The Difference Between a Chossid and a Shliach

Welcome to our weekly Mesibos Shabbos program.

Today is the weekend before the Kinus Hashluchim, so I want to share with you a letter from years ago that the Rebbe writes in one of his letters. What is the purpose of a Kinus?

The Rebbe writes: when they get together, they give advice to each other and they give brachos to each other. That's the purpose of a Kinus. Some people think that they just come with a briefcase and enjoy themselves, but it's a time to take back the advice that they heard at the Kinus, to bring it back with them, to strengthen themselves, to give brachos, and to be able to overcome difficulties.

In that same letter the Rebbe writes that every Yid is a neshama that is sent down from a high place into a guf, into a body, into this physical world, in order to elevate it — from the descent, in order to ascend — to make [a dira]. This is the purpose — this is why Hashem sent us into this world: to make a dwelling place for Him in the lower worlds.

So this applies to everybody. As a matter of fact, I just want to mention that the Rebbe said — and he said it a few times — that as soon as a Yid walks out of the room, he is a shliach. If we do the mitzvos, we are shluchim, and we are in this world to do mitzvos — through that, that's the purpose, that's the purpose of it.

And a person should always know that he has to be careful, as was mentioned many, many times by [Rabbi Hodakov], who was the head of [the Kinus]. So I want to repeat from years back — I mean, the younger ones probably never even saw him — but I remember he would say: just as we have to have [consistency], whatever we are, that is what we are, and it's the same thing — if a shliach is not [acting like a shliach], he has to be [consistent], and if he goes out a little bit different, that is said [to be a problem].

Now I want to mention a very important answer from the Rebbe — an answer that I know of, because somebody asked Rabbi Korf [?], and Rabbi Korf [?] answered exactly what the Rebbe had answered. This is a letter where somebody asked the Rebbe about what makes — that's the question — a person be called a shliach. What's the difference between a person who does the same work but has a job — he also works, he has to make a living, which is no problem, he has to make a living, but he's involved in it, he does it together with other people — but he's not called a shliach.

What's the difference between this person and a shliach who lives somewhere else and is called a shliach? This is what he writes to the Rebbe. He says, maybe he's not called a shliach? He's asking — I guess that's the question. So the answer is like this: everything is written — to be called a shliach you have to be devoted all the time, as mentioned in a letter: you are a shliach twenty-four hours a day. You can't do two things and still be called a shliach. If you have a job — whatever job, I don't know, a job like real estate or whatever it is — that's taking away from it, that's not [full shlichus]. In other words, that's what it comes out to. And that's what Rabbi Korf [?] mentioned to this person also — he says because a shliach means he is a shliach all the time: he eats like a shliach, he sleeps like a shliach, he walks like a shliach, twenty-four hours a day. You cannot [divide it]. The Rebbe says: if he's involved in a job, that's what he writes here.

So shliach means: this is what he was sent for, and this is what he's supposed to do. The other person does good, and he has a job, and it helps him — no problem. But to be called a shliach, you have to be always busy with the shlichus. You can't be [partly one and partly the other] — you have to be, or your job is one thing and the shlichus is another thing. But if you become [mixed between the two] — I think the Rebbe once spoke about this regarding [a specific example].

So this is the answer: a shliach is a shliach twenty-four hours a day. I once mentioned, and I mentioned it a few times in my program, that it says the mitzvah of honoring one's parents doesn't only mean that a child should honor his father and mother — he says, "Honor the father that is within you, honor the mother that is within you." If you are a father or a mother, honor that — Hashem made you a father, honor that. You're a father when you go to sleep, you're a father when you wake up, you're a father when you go to shul, you're a father when you go outside, you're a father when you go driving. Or a mother — you're a mother when you feed your child, you're a mother when you go shopping, you are a mother. And when the child sees this, then there's no problem — you won't have any problem from children, because they see that the parents are [consistent]. And the same thing also with a shliach: if a shliach is a shliach twenty-four hours a day, he eats like a shliach and he sleeps like a shliach, his whole being is [devoted to it] — then he's called a real shliach. This is from letters from years ago, and of course —

And as Rabbi Hodakov once mentioned — he was the head of [the Kinus] — he says there is a tofel and there is an ikar, there is a priority and a secondary, when a person goes on shlichus. He has to know what is [primary], as I mentioned — an ohel is a tent, a temporary dwelling place; [a permanent dwelling] is permanent. By [Yaakov] it says [he dwelt in tents] — of a Jew, a Jew is called Yaakov, we all come from him — but that's our lower [state]; [Yisrael] is permanent. Meaning: when a shliach goes out on shlichus, he shouldn't get busy [with the temporary things] — he has to have temporary things: he has to have a desk, he has to have a car, he has to have a house — this is fine. And if he doesn't have these, it depends what's needed for the sake of the shlichus. So all these things — that's the lower part. The ikar is: how many people did he put on tefillin this year, how many [bar mitzvahs] did he make this year, how many women light candles this year — all these things, that's the ikar.

So this is what I'm repeating of the things that [Rabbi Hodakov] spoke about, because he was the head of the Kinus. Now, since today is the weekend before the Kinus, I want to mention something — some guidelines that Rabbi Hodakov wrote. He wrote like this: Rabbi Hodakov wrote, he says, this was years ago, and this comes from the Rebbe — he wanted — then I don't know why it didn't happen here, I have the letter right here — he wanted, and it comes from the Rebbe, that all the shluchim throughout the world should write their speeches down and make a book from their speeches, and give it in to the main office to publish the book. Can you imagine? I just found this letter in the archives of my father-in-law, that this is to make a book every year, and they did start, years ago — and he thanks Rabbi Schust [?] from Chicago, he did start writing this, years ago, a book of the speeches. So first of all, people later on can see things, they can learn, especially from every city — the members are always going to look at it, to have something to go out from, to make, to write down and print a book — and the Rebbe wanted to see this happen. I don't know why it didn't — I'm not sure, I don't know if it's happening or not, I don't know.

And another thing here, about the activities — which I'm not going to go into now, maybe another time — about whether there's any disagreement in the city of Debor [?] as to what should be done, but I don't want to mention it now.

Anyway, since today — we should all, everybody, of course — be mekushar to the Rebbe; this is the goal of the entire shlichus. Next week we'll continue our weekly program. Thank you.