclaiming “Yechi Adoneinu”—the meaning behind the words each of us says. Shalom aleichem, Rabbi Ofen.

01:55 Speaker 1 Aleichem shalom.

01:56 Speaker 2 Boruch Hashem, we’re beginning a special program on a fundamental subject. Sometimes we repeat something so often that it just passes us by, and we need to stop and talk about what it really means—what “Yechi” means. So perhaps, before we get into its broader meaning, we could ask the rabbi a more personal, inward question by way of introduction. When did you first encounter the idea of the Rebbe as Moshiach? Was it when you traveled to the Rebbe, between 5720 and 5730? Did it happen there, at the completion of Moshiach’s Sefer Torah in 5730, or was it earlier? When was the first time you encountered this idea?

02:41 Speaker 1 Actually, we always knew that the Rebbe is Moshiach. Always, from the time we understood what a Rebbe is. The explanation is simple: the Rebbe is the collective yechidah of all the Jewish people, and that is what Moshiach is about, because, as is known, Moshiach is the collective yechidah.

03:07 Speaker 2 And that was already clear to you as children?

03:09 Speaker 1 We already knew it; it was clear. There was a Jew named Reb Avraham Pariz, and in my time he made leaflets. They dropped them in the street. The Rebbe stopped it, but—

03:25 Speaker 2 From an airplane over Tel Aviv.

03:27 Speaker 1 Yes, they dropped them. But [unclear] would write to the Rebbe, “Melech HaMoshiach.” I remember there were chassidim who—and Reb Sholom Chaim, too. Although he didn’t proclaim it, it was clear to him, and sometimes he would say it plainly.

03:52 Speaker 2 In the yeshiva in Lod? You heard him sometimes?

03:55 Speaker 1 In Kfar Chabad. Yes. We knew that the Rebbe and Moshiach are really one and the same.

04:04 Speaker 2 As a bochur in 770, you’re talking about Avraham Pariz?

04:07 Speaker 1 No, I’m talking about even earlier, before 770.

04:10 Speaker 2 Even earlier.

04:11 Speaker 1 I’m talking about when we were in Kfar Chabad, in Lod. And there were also chassidim with us in Ramat Gan for whom it was clear that the Rebbe is Moshiach. It was obvious. Reb Sholom Chaim would say it explicitly from time to time.

04:38 Speaker 2 And as for Moshiach’s Sefer Torah, presumably that marked another stage in this, or at least in how it felt?

04:46 Speaker 1 Look, with Moshiach’s Sefer Torah, everyone thought that when they finished the Sefer Torah, Moshiach would be revealed.

04:54 Speaker 2 You were actually standing there, right?

04:56 Speaker 1 Yes, we were there.

04:57 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

04:59 Speaker 1 There was a farbrengen. First—

05:03 Speaker 2 On Friday.

05:05 Speaker 1 People bought letters. A week earlier, the Rebbe had already announced that they were about to finish the Sefer Torah. Then, on Friday, in the middle of the farbrengen, they completed it, and the Rebbe brought the crown. The Rebbe placed the crown on it and took the Sefer Torah, and there were no hakafos or anything like that.

05:32 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

05:32 Speaker 1 The Rebbe took it straight over. They only recited the verses of “Vezos HaTorah”—ten verses. The Rebbe assigned the verses; he decided which of the elder chassidim would say each verse. After that, the Rebbe took the Sefer Torah, accompanied by two candles, and brought it straight to the aron kodesh. The Rebbe said it was because there wasn’t enough time. It was already over—there wasn’t enough time. Well, we’re still short of time to this day.

06:02 Speaker 2 But it felt special. There was a sense of progress, of a new stage—

06:06 Speaker 1 Look, many came thinking Moshiach would arrive, and they were disappointed. Personally, I didn’t think it had to happen that way, but we were hoping.

06:33 Speaker 2 Now that you’ve told us about your first encounters with the idea of the Rebbe and Moshiach, we want to delve into “Yechi Adoneinu.” The proclamation began to be said regularly at children’s gatherings in Tishrei 5747—

06:51 Speaker 1 Well, this is how it began—

06:54 Speaker 2 We’d like to hear about—

06:55 Speaker 1 No, that wasn’t in 5747; that was in 5751.

