The Tzaddik and the Rebbe

There is another lesson from the combination of the Parshiyos [Torah portions, sing. Parsha] of Vayakeil and Pekudei. The Parshiyos of Terumah and Tetzaveh describe how Hashem commanded Moshe to construct the Mishkan and its vessels, while the [later] Parshiyos of Vayakeil and Pekudei describe how Moshe told the Jewish people to construct the Mishkan and its vessels, and they implemented this. However, in between these two activities there was something that separated and disturbed this, as described in the Parsha of Ki Sisa [regarding the sin of worshipping the golden calf].

However, when the command was issued by Moshe Rabeinu, as described in the Parsha of Vayakeil, the Mishkan was immediately built and completed. This is one of the ideas represented by the combination of the Parshiyos of Vayakeil and Pekudei.

In most years, Vayakeil and Pekudei are combined, and “we follow the majority.” Even when the evil inclination mixes in and several more days may pass (until the directive as issued via Moshe Rabeinu is carried out), still, nothing else occurs in between. Ultimately every Jew will certainly do Teshuva, but when the matter is revealed via Moshe Rabeinu and “the extension of Moshe in every generation” [Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 69, 112a, 114a] this matter will certainly be accomplished, i.e., the Jewish people will certainly perform their divine service, and this will surely bring “the glory of G–d to fill the Mishkan.”

Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 3, pp.936-937.

The following story (see here)was told concerning the Rebbe Maharash, the fourth Chabad Rebbe.

A severe decree was being formulated against the Jews. Rabbi Menachem Mendel, known as the “Tzemach Tzedek” (the third Lubavitcher Rebbe), sent his youngest son, Reb Shmuel to Petersberg in an attempt to get the decree rescinded. Traveling with Reb Shmuel was his older brother Reb Yehuda Leib, twenty years Reb Shmuel’s senior.

Before commencing the journey, Reb Shmuel insisted that Reb Yehuda Leib agree not to bless anyone during their trip. “Our father is the Rebbe and he is the only one who should give people blessings,” he declared. Having no other choice, Reb Yehuda Leib agreed to these conditions.

In every town they visited along the way, people converged on Reb Yehuda Leib. They begged him, as the son of such a great Tzaddik (righteous person), to give them a blessing for health, a living, children, etc. To each person, Reb Yehuda Leib replied, “Go visit my father, surely he will bless you.”

In one particular village, there was a woman who was especially persistent. She had not been blessed with children and was certain that, with the blessing of a Tzaddik, she would indeed merit to have children of her own.

The woman stationed herself in front of Reb Yehuda Leib. She begged and pleaded, screamed and cried that he must bless her to have children. But still Reb Yehuda Leib refused to bless the woman. “Go to my father, the Rebbe,” he stated simply. “Surely he will bless you.”

The woman was not satisfied with this answer. She continued to cry out to Reb Yehuda Leib that he should bless her. Finally, at wit’s end, Reb Yehuda Leib said, “Go to my brother. Perhaps he will bless you.”

The woman repeated the entire scene in front of Reb Shmuel. She begged and pleaded, cried and screamed that Reb Shmuel bless her to have children. But nothing could move Reb Shmuel. He insisted that only his father, the Rebbe, could do anything for the woman. Seeing that she would not take “no” for an answer, Reb Shmuel told his brother and the carriage driver to get ready to leave. They quickly got into the carriage to begin their journey home and away from the woman.

But the carriage didn’t budge. The woman had cleverly placed a stick in the spokes of the wheels to keep them from turning.

Reb Shmuel climbed down from the carriage and, in annoyance told the woman, “Go eat a bagel” - equivalent in today’s vernacular to “go fly a kite.”

Satisfied at last, the woman left Reb Shmuel and Reb Yehuda Leib to continue their journey. She promptly went home and made bagels, concentrating all the while on the blessing that the bagel would surely elicit. It occurred to the woman that just to be sure that the blessing would really be actualized, she should maybe eat two bagels. So that is exactly what she did.

The following year, Rabbi Menachem Mendel passed away and Reb Shmuel, though the youngest of his seven sons, was chosen to succeed him as Rebbe.

One day, a man came into Reb Shmuel’s study with two cakes which his wife had baked for the Rebbe. “You blessed my wife last year that she would have a child, so she has asked me to bring you these cakes in gratitude.”

