A Perfect Tomorrow Starts With Personal Transformation Today

[Music] the story of the rebbe's life parallels the story of judaism in the 20th century he was born in zarist russia at the turn of the century a descendant of the first rebels of chabad he survived the murderous pogroms that swept through zarus russia in the early 1900s as the communist revolution began to take root and power was seized by the bolsheviks he watched his parents walk the halls of power fighting for the rights of jews and judaism as a teenager during world war one his home was a center of relief efforts for the tens of thousands of jewish refugees who flooded their city in his twenties he met and studied with the torah giants of his times he married the daughter of the sixth lubavitcher rebbe in a wedding attended by jewish leaders from far and near living in berlin during hitler's rise to power he witnessed firsthand a modern society turning against the jews within it he left paris only days ahead of the nazi advance into the city then crossed the atlantic on one of the last civilian vessels to leave warlock europe [Music] when he arrived his father-in-law placed him at the helm of lubavitch's newly founded educational social and publishing departments as the center of world jewelry shifted to the united states he became the leader of the lubavitch hasidic movement at the time his strategy was considered risky even dangerous he taught his followers in addition to focusing inward on improving themselves to bring judaism outward pioneering the concept of modern jewish outreach as hundreds of thousands of jewish pioneers moved to the holy land he engaged and corresponded with their leaders during peace and conflict he embraced the people and the land of israel [Music] in evolving attitudes and trends he managed to identify a yearning for something higher endeavoring to quench the thirst with increased spirituality and morality under the noses of brutal dictators he ran a network of clandestine operatives as jews began to enjoy a freedom unseen in hundreds perhaps thousands of years he proclaimed that moral people must be a light under their neighbors promoting the seven universal laws for all of humanity [Music] in a century which saw more scientific advances then thousands of years before it he embraced what others shunned encouraging that technology be used in the service of its creator as travel and communication made the world smaller he inspired thousands to reach out to their brethren in love as they had once been chased down in hatred [Music] the rebbes spoke precious little about himself so his life has never been properly documented rather it is impressed on the hearts and minds of those who encountered him through the years after his passing in 1994 the story of his life continues through the countless lives he has touched and inspired it is my honor to welcome you to the event marking and commemorating the 26th yard site of our revered and beloved river the event transform entry and send forever has taught us how to transform and better our lives and to transcend all challenges gimmel thomas is a time when siddhan make a hajj when we make a sole accounting of our connection to the river how we are incorporating in our lives the teachings directives and weigh-in light way of life of our daredevil and incorporating it into our own lives we hope that you will be inspired to take resolutions to better your lives to a greater commitment to learning torah and doing mitzvos that it will transform not only yourselves but your communities and the world around you it is my privilege to thank send it to joseph lieberman rabbi y jacobson and mrs sivan rahav meir for taking of their time to share reflections on their ever i would also like to express appreciation to ellie marcus and benny friedman for the beautiful musical interludes which you will hear during the program it is my privilege to introduce to you rabbi yari weinstein schlieve yardley pennsylvania who will be the master of ceremonies of this event may your mighty bless each and every one of you with all of the blessings of peace health happiness and prosperity continued growth in your personal lives and in your communal lives may we merit speedily in our days the fulfillment of all of our hearts desires with the coming of mashiach's keno by preparing ourselves and the world for his immediate coming thank you robert kudlarski for making this program available to hundreds of communities around the world and thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of the shechem around the world to ensure that we always have the support that we need this program our program today is a very significant program filled with tremendous inspiration from very special guests speakers and videos transform and transcend in the rebbe's very first fabrian azerba in 1951 when he accepted the leadership and to fill the seat of his father-in-law a year after his passing he shared something very insightful he shared that even though we now have a leader we now have a reba we should not stick our hands in our pockets and think oh now we have a leader everything is fine we can sit back and relax he said no please no he shared with us that every single one of us has an obligation to step up and do everything that we can and must do as expected by god who put us here and the reason for this is because we were put into a physical world into an environment where the presence of the divine is naturally hidden it's unseen and it is our mission as human