07:00 Speaker 2 I’m not talking about “Melech HaMoshiach leolam vaed.” I meant “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu VeRabbeinu” in general. They were proclaiming that at children’s gatherings well before “Melech HaMoshiach,” and in a sicha too.

07:12 Speaker 1 That wasn’t—it was something ordinary, something routine.

07:15 Speaker 2 So now we’d like to hear, as you were saying, how it developed in 5751 with “Melech HaMoshiach leolam vaed,” and what the whole matter means.

07:22 Speaker 1 Well, it’s connected with the sicha of 2 Nissan 5748. The Rebbe introduced something new there, but the fellows hadn’t yet grasped it. The Rebbe began speaking about the relationship between the people and the nasi, the king. It’s important to know that the Rebbe would always say, “The Rebbe, the nasi.” A nasi is a king, as the Rebbe explains. The Rebbe says that, on the one hand, the king is exalted and set apart, “from his shoulders upward, taller than all the people.” They are separate and distant from him. That expresses awe and bittul. On the other hand, he says the king is the heart of all the Jewish people. That is the greatest possible closeness: the heart is always present in every limb. Vitality flows from the heart to the limbs; all the limbs are connected and receive their vitality from the heart.

08:34 Speaker 3 That’s an even stronger expression than the brain.

08:36 Speaker 1 It’s the greatest possible closeness. On the one hand, exaltedness and separation; on the other, the greatest closeness. And it isn’t only a matter of vitality. The Rebbe said more than that: the king’s very existence depends on the people. “There is no king without a people.” On the one hand, he is exalted and they are distant, yet they bring about his kingship. The Rebbe then mentioned that a king is crowned through the proclamation “Yechi Hamelech”—“Long live the king”—as we find in the Davidic monarchy.

09:15 Speaker 3 With David, with Shlomo.

09:16 Speaker 1 In the Davidic monarchy, yes. And the Rebbe speaks about the effect the people have on the king’s life. In other words, the people affect the life of the king.

09:29 Speaker 3 Do they bring about his very life, or add to his life, in the sense of—

09:34 Speaker 1 They affect his life by making him a king in the first place. The Rebbe spoke about this in connection with 68 years of the nesius of the Nasi of our generation. That was in 5748. The Nasi of the generation adds life to all the people of the generation, while the people of the generation, in turn, add life to the Nasi of the generation.

10:07 Speaker 3 It’s a mutual connection.

10:08 Speaker 1 “Yechi Hamelech.”

10:09 Speaker 3 Yes.

10:10 Speaker 1 And the Rebbe says that there needs to be a major increase in life through the people’s proclamation of “Yechi Hamelech.” The Rebbe explains that the meaning of this proclamation is that the time has already come for “Awaken and sing, you who dwell in the dust”—for Dovid Malka Meshicha to awaken and sing. The Rebbe connected this with the need to demand and request it.

10:35 Speaker 3 Which is why people have been proclaiming it lately.

10:37 Speaker 1 The anticipation, the request and the demand that Moshiach come in actuality are also a form of coronation. Through that coronation, we bring about the coming of Dovid Malka Meshicha. That is what the Rebbe was speaking about. The Rebbe also mentioned that every Jew can bring about “Yechi Hamelech.” The Rebbe cites the verse “A star shall go forth from Yaakov.” According to one interpretation, the star refers to every Jew, and according to another, it refers to Melech HaMoshiach. These two interpretations are connected, because every Jew has a spark of Moshiach’s soul: his yechidah is a spark of the collective yechidah, which is Moshiach’s soul. That is the connection between Moshiach and all the Jewish people: their yechidah is a spark of Moshiach’s soul.

11:56 Speaker 3 Which expresses even more strongly the connection between Moshiach and each individual.

11:58 Speaker 1 That is also why the idea that “there is no king without a people”—which is the meaning of the declaration “Long live the king”—is especially emphasized with regard to Moshiach. “A star has gone forth from Yaakov”: the star of the Jewish people as a whole is connected with the revelation of each individual’s own star.

12:23 Speaker 3 In other words, generally speaking, this applies to every leader of a generation.

12:25 Speaker 1 So I’m explaining.

12:26 Speaker 3 But here there is something distinctive about Moshiach himself.

12:29 Speaker 1 He says this applies to every king, and to Moshiach in particular. He explains that the yechidah resides in the heart, and that is the idea of the king being the heart of the Jewish people.

12:43 Speaker 3 So that, essentially, is the general content of the sicha of 2 Nissan 5748.

12:48 Speaker 1 The Rebbe says that the main thing in completing our deeds and our service also includes the demand, the request, and the declaration, “Long live the king, Dovid Malka Meshicha.”

13:00 Speaker 3 “Long live the king” refers, quite simply, to Dovid, His anointed king—to Moshiach.

13:05 Speaker 1 Yes. So that’s essentially where the wording we use now, “Yechi Adoneinu Melech HaMoshiach,” comes from.

13:13 Speaker 3 The source.

13:14 Speaker 1 The source, though people didn’t yet take it in when the Rebbe spoke about it in 5748. It remained quiet all that time, and I don’t remember how it started.

13:28 Speaker 3 When you were in Eretz Yisroel in 5748, had you heard about the sicha of 2 Nissan 5748? It was somewhat obscure. It didn’t gain much momentum.

13:36 Speaker 1 That sicha was—people heard it on—heard it on a recording.

13:44 Speaker 3 Yes, the broadcast.

13:46 Speaker 1 The broadcast. But it didn’t gain momentum.

13:52 Speaker 3 Yes, there are a number of reasons for that. People offer various explanations, but in practice it did not lead to anything concrete regarding “Long live the king.” Then, in 5751, we see the turning point: on Shabbos, 6 Iyar 5751, Parshas Tazria-Metzora, for the first time they declared in front of the Rebbe, “Yechi Adoneinu Melech HaMoshiach l’olam va’ed.” After that there was a pause for a while, and then it returned very strongly in 5753. From then on, we saw the Rebbe’s strong encouragement every day.

14:23 Speaker 1 Right. It became a regular thing: the Rebbe would encourage it at every davening throughout 5753 and into the beginning of 5754.

14:39 Speaker 3 So that’s essentially what happened.

14:41 Speaker 1 I was there in 57...

14:43 Speaker 3 So, in Tzfas.

14:45 Speaker 1 In 5753. I was with the Rebbe for the Kinus Hashluchim.

14:53 Speaker 3 When the Rebbe came out to the shluchim in 5753.

14:54 Speaker 1 The Rebbe came out for the shluchim’s banquet, and that was in 5753.

15:02 Speaker 3 Does the Rabbi remember those moments?

15:04 Speaker 1 Certainly. They sang and sang “Yechi Adoneinu” for, I think, twenty minutes.

15:11 Speaker 3 Twenty minutes.

15:12 Speaker 1 Even longer. And the Rebbe encouraged it. That was at the Kinus Hashluchim. Afterward, I was with the Rebbe again. I went back again.

15:32 Speaker 3 Between 5753 and 5754.

15:34 Speaker 1 In 5753, I was there for Shavuos, and then too, during the davening—after every davening, they would sing “Yechi Adoneinu,” and the Rebbe would encourage it.

15:52 Speaker 3 What was—

15:52 Speaker 1 Sometimes more strongly, sometimes less; sometimes for longer, sometimes for less time. But at every davening, the Rebbe encouraged it.

16:02 Speaker 4 “Long live Moshiach. Long live Moshiach.”

16:10 Speaker 3 What was the Rabbi’s feeling?

16:12 Speaker 1 That Moshiach was about to come. If the Rebbe encouraged it and gave his approval, then clearly that was so. And our role, as the Rebbe explained, was to ask that Moshiach be revealed.

16:37 Speaker 3 As the Rabbi just brought from the sicha of 2 Nissan 5748, this declaration includes two things: the demand and request you mentioned, and the acceptance of his kingship.

16:46 Speaker 1 Yes.

16:48 Speaker 3 So in 5753, when the Rabbi witnessed this, were both of those ideas at the forefront, or...?

16:54 Speaker 1 People would explain: What does it mean? What are we asking for? And the explanation was that we want the revelation of Moshiach. That is the content of the request.

17:13 Speaker 3 That is the request, while the work on our part is accepting his kingship.

