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                         L'CHAIM - ISSUE # 955
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                           Copyright (c) 2007
                 Lubavitch Youth Organization - L.Y.O.
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             THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR EVERY JEWISH PERSON
   Dedicated to the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson N.E.
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        January 26, 2007           Bo             7 Shevat, 5767
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                            Selfless Vision

What makes a leader? A general survey would probably yield
characteristics such as: ideas, charisma, determination, focus,
inspiration, and a few more.

Yet we can find each of these in people we wouldn't necessarily consider
a leader. For instance, lots of people have ideas, many of them quite
good. Scientists, artists, technicians - even the plumber and
electrician have ideas. But ideas alone don't make them leaders.

OK. Charisma, then. A leader must be able to charm others, to convince
them that he or she is worth following, to associate with him or her.
Charisma is defined as attractiveness, charm, the ability to influence
others. And certainly a leader must have charisma. But charisma alone
does not make a leader. Popularity and leadership aren't the same thing.

We can make the same observation about the other characteristics.
Leaders are determined, but so is anyone who focuses on a goal. A
student preparing for a test, for example, is focused, determined - but
not a leader.

In fact, let us admit that a leader must have, in some measure, all the
characteristics listed above, and whatever other synonyms you choose.
But while necessary, these are not sufficient. They are not, singly or
in combination, the defining characteristic of a leader.

If we look at the paradigmatic leader of the Jewish people, we see what,
above all else, defines a leader. Moses is described as the most humble.
And yet when confronting Pharaoh, or any of the rebellious pretenders,
or confronting the Jewish people after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses
hardly appears to be very humble. If anything, he asserts his authority
without hesitation. And when arguing with G-d, whether about his mission
or the fate of the Jewish people, he does not meekly accept G-d's
decree, but protests and debates. That hardly seems the attitude of a
humble man.

How do we reconcile these opposites - the humility and authoritativeness
of Moses? By understanding that a leader must possess, above all else, a
selfless vision.

That is, the leader must guide, inspire, teach - lead - toward a goal.
But that goal must not be his goal. Rather, it must be the goal, often
unrecognized, of those he leads. He must see beyond himself, and see
himself as transparent, a conduit, a channel, a connection between what
he sees - the vision not yet visible to others - and those whom he
leads.

To put this paradoxically: He must see in such a way that others see
themselves - their potential, their strength, their spiritual purpose -
not in him, but through him.

Such was the leadership of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe. And such is
the leadership of the Rebbe. There are hundreds of hours of recorded
interviews with the Rebbe; people from all walks of life, all levels of
observance, and even non-Jews, spent sometimes just a few moments with
the Rebbe. And when asked afterwards about their encounters, the
universal response, expressed in many different way of course, amounted
to this: he believed in me and let me see myself that I might believe in
me.

In other words, the Rebbe's leadership is not, ultimately, about the
Rebbe. It is about the spiritual potential of every human being, of
lighting that spark and letting it shine. For if the leader occludes or
obscures the Divine spark within, in a way it negates the inspiration,
the very lighting of that spark.

Leadership is a vision, a vision of what other others can accomplish, of
the spiritual value of others, of their ability to transform the world
into a dwelling place for G-dliness.

True leadership is a selfless vision.

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           LIVING WITH THE REBBE  -  THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION
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The very first Passover offering, described in this week's Torah
portion, Bo, differed from those that would be offered by future
generations in one important respect. That year, and that year only, the
Jewish people were commanded to procure the Pascal lamb on the 10th of
the month of Nisan - four days before it was to be slaughtered - and to
keep it in their homes until the 14th day of the month.

Rashi, the great Torah commentator, cites the following explanation.
"G-d said, 'The time has come for Me to fulfill My promise to Abraham to
redeem his children.' But the Jews had no mitzvot (commandments) in
whose merit they deserved to be redeemed... He therefore gave them two
commandments - the Passover offering and the mitzva of circumcision
(which the Jews, in their suffering and degradation, had ceased to
observe)."

Why was it necessary for G-d to give the Jews two mitzvot at that time
in history? Why wouldn't one have sufficed to provide them with the
merit they needed to be redeemed? If one was not enough, why only two
and not more? And, what is the connection between all this and the
commandment to keep the Passover lamb in the house for four days?

The explanation lies in the fact that these two mitzvot were given to
the Children of Israel to correct two specific flaws from which they
then suffered. After more than two hundred years of slavery, not only
were they bereft of mitzvot, but the Jewish people had become
contaminated by the paganism of the Egyptians. The opportunity to
observe the fundamental mitzva of circumcision addressed the first
problem; the Passover offering then severed the Jewish people from the
idol worship into which they had fallen.

To the ancient Egyptians the lamb was a sacred deity. When the Jews
brazenly sacrificed the Pascal lamb they thereby showed their contempt
for the dominant Egyptian culture and mores. But in order for the break
with paganism to be internalized and complete, more than a one-time
action was necessary. G-d gave the Jews an extra four days of
preparation to afford them the time to reflect upon the great
significance their deed truly held.

Today, our own historical era closely parallels the period just prior to
the exodus from Egypt, for we stand on the very threshold of Moshiach
and the Final Redemption. The necessity to "clothe ourselves in mitzvot"
exists now as before, for indeed, when Moshiach comes, every single Jew
will be personally redeemed from the long and bitter exile.

It is therefore incumbent upon us to take positive steps in both
directions - encouraging more and more Jews to observe practical mitzvot
to increase our collective merit, and, at the same time, transforming
the "idol worship" of our own era - the modern obsession with money,
career advancement and power - into a channel for bringing G-dliness and
the light of Torah into the world. In this manner we will be truly ready
to greet Moshiach, speedily in our day.

      Adapted from Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, vol. 16

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                             SLICE OF LIFE
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                       by Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick

I am somewhat of a skeptic regarding many of the myriad of "miracle"
stories that go around that are usually third or fourth hand or
otherwise unverifiable. Yet I must share the following that was told to
me this past Yom Kippur:

A respected member of our congregation named I.B. came up to me during
the break in the services and said he needed to tell me something that
recently happened to him in Israel when he went to his grand-daughter's
wedding.

The morning of the wedding he went to the Western Wall with members of
the wedding party. While there he put on tefilin at the Chabad table and
got those with him to do so as well.

Later that evening at the wedding, I.B. suddenly felt unwell and when
they gave him some water to drink he couldn't swallow it and then he was
unable to even hold the glass and it dropped from his hand. His daughter
(the mother of the bride) is a doctor and after quickly examining his
symptoms she immediately told him that he was having a stroke. They
rushed him to hospital where he was indeed diagnosed with a stroke and
by that time he was totally paralyzed on one side and was unable to
talk. They gave him various medications and hooked him up to all sorts
of machines. Eventually he fell asleep.

While asleep, I.B. dreamt that a Rabbi came to see him. He recognized
from the pictures that he had seen that it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The Rebbe asked him if he had put on tefilin that day and he answered
eagerly that he had put them on with the Rebbe's Chasidim at the Wall.
The Rebbe asked him to show him - so he pulled up his sleeve and the
marks from the straps were clearly there. The Rebbe's face lit up with a
huge smile and he put his hand on the man's arm and said "Zeit gezunt
(be well)" and then walked off.

I.B. woke up the next morning and to the astonishment of the doctors and
his family he was able to move and talk without any problem whatsoever.

The story had happened just the week before and he was the picture of
perfect health that day in shul. The look on his face and his whole
demeanor when he told me the story all added to the impression that this
had been a very real and meaningful experience for him.

    Rabbi Gutnick is Rav of the Elwood Talmud Torah Congregation in
    Melbourne, Australia, President of the Organisation of Rabbis of
    Australasia, Senior Dayan of the Melbourne Beth Din and Rabbinic
    Administrator of Kosher Australia.

