The Rebbe Forewarned Us

The Rebbe Forewarned Us 

Rabbi Y. Oliver

Some people ask: Since the Rebbe surely knew that Gimmel Tammuz was coming, why didn’t he issue guidance concerning the way that one should act after Gimmel Tammuz? Well, the first thing to recognize is that a Rebbe doesn’t abandon his chassidim, as the Rebbe says of the Previous Rebbe: “Those who knew the Rebbe in the course of the thirty years of his leadership know that the [Previous] Rebbe would not abandon his chassidim” (Toras Menachem 5710, Vol. 1, p. 16).  According to the principle of “he rules upon himself,” this surely holds true concerning the Rebbe as well.

And so it is understandable that, as the Rebbe says of the Previous Rebbe: “The [Previous] Rebbe prepared us in advance for the situation after his histalkus [passing]” (Toras Menachem, Vol. 10, p. 88).

One may, however, ask: But I don’t receive specific, explicit guidance from the Rebbe on how to approach the situation after his passing?

I believe the sicha below, delivered during the year after the Histalkus (passing of a Tzaddik) of the Previous Rebbe, provides the answer to this question.

As discussed earlier,[1] in the recent period the [Previous] Rebbe, my father-in-law, issued numerous instructions and forewarned many areas related to what behavior is appropriate in the later period [i.e., after Yud Shevat].

In the sicha of 13 Tammuz of last year[2] the [Previous] Rebbe, my father-in-law, said:

Every chossid should say a chapter of Tehillim [Psalms] daily in order that the merit of the Rebbeim should be drawn to them, and that they absorb the revelation of light [i.e., the spiritual revelation manifest via the Rebbeim] in an internal manner.

It may be asked: The flow of blessing from the Rebbeim has existed since the time of the Baal Shem Tov, yet the instruction to recite a chapter of Tehillim in order to elicit the merit of the Rebbeim and to internalize the light that they reveal in an internal manner was not issued until 12 Tammuz, 5709 [1949]!

Rather, the deeper intent of this was that every chossid should continue to recite the chapter of the Rebbe in according with his age.[3]

Some chassidim who would recite the Rebbe’s chapter of Tehillim (chapter seventy [according to the Previous Rebbe’s age]), began to doubt after 10 Shevat whether to continue doing so. Now, after 12 Tammuz [the Previous Rebbe’s birthday], they are unsure whether to continue reciting chapter seventy, or to begin reciting chapter seventy-one. I.e., they are not sure whether after the histalkus growth in age is possible.

The [Previous] Rebbe clarified this in advance by declaring on the last 13 Tammuz of his life in this world that every single chossid should recite a chapter of Tehillim daily, the chapter of the Rebbe, for through this the merit of the Rebbe will be drawn to him, and he will absorb the revelation of light internally.

The [Previous] Rebbe issued this directive on 13 Tammuz of last year, but at the time not everyone knew of it. Only a handful of individuals possessed a transcript of the address, while the masses did not know of it. However, now it has been printed and publicized to all.

When the Rebbe, my father in law, said things that were intended to forewarn and provide guidance concerning the time after his passing, they were not said explicitly. The reason for this is, as it is written of Moshe, “in my entire house he is trusted.”[4] This trust is explained in the holy books.[5] How can one speak of trust, when it is not possible to take anything? This trust is expressed in the fact that one does not reveal everything that one sees.

There is a story of the Maggid [of Mezeritch] ... that once one of his students entered to part with him before travelling home, and the Maggid told the Holy Society [i.e., his other students] to prevent him from travelling. They tried to stop him, and when they did not succeed, they told him that this was in fact an instruction of the Maggid himself. The chossid could not believe this, since the Maggid himself had parted with him. So he went to part with him again. The Maggid bade him farewell again, and when he left, he berated them as a chossid can, saying, “Don’t you see that the Maggid bade me farewell again?!” Then the Maggid returned and told the Holy Society again to stop the student from leaving. He went to the Maggid again to part with him, and they tried to stop him again, and this recurred several times. Finally he did not listen to them, and left, and when he arrived home, he had passed away. They went to the Maggid and asked him, if he knew, why didn’t he tell him explicitly not to travel? The answer was “in my entire house he is trusted”—not everything may be revealed.[6]

Toras Menachem 5710, Vol. 1, pp. 148, 149, 150.

[1] Toras Menachem 5710, Vol. 1, pp. 120, 129.
[2] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5710 p. 263 ff.
[3] See Igros Kodesh Admur HaRayatz, Vol. 1, p. 31; Vol. 10, p. 53.
[4] Shemos 12:7.
[5] Maamarei Admur HaZakein—Es’halech Liozna p. 1.
[6] Cf. Toras Menachem 5710, Vol. 1, p. 81.

In my own words: The Previous Rebbe issued directives in a hidden manner concerning the period after his Histalkus. The reason that he did not do so explicitly is that he was not given permission to do so from Above.

Lessons:

1. Again, according to the principle of “he rules upon himself,” just as the Previous Rebbe issued directives relevant to the period after his own passing, albeit in the form of hints, so did the Rebbe surely provide guidance to the chassidim in his sichos [talks] and maamarim [Chassidic discourses]. “Toil, and you will find!” In particular, see such guidance in this post.

2. Since everything we learn is by divine providence, and the Rebbe guides us and communicates with us after Gimmel Tammuz through his teachings, we should pay special attention to the particular sichos and maamarim that we are privileged to learn, because they are certainly very relevant to our personal circumstances, and that is why Hashem arranged circumstances such that we would come to learn them.