Reb Shmuel had no recollection of the event so the man recounted the entire episode to Reb Shmuel. He finished by saying, “You said to my wife, ‘Go eat a bagel.’ That is exactly what she did and your blessing came true.”

“But why,” asked Reb Shmuel in amazement, “are you bringing me two cakes?”

“My wife had wanted to make sure that the blessing would really materialize so she ate two bagels and had twins!” said the beaming father.

“Know,” Reb Shmuel told the husband, “I saw that there was a heavenly decree that you and your wife were not destined to have children. It was only in exasperation that I told your wife to eat a bagel, not as a means of blessing. But because of her simple faith, her strong faith in the blessing of a Tzaddik, the decree was annulled and you and your wife were blessed with children.”

What’s amazing about this story is not that the Rebbe Maharash was able to give a blessing for children, for the powers of Tzaddikim over nature is well-known. Rather it lies in the woman’s pure faith in the powers of a Tzaddik. This was so effective that it enabled the Tzaddik’s inadvertent words to be fulfilled.

A Jew goes to a Tzaddik in order to be inspired to love and fear Hashem, to connect with Hashem on the lofty level of the Tzaddik, or to receive a spiritual or material blessing or advice. In order to accomplish these important goals, one needs to study the Tzaddik’s teachings and follow his instructions.

However, this relationship will only work if the person approaches the Tzaddik with total emunah in the Tzaddik’s power to provide these things.

Often people follow certain instructions of the Tzaddik, and see that they’re not getting inspired! It’s not working! And instead of searching within themselves for the root cause, they start to doubt the Tzaddik’s powers. In reality, the fault is in the person. The reason that the Tzaddik’s prescription isn’t working is that in order for the recipient to be a vessel, he has to believe with full confidence that the Tzaddik can do it. However, if the person the efficacy of the Tzaddik’s powers, then it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The solution then is to study Torah sources concerning the level and holiness of a Tzaddik, and read stories of Tzaddikim.

Reb Mendel Futerfas was once hosted by a Chossid who was a great scholar and oived (one who strives to change his character through Avodas HaTefillah, lengthy prayer accompanied by meditation). Reb Mendel observed that every night his host would cry profusely in Kerias Shema She’al Hamitah (the recital of the bedtime Shema). Reb Mendel asked him, “Why are you crying, if you learn and pray so much?” He answered, “ich lern un davven takeh, ober es shtinkt”—“indeed, I learn and pray, but it smells.”

This line should not be taken literally, as if this Chossid thought he was a person full of arrogance. This was a very refined, humble person, and he knew his level. On the contrary, because he was so refined, he felt that even the small sense of self that he did have was detracting from the total submission to Hashem that he longed for. His natural, human self-love and preoccupation with his own concerns bothered and distressed him.

In other words, even someone on a higher level (and perhaps especially such a person) should realize how low he is. This is discussed in Tanya ch. 29. There the Alter Rebbe explains that our self-awareness is in fact awareness of the Nefesh Ha’Behamis, the Animal Soul.

In order to get in touch with our true selves, the Nefesh Ha’Elokis, the Divine Soul, special Avodah (effort at self-improvement) is required such as Iskafya (self-restraint from indulgence), prayer with intense concentration, and intensive study of Torah in general, and the inner dimension of Torah in particular.

Yet even then one is only allowing the Divine Soul to be revealed in one’s body and consequently in the world. However, the Divine Soul still remains separate from one’s conscious self. His core identity remains his Animal Soul, also known as the Evil Inclination. This inner force is evil. Thus, the Alter Rebbe explains in that chapter that one should angrily scream at one’s Evil Inclination, “‘You are evil, wicked, abominable, loathsome, and disgraceful,’ and so forth, using all the epithets by which our Sages have called it in truth.”

(It should be clarified that the inner essence of every Jew is his Divine Soul; this is his true self. However, on a revealed level, if he is not a Tzaddik, his conscious self-awareness is of his Animal Soul.)

How do we have a hope of pulling ourselves out of this mire of ego, and connecting to Hashem and to our Divine Soul within? Especially in light of the fact that “a prisoner cannot free himself from prison” (Berachos 5b)?

