Our Master

00:00 What does it mean? You have to translate it into Yiddish. We say that the Rebbe is an Admor. Admor—what does it mean? “Our master, our teacher, and our Rebbe.” What does “our master” mean? It means a master and a servant. What does “our master” mean? The Rebbe, after all, is the Rebbe of Chabad. What the Rebbe tells us down here, what a soul sees in Gan Eden, and the Rebbe sees in Atzilus—he is telling us here: What is the understanding? We say that the Rebbe is an Admor. What does the word Admor mean? The first word is “our master.” What is “our master”? It is a master and a servant. Then comes “our teacher and our Rebbe.” The Alter Rebbe says in chapter 41: “The beginning of divine service, and its essence and root.” The point is that love for the Rebbe alone is not enough. Love is the root of all 248 positive mitzvos, and awe is the root of the 365 prohibitions. There has to be, in the positive mitzvos, [unclear]. “And you shall serve Hashem your G-d,” as the Alter Rebbe explains. Otherwise, the entire connection with the Rebbe is missing. Seemingly, one could have said “our teacher and our Rebbe” first—that would be from below upward—and then, when someone studies the Rebbe’s teachings, he will [unclear] grasp that the Rebbe is our master. How can one understand the Rebbe even more deeply? We say: No, the order is “our master.” The first thing, if I want to have a connection with the Rebbe, is that the Rebbe is your master. In short, if you don’t feel that you are the servant and the Rebbe is your master, then you haven’t yet approached the—

02:06 Rebbe. What does “master” mean? A servant. A servant, [unclear], everyone understands that; I don’t understand it. The master is the [unclear]. You are a servant. The Rebbe tells us to study one chapter a day—one chapter; three chapters—three chapters. The Rebbe says we have to study Chassidus, this many daily lessons, but—

00:00 The first thing is this: We’re all Jews, chassidim. We’re the Rebbe’s chassidim. Fine, we’re good Jews, but we want to have a connection with the Rebbe. The first thing, after all the stories that need to be written down and spoken about, is that the Rebbe is our master. Our master—that says it all. We are servants, servants of our master. The first thing a bochur needs to think is: What am I supposed to do? Each person in his own role. The Rebbe says that a rosh yeshiva, an educator, when there is a student, a bochur, [unclear], should not be able to sleep at night. And an educator who sleeps at night is not an educator. He needs to go to the Ohel and plead with the Rebbe: Rebbe, give me the strength to educate students. Each person in his own role. We are servants of our master. That’s the first thing: our master. After that, it’s not enough; we say: He is our teacher and our Rebbe. The Rebbe must enter into us inwardly, so that we understand the Rebbe’s sichos and maamarim. But the first thing is bittul, putting ourselves aside: the Rebbe is our master, and each person needs to do what his role requires of him. L’chaim, guys, l’chaim. I don’t want any more speeches. L’chaim, l’chaim.