17:16 Speaker 1 Of course, on our part there has to be the work of accepting his kingship. In one of the sichos in 5751, the Rebbe said that the appointment of Dovid, My anointed king, had already taken place, and the Rebbe cited the verse, “I have found Dovid My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him.” What is needed now is for the people to accept his kingship, and for the bond between the king and the people to reach its fullest revelation in the true and complete Geulah. So we see here that the appointment, in a sense, comes from Above.

17:53 Speaker 3 Which has already happened.

17:55 Speaker 1 That has already happened, and then there is the acceptance of his kingship by the people, which still has to happen.

18:02 Speaker 3 Which begins now and reaches completion in the Geulah.

18:05 Speaker 1 It will be complete in the Geulah.

18:07 Speaker 3 Why?

18:08 Speaker 1 But accepting his kingship has to happen already now: we have to form the bond between the king and the people. That bond will be complete in the true and complete Geulah. Then it will be revealed for all to see. But right now we have to work on it.

18:29 Speaker 3 So, regarding what the Rabbi is describing in 5753 and the sicha of 28 Nissan 5751 that you just quoted—this feeling that there had been a turning point, that suddenly the Rebbe was giving his approval to “Yechi”—did that feel natural to you as chassidim, or was it difficult to accept? That’s the question.

18:51 Speaker 1 Why would it be difficult? On the contrary, we were happy to hear that the Rebbe approved it. That’s what—

18:58 Speaker 3 It was the obvious thing.

18:58 Speaker 1 It was what we had known all along. At times the Rebbe had expressed reservations, and there were times when the Rebbe spoke sharply about people discussing it. But in 5753 the time had come: the Rebbe not only stopped expressing reservations, but approved it publicly, before the eyes of all the Jewish people, so to speak. That was another stage—the time had come for the whole world to know about it. What is needed, though, as he says here, is for the people to accept his kingship.

19:48 Speaker 3 Meaning that this isn’t just something outward; there has to be a bond between the king and the people.

19:53 Speaker 1 Accepting his kingship simply means doing what the Rebbe wants. For yeshivah students, that means following the yeshivah schedule, studying nigleh, studying Chassidus, engaging in avodas hatefillah, and using their free time for mivtzoim. Everyone must carry out their shlichus—the shlichus the Rebbe gives each person. To bring about the days of Moshiach, we need to go over that sicha of Parshas Chayei Sarah, where the Rebbe said that “all the days of your life” are to bring about the days of Moshiach.

20:42 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

20:42 Speaker 1 In other words, everything we do is for the purpose of bringing about the days of Moshiach, and that has to be true “all the days of your life”—throughout your life. At every moment a person has, he needs to know that his shlichus is to bring about the days of Moshiach. And the Rebbe cites the Rambam, who says that a single action can bring about the Geulah. So the whole matter of the Geulah belongs to each and every person.

21:14 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

21:15 Speaker 1 So when the Rebbe said in the sicha of 28 Nissan, “Do everything you can,” the Rebbe had essentially begun with this in 5747, in—

21:25 Speaker 5 5747.

21:27 Speaker 1 In 5747, when he said that the matter of Moshiach was entrusted to each and every person. In the past, the great leaders of the Jewish people, our Rebbeim, were involved in it. The Rebbe mentioned the dates for the end of exile given by the Alter Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe, whose soul is in Gan Eden, and the Rebbe [unclear][?]—and Moshiach still had not come. So the Rebbe explained that now this is something each and every person must be involved in.

21:58 Speaker 5 That was Purim 5747. Is there actually a difference between Purim 5747 and 28 Nissan 5751 in what the Rebbe demanded, or is it the same thing?

22:04 Speaker 1 On Purim 5747, the Rebbe raised the subject. On 28 Nissan, the Rebbe simply cried out and demanded it. He demanded it forcefully.

22:17 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

22:18 Speaker 1 But the substance is the same: each and every person is obligated to do something about it. Men, women, and children. The Rebbe exempts no one from it.

22:31 Speaker 5 How does that fit into accepting his kingship, which the Rabbi has been discussing?

22:35 Speaker 1 Accepting his kingship means doing what Moshiach wants.

22:40 Speaker 5 So the central expression of that—

22:41 Speaker 1 Moshiach wants to be revealed, but he needs people who will accept him. If they aren’t interested in him, how can he be revealed?

