The 9th and 10th of Kislev are days associated with the Mitteler Rebbe, Rabbi Dovber, the second Chabad Rebbe. The Mitteler Rebbe was born on the 9th of Kislev 5534 (1773). Imprisoned on false charges of slander against the government, he was released on the 10th of Kislev, a date celebrated today as the “holiday of redemption.” He died the following year on the same date of his birth.
It is said about the Mitteler Rebbe that if his flesh was cut, Chassidus would stream forth. The Mitteler Rebbe lived and breathed Chassidus, and imbued his Chassidim with the warmth and depth of Chassidic teachings.
A Lesson Everywhere
The Baal Shem Tov and his students were once passing over a frozen river and noticed peasants carving out crosses in the ice. The Baal Shem Tov gave orders to stop the wagon and he watched the peasants at work. The students were astonished and one of them mustered the courage to ask for an explanation.
The Baal Shem Tov explained that everything that a person sees or hears should serve as a lesson in his or her service of Hashem. Now, the peasants were able to carve out their avoda zara (idol worship) in the river only because it had frozen. The lesson: Holiness must be approached with warmth and vigor.
Warm Us Forever
It was a bitter cold night, but the soldier did not leave his guard post. He stood motionless until his feet froze. When his superiors told this to the Czar, they were sure he would reward the soldier for his outstanding dedication. Instead, the Czar ordered he be whipped twenty-five lashes and explained, “the oath a soldier makes to serve the Czar faithfully ought to warm him and prevent him from freezing.”
The chassid, Reb Nechemia of Dubrovna, saw the lashing and said: "This experience invigorated my service of Hashem for twenty-five years. We too took an oath at Har Sinai, and it must warm us forever..."
Can’t Be Passionless
The Rebbe teaches: the plagues in Egypt were not simply a punishment, but a process of refinement. In the first plague cool water was replaced with warm life-sustaining blood, since in order to leave Egypt, literally and in everyday life, we must develop a passion for holy matters.
One may ask: Why must I be passionate about holiness? Isn't it enough that I drop my passion for negative things? A person must realize that it is impossible to be passionless. If one is impassionate about holiness he will automatically gravitate to negativity. This is why the evil inclination invests so much energy that a person should not be excited by G-dliness.
The Rebbe also notes that true warmth and passion exist only in the realm of holiness. Impurity is essentially of a cold nature, and was given an artificial passion just so that man would have free choice.
The Power of Happiness and The Warmth of Chassidus adapted from The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash, on-line at TheWeeklyFarbrengen.com
