Can we and should we try to reconcile Torah-reality with what our eyes perceive to be reality? What did the Rebbe instruct each Chassid to contemplate on the first Gimmel Tammuz of his Nesius? Do all questions require an answer? • In a farbrengen-interview with Rabbi Yisroel Noach Lipsker, mashpia in Tomchei Tmimim of Queens, he discusses these and other ever-relevant topics
By Avrohom Rainitz, Beis Moshiach Magazine
It is customary for Chassidim to farbreng every Shabbos Mevorchim; on the Shabbos Mevorchim prior to Gimmel Tammuz all the more so. If before every yoma d’pagra we need to sit and farbreng with a mashpia to prepare properly, all the more so when it’s Gimmel Tammuz. Since 5754 many questions have arisen about what the day is about; the seeming reality on the one hand, the sichos on the other, and we in the middle, trying to forge a path through the thick cloud and understand what happened to Moshe Rabbeinu.
It could be that the greatest question of our generation is “What is Gimmel Tammuz?” All other questions are offshoots of that. Is the idea of the Nasi HaDor as a neshama in a guf gashmi over, ch’v, or is it ongoing and will continue for eternity?
On the one hand, the Torah asserts that it’s impossible not to have a Nasi HaDor as a soul in a physical body. If so, the moment the doctors declared the end of the life of the Nasi HaDor, the world should have self-destructed. But the world wasn’t destroyed, and Jews continue to learn Torah and do mitzvos. There are still Jews who are inspired to serve Hashem. Belief in “ein od milvado,” the eternal truth of Torah and everything G-dly – where do they get this from?
THE GIMMEL TAMMUZ LETTER
I spoke with Rabbi Yisroel Noach Lipsker, mashpia in yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim in Queens and raised this question:
When we learn the sichos and maamarim, we understand that there must be a physical Nasi HaDor and that in the seventh generation there won’t be a histalkus of the neshama from the guf. And yet, we saw something different. Can we reconcile between the two?
I think that before any discussion about the subject of Gimmel Tammuz, we need to thoroughly study the letter that the Rebbe himself wrote on Gimmel Tammuz 5710, which he asked that every Chassid study well.
In this letter, the Rebbe defined what a “Rebbe” is. “He is the Nasi, and Nasi Chabad. Because, “Nasi” in general, who is called the rosh alfei Yisrael (head of the multitudes of the Jewish people), is the head and brain relative to them. And by cleaving to him they are bound up and unified with the source higher and higher.”
After going on to explain how Chabad leaders are mashpia both Nigleh and Nistar, ruchniyus and gashmiyus, etc. the Rebbe concludes with a strong demand of all Chassidim, men and women, “It is incumbent upon every single one of us to know, meaning to think deeply and implant his thought in this, that he is the Nasi and the head, from him and through him come all the hashpaos in gashmiyus and ruchniyus, and through hiskashrus to him (and he already instructed in his letters with what and how to do that) they are bound and unified with the source and the source of the source all the way to the highest of the high etc.”
Since the Rebbe says that each of us needs to “think deeply and implant his thought in this,” this is not a superficial reading. One needs to meditate on it, each as it pertains to him.
After doing so, we come to the inner and absolute awareness that the Rebbe is our head from whom and through whom come all hashpaos in gashmiyus and ruchniyus. Consequently, it does not occur to one that there was any sort of interruption, because if the Rebbe is not alive, ch’v, we cannot live! One cannot imagine that the Jewish people could exist without their head!
CHASSIDIM LOOK AT REALITY DIFFERENTLY
Still, what happened on Gimmel Tammuz 5754 doesn’t fit what it says in the sichos. Are we choosing to ignore what happened?
When looking at things in the usual way, what happened on Gimmel Tammuz doesn’t fit with what it says in the sichos and maamarim. And what we learned in the sichos definitely doesn’t fit with what we saw happen. We don’t have the privilege to ignore the contradiction and this big question because this isn’t just some side matter but the most important issue in our lives.
However, and it’s important to have a big “however” here: Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we need to know that as Chassidim we were taught and it’s expected of us, to look at reality with different eyes, with the eyes of Chassidim, the eyes of Torah. This is how the Rebbeim trained us and what Chassidus teaches us.
Even when it was the sixth generation, which was not called the last generation etc. when there was a histalkus, the Rebbe bothered to explain time and again that this is not histalkus in the literal sense. Even decades later, the Rebbe said that the Rebbe Rayatz was still alive and active and ch’v to speak otherwise. Did the Rebbe ignore reality? No, he didn’t; but he taught us that Chassidim look at reality with different glasses.
