The Rebbe Rashab
Yanki Tauber
Once, when Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn (who later served as Rebbe) and his brother Rabbi Zalman Aharon were children, they role-played “Rebbe and Chassid.” The young Sholom DovBer was close to five years of age at the time, and his brother 16 months older.
Little Sholom DovBer refused to play the role of “rebbe,” asserting that “there can only be one rebbe” (i.e., the real rebbe, the children's grandfather, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch). So Zalman Aharon acted as rebbe, and Shalom DovBer acted as chassid.
A chassid's consultation with his rebbe in yechidut (private audience) usually concerns one of two things: a query of haskalah—an intellectual question or problem; or a request for guidance in avodah - the chassid's personal service of G-d. In the children's game, the “chassid” entered into yechidut with a query in each of these areas.
In the haskalah portion of the audience, the exchange went as follows:
“Rebbe, what is a Jew?”
“A Jew is fire.”
“So why am I not burned when I touch you?”
“Fire does not burn fire.”
The “chassid” then complained of a deficiency in his personal avodah, and the “rebbe” advised him on how to correct it. To this the young Sholom DovBer exclaimed: “You're not a rebbe!”
“Why not?” asked a perplexed Zalman Aharon.
“A rebbe,” said the child, “would always emit a sigh before replying!”
