Introduction
The Rebbe Maharash (fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe) was born on the 2nd of Iyar 5594 (1884), which coincides with the 17th day of the Omer counting, and its corresponding attribute of tiferes shebetiferes.
In the entry in HaYom Yom for this day, the Rebbe records how, when the Rebbe Maharash was seven years old, he was tested in his studies by his father, the Tzemach Tzedek. He did so well in the test that his teacher was enormously impressed. Unable to restrain himself the teacher said to the Tzemach Tzedek, “Well, what do you say? Hasn’t he done marvelously?” The Tzemach Tzedek responded, “What is there to be surprised about when tiferes shebetiferes does well...?”
The Rebbe Maharash is considered synonymous with his most famous adage: Der velt zagt, as men ken nit arunter, darf men ariber – “The world says that only if we cannot go beneath [an obstacle], then we should climb over. Un ich halt, as men darf lechatíchilah ariber – but I hold that we should go over to begin with!” (See footnotes 8 & 17 for an explanation of these two approaches.)
The Rebbe Meharash transmitted this approach to his son, the Rebbe Rashab, who taught it to his own son, the Previous Rebbe. Lechatíchilah ariber, wrote the Previous Rebbe, served as a foundation and life-line for all his accomplishments on behalf Judaism and Chassidus, despite the immense obstacles posed by the Communist regime. The Rebbe subsequently made the doctrine of lechatíchilah ariber into a natural feature of our approach to Judaism and life in general.
His Teachings and Directives
- We should use the opportune time of Beis Iyar (and the days leading up to it) to increase in our study of the Rebbe Maharash’s teachings and compliance with his directives.
The birthday of the Rebbe Maharash serves as a lesson, instruction and granting of power to each Jewish man, woman and child – regarding their daily conduct for the coming year. ... A person’s mazal [supernal source of the soul] is predominant on their birthday. In this case, however, the one whose birthday we celebrate on the 2nd of Iyar is a Nassi (Leader) of all Jewry.
And as our sages tell us (see Rashi, Bamidbar 21:21), “A Leader of a Generation is like all of the generation” since “the Leader is all” [Heb: hanassi hu hakol]. Therefore, the predominance of the Leader’s mazal on his birthday clearly affects and influences all men and women of his generation. It similarly influences all subsequent generations, for the members of subsequent generations are the offspring of the members of his generation; they receive these spiritual matters by way of “inheritance.”
The predominance of the Rebbe Maharash’s mazal on his birthday has a foremost affect on his chief “theme”: In addition to the profusion of Chassidic discourses that he authored, as well as the abundance of [spoken or written] directives and specific public conduct [which serves as a source of instruction in our own divine service], the Rebbe Maharash had a central “theme,” a unique mode of conduct. Chassidim even refer to the Rebbe Maharash himself by this “theme,” which – as per his own adage – is best summed up as “lechatíchilah ariber.”
The Rebbe Maharash’s saying is well known: “The world says that if we cannot go underneath, then we should go over. But I hold that we should go over to begin with!” In other words, a Jew should not reckon with the concerns, limitations and restrictions (and certainly not with the obstacles) presented by this world. A Jew stands above the world! He should reflect this truth in his conduct by stepping above these matters – applying the mode of lechatíchilah ariber.