All the more so with the life of the Rebbe himself, Nasi of the seventh generation, after the Rebbe repeated that our generation is the final generation of galus and the first of Geula, it’s abundantly clear that the Rebbe continues to be the Nasi HaDor without any interruption, ch’v. What we saw on Gimmel Tammuz cannot weaken this faith.
WHERE TO PUT THE QUESTION MARK
Do you mean that what happened on Gimmel Tammuz was only an illusion to our physical eyes?
I am not an authority to say that reality is illusory and in general, not everyone can decide what is illusory and what is real, but we can definitely say that we don’t know what exactly happened on Gimmel Tammuz and at the same time, believe with complete faith that all the things the Rebbe said in the sichos are absolute truth. As for what is the reality – that is marked with a big question mark.
I once heard in the name of Professor Branover that he asked the Rebbe questions about emuna and science and the Rebbe wrote to him that not everything needs to be explained. Even in the Gemara which is all about understanding, it sometimes says “teiku,’ which means there is no explanation now. Why? Because Hashem wants that even Torah should have things that are not understandable.
Chassidim would say, how do we know that snow is white? Because the pasuk says, “it will become white as snow”! This is Chassidishe chinuch, looking at the Torah and seeing the world accordingly. If we see that there is a contradiction, we know that Torah is absolute truth and the question mark is on the reality as we see it.
So, after the Rebbe repeated and emphasized that our generation is the last generation of galus, and histalkus is not possible for the Nasi of the seventh generation, it is clear to us that this is the true reality even if we don’t know exactly how. Since the Torah says there must be a Nasi HaDor in a physical body – this is the true reality, that the Rebbe, Nasi HaDor, is chai v’kayam. How exactly? We don’t know and we don’t have to understand everything.
You remind me of the story of the Chassid who asked the Rebbe: How can the Rebbe say in the maamar that everything is Elokus when he sees the table as a true existence? He was followed by another Chassid with a similar but different question: Since the Rebbe says in the maamar that everything is Elokus, how is it possible that he sees the table as a true existence? The same question; the difference is only on what you place the question mark, on the Rebbe’s maamar or on reality.
Yes, that is the point.
In order to make this point, i.e. to what extent the truth of Torah is the absolute truth in relation to the reality which we see, clearer, I will note that in a maamar of the Rebbe Maharash he asks: Since the Torah says there is nothing but Him, and in the world we see that there is something beside Him, ch’v, perhaps we should say that the world is one big illusion.
Pay attention to the following: 1) When there seems to be a contradiction between the Torah and what we see, and we need to reconcile between them, it is not out of the question to say that the perceived reality is illusory. This is definitely an option. 2) Why doesn’t the Rebbe Maharash accept the illusion theory? Not because it’s not realistic but only because he has proofs from the Torah that the world is a true existence. 3) Throughout the maamar, the Rebbe Maharash does not raise the possibility that what it says in the Torah, “ein od milvado” is not meant literally; there is no such option!
In the Tanya that is learned before Gimmel Tammuz, we learn Shaar Ha’Yichud v’ha’Emuna. Chassidim say that chapter three ends with a question: why aren’t created beings nullified out of existence in their source – which seemingly goes against the rule that we don’t end emuna discussions with a question, and this is one of the reasons that we don’t learn chakira (Jewish philosophy from reliable sources), so that we don’t go to sleep with a question which gets etched into the brain and even the best answer won’t erase it.
Chassidim explain that this question, why created beings aren’t nullified, is one with which we can definitely go to sleep and it’s not terrible if this question remains…
Similarly, we can possibly say about the conundrum of the reality of Gimmel Tammuz that we can remain with the question and to a certain extent, it’s important that this question cry out and be asked again and again, because this reality ought to bother us!
THE SUN DIDN’T SET
What is the Torah outlook on Gimmel Tammuz, from the Torah and the Rebbe’s sichos?
The first major occurrence to take place on Gimmel Tammuz that is mentioned in Torah sources is in the pesukim that describe the miracle of “the sun in Givon, be silent” which occurred on that date. That tells us that although the rule is that the sun rises and sets, on this day, it didn’t set.
In the Rebbe’s sichos about Gimmel Tammuz, he emphasizes that sometimes you don’t know how to regard this day. Is it the beginning of the galus or the beginning of the Geula? The Rebbe Rayatz left prison on this day but it was the day he headed into exile. It was only later that it turned out that this day was the “start of the redemption,” but at the time, it was hard to see that.