The answer is the Tzaddik, the Rebbe. He has no evil inclination. He has truly transcended the natural human condition of selfishness. His entire being is nullified to G–dliness, and thus G–dliness shines through him without obstruction. Thus, by learning from him and devoting ourselves to him, he elevates us beyond our ego, and grants us the ability to transcend our personal limitations and devote ourselves to Hashem in the most sublime manner possible during exile, and thus prepare ourselves to submit to Hashem in the most sublime manner possible after Moshiach comes.

The Tzaddik enables us to reveal G–dliness and overcome boundaries in our personal service of G–d. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains:

There are times designated for Torah study and prayer, and times designated for engaging in mundane matters, as it is written, “In all your ways [i.e., mundane parts of one’s life], know Him.”[1] However, the ultimate goal is that one abolish this division, such that the light of Torah and prayer illuminates one’s mundane affairs as well, and one comes to know G–d in all one’s ways in a way similar to one’s spiritual state while engaging in Torah study and prayer. ...

This is the connection with the redemption and miracle of 12 Tammuz [when the Previous Rebbe was miraculously released from prison], for it is known that G–d relates to the world in two ways: through nature and through miracles.[2] From the perspective of Seder Hishtalshelus [the orderly chain of the spiritual worlds], the natural and the miraculous are removed from each other. This is the reason that one who recites Hallel daily is considered a blasphemer,[3] for miraculous divine behavior, on account of which one recites Hallel, is contrary to the standard natural manner in which G–d treats the world.

However, this is only from the perspective of Seder Hishtalshelus, which stems from divine strictness, for our Sages say that the world was created through the attribute of judgment.[4] However, G–d then saw that the world couldn’t last, so he partnered the attribute of compassion along with the attribute of judgment.

The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya[5] that this divine compassion is expressed through “the revelation of G–dliness by Tzaddikim and signs and miracles.” This is the idea of abolishing the partition and division between the natural and the miraculous, such that even in nature, miracles are elicited in an open fashion.

These miracles infuse the Jewish people with strength in serving G–d, enabling them to abolish the partition between mundane matters and Torah and prayer, such that the light of one’s Torah and prayer shines even in one’s mundane matters. This reaches the point that they reveal G–dliness even in physical objects, as it is written, “The glory of G–d will be revealed and together all flesh will see that the mouth of G–d has spoken.”[6] This means that the flesh itself will perceive G–dliness, just as the Neshama sees G–dliness before it is vested in a body, and to an even greater extent.

All this is accomplished through signs and miracles performed by the Tzaddikim, who elicit the miraculous into the natural. This is also what occurred “in those days, at this time.”[7]

[1] Mishlei 3:6.

[2] See Ohr HaTorah, Bereishis, 18b.

[3] Shabbos 118.

[4] Rashi on Bereishis 1:1. Bereishis Rabba 12:15.

[5] Shaar HaYichud Veha’Emunah ch. 5.

[6] Yeshaya 40:5.

[7] I.e., when the Previous Rebbe was miraculously released from Soviet imprisonment, inspiring Jewry to overcome the challenges that they faced in Jewish observance under communist rule.

Sefer HaMa’amarim 5717-5718-5719, p. 470.

In my own words: When the Tzaddik performs miracles and suspends the division between the natural and the miraculous, he grants the Jewish people the ability to transcend the natural divisions in their personal lives, such that one’s inspired state while engaged in Torah study and prayer continues the entire day.

How deep should be the relationship between the Tzaddik and his followers?

Moshe Rabeinu of blessed memory acted as an intermediary between the Jewish people and Hashem, may He be blessed. He connected the Jewish people to our Father in Heaven, through their connecting with him, and his connecting with Hashem, may He be blessed. This is the meaning of the verse: “The entire congregation of the children of Yisrael went out—from before Moshe” (Shemos 35:20). This means that even though they had gone out, they were still in Moshe’s presence.

This is an admonition to future generations to bond with Tzaddikim, who are on the level of Moshe, with a strong, firm, lasting bond. Then even if one is not actually (physically) with them (the Tzaddikim), the impression and engraving (of the bond established with the Tzaddikim) will remain with them. In this way they will be constantly connected to Hashem, may He be blessed.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasover, Ahavas Shalom, Vayakeil, s.v. vayetzu.

