Reflections on the Third of Tamuz

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The third of Tamuz!  It is a day marked all over the world as a day of reflection and celebration of a leader unmatched in recent history.  The 29th Yartzeit (anniversary of passing) of the saintly Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is today, Thursday.

 

There are thousands of articles, videos, books and stories written about his remarkable life and his unprecedented impact on a world shattered by the Holocaust and assimilation.  I would imagine that you have seen some of the ubiquitous stories today, and you can read a lot more here. 

 

What more is there to add?  I just want to talk about some personal reflections and experiences.  I spent several years studying in the Yeshiva in Crown Heights Brooklyn where I merited to see and pray with the Rebbe almost every day.  I attended over 100 Farbrengens (Chassidic gatherings) that he led.  I had the great merit to see him personally a few times in a meeting known as “Yechidus” – private audience, and many times I received his blessing and a dollar for charity at the famous “Sunday dollars.”  I basked in the glory of his Torah and saintliness, and it is not an exaggeration to say that every time I was in his presence I was uplifted. 

 

I also led groups from here to meet the Rebbe, and everyone who participated was moved by the experience.  When you would meet the Rebbe, typically you had waited many hours in a long line, and there were hundreds or thousands waiting behind you.  You knew that you would have only a few seconds with the Rebbe, but at that moment time stopped.  The Rebbe looked deeply into each person’s eyes, and you felt like his Neshama (soul) was locked into yours.  There is no experience I have ever felt like that.

 

At that moment you felt your soul come alive, and that you were indeed important and capable of making a difference.  With his gaze and his words, the Rebbe empowered every individual to recognize his or her unique potential, and to strive to fulfill it completely.  Kabbalah and Chassidus teach, based on Talmud, that there are unique souls that come into the world that are unaffected by the physical environment and remain as holy and powerful here in this world as they were at their source in the highest spiritual realms.  Rather than a body with a soul that is the definition of a regular person, these greatest leaders, few in number, are defined as a soul within a person.

 

To this day I can feel the spiritual emotion that I felt when I stood in the Rebbe’s presence, heard his words to me and his Torah teachings in every area of Torah.  It was he who inspired me, and thousands of my colleagues, to dedicate our lives to reaching out to every Jew in love.

 

And now, 29 years after his passing, the Rebbe’s influence and inspiration continue.  His soul, and therefore his impact on the world, is eternal.  And on his Yartzeit, we connect with his soul by studying his teachings, increasing our commitment to following his guidance, giving Tzedakah, studying Mishnayot, attending a Chassidic gathering, and for people who are nearby, by visiting his graveside.  See more here.  For those who cannot personally be present, many have the custom to write a letter to be placed at his resting place.

 

The greatest wish the Rebbe had was to see the redemption by Moshiach.  This is the perfect time to be inspired to increase our Mitzvah observance and connection to Hashem, and to bring that wish to fruition.

 

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