The Previous Rebbe wrote that a wondrous occurrence took place at his bris on Shabbos the th of Tamuz. As babies do when circumcised, the still unnamed Yosef Yitzchak. His grandfather the Rebbe Maharash said to him “Why are you crying? One day you will be a Rebbe and say Chassidus.” At this, the baby stopped crying.
Our Rebbe says that the story is not understood. The words of a Rebbe have a focused intention especially at a bris when Eliyahu is present. [“Why are you crying? One day you will be a Rebbe and say Chassidus.”]
The time of the bris is the very beginning of the entry of the G-dly soul into the body. It precedes the revelation of the spiritual powers of the soul [intellect and emotions] in the body. The child was crying because the procedure hurt. So telling the baby things will be better later does not help him, especially since he was too young to understand. We can’t assume that the Rebbe Maharash was speaking to the baby’s neshama because the neshama certainly knew he would be a Rebbe.
To understand the above, we must understand why the first mitzvah has to be with pain when mitzvahs are supposed to be happy and joyful. At Mount Sinai, the covenant of receiving the Torah was made with the soul alone. The mitzvah of mila, however, connects the actual body to Hashem in a way that is recognized in the body. It has to reach deep, to the point of effecting the flesh of the body thus causing pain.
Pain and suffering were apparent in the life of the Previous Rebbe much more so than was seen by the Rebbeim who came before. In addition to the suffering and pain of arrest and damaging physical beatings, he lived through 10 exiles one after next.
Exile is considered like a little bit of death. Nevertheless, the exile of the Jewish people was not just a punishment but a mission to select the remaining sparks of good in those places of exile. This mission includes teaching the non-Jews their Seven Commandments to prepare them for Moshiach, when all people will clearly recognize Hashem and declare “Hashem is the One G-d.”
In Temple times, the sparks of good were also being refined and elevated. But there is a difference between how the sparks of good were redeemed in the times of the Temple and how they are redeemed in exile.
In the Bais Hamikdash
In the Bais Hamikdash, a light of G-dly revelation shone out to the world. Such a strong light, in fact, that the sparks of good were automatically attracted and included in G-dliness. This was seen when “King Solomon sat on the throne of Hashem and the light shined throughout the world.” The other kings of the world came and offered him tribute.
But after the destruction, that light no longer shined so intensely. Therefore, Jews were required to go out to “retrieve” those sparks. As we get closer to the revelation of Moshiach, the birurim (process of refinement and elevation) will be complete. However, the few remaining sparks are “farther away” from holiness and require a further descent into exile.
We see this illustrated clearly in the life of the Previous Rebbe who spread the wellsprings even to cold, “sophisticated” America. He didn’t limit that outflow to the Yiddish speaking world as had been done previously. Instead, he directed that Chassidus be published in the languages of the world.
Now, our Rebbe says, we can understand the story of the Rebbe’s cry at his bris and the message of comfort he heard from the Rebbe Maharash—“You will be Rebbe and say Chassidus.”
The soul cries because of its great descent from the heights of Divine revelation that it experienced before entering the body to refine the sparks of good.
The declaration of the Rebbe at that time gave strength to the soul of the future Rebbe to prevail over all obstacles and be successful in his work. “A Tzadik decrees and Hashem complies.” For that reason, the baby was comforted and stopped crying.
When we hear a story about a Rebbe, especially one told by a Rebbe, it is not just a nice story but a teaching for us. We shouldn’t refrain from fulfilling the mission designated for us by Hashem because of its difficulty. When we give ourselves over to the mission, we will certainly succeed.
[Pinchus 5732]