22:51 Speaker 5 So the message of 28 Nissan isn’t just about physical actions to bring Moshiach. It’s about being people who accept his kingship, who accept Moshiach with their entire being—and that generally leads to constantly taking action to bring Moshiach. It begins with what happens inside.

23:06 Speaker 1 What the Rebbe wants above all is action.

23:09 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

23:10 Speaker 1 That is the main thing. Concrete actions, and those actions are Torah and mitzvos: Torah and mitzvos, nigleh, Chassidus, avodas hatefillah. “All your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven.” “Know Him in all your ways.”

23:30 Speaker 5 And this also includes studying matters concerning Moshiach in depth, as the Rebbe spoke about.

23:33 Speaker 1 Certainly, certainly. Regarding studying matters concerning Moshiach in depth, the Rebbe gave a special sicha saying that this brings it closer: “Since our deeds and our service have been completed, what is the straight path, the easiest and quickest of all the paths of Torah, that a person should choose?” In other words, for each person—for the Jewish people as a whole—having completed the work, what straight path should a person take to bring about the revelation and coming of Moshiach?

24:05 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

24:05 Speaker 1 And then the Rebbe says that the revelation of Moshiach begins with the Moshiach within each and every person.

24:11 Speaker 5 Within each and every person.

24:12 Speaker 1 Yes, yes. In other words, revealing the yechidah. The Rebbe says that since Moshiach is about to come immediately, and yet has not come, the final effort of each person to bring Moshiach is through an action.

24:32 Speaker 5 That is essentially what the Rebbe is asking of us.

24:33 Speaker 1 The Rebbe says that the concept of Moshiach is found in the Torah. So the Rebbe says to study Torah about Melech HaMoshiach and the Geulah, as they appear in the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The Rebbe also spoke about this in the sicha of Parshas Chayei Sarah. For the Rebbe, Torah has an effect on the world, and of course the Rebbe believes that. So naturally we need to believe it too.

25:03 Speaker 5 Perhaps it’s easy to say[?].

25:05 Speaker 1 That Torah does have an effect—that Torah has the power to change both a person’s nature and the world.

25:14 Speaker 5 So it turns out that this isn’t just a technical action. There’s the act of learning here too. The Rabbi has just mentioned many practical actions to bring Moshiach, which, as the Rabbi said, is the main point. But learning about Moshiach also changes the person himself.

25:27 Speaker 1 A person needs to feel that Moshiach is about to arrive. The Rebbe says that instilling the awareness that we are on the threshold of the days of Moshiach, and living with that awareness, is not easy. Torah study affects a person’s feelings even when he feels removed from the Geulah because he is still in his own inner exile. But by studying Torah about the Geulah, he rises to a state of Geulah and begins to live with it, feeling that it is about to happen.

26:12 Speaker 5 It is said that on 28 Nissan, the Rebbe spoke about people still being in an inner exile in matters of serving Hashem. Here too, the Rebbe mentioned inner exile, and how studying matters of Geulah and Moshiach brings us out of it.

26:22 Speaker 1 Yes.

26:32 Speaker 5 So these are essentially the actions the Rabbi is talking about to bring Moshiach: all the things the Rebbe mentioned—Torah study, observing mitzvos, avodah in prayer, keeping the study schedules, and studying matters of Geulah and Moshiach. Those are the actions.

26:43 Speaker 1 The actions.

26:44 Speaker 5 Now, if we really try to break down the idea of “all the days of your life,” which every Tomim and every chossid says every day, and try to—

26:53 Speaker 1 “All the days of your life” means every moment a person is alive: day and night, awake and asleep.

27:02 Speaker 5 In the sicha about—

27:02 Speaker 1 “All the days of your life, to bring about the days of Moshiach.” That means that every moment, his very life is devoted to bringing about the days of Moshiach. It’s not just that at certain times he thinks and talks and takes action to bring Moshiach; his very life is about bringing the days of Moshiach. In other words, as soon as he wakes up, he feels an atmosphere of Moshiach, the spirit of Melech HaMoshiach. But in practice, what’s important is to remember the sicha of Parshas Chayei Sarah.

27:38 Speaker 5 Absolutely.