OPEN YOUR EYES
What can we do when we are still in galus and as exile people we see reality in full color with our eyes as opposed to what is written in sefarim?
I agree with you; it’s not easy. Sometimes, it’s even very hard, but it’s part of what Chassidus demands of us, to work on ourselves so that we feel that Torah is the true reality. The Alter Rebbe teaches us how the tzimtzum itself is Elokus. Is it easy to understand this, especially with the deep understanding needed to fulfill “and place it upon your hearts?” No. But it’s the truth and we need to make an effort to live with it.
In order to absorb it, we need lots of avoda, also from the root “to tan skins,” to refine our coarse senses so they see Elokus.
This also connects with the Rebbe’s demand in the winter of 5752 that we open our eyes to see the Geula. When the Rebbe says we need to open our eyes to see the Geula, that means that before we open our eyes we are seeing galus. It’s only after the avoda of opening our eyes that we can see the Geula.
I remember wanting to learn a certain niggun and someone showed me the notes in Lubavitch v’Chayoleha. I looked at the notes and saw lines under which were the notes but when I showed the page to my brother-in-law who knows how to read notes, he didn’t see lines; he saw the niggun and he began to sing it. This demonstrated to me how two people can look at the same thing and if you didn’t learn, you will see galus; if you learned and worked on yourself, you will see Geula.
The Rebbe (Likkutei Sichos, vol. 20, p. 405) says that when Yaakov was in Lavan’s house with all the tribulations he went through, he was able to see Elokus and sing the fifteen “Shir HaMaalos.” How was he able to see Geula within his tzaros? Because he raised his eyes (as in Tehillim 120) to the mountains and saw the G-dly intention in galus, that there be an increase in light from the darkness.
This is a lesson for every Jew, says the Rebbe, to look up to the pnimiyus of things and then you can see the ultimate intent of galus.
WE NEED TO REITERATE TIME AND AGAIN: THE REBBE IS WITH US
When sitting down to farbreng for Gimmel Tammuz, how can Anash and the tmimim be inspired and strengthened?
We all know and believe that the Rebbe is with us, despite the concealment, and yet, we need to talk about it again and again.
On the line [in Chazal], “Whoever wants to err should come and err,” Chassidim say that sometimes one is in a situation that in order to err you need to want to err, because if you don’t want to err, you won’t.
I think that we can definitely apply that to the revelation of the Rebbe in our lives. Whoever doesn’t want to err, cannot help but see how the Rebbe is with us. Not just in the general sense but actually personally, with every Chassid.
Any Chassid, after only a brief contemplation, can immediately tell several stories from his own life about how the Rebbe guides him and is openly with him. You have to be blind not to see to what extent the Rebbe is with us and showers us from his full, open and expansive hand.
There are thousands of stories of people who were in a bind and the Rebbe extricated them in a miraculous way, whether through answers in the Igros Kodesh or other ways. Today, it is so open that even outside of Chabad they know about this. People who aren’t Lubavitch call me and ask me to write to the Rebbe to get his answer and brachos in the Igros Kodesh.
I love to tell the following story. They say about the Ibn Izra that he had an eye ailment and he went to the Rambam who was a doctor. When the Ramban saw the Ibn Ezra, he ordered his servant to put him in the goat pen.
The Ibn Ezra did not understand why he deserved this humiliation and in his anguish he began to cry bitterly. A few hours later, the servants took the Ibn Ezra out of the goat pen and brought him to the Rambam. The Rambam, upon seeing the Ibn Ezra, said “boruch rofei cholim.”
The Rambam said that the reason he had ordered him put in the goat pen was because he saw that the only cure for his eye ailment was if the Ibn Ezra would cry for a long time. The Rambam had no other way of getting the Ibn Ezra to cry for so long except by doing what he did. Indeed the Ibn Ezra was cured.
The Rebbe is the doctor of our souls, the greatest rofeh-yedid of ours, the most beloved. If it seems to us that the Rebbe is gone and left us alone in a goat pen, we need to know that no matter what, the Rebbe is doing it all for our good!
Sometimes, I think, based on what the Rebbe said many times that each of us needs to serve Hashem “with his own power,” that perhaps our situation today is like the baby whose father teaches him to walk and for this purpose, he lets go. When the baby approaches his father, the father moves away to force the child to continue walking on his own. At a certain point, the baby can think that his father abandoned him when the reality is that in those moments his father is supervising him.
We need to know that the Rebbe loves us and certainly, the current reality is for our good. At the same time, we cannot make peace with this state of affairs.
The Rebbe once said about the words, “I will thank You G-d for You were angry at me,” that although after Moshiach comes we will understand that all the tzaros were for our good, until Moshiach comes we don’t need to understand so that we can cry out “ad mosai?” sincerely.
This is similar to what is said on the pasuk, “and Moshe hid his face because he was afraid of gazing at G-d (Elokim)” – that Moshe did not want to understand and justify the middas ha’din (the name Elokim).
No question, if we’d be asked whether we want this situation, we would say no. We don’t want the yerida for the sake of an aliya, but Hashem isn’t asking us…
THE REBBE IS ALIVE, ARE WE?
With what should we be leaving a Gimmel Tammuz farbrengen?
We spoke a lot about the Rebbe being alive, but I think that from a Gimmel Tammuz farbrengen one needs to leave with a question: Are we alive?
In the story of Yosef’s revelation to his brothers, he asks them, “Is my father still alive?” Just a few minutes before, the brothers told him that their father was alive and anticipating the return of Binyomin. Why did Yosef ask whether he is alive?
There is a very powerful message here. It was clear to Yosef that his father was alive; he had no doubt. His question was: I am Yosef, is my father still alive? Meaning to say, is it apparent on me that my father is alive?
This is what we need to ask ourselves. That the Rebbe is alive, there is no doubt. The question is whether it is apparent on us that the Rebbe is alive. When it’s someone with a family the question expands to, is it apparent in your house that the Rebbe is alive?
In order to be able to answer “yes,” we need to bring the Rebbe into our lives, in thought, speech and action.
The principle is that hearts are drawn after actions, so we need to start with action, doing what the Rebbe said to do; learning Chitas and Rambam and the Rebbe’s teachings, and continuing to do the Rebbe’s mivtzaim.
There are married men who, when they were bachurim, were very involved in the Rebbe’s mivtzaim. After they married, they figured that’s for bachurim. Even if you’re in business, you are still, first and foremost, a Chassid of the Rebbe and you need to be involved in the Rebbe’s mivtzaim. Businessman have more opportunities for mivtzaim and only need to have the desire to act on them. In business you meet all kinds of people; if they are not religious, you need to get them to put on tefillin, etc. If they are religious, you need to convince them to learn Chassidus.
Open your eyes and seek opportunities. When you look, you find and there is endless work to be done.
When you do something, even if it’s a little bit, that’s a whole lot more than nothing, because the distance between the number one and one hundred is much smaller than the distance between one and nothing…
When we openly live with the Rebbe, that itself hastens the hisgalus of the Rebbe MH”M and everyone will be able to see the Rebbe, soul in a body, redeeming us for an everlasting redemption, teikef u’miyad mamosh!
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Summary
1] The Rebbe is still alive and with us.
2] He is Moshiach.
3] To be a Chossid means to believe in something even though everything you see, feel and experience, tell you otherwise. That is not only the Chasidic way - that is the Torah way.
4] The Rebbe is with every chossid personally. Anyone who doesn't see this clearly is blind. Everyone - including many many non-Chabad people - have stories to tell about how the Rebbe is with them.
5] The way to live is to bring the Ha-hem Rebbe into our lives, in thought, speech and action.
Comment:
As to point 3:
The Torah emphasizes numerous times that we SAW the giving of the Torah and HEARD the voice of Hashem and that is why we believe in it. E.g.אַתָּה הָרְאֵתָ לָדַעַת כִּי יְהוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֵין עוֹד מִלְבַדּוֹ.
Or that we SAW Yetzias Mitzraim and that is why we believe e.g.אוֹ הֲנִסָּה אֱלֹהִים לָבוֹא לָקַחַת לוֹ גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹתֹת וּבְמוֹפְתִים וּבְמִלְחָמָה וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמוֹרָאִים גְּדֹלִים כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לָכֶם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בְּמִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֶיךָ.
Why did Hashem NOT perform miracles and NOT give us the Torah and then tell us that He did and we have to believe it anyway?? Isn't that the "Torah" way??
It is clear to me that Hashem wants us to live based on our seichel. The Torah should made sense. Sometimes, our seichel is underdeveloped but that is our seichel's fault - not the Torah.
Point 4: Maybe it is not the Rebbe who is with us but Hashem??
