Yud Shvat The Rebbe's Nesiyus - Rabbi Yossi Paltiel 5783

[Music] 73 years ago tomorrow morning the passed away the pr passed away the [Music] says BRS a and the interprets this to mean qu before the son of one completely sets the son of the second begins to rise and the gar gives examples from to prove that the Jewish people are never without without a leader then there's another G which says exactly the opposite says which means there's a king and then there's a second king there there's no such thing as two kings sharing one Crown until the first King's kingship isn't over the second King's kingship doesn't begin so two different oneaz says we're never without a king The Other M says there's no overlap the second Kings begins at the moment of the passing the moment of the hisus of the king that came before these are these areas huh about last week okay what I told you last week was last week now it's today if you want to ask me a question about contradictions Thursday night this Q&A we can about but right now okay so the [Music] says that um that there is always a the passed away approximately 10 minutes to 8 shabas morning and in some spiritual mystical level at that moment theb became Reb now of course the Reb wouldn't acknowledge that and theb wouldn't approve of that and theb was hoping it would never happen but like many things in life we don't necessarily have choices the Reb was destined to be a I heard from one of my he used to say name of his is not someone that happens because there's a vacancy because there's an availability because there's an chair a Reb is born if you're not born a Reb you're just not Reb material it's not like you have you have a chair and there's no one sitting it so you plop the next best guy down either you are a or you aren't a and the is a so the moment of on some level immediately right away but of course the way the story plays out that's not what happened the went through a lot of stuff between that and the official becoming re first of all on some level it was personal the Reb himself had to struggle with this idea there's a story with a who went who had aash whose name was was was a was [Music] a and the passed away without any children in 1937 right before the Holocaust so the came to said maybe you should become the next so he went into the he worked in and he told the that wanted to be what does the think and the re said to Hime ask you to be a that's itself proof that there something to talk about and then the added to call this out your intestines have to turn inside out and then the gave him a whole what you do before he accepts to become a Reb so RAB hendel learned by in P so when the didn't want to be a Reb so he went over to the Reb he came from Montreal to New York and he went into the Reb he says to the Reb I know that you're supposed to be a Reb says how do you know he says I know because of the wanted to become and he didn't want so came to the and the told him asking something to talk about but he didn't tell the the other half to call the turn inside out so when he told this to when he told this to the are asking something to talk about the says to him maybe the said something else maybe he's said something else and of course the other part is that to become a k have to turn inside out which he didn't want to tell that so apparently there's some kind of a process withb himself and then of course you have to put yourself on mute please the other part of it is us one of the realities of or as the said many times as weird as it is and even though often times Reb are dynasties that means to say um it's father is son father is son because of genealogy and and so on I know more than one story outside of was asked to intervene in certain situations and the said and I I believe that there is an to this these words make a means that in order for the Reb to be a the have to make themselves into his and that's how they make him a it's not just that the choose choose by making themselves into his and that takes time so there was a period of time not only because was going through whatever he was going through to turn his Kish inside out but from our end from end it was very important that should make themselves into his and from that position make into so that also took time and then of course the third part of this is the unpleasantness with you know there's two ways to look at is a terrible thing but one of the things that the says about a king is one of the things that the says about a king is that if a k when K becomes a k they put the oil of the sh on his head in a special way when the K passes away they choose another K even if the second K is his own son they put on his head when they put the oil of on a king's head and it was only the kings of didn't have something called and but the kings of they used the holy oil that was used to anoint the king God was used to anoint the king of David if a king of David passes away and his son succeeds him they do not put inbombing oil on the sun it's automatic so you can have a father a son a grandson a great grandson just one except one except one case if a father passes away a king and his son who right to be the King after him needs to become the king and there's brings it yeah when there's a so when there's a politics when there's another opinion there's another candidate than so has a right the fact that had to become was politics adds that a even though he's following the is only a son-in-law and not a son that's a third Factor so the the point is this theb became a the moment the passed away there's no question about it and there people who will tell you the stories the re started to perform Miracles immediately start to perform Miracles immediately started to show the leadership and and and and paternity fatherlinh.com I just want to tell you one story which I I feel is a very important story historically it's an important story and that is that the pretty early on realized that is all of them at least the vast vast majority of the and they spent an entire year figuring out how they could convince the Reb to accept the position the knew that the reab is a very very Earnest man and the reab doesn't say things for effect he doesn't say things to be dramatic he doesn't say things uh for manipulation purposes he says what he means and he means what he says and when the Reb said I don't want to be a Reb or like the first quote that I heard if you're not going to leave me alone I'm going to run away from New York and I'm going to hide and you never find me the took that dead serious so there were serious meetings of the leaders of laich and I mean the leaders of laich in the Holy sense of the word to to come up with tactic