                                *  *  *

                      by Rabbi Avrohom Levitansky


A few years ago, a young man I knew was being tried for an offense for
which sentencing could range from 5-20 years.

I advised the young man to increase in the observance of mitzvot
(commandments) especially that of tefilin. We checked and upgraded his
mezuzot, gave him a tzedaka (charity) box so he could start giving
charity each day and we instructed him to recite Psalms. He meticulously
began to observe these mitzvot. The trial was to take place in New York.

When his family contacted me, I encouraged them to go to the Ohel, the
resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his father-in-law the
Previous Rebbe to pray and ask for a blessing. They were very hesitant
for they had never done such a thing before. "But Rabbi, you don't
expect us to..." I continued to urge them to pray at this holy site,
insisting that the Rebbe will surely pray on their behalf.

A week later, the young man's mother called me and she was ecstatic. "I
went to the Ohel and poured out my heart and asked for a miracle. When I
put my hand on the stone at the Ohel I felt that the Rebbe was giving me
his blessings.

"At the trial the judge said: 'Seeing the positive support and efforts
of his family and his rabbis has influenced me to sentence the accused
to probation only. Keep up the positive change.' As we left the
courthouse, a vehicle pulled up in front of us with car license plates
that read 'A MIRACLE. "

The mother ended the conversation, saying "I think the Rebbe answered."

    Rabbi Levitansky, an emissary of the Rebbe, is the director of
    Chabad of S. Monica, California.

                                *  *  *


My relationship with the Rebbe has been an elliptical orbit: sometimes
nearer, sometimes farther, but somehow always magnetically drawn to the
focal point. I will forever remain unapologetically prejudiced toward
the Rebbe, not so much for his global influence as for my personal
encounter with him.

I became momentarily privy to the Rebbe's inner circle through my
friendship with Rabbi Yossi Groner, the Lubavitch emissary to North
Carolina, son of Rabbi Leibl Groner, the Rebbe's secretary.

My encounter with the Rebbe came just months after the demise of my
second marriage and the disgraced undoing of my rabbinical career had
plunged me into a black hole of depression and despondency. Accompanied
by Rabbis Groner junior and senior, my meeting with the Rebbe lasted a
scant half-minute.

"Sometimes," the Rebbe counseled me in Yiddish, "a devoted layperson can
do incalculably more good than a rabbi. You should teach something,
perhaps Talmud, even if it is to one or two people in your living room.

"They say," the Rebbe went on, "that you were once a student of Reb
Aharon Soloveichik," invoking the name of the yeshiva lecturer with whom
I had had an acrimonious parting two decades earlier. How he knew, I do
not know.

"I am making a gift to charity in the hope that you make peace with
him."

However inspired I might have been at the moment, a year passed, and I
did not take action on the Rebbe's counsel. It was, all told, a dismal,
dark year, full of sickness and grief and self-recrimination. Traveling
to New York, I again found myself a guest at the Groners' Sabbath table.

"Have you been teaching?" Rabbi Groner prodded.

"Er, uh, it hasn't been feasible."  I squirmed.

"The Rebbe said," he admonished.

"But..."

"No but's. The Rebbe said!"

How could I do this? Where? When? I had not a clue. But the Rebbe said.

Confused and disconcerted, at Sabbath's end I retrieved the messages
from my answering machine. As G-d is my witness, there was the voice of
a long-forgotten colleague, a rabbi in suburban Atlanta: "Marc, I've
been thinking all Sabbath long. It's a pity you're back in town and not
teaching. Would you consider teaching a class, say in Talmud, for my
congregation?"

Let the cynics snicker. These are days of miracles and wonders. I mark
the first moment of my gradual restoration to sanity and self-respect
from that wondrous Sabbath in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. And I will
forever attribute the first step of that restoration to one man who,
with unfathomable intuition and faith in humanity, made a selfless,
precise therapeutic intervention in my spirit, and demanded neither my
soul nor my bank book as recompense: Make peace with yourself. Put aside
anger. Reconcile with your neighbor.

    Marc Howard Wilson is a rabbi, essayist and consultant in
    organizational development, community relations and communications.

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                            THE REBBE WRITES
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                     Freely translated and adapted
                         3 Tammuz, 5710 [1950]

Many people seek to pinpoint and characterize the virtues and
preeminence of each of the Rebbes of Chabad, and in particular of the
Nasi of our generation - my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz] -
in various terms: a man of self-sacrifice, a gaon (a great scholar), a
man of exemplary character traits, a tzaddik (a righteous individual),
an individual endowed with divine inspiration, an individual accustomed
to miracles, and so on.

When one considers how the teachings of Chassidus define what
self-sacrifice really means, what being a gaon really means, and so on,
these are indeed extremely laudatory terms.

Nevertheless, the essential point is missing here. Apart from its being
the essence per se, it is especially important because of the way it
vitally affects us in particular, the community of those who are his
chassidim and who are bound to him. That essential point is - the fact
that he is the Nasi, and the Nasi of Chabad.

For a Nasi by definition is referred to as the head of the multitudes of
Israel; in relation to them he is the "head" and "brain"; their nurture
and life-force reach them through him; and by cleaving to him they are
bound and united with their Source in the Supernal worlds.

Nesi'im vary: from some Nesi'im, the flow of energy is implanted within
the spiritual psyche of the recipients; from others, the flow of energy
is diffused indirectly and transcendentally. These differences may be
further subdivided: some Nesi'im endow their recipients with insights
into the revealed plane of the Torah, some endow their recipients with
insights into the mystical plane of the Torah, and some do both
together; some instruct their followers in the paths of avodah (Divine
service) and Chassidus; some direct material benefactions to their
followers; and so on.

In addition, there are Nesi'im who comprise several of these attributes,
or even all of them.

This quality has characterized the leadership of the Nesi'im of Chabad
from the very beginning, from the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Shneur Zalman,
founder of Chabad Chasidism), up to and including my revered
father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz]. Their benefactions incorporated all
the above attributes: they were beamed both inwardly and
transcendentally; they included instruction in Torah, in avodah and in
the practice of good deeds; and they comprised blessings both spiritual
and material. Consequently, the Nesi'im of Chabad have been bound with
all 613 organs of the soul and body of those who were connected with
them.

Every single one of us must know - i.e., must think deeply and fix his
thought on this - that the Rebbe [Rayatz] is indeed the Nasi and the
head; from him and through him are directed all material and spiritual
benefactions; and by being bound to him (in his letters he has taught us
how this is accomplished) we are bound and united with the spiritual
root, with the ultimate Supernal spiritual root.

        Reprinted from Proceeding together, Translated by Rabbi Uri
                            Kaploun, published by Sichos In English

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                        A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
                         Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman
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"You ask how you can be bound to me when I do not know you personally...
the true bond is created by studying Torah. When you study my
discourses, read the talks and associate with those dear to me... and
you fulfill my request... in this is the bond."

This coming week, on 10 Shevat (Monday, January 29 this year), we
commemorate the anniversary of the passing of the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. The above lines were written by the Previous
Rebbe in response to the question of how to become bound with him.

The tenth of Shevat is also the anniversary of the Rebbe's acceptance of
leadership. How do we maintain and enhance our connection with the
leader of our generation? By studying his talks and by following his
directives.

In a talk in 5746 (1986) the Rebbe said: "Every single Jew must perform
his Divine service in a manner similar to and befitting the days of
Moshiach and the subsequent era of the Resurrection of the Dead. This is
exhibited first and foremost through faith, anticipation and knowledge
that supernatural events will occur in the days of Moshiach, namely, the
Resurrection of the Dead....

"Belief in these concepts must be with certainty, and must be as
unshakably firm as the belief in the Ten Commandments. Obviously the
belief in the Resurrection of the Dead requires that same degree of
certainty and anticipation. This must be emphasized so much more in our
present generation, when many Messianic signs are unfolding.

"These constitute a clear indication that Moshiach is already present in
the world. Moreover, he is already a prominent Jewish leader, 'a king
from the House of David, deeply absorbed in the study of Torah,' etc.
Therefore, in our present generation, great emphasis must be placed on
belief in the coming of Moshiach and anything which relates to it."

The Redemption will be an era of international, communal and personal
peace, a time of health and wellness, a time of knowledge and bounty. In
these last moments before the true and complete Redemption, may we fill
our time with only good - the good of Torah and mitzvot (commandments);
with study of the Rebbe's teachings (especially those relating to
Moshiach and the Redemption as the Rebbe emphasized numerous times the
importance of such study in preparing ourselves for the Messianic Era);
and with fulfilling all of the Rebbe's directives, until the time that
we are reunited with the Rebbe once again and all of our loved ones.

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                          THOUGHTS THAT COUNT
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Remember this day, on which you went out from Egypt (Ex. 13:3)

Why is the Exodus from Egypt so central to Judaism, considering that the
Jewish people were later subjugated to other nations at other times in
history? The answer is that the Exodus forever changed the nature of the
Jew's soul. By virtue of the Exodus, every Jew became "free" on the
ultimate, objective level, making it impossible to enslave his essence.

                                            (The Maharal of Prague)

                                *  *  *


How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? (Ex. 10:3)

The nature of a Jew is such that even when he isn't submissive before
G-d, his own lack of submission distresses him. In his heart of hearts,
the Jew desires to be nullified before Him. Pharaoh, by contrast, was
proud of his arrogance and not at all ashamed of it.

                                                       (Sefat Emet)

                                *  *  *


This month shall be to you the first of months (Ex. 12:2)

During the Sanctification of the New Moon we say, "David, King of
Israel, is living and enduring." The rule of the House of David is
likened to the moon: In the same way that the moon seems to disappear
from the sky, yet everyone has faith in its eventual reappearance, so
too will the Davidic dynasty ultimately be restored with the coming of
Moshiach.

                                                             (Rama)

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                            IT ONCE HAPPENED
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The leadership of the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn,
was epitomized by mesirat nefesh, self-sacrifice, on behalf of world
Jewry and Judaism. His successor and son-in-law, the Rebbe, explained
that in the 30 years of the Previous Rebbe's leadership, there were
three distinct stages of self-sacrifice. The first decade, when the
Previous Rebbe demanded self-sacrifice not only of himself, but of his
Chasidim, was the most difficult stage. In those days, self-sacrifice
meant literally being willing to give up one's life for the
strengthening and the continuation of Judaism. A number of times the
Previous Rebbe even made covenants or "pacts" with select Chasidim that
they would carry out the missions he had given to them, "until the last
drop of blood." The Previous Rebbe would send his Chasidim on missions,
knowing that most likely they would be punished, or exiled or even
worse. And when a chasid who had been sent on a mission by the Rebbe was
caught, the very next day there was a chasid ready to replace him and
continue the mission.

The Previous Rebbe's yartzeit (anniversary of passing) is Yud Shevat, a
day when it is appropriate to find even a small area that we can have
self-sacrifice on behalf of Judaism or on behalf of another Jew. Perhaps
a story of a chasid of the Previous Rebbe will surely give us food for
thought.

"The last time I saw my father, Rabbi Aron Leib Laine," remembers Reb
Michel Raskin, "was when I was 11 years old. He was a mesirat nefesh
(self-sacrifice) Jew, an intense chasid of the Previous Rebbe."

