From the expressions that the Rebbe employed when discussing the entire episode of the s’farim, we learn that the litigation was a reflection of a far deeper heavenly prosecution: whether the Nasi of Lubavitch is alive or there was a passing and a funeral ch”v, and therefore there is an inheritance to be divided… * The court decision reflected the heavenly victory, issuing a clear ruling that Lubavitch lives on with a Nasi who is chai v’kayam. In plain words, it was the victory of “Yechi.”
PASSPORT CONTROL
[Editor’s Note: This article was penned in honor of 5 Teves 2005, two months before the author’s father, the renowned Chassid and Torah scholar, R’ Zalman Leib Estulin, passed away on Purim Katan.]
Every time that I travel to Eretz Yisroel to visit my father, I always get held up at passport control. It doesn’t matter which clerk is sitting there. The moment that he sees someone born in Russia with American citizenship, coming to visit his father who lives in Eretz Yisroel, he starts asking questions. It’s not very pleasant for someone who grew up in Russia and automatically experiences a tremor whenever seeing someone in uniform.
About a month ago, I once again arrived in Eretz Yisroel. Thanks to the new terminal, the line was not very long, and I quickly found myself facing a desk where there were two female clerks sitting. I handed over my passport, and then came the expected question, “Do you speak Ivrit?” There was no one on the line behind me, and I thought that this would not go quickly.
“A bit, why?” I answered, hoping that maybe the miracle would occur and they would just leave me alone.
Instead of interrogating me, the second clerk took out a picture of the Rebbe with the caption, “Add in mitzvos and good deeds to hasten the Geula,” and asked, “What is the difference between mitzvos and good deeds?”
I thought I would faint on the spot. I, a Chabad Chassid from birth, had not even considered for a moment to use the opportunity to speak to these clerks about the “tidings of the Geula.” And what were these two border control clerks busy with in the moments before I approached? The need to bring Moshiach! They just didn’t understand what exactly is the difference between “mitzvos” and “good deeds.”
The world is ready, as the Rebbe told us long ago. Apparently, the problem is, that we are the ones that are not quite ready.
WHERE IS THE LIGHT?
We just ended celebrating the holiday of Chanuka. We ended, but the holiday itself continues to accompany us throughout the month of Teves, as the Rebbe pointed out that this is the only holiday that begins in one month and continues into the next, and as such, draws all of the divine flows of Kislev into the entire month of Teves. That being the case, we can certainly learn from Chanuka, even in the month of Teves.
One of the main points of Chanuka is, “many into the hands of the few.” This is expressed not only in the victory in battle, but also in the Chanuka lights. The Chanuka candle is a tangible and material expression of the fact that “You gave over many into the hands of the few,” since the little bit of light that the candle gives off is imbued with the power to chase away such a great darkness.
This is a point that we must always remember. We may be the few, but the light is in our hands. Jews are the few among the nations; the religious are the few among the Jews; the chareidim are the few among the religious; the Chassidim are the few among the chareidim; and Lubavitchers are the few among the Chassidim. Even for each individual Jew, the hours in which he is involved in matters of holiness are few, relative to the hours spent on mundane activities. When a person calculates the number of hours he is involved in holiness, he can become somewhat demoralized.
The Chanuka lights come to remind us each year that it does not matter how many you are in terms of numbers. The “few” in the Chanuka miracle were “the twelve sons of Chashmonai and Elozor, against many tens of thousands” (Rashi in V’Zos HaBracha). The only question is: who holds the candles? Who has the light?
We have the light! Therefore, we need not be concerned over the fact that we are the few, since we have the power to remove all of the darkness, and more so, to transform the darkness into light. The only thing that we have to do is to put to use the tremendous powers that were given to us, and the great powerhouses of light that exist within us. Then we will see everything with a much clearer view.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GREEKS AND THE COMMUNISTS
Chassidus teaches us that the main war with the Greeks was on the spiritual plane, whereas on Purim, the main battle was on the physical front. Haman simply wanted to destroy, kill, and eradicate…
Here we see an intriguing point. In the time of the Purim miracle, the Jews never considered going to battle. It would seem that if Haman’s plot was to kill them, what did they have to lose by fighting? In the culture of warfare in those days, the Jews should have raised a war chest and hired a large army of mercenaries, and tried to go to war with Achashverosh and Haman. If they would succeed, then fine, and if not, what did they have to lose? And yet, it is not recorded that the Jews did anything along those lines. It was only after Hashem saved them miraculously, that they went to kill their enemies, but prior to that point they had not even considered the idea of going to war.
Conversely, in the time of the Chanuka miracle, the decree was mainly on spiritual matters. And within the spiritual battle itself, the Rebbe teaches us in his sichos that the Greeks were primarily focused on one issue: it did not bother them that Jews learn Torah and do mitzvos, what bothered them was that they learn it as Hashem’s Torah, and fulfill the mitzvos as commandments from Hashem. It was this that the decree was aimed against. They wanted to take Hashem out of the Jewish dictionary.
It was against this that the Jews went to war!
