The Foundation of Our People
A group of prominent and wealthy chassidim visiting the Tzemach Tzedek in Lubavitch desired that the Rebbe should deliver a maamar of Chassidus for them, instead of spending so much of his time receiving the simple local townsmen at yechidus that often concerned mere physical matters. They positioned themselves near the Rebbe’s room and began singing the Alter Rebbe’s Niggun, knowing that this would often open his heart to deliver a maamar.
Hearing them, the Rebbe opened the door and asked: “What do you want?”
“We want Chassidus, not yechidus,” they replied. The Rebbe agreed – on condition that no locals would be present.
The locals were immediately asked to leave, and when the Rebbe came out he asked, “Is there no one here from Lubavitch?” The guests assured him that they had all gone.
“If so," he said, "what am I doing here? I too am from Lubavitch!” With that the Rebbe returned to his room, dismayed by the visitors’ insensitivity to the plight of the poor townsmen.
(מגדל עז ע' רז)
A certain chossid once hesitated to help his fellow because of an old dispute. Hearing of this, the Rebbe Rashab wrote him a long letter on the importance of unity and kindness. He asks: “How can your complaints against him hold you back from feeling united, when our entire Torah and our people, especially now, are based on unity and tzedaka?”
The Rebbe Rashab goes on to explain how, according to Chassidus, our unity below creates unity Above, thereby channeling brachos below. Even wicked men, like those who built the Tower of Bavel, are energized by their unity. However, their harmony is short-lived, for it opposes HaShem’s innermost will. By contrast, achdus amongst those who observe mitzvos draws down positive spiritual energy from HaShem’s Achdus – and brachos of that kind endure forever.
The Rebbe Rashab concludes, “It is thus self-understood that the continued existence of our people depends on achdus amongst those who observe mitzvos and thereby draw down everlasting bracha in all good ways. This achdus is especially important amongst those who are close to each other, since they come from one source ... How hard did our Rebbeim toil for Anash with mesiras nefesh, spending countless hours discussing with them their personal matters and implanting within them good and upright middos in the spirit of our holy Torah. Woe to eyes that witness all their efforts being lost ch”v because of such divisiveness as not helping a fellow in a time of trouble!”
(אג"ק רש"ב ח"א ע' צא ואילך)
No Exceptions!
The Alter Rebbe told his son the Mitteler Rebbe: Grandfather (the Baal Shem Tov) said that one must have mesiras nefesh in ahavas Yisroel even towards a Yid whom one has never seen.
(היום יום ט"ו כסלו)
The Rebbe once said:
With regard to the actual performance of the Torah and its mitzvos everyone is equal, but when it comes to the feelings behind them, there are differences: one acts out of love for HaShem, another out of awe, and a third out of kabbalas ol.
The talmidim of Rabbi Akiva were truthful people, and their avoda penetrated them so fully that it seemed to each of them that only his path was the right way and anyone else was missing out, with the result that they were not able to respect each other as they ought to have done.
This teaches us that a person is obligated to regard every shomer Torah u’mitzva positively and to respect him greatly even if his path is not the same as one's own – because that person too is serving HaShem. The differences are merely whether his service is prompted by love or fear and so on.
(לקו"ש ח"ז ע' 342)
Despite Differences
The Baal Shem Tov taught: In every generation there is a tzaddik. Some people don't have many mitzvos to their credit, but they have emuna in the tzaddik, while others, who do many mitzvos to their credit, don’t believe in the tzaddik.
The reason for this is the following: Since neshamos today are gilgulim, the above distinction depends on the source of an individual’s neshama. If the source is refined, that person is given the merit of believing in the tzaddik. If not, he is lacking in emuna and sometimes does not even know of the tzaddik at all. We, therefore, who know and believe in the tzaddik, are not at all superior to those who don’t know and believe in tzaddikim and may even oppose them, since possibly those people do even more mitzvos than we do. It is not proper to separate ourselves from them; rather, we should be together be’achdus.
(מגדל עז ע' שמד)
At a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen the Frierdiker Rebbe said:
All the improper ways and actions that brought about the arrest of the Alter Rebbe need not be mentioned and should be forgotten. We need to joyfully relate that there were painful events and there was mesiras nefesh which eventually resulted in a Yom-Tov. Although according to the Torah, at a joyful event one should recount the story of the miracle being celebrated with all of its details, the Alter Rebbe in his holy letter that begins Katonti warns us and teaches us how to conduct ourselves and how to attain the highest level of refined middos by not paying back people who wronged us. For these reasons it is better not to recount the story at all.
(לקוטי דיבורים ח"ג ע' תשסא)
Consider
Is the love towards a Yid with a different way of avodas Hashem despite his way of service or because of it?
In merit of this publication's founder • ר' אהרן בן חנה May the zechus of the thousands of readers bring him a total and immediate recovery