Rabbi Laine died of starvation at the age of 35, trapped in Leningrad by
the war. He had already sent his family away to be safe, expecting to
join them in a little while. Only years later did his family find out
the exact date of his passing: the tenth of Shevat, the same date that
over a decade later his Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn would
pass on.

A sharp, charismatic, handsome man with a heart as big as his body,
Rabbi Laine had traveled to Leningrad to help a friend with a problem he
was having in his factory. For Rabbi Laine, traveling anywhere was
extremely dangerous. As a devout chasid, Rabbi Laine refused to shave
his beard. Nor did he allow his children to attend the mandatory
Communist government school on Shabbat, finding ingenious ways each week
to keep them home rather than desecrate the holy Sabbath. He had
organized a small afternoon "cheder" for his sons and other children, so
that they would be imbued with a love for Judaism in general and
Chasidism in particular. Each day the lessons took place in a different
home so that spying eyes and "squealers" would be none the wiser.

Rabbi Laine was fearless when it came to anything connected with
Judaism, whether it be helping another Jew, or praying with a minyan on
Shabbat (where he lead the services and read from the Torah), or
scrupulously observing Passover even when the government had planted a
spy in his home for the holiday.

"In those days," recalls Mr. Raskin, "a lot of Lubavitchers were being
taken away and shot. Today their families are receiving apology letters
from the Russian government for the 'mistake' that was made.

"I will never forget the day I returned home from school when I would
have been excused from attending due to the frigid temperatures. My
father met me at the door in tears. This big giant of a man, whom the
mighty Communist government couldn't intimidate, was crying because I
had preferred going to school rather than staying in our apartment to
review the previous day's cheder lessons. That made a huge impression on
me."

In the pioneer youth group that every good Communist citizen encouraged
his children to join, the children were indoctrinated not only in the
ways of Communism but to view anyone who didn't support Communism as an
avowed enemy. The training books the children received included lesson
after lesson about the importance of reporting anyone who said or did
anything against the government whether it was a neighbor, a friend, or
even one's own father. "My father knew that people were being shot for
the smallest infraction against the government. I had told him about the
girl in my class who, when I had explained that I hadn't been in school
on Saturday due to a cold said, 'He is a liar. He was at my
grandfather's apartment with his father and my father on Shabbat
praying.'  Despite all of this, my father insisted that I not join the
pioneers, going so far as to say 'with this red shmatta (scarf) you will
not come home.' If these words had been overheard and reported, he would
have been arrested.

Another memory indelibly etched into Mr. Raskin's memory was when he was
10 years old. He came home from school and saw his father praying with
an intensity he had never before seen. As soon as the boy entered, Rabbi
Laine grabbed his son and put him on his lap. "My father was crying
liked a baby. I started to cry, as well. 'Michel,' he said to me, 'make
sure to let your beard grow.' Many years later, when I was about to get
married, I asked the Rebbe if he would officiate at my wedding. The
Rebbe answered me, 'if you will make sure to let your beard grow.' The
Rebbe officiated at my wedding."

    Mr. Raskin shares these stories of the mesirat nefesh of his father
    with his children and grandchildren who are Chasidim and shluchim
    (emissaries of the Rebbe) around the world, as a tribute to the
    impact on a small children of a Jew's utter devotion to G-d, to
    Torah and to his Rebbe.

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                            MOSHIACH MATTERS
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In future time, the King Moshiach will arise and renew the Davidic
dynasty, restoring it to its initial sovereignty. He will rebuild the
Holy Temple and gather in the dispersed remnant of Israel. Then, in his
days, all the statutes will be reinstituted as in former times....as
commanded in the Torah.Whoever does not believe in him, or does not
await his coming, denies not only [the statements of] the other
prophets, but also [those of] the Torah and of Moses, our teacher, for
the Torah attests to his coming.

                         (Maiomonides' Mishna Torah, Laws of Kings)

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                  END OF TEXT - L'CHAIM 955 - Bo 5767
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