by Rabbi E. Tauger

Tammuz

A Month to Connect to the Rebbee

For anyone whose life was touched by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the month of Tammuz and in particular, Gimmel Tammuz, the third of Tammuz, is a time of mixed feelings. The very fact that it is the Rebbe is not with us in the same way as he was years ago, forces us to confront this unpleasant situation. We can't see him, hear his insights, receive his blessings and guidance, or benefit directly from his leadership in the same way as before.
And yet, our relationship with the Rebbe is ongoing; we don't consider it past tense in any way. As related below, a Rebbe is able to step above the limits of the past, present, and future. Similarly, our relationship with him need not be confined by those restrictions.

News from Iraq in 2003 at a Chassidic Gathering in 1991

Let's take an issue of contemporary relevance: On a wintry Shabbos afternoon right after Gulf War I had begun - Parshas Bo, 5751 (January 19, 1991) - the Rebbe held a farbrengen and addressed the chassidic community assembled at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. The assembled Chassidim no doubt guessed that he would speak about the war. After all, starting from the previous summer, he had continually referred to a certain prophetic passage in the classic Midrashic text, Yalkut Shimoni. It describes a crisis in the Gulf zone that will cause "nations to challenge each other" and "the entire world to panic and be stricken with consternation." And he had promised that despite the threats from Iraq, once called Babylonia, Eretz Yisrael would be "the safest place on earth."
Still, when the Rebbe started speaking, they were surprised. The Rebbe spoke of destruction being wrought in the innermost rooms of the royal palace, the king of Babylonia fleeing and losing contact with his troops, and his family being sent to hiding places all over the world. Now they were confounded. They had heard the news and nothing like that was happening. The war was going fine, but the Americans had no intention of entering Baghdad, and Saddam and his family were not threatened. What could the Rebbe be talking about?
That Saturday night, the scribes who would memorize the words delivered on Shabbos afternoon sat down to write them down. They understood the quandary, but felt that the Rebbe's words should be recorded for posterity, regardless. As they were finishing the task, Rabbi Leibl Groner, the Rebbe's secretary, approached them with a message from the Rebbe: "The talk should not be published at present." However, there would come a time when it would become relevant..

No Other Way of Looking at the World

Before explaining our intent in relating the above story, let's share another incident. Throughout the 70's and 80's, one of the issues which the Rebbe tried to introduce into the American consciousness was the importance of prayer in Public Schools. The Rebbe emphasized that when a child begins his or her day by thinking of G-d and requesting His beneficence, the child's entire day will be different. He will realize that the world is not a jungle, bouncing haphazardly according to the rhythms of chance. Instead, it is G-d's world, governed by His hand.
There were many, including some Jews, who objected to the Rebbe's suggestion, explaining that since the Jews are a minority in America, if such a prayer is ever institutionalized, it will certainly be authored according to the spirit of the majority and Jews could be forced to pray according to a belief system that runs contrary to their spiritual heritage.
The Rebbe understood the objections and therefore modified his suggestion to a moment of silence. Rather than recite a specific prayer, there would be a moment of silence in which each child could pray or meditate as instructed by his or her parents.
This modification did not change the opinions of most of the opponents. They still felt that the religion of the majority would be imposed upon the minority.
The Rebbe did not see the need for further modification. He felt that the importance of impressing the awareness of G-d upon the children was worth that risk. And so, the lines of disagreement were drawn. The Rebbe continually spoke about his perspective at public gatherings and those who differed would argue against it in their forums.
Once one of the Jewish leaders who opposed the Rebbe's view, an articulate and intelligent woman, attended a farbrengen at which the Rebbe spoke of the importance of a moment of silence. After the gathering, some of the Chassidim spoke to the women and asked her what she thought of the Rebbe's remarks.
"Listen," she responded, "I am a mature woman and will not change my mind after hearing one talk. But this I must say. At that time the Rebbe was speaking, it was impossible to look at the issue any other way. I could not think of a way of rebutting his statements."

More than a Dream or Prayer

Before connecting the dots, let's mention one more point. At the end of every public address, the Rebbe would speak of the imminence of the Redemption - that we are short moments before Mashiach's revelation. Often he would say that even before the end of the gathering, Mashiach will come and then we will conclude the gathering together with Mashiach in Jerusalem and in the Beis HaMikdash.
Now the Rebbe did not make these statements once or twice. Instead, it was almost every gathering that concluded in this manner. How then could the Chassidim continue to listen to the same words time and time again?
The point is that the Chassidim never asked themselves that question. When the Rebbe spoke of the Redemption, it was a not a dream, hope, or prayer, it was a reality. That's the way he saw the state of the world. And just as while the Rebbe was speaking, the aforementioned Jewish leader could not fathom another way of conceiving of the issue of prayer in school, when the Rebbe spoke of Redemption it was - not only for him, but for all others - not a vision of the far off future, but an imminent and almost tangible fact of existence.
Unfortunately, the Redemption had not yet been materialized, but for the Rebbe, it is real, so much so that the strength and power of his perception makes it real for others as well. Thus the question is not: Why is he continually promising the Redemption? But rather: How is it that the Redemption has not yet materialized

Seeing Reality

Let's go back to the talk about Iraq mentioned at the outset. Why did the Rebbe speak about Sadam's palace being destroyed and him fleeing? Because he saw it. In Biblical times, the prophet Samuel was called "the one who sees." "One who sees" relates what he sees. The fact that it cannot be seen by others does not detract from the reality of his vision. Let the world take its time to catch up. Meantime, those in contact with the seer know what is happening. So Saddam's palace was not destroyed in 1991 and it took more than a decade for what the Rebbe said to blossom into fruition. Did that detract from the truth of what he said?
And it was not only Saddam. On countless occasions, both on the individual and national level, the Rebbe told people what would be. Without fanfare and with the matter-of-fact manner of communicating something that is obvious, he told our people - as individuals and as a whole - everything he saw, including things that it took others years to see

Of Eternal Life

After living for many years in contact with a person who stepped in and out of time in the manner described above, we understand that his passing cannot be understood in a simple sense. For he gave us a vision of true reality, showing us - not only what the world could and should be like - but the world's true state, what it really is. That is what Chassidim mean when they talk about Mashiach: that the true G-dly nature of the world will be imminently revealed in its fullness. And as above, the Rebbe made that vision real for us.

Included in that vision is - as Maimonides emphasizes in his 13 Principles of Faith - the promise that the dead will be resurrected. Foreign as that idea is to us, we can all understand and identify with it. For we all appreciate that the soul is an eternal spiritual entity and that when, we view the body and the soul as a composite, it is the soul that is of primary importance. If that is so, then there will come a time when this truth will become open and apparent. How will that be manifest? When a soul that has passed away will be resurrected and live on this earthly plane again.
This is what the month of Tammuz means to a person whose life has been touched by the Rebbe. We become very conscious of the fact that although we do not see him, we do not hear his Farbrengens, we do not receive his blessed dollar, we must identify ever so much more with the awareness he gave us and realize that it is blossoming into fruition.

back to top

Telling Tales

This month, we are sharing two short stories: one focusing on the Rebbe's efforts to bring Mashiach and the other on how identification with these efforts can awaken sparks within others.

Once a noted Rabbi came to the Rebbe and asked that the Rebbe explain the purpose of the Mashiach campaign. The Rebbe did not reply and shifted the conversation to other issues, among them a free-loan fund which the other Rabbi managed.
"Do you know so-and-so?" the Rebbe asked. "Would you give him a loan?"
"Of course," the other Rabbi answered. "I didn't know that he was in financial difficulty. I'd be happy to help him."
"Would you extend the loan until Mashiach comes?"
The other Rabbi hesitated.
"My goal in the Mashiach campaign," the Rebbe continued, "is to eliminate this hesitation."

One year, the Lubavitch day camp in California decided to take its campers to a baseball game. As the campers moved to their seats, they heard a child calling out: "Rabbi Engel, Rabbi Engel! Look here!"
Rabbi Engel looked up and saw a little boy who had attended the camp the previous year waving from the top of the stands. The boy then picked up his t-shirt, and yelled: "Rabbi Engel, look!"
Underneath his t-shirt, in the sweltering California heat, in view of 42,000 people, the child was showing that he was still wearing the tzitzis that he had learned about the previous year in camp.

back to top

Torah readings of the month

Parshas Korach

This Torah reading singles out the Levites for unique distinction, as Maimonides writes: "They have been set apart to serve G-d and minister unto Him and to teach His upright ways and righteous judgments to the masses."
Maimonides, however, continues, explaining that "Not only the tribe of Levi, but every person of the inhabitants of the world whose spirit has motivated him… [to] free himself from the yoke of the many reckonings that [most] men seek will be sanctified as "most holy." G-d will be his portion and his lot forever. And He will provide Him with his necessities in this world as He provided the priests and Levites, as David of blessed memory said: "G-d is my portion… You will support my lot."

Parshas Chukas - Balak

TThis Torah reading is a composite of two portions which in most years are each given their separate focus. Chukas refers to those mitzvos that are observed with a commitment that transcends the bounds of intellect. In contrast to Mishpatim which refer to mitzvos that can be can be understood by our logic, Chukim cannot be grasped logically. But it's not only that we cannot understand them logically. To observe a mitzvah without a logical reason requires one to tap deep into the core of the soul. There, within our innermost selves, lies an inherent connection to the Torah that goes beyond all limits.
Balak was the name of the King of Moab, an evil man who desired to harm the Jewish people. Nevertheless, this Torah reading contains the greatest blessings bestowed upon the Jewish people. The combination of both readings indicates that the unbounded commitment implied by the name Chukas makes possible the transforma
tion of evil into good. When a person fans the spark of G-dliness in his soul and expresses it through unrestrained devotion to the Torah, he influences his environment, negating undesirable influences and transforming them into good.
As this pattern spreads throughout the world, we draw closer to the fulfillment of the greatest of those blessings, the coming of Mashiach, as it is written: "A star shall emerge from Yaakov, and a staff shall arise in Israel, crushing all of Moab's princes, and dominating all of Seth's descendants."

Parshas Pinchas

TThis week's Torah reading begins: "Pinchas, the son of Elazar... turned My wrath away from the children of Israel by zealously taking up My cause among them.... Therefore,... I have granted him a covenant of peace. He and his descendants will possess an eternal covenant of priesthood, because he zealously acted on behalf of his G-d."
What did Pinchas do? He risked his life to uphold the moral fiber of the Jewish people. He wanted to "turn [G-d's] wrath away from the children of Israel." He understood what had to be done to accomplish this goal, and was willing to take any risks involved.
This is zealousness: putting one's own welfare - both spiritual and material - to one side, and making an unbounded commitment to carry out G-d's will. When a person makes a genuine commitment of this nature, the inner G-dly spark which every one of us possesses is given expression. Such an approach evokes an unbounded response from G-d. For when man goes beyond his natural limits in his Divine service, G-d grants him rewards that are not confined by nature as indicated by the blessings cited above.

Parshas Mattos - Maasei

This reading also contains two portions that are often read separately. One of the points connecting these two portions is the importance of Eretz Yisrael and the initial steps involved in making it our nation's national heritage.
In Parshas Mattos, it is related how the tribes of Reuven and Gad asked Moses not to enter the Holy Land, but instead, to settle in TransJordan, Moses objected, and a compromise was reached. These tribes would be given land in TransJordan, but they would join the people in the conquest of the land. As a result, their inheritance in TransJordan was also considered as part of our Holy Land.
In Parshas Maasei, the boundaries of the Holy Land are delineated. Also, that reading continues the story of the daughters of Tzlophchad whose love for the land of Israel motivated them to put their natural shyness aside and go to Moses, asking for a portion of the land. These points highlight the connection to Eretz Yisrael that we all share. In these days when our people's bond to our Holy Land is being challenged, it is important to communicate that message and stir that connection.

back to top