27:38 Speaker 1 The Rebbe gave an instruction at the opening of the International Kinus HaShluchim. We need to declare that the mission of shlichus is to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu. That means every detail of shlichus must be permeated with the point of how it leads to welcoming Moshiach Tzidkeinu. And the Rebbe brings that saying, “All the days of your life, to bring about the days of Moshiach”: every aspect of our avodah, every day of our lives, down to the individual hours of the day, must be permeated with bringing about the days of Moshiach. A person does everything in his power to bring them about. In practical terms, this means making good resolutions about how every shliach should prepare himself and all the Jews in his area and city to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu—to explain the subject of Moshiach in a way people can understand, through studying matters of Geulah and Moshiach with chochmah, binah, and daas.

29:07 Speaker 6 Mm-hmm.

29:09 Speaker 1 Since this is the avodah of our time, it’s clear that it applies to every Jew, without exception.

29:17 Speaker 6 So here too, it’s clear that there is the avodah of accepting his kingship so that he can come and redeem the Jewish people. He needs people to accept him, to welcome Moshiach beforehand, so that he can come and redeem them.

29:31 Speaker 1 The Rebbe, for his part—the Rebbe said that he had done his part and we need to do ours. What does it mean that he did his part? He brought down the—just as it says that the seventh nasi brought the Shechinah down to this earth. So the Rebbe brought down the Shechinah. But we need to open our eyes to see, as the Rebbe says. And opening our eyes means becoming a vessel.

30:06 Speaker 6 A vessel means being receptive, accepting his kingship. Is that what he means?

30:10 Speaker 1 Yes, yes.

30:12 Speaker 6 Essentially, the—

30:13 Speaker 1 The Rebbe says we need to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu openly, with our mouths. That’s the avodah now.

30:20 Speaker 6 Is the Rabbi connecting the words “welcome Moshiach” with accepting his kingship?

30:24 Speaker 1 Of course. What does it mean to welcome him when he comes? When he comes, there’ll be no need to talk about it—he’ll be here. When the Rebbe says we need to do it, that means we need to accept the idea of Moshiach.

30:44 Speaker 6 Just the idea of Moshiach, or the person of Moshiach too?

30:48 Speaker 1 The person—to welcome Moshiach himself.

30:50 Speaker 6 That’s after the Rebbe essentially gave the green light about Moshiach’s identity. So it’s clear what “welcome Moshiach” means: which Moshiach are we welcoming?

31:01 Speaker 1 Yes, to welcome Moshiach himself, quite literally.

31:04 Speaker 6 Mm-hmm.

31:06 Speaker 1 But that acceptance is expressed by doing the—

31:09 Speaker 6 The censorship.

31:10 Speaker 1 The things he demands and expects of us.

31:23 Speaker 6 And perhaps the Rabbi could elaborate on that very point. The Rabbi speaks about accepting his kingship, expressed through actions and through bittul to the king. We say “Yechi Adoneinu” so many times during the day, and sometimes we don’t pay attention to what each word means. The Rabbi explained in general what accepting his kingship means. But if we pause to look closely at the words of “Yechi,” what is the nature of the bittul expressed by those words? We’ve spoken about “Yechi” in general, and about “Adoneinu.” What exactly is the nature, the essence, of the bittul of “a servant, and nothing else”? What is the idea?

31:58 Speaker 1 The bittul of “a servant, and nothing else” is like at Shavuos, when they said “we will do” before “we will hear.” He is nullified to the One whose will it is, not just to a particular wish of His. It’s like a servant who has no independent existence. When we say, “Whatever a servant acquires, his master acquires,” it doesn’t mean that the servant first acquires it and then the master receives it. From the outset, the servant is not a separate entity; he is his master’s hand. That is how one’s bittul to the One whose will it is—the Rebbe—must be. That is the meaning of “Adoneinu.”

32:42 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm, and—

32:45 Speaker 1 “Moreinu v’Rabbeinu”—he teaches us the way. How? How do we do it?

32:49 Speaker 7 “Moreinu v’Rabbeinu” is one subject, but they are two forms of bittul.

32:53 Speaker 1 I don’t know the distinction between them.

32:55 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm.

32:56 Speaker 1 It’s one thing: he teaches us, and he is our rav.

33:00 Speaker 7 Meaning that he teaches us the way by being our rav. Perhaps that’s what it means?

33:05 Speaker 1 I don’t know. He teaches us the way, and he is also our rav. It’s essentially one subject.

33:12 Speaker 7 So the nature of the bittul here is expressed primarily in accepting that he is our rav. Does that mean studying his Torah, or studying Torah in general?

33:19 Speaker 1 Studying his Torah too, because that connects us to him, and also doing what he demands of us—everything he wants us to do.

33:33 Speaker 7 By the way, this matter of studying his Torah—the Rebbe’s letter from the Catskills[?] to Reb Shlomo Chaim about specifically studying the Torah of the nasi of the generation—was that when the Rabbi was in yeshiva, earlier?

33:44 Speaker 1 In the very first years.

33:46 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm. So that means studying the Rebbe’s Torah. And, by the way, that is the bittul involved in studying specifically the Rebbe’s Torah. The Rabbi has played a very large role in the broad effort to study the Rebbe’s Torah through K.H., which the Rabbi founded in 5749 with the Rebbe’s blessing. What was its aim? Was it to establish, for the first time, a kollel for Chassidus that would also study the Rebbe’s Torah, or simply a kollel for Chassidus?

34:11 Speaker 1 For Chassidus in general. We placed an emphasis on studying the Rebbe’s Torah, but the overall goal was to study the inner dimension of Torah, because the inner dimension of Torah brings the Geulah.

34:25 Speaker 7 I once heard that there was a response from the Rebbe saying that this pertains to Tomchei Temimim.

34:28 Speaker 1 Yes.

34:29 Speaker 7 What did that mean?

34:31 Speaker 1 That we needed to speak with those responsible for Tomchei Temimim in order to carry out this campaign.

34:42 Speaker 7 We can see that this has succeeded, Rabbi—

34:46 Speaker 1 Boruch Hashem, there are many kollels where they study Chassidus, and they don’t just study it—it changes their entire way of thinking.

34:57 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm.

34:58 Speaker 1 Because Chassidus in general changes the way a person thinks.

35:02 Speaker 7 So that’s one detail, by the way, about “Rabbeinu”—studying the Rebbe’s Torah. If we move on to bittul to a king, why do we need to add “the king”? We could have said, “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu HaMoshiach.” So what is the bittul here?

35:17 Speaker 1 It says that Moshiach will be both a rav and a king. What we can take in internally is the rav. What we cannot take in internally, we receive in an encompassing way. That is the idea of a king.

35:29 Speaker 7 That describes the Rebbe’s relationship to us. But from my side, in terms of my acceptance and my bittul, there’s—

35:33 Speaker 1 Acceptance is bittul. There is the bittul of a student to his rav, but bittul to a king is much greater: the person is nullified entirely. It’s not just a matter of accepting his words and understanding them; his entire being is nullified. He has no independent existence, as we said earlier.

35:56 Speaker 7 Does that bring in the category of rebellion against the king—and perhaps a halachic category as well?

36:01 Speaker 1 Look, as far as halacha is concerned, this matter has not yet been revealed.

36:06 Speaker 7 Not until the Sanhedrin convenes and they can build.

36:09 Speaker 1 So we need to know that this is the case.

36:14 Speaker 7 At least as chassidim.

36:15 Speaker 1 Yes.

36:18 Speaker 7 So this is the submission to Melech HaMoshiach—this essential submission—as the Rabbi explained in the sicha.

36:23 Speaker 1 In other words, to be devoted to the Rebbe.

36:28 Speaker 7 And if the Rabbi could sum that up in one line?

36:32 Speaker 1 Yes: above all, to be devoted. How do we know we are devoting ourselves to the Rebbe? By devoting ourselves to his activities.

36:42 Speaker 7 And what, essentially, does “forever and ever” express?

36:47 Speaker 1 It means something eternal. It is not temporary; it is eternal. Moshiach’s kingship is an everlasting kingship, the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu.

37:04 Speaker 7 That also relates to our submission: our submission, too, is eternal. It is not something that can pass.

37:11 Speaker 1 That is what we said earlier: the people make the king, because there is no king without a people.

37:16 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm.

37:19 Speaker 1 So if the kingship is everlasting, then our acceptance of it is also everlasting.

