7 Teachings From the Lubavitcher Rebbe, 26 years after his passing.

One of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. His influence has only increased in the last 26 years.

I Can’t recall the exact date it started, my serious interest (perhaps obsession?) in the rebbe and in the chabad movement and thought. Was it my Chabad friend Kinneret from the army? Was it before?

All I know is I have the utmost respect for the Rebbe and obviously for his shluchim and their incredible dedication around the world. Plus I can’t say no to another biography on the rebbe :)

1. Overworked? Do more.

When Chasidim of his complained that they were over-worked his answer was usually take upon yourself another responsibility. An Israeli rabbi who was participating in many different jobs and roles asked the Rebbe what to focus on. His reply: “continue to do all these things and to do more things and work even harder”. I guess it’s like the saying goes “if you want something done, ask a busy person”. Usually with the right mindset a person is able to accomplish much more than he would think in a set time. We have a lot more time than we realize, so long as we don’t waste it and manage it properly by valuing every moment. To quote Stoic — “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
Although I personally am hesitant in adding on responsibilities (lazy?) I see what a tremendous impact this philosophy has on his chasidim till this day. An example of this is a friend of mine (chabad) who does so much and never stops. Aside from a full time job and raising her kids, she also teaches torah lessons, organizes activities, hosts shabbat dinner etc. The Rebbe’s belief in his chasidim that they are capable of doing more and more influences them till today.

2. You know aleph? Teach Aleph

The Rebbe would often quote the Chasidic saying: “If you know Aleph, teach aleph!”. Every person can teach and influence their surroundings with spirituality, regardless how little he or she may know. You don’t have to be a scholar to teach, and you don’t have to be perfect in order to help people perfect themselves.

Herb Brin, a noted author and editor, met with the Rebbe:

“Rebbe, I recently became editor of a Jewish publication. The problem is, I know very little about my people and their heritage. Do I have the right to make sensitive editorial judgments as I do not understand Hebrew, my Jewish education was truncated, and I only know fragments of Yiddish?”

Looking him in the eye, the Rebbe said, “Do you have the right to withhold that which you do know?”

When posting my challa recipe on this blog, my mom said “aren’t there thousands of recipes already out there?” I can further add to her question- aren’t there millions of bloggers out there? What can I add? But If I know something that can benefit even one person then I have an obligation to teach it.

3. The main thing is the action (“המעשה הוא העיקר”)

We live in the world of action (“עולם העשייה”). The Rebbe always emphasized the importance of the practical daily mitzvot (tfillin, shabbat, kashrut,chessed) as can also be seen in chabad’s mitzva operations.

• According to the Rebbe the practical mitzvot are the one reason we survived till today as a people. Not our language, land or culture which have all tremendously varied and changed over the years.
• Every mitzvah performed is an opportunity for a transcendent connection with god. He gave us the opportunity through physical objects and actions to elevate the material to a spiritual level.
• What happens when we don’t have the right intent? Or don’t understand the meaning behind the specific mitzva? To this the Rebbe quotes the Jewish saying: we will first do then comprehend(“נעשה ונשמע”). We want to understand and should strive for this, but this cannot be a prerequisite to performing the mitzva. Would you refuse to take a medicine prescribed to you by your doctor until you went to medical school, researched and understood exactly how this medication were to work?

4. Your one action can change the world for good or bad

The Rebbe quoted Rambam- That a person should always see himself and the world around him equally balanced between merit and sin.

“If he performs one sin, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of guilt and brings destruction upon himself. If he performs one mitzvah, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit and brings deliverance and salvation to himself and others.” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva)

Every actions counts. Every person counts. The Rebbe wrote a letter back to a teacher who wrote to him, telling him that not utilizing his talents to the fullest extent isn’t just his “personal business” but effects the entire world.

5. Explaining the holocaust

The Rebbe was asked on many occasions how the atrocities of the holocaust can be explained. These are some of his comments (summarized):

• Sadly the recent holocaust is not new in Jewish history or world history. First and second destruction of the temples were each a holocaust of their own.(also middle ages, crusades..)While our ancestors must have asked the same questions, they still remained faithful and adhered to Torah and mitzvah observance.
• There is however a difference, and that is that this round happened with an enlightened “cultured” nation, with universities, not the “dark ages”.
• The fact that we look for justice shows that we know there is a creator who we expect to make order. If we didn’t have this core belief there is no question and need to find order, but rather the world is chaos that cannot be explained.
• Although there is a difference in “magnitude” we can reduce the question to even a single misdeed done to someone who is not deserving of any punishment. The famous righteous suffering question. (“ייסורים בלא עוון”)
• Our forefathers -moshe rabenu, avraham and also iyov asked similar questions. They asked: why do the good suffer, why do the evil prosper? Why does it sometimes seem like there is no justice? The answer they got is simply — Human mind will never fully understand the creator’s ways.
• The Rebbe’s main focus was on not losing another jew due to lack of Jewish education. To quote Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “Just as Hitler sought out every Jew in hate with the intent to eradicate Judaism, the Rebbe sought them out in love with the goal to bring them closer to Judaism.”

6. Think good, and it will be good

The rebbe quoted his great great great grandfather (Tzemach Tzedek, 3rd rebbe of chabad), “Tracht gut, vet zayn gut!” (=Think good, and it will be good).We have the power to affect our own reality for the better with our positive thoughts. We might not be always control our circumstances but we can control our mindset.

In a response to a letter with a specific health issue in their family the Rebbe responded:

…I strongly discourage the behavior of those who dwell on, exaggerate, and amplify their health issues through speaking about and writing about any and every health issue they encounter, which runs contrary to the philosophy of the Rabbeim who taught, “Think positive, and the outcome will be positive.”

7. Speak good; The importance of using optimistic language

Another way we create our own reality is through our speech. The Rebbe insisted on using language that expressed optimism rather than negativism.

One example of this is that he never used the traditional Hebrew word for hospital — beit cholim(“בית חולים”), house of sick people. He insisted instead on calling it a beit refuah(“בית רפואה”), a house of healing. Explaining the difference to the director of the sheba medical center he wrote “The term beit refuah brings encouragement to the sick….”

Another example is when he visited handicapped soldiers who had been wounded in the wars of Israel, he refused to call them nechai Tzahal — handicapped; he used the word metzuyanim- exceptional instead. He told them that “if a person has been deprived of a limb or a faculty, this itself indicates that G‑d has also given him special powers to overcome the limitations and to surpass in other areas the achievements of ordinary people. You are not disabled or handicapped but special and unique, as you possess potential that the rest of us do not.”

The Rebbe changed the lives of millions of people worldwide. Although he is no longer with us, his wisdom, care for every person and his drive to better the world is still very much with us through his teachings and followers around the world.

#If I were to add a few more teachings they would be- “Be thankful”, “Don’t be apologetic about your Judaism”, “Each one of us has a mission” and “Care for every single person”.