“You ask how you can be bound to me when I do not know you personally... the true bond is created by studying Torah. When you study my discourses, read the talks and associate with those dear to me... and you fulfill my request... in this is the bond.”
On Shabbat, January 20th, the 10th of Shevat, we commemorate the yahrzeit of the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson. The above lines were written by the Previous Rebbe in response to the question of how to become bound with him. The tenth of Shevat is also the anniversary of the Rebbe’s acceptance of leadership. How do we maintain and enhance our connection with the leader of our generation? By studying his talks and by following his directives.
In a talk in 5746 (1986) the Rebbe said: “Every single Jew must perform his Divine service in a manner similar to and befitting the days of Moshiach and the subsequent era of the Resurrection of the Dead. This is exhibited first and foremost through faith, anticipation and knowledge that supernatural events will occur in the days of Moshiach, namely, the Resurrection of the Dead....
“Belief in these concepts must be with certainty, and must be as unshakably firm as the belief in the Ten Commandments. Obviously the belief in the Resurrection of the Dead requires that same degree of certainty and anticipation. This must be emphasized so much more in our present generation, when many Messianic signs are unfolding. These constitute a clear indication that Moshiach is already present in the world. Moreover, he is already a prominent Jewish leader, ‘a king from the House of David, deeply absorbed in the study of Torah,’ etc. Therefore, in our present generation, great emphasis must be placed on belief in the coming of Moshiach and anything which relates to it.”
In these last moments before the true and complete Redemption, may we fill our time with only good—the good of Torah and mitzvot; with study of the Rebbe’s teachings (especially those relating to Moshiach and the Redemption as the Rebbe emphasized numerous times the importance of such study in preparing ourselves for the Messianic Era); and with fulfilling all of the Rebbe’s directives, until the time that we are reunited with the Rebbe once again—“and he will redeem us.”