beings in this world to reveal in this environment that in fact behind it all is the divine is the presence of god and that requires transforming the world we live in it requires transforming ourselves and there's only one way that a person can transform themselves and that is if we do it on our own because others may be able to carry us but if they do there will be no transformation transformation needs to be done by ourselves and therefore the rabbit said as a rebbe a rebbe infuses us with energy with faith with inspiration with guidance with instruction as rabbi has done and continues to do and we have to do our part so that the transformation actually takes place and when there is transformation and we all step up to create transformation we create a collective transcendence bringing the world to where we really need to bring it to the ultimate experience of the revelation of god in the world and that is with the coming of mashiach we're going to begin with a brief video with the rebbe speaking at that very first fabrega in 1951 and following that we are going to hear from our first guest an individual who sanctified god's name throughout the united states when he was a vice presidential candidate observing shabbos before the entire country showing that one can live by godly values while being integrated in activity in our world senator joseph lieberman a few hundred people had gathered in a brick home on eastern parkway in brooklyn every person there had lost six million brothers and sisters only a few years prior but that night the world the rabbi saw was a beautiful one a delightful garden nowadays is as he delivered his first formal hasidic discourse as rebbe he laid out a sweeping plan to reveal that this world is beautiful and good but it would take grit and determination [Music] m felt well i'm honored to be asked to participate in this york site of the lobovich arabia blessed memory i thank particularly rabbi israel darren who invited me to do so in one of uh rabbi tulishkin's books um he tells of a woman he knows who says that on the earth side of a loved one of hers he feel she feels that that loved one's spirit is with her all that day of the earth site in the case of the rebbe his spirit is with us every day uh he left us with an extraordinary body of of learning and teaching which khabarian and the convey throughout the world and online every day but he also left us the the extraordinary model of his own life he lived a righteous life he was you know very jewish of course but he was very worldly and he was aware of everything happening in the world in science technology culture even politics and he brought the the light of torah to bear on all of those various aspects of life and in doing so i think he helped to reach out to jews who he was trying to bring in to more involvement in judaism and also to non-jews who respected his holiness his awareness of the world around him in the in the wisdom the advice that he would give to them those are all uh lessons for us sometimes in our time when people have become more religious they become more withdrawn and insular that's not the rebbe's message it's the shlokhim now or all over the world the river's message is to go out and ufaratsta and bring the light of torah judaism to people and to remember this brilliant wisdom of the rabbis which is when you're trying to bring jews into more observance do it with a smile and a kind of sweetness and do it step by step mitzvah by mitzvah so you're not chastising somebody for not being as a from as religious as you would hope they would be but you're going to give them an idea about what is the next mitzvah that they might think about doing and then another and whatever the mitzvah is whether it's putting on twilling lighting candles making challah doing abdullah et cetera et cetera doing sadaqa giving sudoku so the rabbi left us with a tremendous legacy that inspires us every day um you know we uh most of us uh orthodox jews to the surprise sometimes of non-jews believe in the next world in olam haba and uh we also believe that by our deeds we can help the neshama the soul of the departed rise higher but there's another aspect to this i think which is that we have the capacity in our own lives to continue here on earth the life of the person who's departed by living the kind of life that that person would want us to and uh the rabbit left us with such clear instructions about that um which the carry on magnificently throughout the world in education and outreach and uh helping and running synagogues and providing kosher food and [Music] organizing child care centers houses on campus friendship circles really remarkable service to the jewish community into the world and in that sense um uh you not only keep the river alive here on uh this earth but um uh really uh carry on the work which is what he most wanted to do it's a remarkable tribute to the rabbi that in the years since he left his neshama his soul left earth there's been such remarkable growth in khabar that's the greatest tribute we could play him pay him i will tell you that i had the honor to visit the rabbit first in the 1960s at up brengan in in in crown heights and of course i became a convert as it were a uh one one of the one of the rebels has the chance to correspond with him to meet with him to go to him on special occasions in my life to ask for advice on the way to my swearing-in as a senator at the beginning of jan of january 1989 i went with my entire family on a sunday afternoon the rebel was gracious to us wise just had a word for every member of my family that mysteriously magically fit that person um hadassah and i my wife and i had just been become the proud parents in march of the previous year of our daughter hannah rahul and i introduced her to the rabbi and told her how excited we were about her birth and the rebbe turned to me but really to hadas and said don't be satisfied so i say to all my friends in the chabad and all the shocking particularly thank you for everything you've done to keep the light of the rebels and the shaman learning alive throughout the world thank you for what you will continue to do but remember on this day of the river is your side never be satisfied until we go from transforming to transcending then maybe you can take a day off that's not shabbat and one of the hagi thank you for allowing me to participate uh i send every good wish from hadassah and me to every one of you thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen it's a pleasure to be here together with you my name is ellie marcus together with benny friedman i'd like to share with you a couple of nigunim which they have taught over the years beginning with actually the first that ever taught it's called the words of david our soul has an unquenchable thirst for hashem for godliness and holiness [Music] oh [Music] believe more [Music] oh [Music] my [Music] m [Music] we came [Music] oh [Music] little is [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] this ato kartanu talks about the special relationship we each have with hashem how he chose us each individually and that have explained the negan has two parts the first part very smooth and easy describing the experience of the tsadik whose relationship with hashem is smooth with no bumps and the second part where the words repeat themselves over and over that's the experience of the balchuva whose relationship with hashem is a little bumpier and a little less smooth both very very beautiful relationships [Music] is [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] i have today signed an executive order providing for the establishment of a peace corps on a temporary pilot basis i'm also sending to congress a message posing authorization of a permanent peace corps this call will be a pool of trained men and women sent overseas by the united states government or through private institutions and organizations to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower [Music] boy [Music] boarding my first flight from new york to accra handing my ticket at the gate the officer looks me up and down he goes are you sure you're going to ghana i said yeah i'm going to ghana it was at that moment that i realized that you don't come to ghana unless you have a real reason whether you're an aid worker coming to help the local population a businessman looking for business or the rebbe who's searching for diamonds in africa living in ghana comes with many difficulties both physical and spiritual wake up in the morning and there's no show to go to just you by yourself davening it's you by yourself trying to give your kids the same inspiration that you felt you know i grew up in crown heights at his feet and you could feel their energy in the air dominating every shabbos in 770 with the rebbe and now i'm living in ghana by myself and we have to teach our kids and make them feel that same excitement and same warmth towards the rabbit towards yiddish kite with siddhis kite that we had [Music] is that just by living there they illuminate their entire surroundings and this means so much more when talking about africa where the darkness is so thick and the loneliness is so deep and a jewish person can tell himself who's going to remember me here and we were lucky enough to see this lighthouse in action that in the most unexpected time the most random place a spark a yiddish was ignited people were connecting here some were more observant less observant not observant at all but they all knew that they had a jewish neshama when you're here you're jewish in a very interesting way being apart from where we're used to and we're here allows us to focus on on that on that spark on that jewish spark is [Music] i live in bucks county pennsylvania that is a suburb of philadelphia and in the 20th century one of the more well-known jewish personalities living in philadelphia was the famous jewish author khayim patak khaimpathak once attended a fabrengan a hasidic gathering of the rebbe and the rebber gave a talk at that fabregan which seemed to be directed in part to hayem patak in which the rabbi discussed how when god gives an individual a talent whether that talent be writing where they write and their articles or their books are read by many many people it is given to them with a divine purpose and that divine purpose is so that they use the talent to make their readers and those who their talent can reach out to more aware of the truth of our world that there is a divine presence in everything that is going on this is a profound message that the rubber repeated often through his many years of leadership and this is a message that speaks to every single one of us every single human being is endowed with gifts with talents with skills which is what makes us unique and we have to look at ourselves and ask ourselves are we taking the gifts that god has given me the gifts that god has endowed me with and am i using them for the purpose which god has given it to me our second guest a very special woman sivan rahavmair who is a media personality and lecturer in israel and abroad and she was voted by globe's newspaper as the most popular female media personality in israel and by the jerusalem post as one of the 50 most influential jews in the world she is a woman who represents the idea of taking gifts that have been given to her and using them to spread the awareness of god this wasn't the environment she was raised in but as she developed she came to this on her own and she has begun to dedicate her life to use the gifts god has given her to spread the awareness of god in the world shalom from israel it's ivan rahamaya shalom israel we think about you wherever you are we pray for you we're with you such a loss such a mission such a project we shall end we should all finish and reach goulash until we reach final redemption here in this world i want to share three stories i collect by the way beautiful stories i hear i think one day we'll open a jewish corona virus museum so many stories about our messiah nefesh self-devotion so many stories about solidarity partnership uh special prayers special holidays i think we should remember those moments and cherish them i want to share three stories and the first one is from new york afterwards a story from ukraine and the last story is from uk britain what happened in new york this passage this satyr night was very rare and very sad people were sitting all alone all by themselves during le la cedar a widow from new york uh realized she can't be with her grandchildren nobody can be with her even her kids nobody can come so she thought okay what else can i do i will have to do it all by myself her neighbor told her i will open the door and you will hear our cedar night you will be able to participate in a way to feel you belong you're part of that celebration of yatiat mitzraim she agreed obviously and she thought okay he'll just open the door the next day it was already hollom had one day after the first hag the first holiday of pesach her son calls her the widow and he says mommy how was your seder night and she says it was the best say that i had since your father passed away why since that neighbor everything he did was exactly like like we do all the nigunim the customs the special the nuances the special things we do the way we celebrate all the things he did it was like you know like he did copy paste it was like my personal family version of the seder her son says mommy now i understand this neighbor called me a week ago and he asked me to record our news of the seder he asked me to record the way we do it he said he learned it by heart think about it the whole world in such a crisis is facing such a challenge i get i guess that neighbor had other things to do but that's what he did he learned it by heart in order to make that widow happier and obviously it worked i think that story that beautiful story i know the family it's true it's not a legend i think that story shows us something about resid about creative asset i think that's exactly what lubavitcher rebecca harabe luvari taught us all you don't have to do hessed you know like a robot like an in an automatic way okay i have to give sadaka to give you know charity donate some money okay i will open the door i guess widow the neighbor is miserable this year let's open the door and she will hear us and listen to our seder no you should think about the needs but exactly in a creative way think exactly about what they need and find a way to solve their own problems i think this story by the way i posted it here in israel and bo hashem so many people reached out to me and talked to me and wrote you know i found that story as an inspiration to you know other acts of creative wrestling remember that phrase creative that's what we need right now to help each other with real devotion that's the first story and i think uh if we collect those stories hashem also watches us he sees us when we do those acts of kindness and i think it's i think obviously um that's the way we should choose that's the path that's the right way uh during that awful crisis so if we think about the mission the rabbit left you know to all of us the the the task okay what we should all take upon us the the the reach f at the end of the day uh uh fix correct bring the world into a new phase that's exactly the the way to reach that new stage creative he said look around you it's so simple sometimes it's mean it means just find that son call him and record the seder knight find your own way uh to do such a such a hazard the second story as i said uh comes from a different continent ukraine kaya wolfe friend of mine i'm proud to say a friend of mine in odessa ukraine told me before shavuot she's quite frustrated they realized they can't invite the kids to listen to assert adidabar to the ten commandments why obviously uh here in israel by the way uh the situation is uh is better but still you you you hardly see kids running around inside the synagogues inside the schools it's it's not it's still you know uh we still have all those restrictions so in ukraine uh two they can't invite the kids into the shows to listen to sarath bhatt one of uh the things we all come to uh to do it but it's it's considered a special project in khabad movement so she realized they should build a new huge synagogue outside of their shell of their chabad house it's like on the street on the sideway the pavement and build something uh just for the the holiday and invite the kids and then there they can be you know keep all the restrictions and the laws and social distance you know and they can stand there listen to the ten commandments so important to receive the torah once again during the hague of shavuot so they did it they built those new synagogues and what happened was and that's why she was so frustrated two of the jews there reached out to her approach they came to her husband rav avram wolf and they told them the the they told the wolves listen we want to buy al-batami nim we want to buy the four species for sukkot and they were like what and those two jews say you just built a sukkah we understand it's the hag of sukkot right now they were shocked we are here for 20 30 years in this city working so hard with the jews here and at the end of the day they have no idea is it the month of sivan or is it the month of the shrey tell me if it's sukkot where were you during rosh hashanah where were you during yom kippur are you sure to cut right now how confused can you be how unaffiliated can you be and the answer is i heard the story and i told them avraham that story is beautiful think about it those jews they know what sukkot is all about just because of you they see something made out of wood and they think about the they think about something holy about a holy day and they want to be a part of it they want to participate they want to be you know be involved and yeah they're confused the mission is huge and we still have a lot of uh work that should be done yeah we should teach them that it's now and it's not sukkot i always think of those jews now thousands of jews are watching that special program for gimel tammuz all over uh north america but think about all the millions out there they have no idea what is gimel tammuz they don't know when is alifti they know nothing think about it them always think about it because they're also part of our mutual project we should do it together it's not just it's also torah jewish knowledge basic jewish knowledge about their heritage their identity the third story as i said is from london i spoke to a shaliah one of the campuses and anonymous he's shy doesn't want publicity and he told me and i think this sentence is significant he told me i am making the students into i i i would say they switch they're not passive students anymore they become once again because of that virus they can come to all the shabbat meals to my house to have the la to listen to kids nothing they should become active otherwise they're not there's nothing so i teach them you know we have zumba hashem i teach them you will make a douche you will read kabala chabad you will devin you will pray the dorms or some of them are now at their parents house you become a local i think that disease that virus it makes us descent our soul was sent here and now we can't rely on we are independent we can tell the local rav the local okay you'll take care of it no we will take care of it it's us with the kids with the husband the wife the parents the grandmother the grandfather it's us we all have to become that's part of the mission i wish us all not i know people want to go you know let's have our normal life back no no that's not i think the bra that's not the right blessing especially not on that holy day no the braha should be we don't want our normal life back we want a new world we want a better world we want to improve ourselves and change everything in order to reach that final goal final redemption and then we'll be able to meet all of you all the jews there out there listening to us all over the world to see you here in israel [Music] germany made the ansloos with austria imagine hitler came to visit austria and we were living very close to a very famous square stratosterone his motorcade passed by and we were downstairs and i saw him then and everybody raised their hands as a little boy i see everybody raising their hands i also did my sister was standing next to me gave me a slap on my shoulder which i feel till today then my sisters and brothers left for england i was alone with my parents and again hitler came to visit austria and again he passed by and again we were downstairs but this time i did not raise my hand [Music] raus what else come out my mother opens the door and there were two ss standing there and they tell her come down to wash the streets the streets are dirty and we looked down from the window and there were tens and tens of jewish women downstairs on the sidewalk scrubbing with little brushes the street and all the non-jewish people were standing around making fun of them and laughing and enjoying this beautiful scene that these women had to do what they were doing amy amizural was destroyed i was living in williamsburg the people were finished there's no there's nothing left the whole they came of the eastern europe no more what's going to be i remember it was it was terrible the rabbit took us young boys american boys he took us under his wing we were able to ask anything we asked and he gave us answers and he gave us so much attention and this is how we understood that he's our father he understood that these were his children and we felt that we were his children we felt that that was taking care of us i was working in the americas office for about a year but i wasn't feeling satisfied that i was really doing something i asked her about the coffee give me something really to do not just to write receipts and to look the safari and this and that he said the rebel sent you to work ask him so i asked him that ever should give me some suggestions as to what to be done i received an answer from the river three words translated that he meaning me i should give suggestions from this i understood that ever asked not what he that ever wants that you should do we never told any of our children to go on schlitz we showed the example my son in russia my daughter in hungary in all different places where they are they are doing that which hitler wanted to destroy it is the greatest happiness that a person can have this is the biggest miracle that could be i feel that that ever brought down a miracle to this world to take a little american boy make him a schlier and to not only him but to be able to push it further even to the other generations this is something which is a miracle [Music] was a military leader in the region in the caucasian mountains in a place called dagestan it was an independent place and shamil was the king was the boss and they were defending their homeland from the imperial russian [Music] army and through some trickery the russians convinced shamil to come off his mountain top fortress and come down to them and they captured him and they sent him into exile and when the rabbit taught this said shamil composed this negan when he was in exile remembering his exalted station that he used to enjoy and now he finds himself in a lowly exile but he's hopeful that someday soon he will return to his mountaintop kingdom and that's a martial for the nishama for the soul used to enjoy all the godly light in heaven and then it comes down into an exile into this place into this world but it is hopeful that very soon the whole world will be filled with godly light and the soul will once again enjoy being in a place where she belongs my grandfather absolutely says he remembers when the devil taught this niggun and said this story he remembers thinking to himself that the nimshan the possibility of mashiach coming was so much easier to imagine than the possibility that the russian government the soviet union would ever relinquish control over the territories that it had captured and yet soon thereafter the soviet union disappeared in a very short while and we are confident that in the blink of an eye mashiach will be here and the soul will enjoy a world that is filled with hashem's light [Music] foreign [Music] you [Music] da [Music] you [Music] oh [Music] a [Music] i [Music] i [Music] this next sneaking is called comes from the slickest prayer that we say in the days leading up to rosh hashanah this was composed by the rebbe's grandfather by mayor shlomiyanovsky who was the love of nikolayev [Music] foreign [Music] oh a message that the rebber repeated quite often to his hasidim and to everyone he met is do more do more do more do more because the rabbis saw within every single person their divine soul a divine soul is not a finite entity it's an infinite entity and whatever we are doing we are capable of doing more rabbi adding steins also the well-known world-renowned scholar shares how he once asked the rebbe which project to choose from with three projects that he had before him he said each one of them is more than he can handle which one should he focus on and the rabbit said in the rebbe's classic fashion do all three and the rubber gave me to be successful in all three rambes stanzas explains in his understanding what the rebbe meant when he said to do all three when rabbi steinle had already expressed he can barely do one and he shares that in physics there is an understanding that you can apply pressure to matter but at some point you reach a point where you can apply no more pressure the matter can no longer handle any more pressure any and he explains that when you then place a hundred times more pressure on that matter something actually happens the molecules collapse and the very nature of the object changes it's a fascinating idea and he expresses how this actually can be seen in astronomy with white dwarfs which are essentially the outcome of enormous pressure which then creates them to be an entity a a mass which is very very dense because their their actual matter changes and he said this is what the rebbe believed every single one of us needs to do and he says the reb experimented but he didn't experiment with us he first experimented with himself and then he inspired every single one of us to realize that as much as we can do we can still do more and when we are willing to step into that acceptance we begin to realize that in fact we are attached to an infinite entity and therefore infinite possibility in the following video we're going to see how the rabbit communicated this to numerous individuals and following that we are going to hear from our next guest our next guest is a most dynamic teacher and speaker an immense scholar he has lectured on six continents at the age of 15 he began serving as the oral scribe at the rebels fabregans memorizing and transcribing the rebels hasidic gatherings where the rebel would talk for hours and hours on end we'd like to welcome the well-known rabbi y yy [Applause] jacobson not to be demands that satisfied much more from everyone including himself and myself [Music] never to if you overdo it you can burn it up but for your under you it gets sluggish so i tried to work it to the best efficiency according the way you told me many years ago yeah they had more strength houses went from strength to strength including myself we helped in therapy and family therapy we help in all the jewish schools has done a wonderful job [Music] successful with you for nothing and the same thing about the world [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] around here [Music] and be a good influence of all the people around you my dearest friends the lubavitcher by menachem and schneiderson of blessed memory was one of those rear leaders who not only impacted and inspired a generation of jews but who also managed to alter the vocabulary of the jewish language and more importantly the vocabulary of the jewish psych psyche thereby interjected new words new paradigms into our individual and collective vocabulary two of such words i will share with you presently number one absolute mutual responsibility for the rebbe the entity we call the jewish people was not an abstract and transcendent concept on paper it was a real and concrete reality we are all brothers and sisters we must not agree with each other but we have to love each other support each other be here for each other think about each other and be dedicated to each other he could not fathom the words of cain am i my brother's keeper the rebbe embodied the words of joseph i am searching for my brothers every single jew living on the planet the rebel taught is connected to you and connected to me we are an integrated holistic unified entity we are limbs of a body think love cherish respect and be there for every single jew alive if there was a mikvah in afghanistan that needed repair there ever felt responsible for the mikveh and kabul if jews in india didn't have kosher food he felt responsible i once read a story by rabbi moisha gorilla he was the long-time editor of the israeli newspaper yated neman which makes his story very reliable and objective and he writes he was in brazil in brazil at the time the community was weaker the infrastructure of judaism was not as powerful as it is today thank god but they had two jewish schools and they decided because of financial considerations they're going to merge the schools the principal of one of the schools was a chabadneck so they ant they wanted him to take over both schools because there's a great pedagogue and very skilled educator and everyone loved it he said to them listen i was sent here by the rabbi i have to consult with them he consulted the rebbe and there ever said he believes that the two schools should not merge so the principal came back to them and he said listen you do whatever you got to do but i'm a follower of rabbit rebels said not to murder the school so therefore i can't be part of this if you want to fire me fire me but they loved him so much so they kept both schools open but they were quite upset they couldn't understand why would the rebel want to keep two schools open which was a tremendous financial burden on the community simply the overhead of two schools was so so so draining a year later this man came to new york and he went to visit the rebbe and he asked did he have a permission if he can ask a question and he said you know the board of directors of both schools are pretty upset they're quite livid with the rebbe's decision to keep both schools open what can i explain to them you know i myself don't need a reason but what can i explain to them why would the rebbe oppose this great seemingly financial benefit so the rebbe says to why didn't you ask me right away this decision was not irrational it was based on a certain thought process i would have shared it with you immediately so you could have given you could have presented it to them and they never went on to explain to him his thinking and he said very often jewish parents are discontent with the school in which their children are educated this mother doesn't like the food that's not nutritious enough too much too little you don't like the teacher you don't like the curriculum you don't like the campus you don't like the environment you don't like the social life you don't like the friends you don't like the system of education you don't like the principle you know there's so many complaints that we have just or unjust when it comes to our children's school the rep is said in brazil now there are two schools so if a mother is discontent with one school she goes to the principal she says i don't like the class the principal says okay let me try to fix things but there's only a certain amount he can do at some point she says you know what this school was not for my child she takes out her boy or girl from the school and what did she do she puts him in the second jewish school what happens when there's only one jewish school she gets upset with the school she takes out her child and she puts him into a non-jewish school and we deprive this child from a jewish education he said the brazilian community is not so powerful that if a mother is not happy with the school she's going to keep her child there anyway or homeschool him and give him or her a powerful jewish education no this child may be deprived from a jewish education and may be lost to the jewish people forever you must have two jewish schools so that if a parent is upset they have an alternative and the principal came back to brazil and he shared this with both boards of both schools they were astounded they looked at him and they said that's how a jewish leader thinks there's no personal benefit to the some brazilian jewish child staying in the school or going to public school this is not a chabad family family wouldn't put their kids in a public school but this is the way the rabbit thought the way the rebbe taught the jewish people to think and reflect as we are one people and the welfare the physical financial emotional psychological spiritual welfare of one jewish child in brazil or in any other part of the world is relevant to me i am my brother's keeper but there was another component that ever introduced into the jewish vocabulary and that is how you have to view yourself and how you have to view others one of his most popular expressions was when you look at yourself or you look at another person you have to be able to see that you are viewing and looking at a helic elect every jewish soul is a piece of infinity a fragment of divinity a manifestation of god's presence in this world the rebel felt this is our path to personal transformation and world transformation yes i may have trauma i may have insecurities i may have skeletons ghosts demons toxic thoughts toxic emotions i may have experienced terrible pain and abuse and i may have lots of issues that i got to deal with but you and i have to remember that at your core at my core we are invincible because your core is divine and just like god is invincible and indestructible you too are invincible and indestructible at your core at your core self you are full of optimism hope resilience joy courage resourcefulness at the core of your life there is light abundance confidence empowerment you are an ambassador of god in this world and when you can see yourself in that way when you can align yourself with your true core which is your alignment with infinity then even the sky is not the limit you are capable of living a life that is a blessing not only to yourself and to your home and to your family and your community but to the jewish people and to the world this required in the rebels teachings two steps number one to always identify with your core infinite divine self and number two to see all of the toxicity in you as eclipsing a message that is here to make you and help you grow so when i am experiencing for example toxic thoughts depression anxiety chaos alienation loneliness fear insecurity or whatever the term that applies to you and me never should i allow these thoughts to paralyze me and control me rather i have to welcome them and remember that each and every one of them has a secret message they're trying to make me more aware they're trying to help me grow they're trying to invite me to clarify something in my life to extricate myself from a repetitive cycle of confinement and imprisonment they are here to make me a better person you wake up in the morning you're feeling terrible stress and anxiety about something don't get scared don't get overwhelmed don't get shocked speak to it make place for it because it is eclipsing something very important that you could learn from and when you will discover what you could learn from that anxiety you will become a far more powerful wise deep person a far more loving connected and impactful person a person who lives from a much deeper and more powerful place remember these two things forever your core is infinite your essence is divine you are a khelik alaykami mal you're a fragment of god in this world and therefore you're never ever a victim you are always an ambassador of the divine to bring light love and healing wherever you are and when you're experiencing in yourself any form of negativity or toxicity remember that is only an external facade and layer inside of it there is a message of empowerment open yourself up without judgment but with a lot of compassion to that message to the inner spark of divinity that lay even within your toxicity and what will happen is you will emerge more blessed more kind and more loving thank you very much the yard site of atsadik is a most auspicious and opportune day we know that on this day all of the energy from all of the efforts that the rabbi made during his life are collected in this 25 hour period and we can access this energy we know that a rebbe's mission is to be ar mahemna one who shepherds faith who instills faith strength and fortitude in the souls of every single jew of his generation we all have access to this today in a greater fashion than we do on an ordinary day today is a day filled with inspiration it's a day that is filled with possibility the rebel always focused on doing what are you going to do with what was just given to you just a few days ago i had concluded a zoom class and a friend who was on the class was kind enough to say rabbi that was very inspiring and i said thank you and then i said would it be okay if i tell you what the rebel would have said to your comment the rebel would have said how is it going to help me or you that it was inspiring the question is what are you going to do with that inspiration and that's the question that i'd like to leave you with what are we going to do with all of the inspiration that we heard tonight so i'd like to leave you with three questions to assist you in introspection and in directing all of the inspiration that we heard tonight into a focused point of action and these questions are what transformation is your divine soul waiting for in your life what transformation do you need think about that now is the time what divine talent did god endow you with how can you use that for a more divine purpose or to have it focused even more so in a divine direction and the third question how can you do more we are infinite souls in finite bodies we can all do more these are questions i ask myself and i ask you to join me in asking yourself let us conclude our program with some final words of encouragement from our reba [Music] foreign [Music] you