There are spiritual decrees and there are spiritual decrees. The communists also fought against Hashem, but they went in an all-out war against all of Torah and mitzvos. That was their mistake, because when Jews managed, despite the persecution, to open a seifer and learn some Torah, they immediately saw that there is a G-d in the world. When Jews succeeded in fulfilling a mitzva, they immediately sensed the G-dly light within them.
In the war against the Greeks, the situation was much more difficult, as they did permit the study of Torah and the fulfillment of most mitzvos. However, it was a Torah and mitzvos without the vitality of holiness. When a person becomes accustomed to learning Torah and doing mitzvos without sensing the divinity therein, it is much harder to restore his inner faith in Hashem. What will you do, learn Torah with him? He learns all day and does not sense Hashem in his life. Do mitzvos with him? He does them anyway, but doesn’t feel a thing!
The mashpia, R Zalman Moshe HaYitzchaki, once described the difference between a certain two Jews, and in his characteristic sharpness he said; the first one has doubts if Hashem exists, whereas the other has no doubts. He is absolutely certain that Hashem does not exist…
THERE IS NO CHASSIDUS WITHOUT THE REBBE
On a deeper level, the crux of the matter is expressed in the term “they rendered impure all of the oils.” The Greeks allowed even the “oil” aspect of Torah to remain, the “secrets of the secrets” of Torah, but they made it all impure. It is explained in Chassidus, that when there is a problem with the emotions, this can be corrected by way of the intellect, which rules over the emotions. Even when there is a problem with intellect, this can be resolved through the study of Torah, intellect of holiness. But when all of the “oils” are made impure, even the intellect of the G-dly soul, such an instance requires a divine miracle and the creation of a new intellect. This new intellect comes to us by way of the revelation of the “yechida” of the soul. At this level of the soul, the Greeks have no power, and it is from there that “intellect of holiness” can be rebuilt anew, which will change the intellect to influence the emotions.
And here is where we arrive at the connection between Chanuka and Hei Teves. Whoever heard the sichos of the Rebbe before and after the court case, and especially certain expressions the Rebbe employed during that period, understood that there was a far greater challenge going on, beyond what could be seen on a superficial level. The court case that played out in the federal court of the United States was a pale shadow of a far greater court case in the supernal realm. It was a terrible prosecution against the Nasi of Toras HaChassidus, and in the words of the Rebbe, “Er vill dem beinkel” [he wants the “chair,” i.e., the Nesius].
The main point argued by the other side was that there is no Nasi in Lubavitch. There was a histalkus, there was a funeral, and the focal point of life in Lubavitch is no longer. It was against this argument that the Rebbe cried out passionately in the unforgettable farbrengen of 15 Tammuz 5745:
“Go speak to such a person! He claims that the Rebbe is already thirty-five years in the World of Truth! He personally participated in the funeral!… Der Rebbe lebt – The Rebbe is alive in the physicality of this physical and material world for thirty-five years, in which every moment he becomes healthier, stronger, fresher, and more vital!”
The Rebbe fought with such unprecedented intensity against the idea that there can be Chassidus without a living Rebbe, because without a living Rebbe, the entirety of Chassidus is like a body without a soul.
On Hei Teves, the “heavenly court” ruled that Chassidus cannot exist without a living Rebbe, that Lubavitch is alive and well, and the Nasi of the generation is alive and well. As a result, the federal court issued its ruling that there is no place for talk about an inheritance!
Didan – the Rebbe lives – Natzach!
Whoever wishes to celebrate the day of Hei Teves needs to remember, first and foremost, that this is the victory of the Lubavitch of the Rebbe MH”M, in which we are not moved by what our eyes tell us, and we proclaim in the words of the Rebbe himself, “Der Rebbe lebt!”
It is inconceivable to celebrate the “holiday of redemption,” whilst repeating the arguments of the opposing side, that there was a “histalkus” etc. When attempting to uproot everything and purposely use as many expressions of “histalkus” as possible, how is it possible to celebrate Hei Teves?
When one is willing to create a divide within Lubavitch and incite conflict, how is it possible to celebrate the “holiday of redemption?”
On Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah 5747, the Rebbe explained the difference between the approach of Chabad and other religious groups, in that when there is a store selling non-kosher meat, there are those who will go to war against the owner of the store. In Chabad, says the Rebbe, they go to war against the sale of non-kosher meat, but not against the seller on a personal level. Personally, I am ready and willing to help any Chabad Chassid, even those who do not share my views. What I am speaking out against are the corrupt views and tactics, some of which we got a taste of in Soviet Russia (sometimes at the hands of those descended from Chassidic stock). We never dreamed that we would encounter this again!
Hei Teves is the holiday of those Chassidim who believe that the Rebbe is alive and well, despite what we see with our physical eyes. Hei Teves is the holiday of those Chassidim for whom it is clear that there are no elements of inheritances in the running of Lubavitch, and Lubavitch had, has, and will always have, a one and only Nasi; the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach shlita.
And since in the future the Jewish people will repent at the conclusion of their exile and immediately they will be redeemed, we are assured that all Chabad Chassidim, without exception, will ultimately see the light and proclaim: Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed!