Why the Rebbe Hesitated to Accept Leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch

Episode 30: "Why the Rebbe Hesitated to Accept Leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch" (ד' בשבט תש"פ)

Welcome to our weekly program, The Inside Story of Chabad in America, through the Mindel Archives. Since we are getting closer to Yud Shevat — 70 years since the Rebbe's Nesius, 70 years since the acceptance of the Nesius of the Lubavitcher Rebbe — I want to read to you a letter that a chossid wrote to the Rebbe, that the Rebbe should accept the Nesius. But before that, I want to read you a paragraph that the chassidim wrote three weeks after Yud Shevat.

There was a very somber, heartbroken feeling amongst the chassidim after this histalkus, so they wrote and signed a letter — Rabbi Levitan [?], Rabbi Bolivian [?], Rabbi Simpson [?], Rabbi Rifkin [?], Rabbi Jacobson [?], Rabbi Abacus [?], Rabbi Auskey [?], Rabbi Arab [?], Rabbi Rothstein [?] — and they wrote it in Hebrew, and I will try to translate this paragraph into English.

"We are like a ship at sea without a captain. Who will comfort us?" And they continued to write: "We commit ourselves to continue and increase the holy work of the Rebbe, which consists mostly of [unclear]. We plead with all our brothers to uphold all that the Rebbe told us — his holy mission to spread the wellsprings outward."

In the middle of that time, when people were uncertain, there arose a chossid whose clear mission was to continue the chain of the Chabad Rebbes, so that this chain would remain unbroken. And he wrote a heartfelt letter to the Rebbe — the seventh link in the chain — who was reluctant to take on the leadership. The Rebbe didn't want to take the leadership, so he wrote to the Rebbe a letter.

He was known as Rabbi [?] Nemtzov [?]. He was the father-in-law of Rabbi [?] Mendel [?], and as we mentioned once before, he was a chossid of the Rebbe Rashab and of the Frierdiker Rebbe. And when the Frierdiker Rebbe met him in Europe years before, [unclear], he said to him: "[unclear] … you search for the truth, you found the truth, and you live the truth."

And he wrote a powerful letter, in beautiful handwriting, that the Rebbe should accept the Nesius — I think this was the first one who wrote that. Now, this is his handwriting — this is the letter that he wrote to the Rebbe. He wrote it at the same time, three weeks after the histalkus of the Frierdiker Rebbe.

This handwriting saved him from the Russian army, from having to fight at the front. He was supposed to be sent to the front, to the battle, but when they saw his handwriting they said, "No, you're not going to the front — you'll work with us in the office and write for us," because of his handwriting. This is a beautiful handwriting.

And now I'm going to read it — it's written in Hebrew, and I tried to translate it into English. I tried more or less word for word; I hope it's a good word-for-word translation.

This was written on the fifth day of Parshas Mishpatim. The Frierdiker Rebbe's sicha was [unclear], and this is Parshas Mishpatim. He writes at the top the date, and then quotes the verse: "Hineh anochi sholeach malach lefanecha lishmorcha baderech" — "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way" — and the date, using the abbreviation for the year Taf-Shin-Yud (5710).

And this is the letter that he wrote to the Rebbe, in Hebrew:

"Greeting and blessing to the honored, distinguished one, the link in the chain, Menachem [Mendel] Schneerson, shlita. At this time our spirit has been very broken and has fallen because of the passing of the holy, saintly Admor, his soul is in Gan Eden, whose holiness is as dear to us as the holiness of a Sefer Torah written in six columns.

"We can rightly say about the Rebbe, Admor Yosef Yitzchak, that 'Tzaddik yesod olam' — the tzaddik is the foundation of the world. The tzaddik is the attribute of Yesod — his attribute is Yesod, the sixth sefirah, and he is the sixth level. In addition, he was the foundation upon which the entire Jewish people the world over was built.

"After the tragic destruction our people suffered in the war, with the spreading of Torah and the instilling of Yiddishkeit, the strengthening of Torah education, and the support of refugees in both material and spiritual matters — who can possibly describe all the holy work he did? It goes without saying that his wisdom and counsel was a great benefit to all who sought his advice.

"And now, after this histalkus, we need to consider: number one, the chain of the Chabad Rebbes, the chain of the Schneerson name. God forbid there should be a spiritual destruction of the Chabad community, with no one to comfort it, to cherish it — that the chain should now be broken. There should be no destruction, God forbid, of this name.

"The Midrash says that Hashem spent five hundred years to make Himself a name, yet here we are doing the opposite — stopping the Schneerson name that has already been established. It is for this that our souls weep, and it is a double tragedy: not only have we lost this great treasure, we also have no one to comfort us. [unclear] But we do see a light — [unclear] — our eyes have been opened and we see that there is someone to comfort us, but he is distant. [unclear] The one who can comfort us and revive our spirit is here, but he is distant — he is reluctant, hesitating to come near.

"Why does he hesitate? He writes, because of his humility — he says he's not worthy or deserving of it. And number two, he says he does not have the support [unclear].

"In answer to these two points, we write: according to our understanding, he is most certainly worthy — and he underlined that — and deserving, and upon him rests the continuity of the chain, and he can certainly undertake this mission on his shoulders. That's number one.

"And number two, as to the argument that he has no strength — [unclear] — 'We declare,' writes Rabbi Nemtzov [?] to the Rebbe, 'we declare, Rabbi Yitzchok Dubov [?], shlita, whose name reflects the strength of Yitzchak, as well as myself — thank God I have reached the age of strength' — he was then around eighty years old — 'together we can have the strength to initiate and inspire the Chabad community.'

"Number one, to infuse him with strength, as if the chassidim are supporting him — the chassidim are able to fill in for the Rebbe. And number two, to crown him with the royal crown, so that he will be, through the attribute of Malchus, the seventh in the chain of Chabad leadership, until the coming of Moshiach."

Then he finishes off: we are talking about the continuation of the chain of Chabad leaders, so we will see a hint to this from a shalsheles in the Torah. The shalsheles is a musical trop, and the word with the shalsheles on top needs to be read in an elongated, drawn-out fashion.

He writes: the first shalsheles appears by Lot, who is being led by the hand [rescued by the angel]. Lot was the ancestor of Moshiach — the line through which King David descends from Lot. There is a shalsheles on the word "vayis'mahmah" [and he hesitated/lingered], perhaps to hint to the fact that just as Lot hesitated to start the chain of royalty leading to Moshiach, and the angel strengthened his hand, so too — underlined — in the case of the Rebbe, who is hesitating because he thinks himself unworthy and without support, it is the chassidim who are lending him a supporting hand, so that he will take on the mantle of leadership and continue the chain. That's the first shalsheles.

Now the second shalsheles — there is yet another shalsheles in the parsha, by Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, who is well known at the well, when he asks for help in his mission to find a wife for Yitzchak. This shalsheles is on the word "vayomar" [and he said], asking Hashem for success. And just as the shalsheles there is asking for success at the well, perhaps also it is a hint to the success that the Rebbe will be blessed with in the continuation of the chain of the Rebbes of Chabad, in their mission to spread the wellsprings of Chassidus outward, to all parts of the world — and with these wellsprings he will nourish all people, both physically and spiritually, both the learned and the simple folk.

And this is the letter that he wrote. Now, the Rebbe saw this letter, and there was an answer, but that's not important now. This letter asked the Rebbe to accept the Nesius — this was the first letter the Rebbe received on the matter. This [Rabbi Nemtzov?] was the one who actually, at the first farbrengen on Yud Shevat, [unclear] asked the Rebbe to say a maamar. [unclear]. Next week we will continue — how it developed, about the first farbrengen, where it took place, and how [unclear] in the world, and in general, the whole story of that first farbrengen. We will continue, im yirtzeh Hashem, next week.