In my own words:

The Tzaddik’s profound connection with Hashem enables his followers, who connect with him, to connect with Hashem on a far deeper level. Thus, the deeper one’s bond with the Tzaddik, the deeper one’s bond with Hashem. So by the follower establishing a bond with the Tzaddik that is so profound and intimate that he constantly feels that he is in the Tzaddik’s presence, he is elevated to a point where his intimate connection with Hashem will also continue uninterruptedly.

The Previous Rebbe taught:

Chassidus and Chassidim are a “tree of life.” The tree contains the roots, which are connected to the koach ha’tzome’ach (the potential for plant life found in the earth that sustains the roots), the trunk of the tree, and the branches. The roots and the trunk enable the branches to receive their vitality and produce various fruit.

In the Chassidic tree of life, the Rebbeim are the roots, the trunk is Chassidus, and the branches are Chassidim.

Every Chossid is a branch of the tree of life. The roots and the trunk enable Chassidim, who are the branches, to receive an internally-felt vitality (“chayus pnimi”) to produce fruit. “What are the fruit? Mitzvos (Sotah 46a)”—performing a Mitzvah with an internally-felt vitality.

Sefer HaMa’amarim 5708, p. 262

Comments:

1. This analogy expresses nicely the concept discussed in the HaYom Yom of 24 Sivan, where it is written:

You ask how can you be bound (mekushar) to me when I do not know you personally. ... The true Hiskashrus (bond) is formed by studying Torah. When you study my Ma’amorim, read the Sichos and associate with those dear to me—the Chassidic community and the Temimim—in their studies and farbrengens, and you fulfill my request regarding reciting Tehillim and observing Torah-study times—in this is the Hiskashrus.

It is true that the Previous Rebbe lists several other criteria for establishing Hiskashrus, but the first one is studying Chassidus, about which he says, “The true Hiskashrus is created by studying Torah.” He then lists other things which are also necessary for Hiskashrus; however, 1. they are listed second; and 2. it is not written that those methods create “true Hiskashrus,” only “the Hiskashrus.”

The above analogy (between roots, trunk, and branches and the Rebbeim, Chassidus, and Chassidim respectively) fits nicely with this, for it conveys the concept that the main role of the Rebbeim is to reveal Chassidus, and thus the most crucial way of connecting with them is by studying and internalizing their teachings.

It should be noted that this analogy for the Rebbe-Chossid relationship was specifically said concerning the relationship of the Chabad Rebbeim and their Chassidim. However, this principle may not be relevant to non-Chabad Chassidim, whose relationship with their Rebbeim may not hinge upon in-depth study of the Torah of their Rebbeim, or at least not to this degree. This difference can perhaps also be inferred from the teaching in this post, in which a non-Chabad Rebbe also describes the relationship between the Tzaddik and his followers as one unit—he uses the analogy of the limbs of a body—but does not emphasize the role of the Torah that the Tzaddik teaches as crucial in establishing this bond.

2. As is known, in pnimiyus (the inner aspect) and chitzoniyus (the external aspect) there are many levels. What is pnimiyus compared to a lower level is chitzoniyus when compared to a higher one (see Zohar 1:20a, discussed in Toras Menachem 5711, Vol. 1, p. 208).

For a Chabad Chossid the relationship with the Rebbe and with all of the Rebbeim of Chabad is a very deep one. They are the root of his Neshama. They guide him in reaching the profound intellectual understanding of Hashem’s greatness revealed in Chassidus. But the goal of this relationship is something still deeper: Bringing the Jew to become truly inspired in his avodas Hashem (divine service). This is attained in a far deeper manner through the relationship with the Rebbeim and the study of Chassidus than without it.

This seems to be really another way of expressing the core Chabad idea that the purpose of Haskalah (scholastic achievement in grasping the complex abstract levels of G–dliness explained in Chabad Chassidus) is Avodah (changing one’s middos, character traits, and inspiring one’s actual conduct).

Perhaps this can also be connected with what Chassidus says in several places (for example, in Sefer HaMa’amarim 5671, p. 145 and in Hagahos L’dibbur Ha’maschil Posach Eliyahu 5658, p.11) that the main purpose of a fruit tree is to grow fruit, and therefore the entire tree is named for the fruit that it produces—for example, a fruit tree.

Perhaps the same can be said in this case: The purpose and end-goal, of the Rebbe-Chossid relationship that Hashem established is the fruit—that the Chossid reach true inspiration in his avodas Hashem. This is the main thing.