Happy 120th to you!

 

Pesach is coming and we are all preparing on one level or another.  Most Jews around the world celebrate Pesach in some way.  While all this is going on, another monumental event is happening that is being marked around the world.  The Rebbe’s 120th birthday.  I think it’s safe to say that just the fact that hundreds of thousands of people, and maybe more, around the world are celebrating the birthday of a person whose physical life on earth ended 28 years ago is in itself a wonder, even before we get to the reasons of why this is happening.  The Rebbe’s impact is not only continuing after his passing, but it is growing by leaps and bounds.  

There is a well-known question about the Parsha Chayei Sarah – meaning the life of Sarah.  The entire Parsha speaks about events that happened after her death.  In fact, the opening verses discuss her burial.  So why is the Parsha called “the life of Sarah?”  One of the answers is that true life is eternal life, as opposed to things that have only temporary existence.  So the measure of a person’s life is the impact that they have after their passing.  When we see Sarah’s impact and lasting legacy in the life of her son Yitzchak and the subsequent development of the Jewish nation, this is an expression of the eternal nature of this saintly woman’s life. 

The same can be said about the Rebbe.  His legacy grows as the years go.  This is true in the number of institutions he founded – schools, Yeshivas, Chabad Centers, outreach programs, soup kitchens, social service organizations, Mikvahs and so much more around the globe.  These institutions, including thousands that were founded after his passing, have had a powerful impact on Jewish life.  Attitudes toward outreach, unconditional love for a fellow Jew, a positive outlook on the world and on other people, accessibility to deep mystical concepts for every person who wishes to study them, welcoming all Jews into the community regardless of background or observance, these are only a few examples of ideas that we consider to be normative Judaism today and that were spearheaded by the Rebbe.

Awareness of Moshiach’s imminent arrival and the steps that we need to take to make it happen sooner were obscure ideas until the Rebbe brought them into our consciousness.  Today just about every Jewish leader exhorts us to connect to this concept, to actively and anxiously await Mosiach’s coming, to study Torah teachings about Moshiach, and to increase our observance of Torah and Mitzvot which will hasten the redemption.  The heroic sacrifice of the Chabad Shluchim in Ukraine and the surrounding countries was inspired by the Rebbe.  The daily work of thousands of dedicated Shluchim and Shluchot, along with their communities, volunteers and supporters are inspired by the Rebbe.  And I am only citing a few small examples.  There are thousands of articles, videos, first-person narratives and books that describe the impact the Rebbe had and continues to have on so many people from every imaginable background.  It is truly indescribable.  

So when we see “the life of the Rebbe” continuing to flourish and grow, we realize that his birthday is indeed something to celebrate in every way we can.  120 years is a full lifetime, and in honor of this day many are taking upon themselves new Mitzvot and resolutions relating to Torah, which is what the Rebbe used to encourage people to do when they offered him birthday presents.  Many of these “birthday presents” to the Rebbe are being done in multiples of 120.  Chabad as a global movement has committed to opening 1,210 institutions.  There is a global effort to have the Jewish people as a unit observe an additional 120 million Mitzvot.  This is something you can participate in by taking a few  moments each day to say the Shema prayer, for example, or strengthening your observance of any of the ten Mitzvot that the Rebbe championed as the “Mitzvah Campaigns,” or any Mitzvah that moves you.  Many are planning to give Tzedakah in multiples of 120.  That can be 120 dimes, dollars, thousands or more.

You can see more about the Rebbe’s birthday here, and here.

I think that it is appropriate, given the Rebbe’s impact on me and you, to wish each other a happy 120th birthday.  May we merit to see, before the day of 11 Nissan this upcoming Tuesday, the fulfillment of the Rebbe’s lifetime dream and the thing he craved most – the complete redemption by the righteous Moshiach.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to celebrate this Pesach in the rebuilt Holy temple and actually eat the meat of the lamb of the Pesach sacrifice!