In the last moments of exile, the lesson for everyone of Shabbos Parshas Shoftim can be understood. There must be a Divine service appropriate - measure for measure - to the situation of Redemption: One must publicize to one's self and to all whom he can reach the necessity to internalize the lessons and advice of "your judges" and "your counselors" of our generation. In general these leaders are the rabbis, as in the statement; "Who are the kings? The Rebbis."
More specifically, it is the leader of our generation, the judge, counselor and prophet of our generation and the continuation of our Rebbeim who preceded him. The obligation to receive the words of the leader is rooted in the commandment of the Torah: "I will raise up a prophet for them from amongst their brethren like you and will put My words in his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command him..." "To him you will listen."
According to the legal decree of the Rambam mentioned above, if one has the qualifications and perfection required of a prophet, when this same person performs signs and wonders, "we do not believe in him because of the signs alone, but because of the mitzvah Moshe commanded in the Torah when he said, 'if he gives you a sign, listen to him.'" The sign is: "He will tell you thing to come and his words will prove true," - as we have seen and continue to see the fulfillment of the blessings of my sainted father-in-law, the leader of our generation.