37:35 Speaker 7 So, to sum up the general point: the Rabbi explained, based on the sicha of 2 Nissan 5748[?] and the additional sichos, that the general intent of “Yechi” is to accept the Rebbe’s kingship. It is knowing and understanding that there is no king without a people, and that we add vitality to the Rebbe by accepting his kingship through “Yechi.” And this also—

37:56 Speaker 1 On the one hand, we need to know that the Rebbe gives us life. The Rebbe gives us all our vitality, because the Rebbe is the heart of the Jewish people, and the heart gives vitality to all the limbs. On the other hand, as we said earlier, it is reciprocal. We also give vitality to the Rebbe by accepting him, because vitality must come from all the limbs to the heart, and from the heart it reaches all the limbs.

38:27 Speaker 7 So that is the general intent. And as it also says in the sicha of 2 Nissan 5748[?], this brings about “and we will see Dovid, our king, our Moshiach”—the coming of Moshiach.

38:34 Speaker 1 Yes, that the Rebbe should be revealed.

38:39 Speaker 7 So that is the general intent. The Rabbi then explained in more detail that it is expressed in submission to the Rebbe. Accepting his kingship means greeting Moshiach Tzidkeinu; it means doing what the Rebbe wants. The general demand is “Tut altz vos ir kent”—do everything you can—to bring Moshiach and greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu. As we said, this submission is expressed in the words of “Yechi.”

39:03 Speaker 1 It says that the shlichus now is to prepare oneself and one’s entire surroundings to—

39:09 Speaker 7 That is the expression of accepting his kingship: preparing oneself and one’s surroundings to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu. To close the program, yasher koach, Rabbi Ofen. In this way we receive guidance, as in “Ask your elders, and they will tell you.” We truly yearn for and await anything like this. Just before we finish, we would be glad if the Rabbi could share his personal view on “Yechi” itself. As the Rabbi said, it is not only a matter of preparing oneself, but the entire world. The Rabbi mentioned 5753, when the Rebbe publicly encouraged the proclamation. We also saw, a few years ago, at the dedication of a Sefer Torah at the Kosel, when the Rabbi proclaimed “Yechi Adoneinu” three times during the seventh hakafah. Boruch Hashem, that made waves around the world. We would really like to ask the Rabbi personally: how does the Rabbi view “Yechi” being publicized openly? How far should we go with it—

40:14 Speaker 1 Look, on the one hand, it has to be done in a way people can accept. I cannot go to another chassidic community—Belz, for example—and proclaim it there. That would not be appropriate. I can speak with Belz chassidim and explain it to them, but not make a public proclamation there. Within Lubavitch, though, we should not be embarrassed about it. We should proclaim it publicly.

40:40 Speaker 7 Not an event only for Lubavitch, for—

40:42 Speaker 1 If it is a Lubavitch event, then clearly we should not be embarrassed about it, and we should proclaim it.

40:48 Speaker 7 So, essentially—

40:49 Speaker 1 But also, wherever we understand that it will be accepted, since the Rebbe publicized this, we too must follow that path and publicize it.

41:04 Speaker 7 Through the Rebbe’s encouragement in 5753, when it became known throughout the world, the Rebbe, in a certain sense, took responsibility for its reaching everywhere.

41:11 Speaker 1 Yes.

41:13 Speaker 7 So the Rabbi is saying that we also need to know how to introduce it and bring it in properly.

41:18 Speaker 1 Yes, properly, so people will accept it. It should not just be done in a wild way; it should—

41:25 Speaker 7 Be internalized.

41:27 Speaker 1 Yes. 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. Long live our master, our teacher, and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever.

42:03 Speaker 7 A great yasher koach, Rabbi Ofen. With Hashem’s help, may this program strengthen us further in the matter of “Yechi Adoneinu.” And the main thing—the most important thing of all—is that the Rebbe be revealed immediately, right now.

42:11 Speaker 1 That is the main thing: that the Rebbe simply take us out of exile, bring us to the true and complete Geulah, and bring us to the place where we are meant to be.

42:24 Speaker 7 Amen.

42:25 Speaker 1 Long live our master, our teacher, and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever.

42:29 Speaker 7 A great yasher koach, Rabbi Ofen. Thank you very much.

42:33 Speaker 8 Ears to Hear. Audio programs for the Temimim from the Or Yomi website. For more programs, dial *6358. Long live our master, our teacher, and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever.