We may be confused in the middle of a Sugya!
Indeed, the very definition of being in the middle of a Sugya means we are confused, or at very least we lack proper clarity.
We do not understand logic until we know context. The lines below will clarify the meaning of these lines above.
That is the nature of logic.
***
Chof Ches Nissan 5751, no-one could understand the full extent of what the Rebbe was saying.
The confusion makes perfect sense.
But what about Chof Ches Nissan 5781?
What excuse do we have to allow ourselves the luxury of confusion? Are we really still unsure what the Rebbe was telling us?
***
Let’s start from the beginning.
Since the dawn of time, bringing Moshiach was the responsibility of the Tzadikim.
Us, regular people, did Mitzvos so that we can have a part in עולם הבא, our גאולה הפרטית if you will; whilst the Tzadikim through their Tefillos and various Kavonos and ייחודים worked for the גאולה הכללית.
Moshe Rabeinu came so close the Eibishter told him to stop. Several Tanaim tried. Early Mekubolim tried. One of whom afterwards had such a Shevira that he converted ר”ל, and postponed Moshiach’s coming yet again.
Ramchal was almost put into Cherem for trying, they forced him to destroy his Seforim. The חוזה was thrown out of a window, and the Koznitzer Magid was Nistalek a few days before he planned to try.
Whilst those Tzadikim pushed the boundaries, going on מסירות נפש to bring about the time of only good. Other Tzadikim increasingly pushed the גאולה הכללית closer and closer pushing to the boundary of where possible and then leaving it to the Tzadik of the next generation to bring it “down” that next part (just as the נשיאי הדור brought the Shechina מרקיע השביעי לשישי, משישי לחמישי etc.)
Each Tzadik in His time.
Make no mistake, our Mitzva conditioned us, the object we used, and atmosphere around us, becoming susceptible to perceive Elokus and thereby preparing it for Moshiach, but it was limited to what the individual did, and his ability to have Kavona etc.
There was no massive breakthrough.
An improvement for sure. But no cosmic shift.
The Mitzvos of the individual were like the creation of a better version of the ballpoint pen, to the work of the Tzadik; the invention of email.
That is the way things were since the beginning of time. Certainly since the time of Moshe Rabeinu.
***
That is the way it used to be, the Rebbe told us one Purim [5747].
But things are different now.
Now, the job of גאולה הכללית is in fact up to to us regular people.
Each action that we take now carries a far greater effect than it did in generations prior.
There are people like this.
They did everything regular people did. From eating to sleeping to thinking. They looked like normal people…. But their minds were something else.
Whilst their brains went through the same thinking process as everyone else, it produced remarkably more.
The Rebbe used the Rogatchover Gaon as an example: Whilst the mechanics of his brain went through the same process and any other human brain, it had so much power that those very same actions would yield results that seem superhuman.
Today, our Mitzvos achieve that.
The same action as in years past. But with far larger results.
The big picture seismic shift is no longer the responsibility of Rebbe’s.
It has now passed to us, regular people.
But with the responsibility comes power. And that power is in each Mitzva we do.
On that Purim, the Rebbe brought us in as partners to his responsibility.
What did the Rebbe suggest we change practically? What was the action plan?
Not much different practically.
The plan is the same 613 Mitzvos we did until now.
The change wasn’t in an action plan, rather in something with a far greater reach than a new set of actions.
The difference is in a small word that carries way too much weight:
“Responsibility”
I am reminded of a comment by a person I was pushing to take a job of principal. He was doing almost all the job anyway, why not make it official (his family stood to gain from that).
“The reason I can never accept the job of principal is one word”, he replied “Inspection.”
“To teach and be active in the school, I need to sleep well at night, and I could never do that if I knew that the responsibility to keep the school open is on me.”
What a difference that one little word makes.
And by the way, responsibility makes us work harder. Because when it is one’s job to make it happen, they do whatever it takes.
If it is just a quality of life question on the other hand…
***
Four years later, of Chof Ches Nissan 5751 the Rebbe handed over full responsibility to us.
Yet again, the Rebbe didn’t give a new plan of action.
He made suggestions over the next few weeks, such as giving Tzedaka, an addition in learning Torah and doing Mitzvos and learning Inyonei Geula Umoshiach, (which includes learning Chassidus — but that is a discussion for another time).
But not an absolute plan of action. No new Mivtza.
Because an exact plan of action, an exact blueprint to follow is for employees. The employer on the other hand knows that there are constant tweaks and changes to be made along the way.
He has an overall goal, and finding a way of getting it done is the definition of his role.
The job of Moshe Rabeinu, Eliyahu Hanavi and Rebbi Akiva.
The job of Arizal and his Talmidim. Of the Baal Shem Tov and his Talmidim.
The job the Alter Rebbe went to jail for, and Rebbitzen Devora Leah died for.
The job the Rabeim gave their lives for.
That responsibility now rests on the shoulders of Mendel Itzinger and all the rest of us midgets.
It is up to us to make sure their work is not vain!
Yeah. The suffering in the world is now %100 our job to heal.
Someone is in pain? What are you going to do about it!
The pain is not our fault. But we can no longer think of it as someone else’s responsibility.
Because, the only reason there is bad in this world is because we have not yet finished our job.
***
But there is another very important point here:
Because there were many times of קיצין. Times that the greatest of Tzadikim, including the רמב”ם, סמ”ג, the Alter Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek and the Frierdike Rebbe, (the list is endless) said Moshiach is coming NOW.
But each time something else happened that either pushed it off (such as in the קץ of the Frierdike Rebbe) or there was the גאולה but not the גאולה שלימה (such as in the קץ of the Tzemach Tzedek).
And in the natural order of things,
when the Rebbe was Nistalek three years later, certainly thirty years on… our simple human understanding would have most likely had us assume that here was another opportune time which did not fully materialise…
But that is not the case.
Chof Ches Nissan 5751, eleven months before Chof Zayin Adar the Rebbe made it clear.
Chabad is the final step in the world’s five-thousand, seven-hundred and eighty-one-year work in conditioning the physical to perceive its ultimate existence.
In the universe’s pattern consisting of “Seven’s”, over seven generations Lubavitch brought this purpose further into reality.
Each generation one a step closer, conditioning further, creating even newer realities.
From the generation of a select group of able minds and hearts, to the generation of a care for the world at large, it is now at the stage of making it happen.
This final step may be taking longer than hoped… but the final step it is.
Because this time it is not merely an opportune time; in the Master Plan, this part is the final stage. There is no further step that can be taken.
Thirty years ago, in one of the many things the Rebbe did as He prepared us for the “Post Gimel Tamuz era”, He spelled it out in the clearest language.
Whist the actions of the Tzadik of the generation may have stopped, he gave over that responsibility to the people.
It is He who told us that the final step continues; under new responsibility.
***
So, you ask me why I do not want to commemorate the day?
Because for me at least, commemorating the day makes me lose the point.
You do not know what day the Rebbe launched מבצע תפילין and you do not know the day the Rebbe launched מבצע מזוזה — you do not know that because the actions are the important thing here. The dates are details.
Calling it “Chof Ches Nissan”, inspires us for the day… but it is the change in thinking that is the important part. The date of the Sicha is as important as the date the Rebbe launched Mivtza Ahavas Yisroel.
Imagine you didn’t know what day the Rebbe spoke about carrying the responsibility after His Histalkus… How else would you commemorate the point if not by proper action…
Try it, not for the day, but for the next two weeks.
Spend a few minutes each day considering the responsibility. Consider it in the context we discussed here. Try making it yours…
- Focus on the overall responsibility, rather than on a specific.
- When you do a Mitzva realise it carries enormous weight.
- Do something extra – just for the sake of moving things quicker.
- Ask your Mashpia what is the most important area that needs improvement.
- Spend some time understanding what the world will be like when Moshiach will come, it will help motivate action.
- Try impress the fact of the responsibility lying on us, on one other individual. Help them realise what they can accomplish for all of humanity by doing a Mitzva.
- Don’t just feel the burden… appreciate the role you carry. Being the president is hard, but people want it for a reason…
See what happens when you focus on the words that have been ringing in my ears all day… the words that don’t allow me a good night sleep… the words that give me the real barometer of success… the command on which rests the work and Mesirus Nefesh of the Rabeim
טוט אלץ וואס איר קענט און זעט אראפבריינגען משיח’ן
Those words would ring all day, every day.
What a responsibility to carry!
Let’s do another Mitzva, learn another Ma’amor, understand another Nekuda.
Let’s get it done!