how they could push the rebit towards the without turning him off it should happen it took almost a year and one of the tactics was that they wrote letters overseas and they said to in other places it's easier for you than for us cuz we're here where there's a whole Tomo there's two different teams and from overseas it's easier to push and they did from from Europe and wherever were in the world they started writing letters but finally the run out of patience 16 days or 15 days before youat put that in the paper that they're accepting the ASB finished they just did it now I promise you that was thought through very carefully by not only great but who had a lot of and it was a tactic it was a tactic it was it was it was a push and they knew that after the push there's going to be a pull you know you go forward you go backwards they made the decision that they going to put an ad in the paper officially announcing that they're making the now it would have been okay but somebody grabbed this new paper ran into the screaming at the cuz this person didn't want the to be a and he said look put in the paper that you're going to be a so the called in his secretary and said you have to put in a denial this is not true I never get to be a was he was going to do his job followed theb blindly whatever want to do he did was also a [Music] real desperately wanted to become so he was stuck between Rock and heart place his job required him to put into denial his heart didn't allow him to put into denial so he went into lived in 770 and he said I want you to know that told me I have to put an and I'm going to do it because it's my job you have three hours to change the's mind so they ran into the rovski whoever was in service the middle of the afternoon I imagine Kasi start to cry and to scream who was The Mastermind was an incredibly shrewd man and he always he had this ability to Intuit it he always knew the right thing the first time and probably was behind that ad andm says to the how could you put a denial we didn't write that you agreed we wrote that we made you de we wrote that we accepted you as you can say you didn't agree but you cannot we didn't write in the article that you agreed to be we simply wrote the article that we're make we we as far as we're concerned that ever so how the story happened it's it's there's a lot of fog there's a lot of unclarity lack of clarity about what happened it was a whole thing they went to the room and they begged they pleaded and they talked and they cried and whatever they had to do the bottom line is the denial was not put in ROV was told by the to leave it not to put under denial this is a very very critical moment from what what to explain to me in the process by which the became and the I understand that and again I I've been told this by people older and wiser than I as much as you could say this about a man with a will as strong as the Reb's will the's will is steel steel Platinum it's it's it's so strong you have no idea it's titanium this is the closest thing to the idea that changed the Reb's mind the Reb said no and the said yes the Reb said no the said yes and theb said no said yes and the said no and said yes and theb said okay in a certain level in a certain way that year of Agony where the Elder the older the truth of the matter the old were not so worried about themselves the older worried about the younger and the future of laich and the work of they pushed and they pushed and they pushed and of course the younger did what the younger do the middle do what the middle they made sure the should become a and therefore this date is significant in the story of theb becoming the but within a week by it was almost official the letter which is very Reish it's written like a writes telling to keep them wrote all the list ofite and when it came you was Wednesday like it is this year in the beginning of that week there was already official ads in the paper saying that on Wednesday morning there's going to be the minion of you can see the papers and that after ding the whole is going to go to the with specially prepared buses and then at 8:30 at night there going to be with and these ads were put in by americ that mean these ads were put in by by the himself didn't write the word when it ever had to say would leave he wouldn't write but he left the space for us to fill it in I thought it was all the years and they became official and then was a Wednesday night the de was supposed to come at 8:30 he showed up at 9:20 and it wasn't because he got cold feet he was talking to his mother and every Jew in the world would wish to be a fly on the wall to hear what that conversation was that Deb's mother and the deba talked it must have been the most important things in the world my imagination is that she had messages for theb from from Deb's father he came to and he and he said the one said that the saying of represents another formal stage in the evolution of the reip and the gave us an example theab the Rab's father passed away two days before Su you give within seven days and it's marked in a way as the beginning of the of although took 10 or 11 years 10 or 11 years to fully take on the position of Reb so the Reb says the saying of a is it marks uh a real substantial step in the what we call the revelation of the deip because the reip happen at the moment of actually the moment pely assumes the throne but in a in a formal way the saying of is substantial in establishing the as a so in 1950 the passed away the becomes a one year after that the Reb assumes the reip officially and the Reb changed when the Reb became the Reb he acted like a Reb he put on a cap until then he was wearing a short jacket and his relationship to changed um he took P he allowed people to call him Reb the Reb he took doing before he was what was he was acting as the son-in-law of the fre table doing doing the work of am had jobs and he continued doing those jobs part of his job was to concern himself with the good wellbeing of but he was doing it as as his sonin-law not as the and now it became his job meaning the first year all the theb talked about was the is still theb once the became that talk was diminished exponentially it became very rare every before the official all once it was official the talked about that very infrequently he did his job he said my he said and he started to do you know the work of what we call today rather uh firmly with an established as if it's a fact the Seventh Generation this is the story comes so I want to share this with you I heard from people who heard from people it's strange to say that something that happened so recently I have to hear from people from people because it was only 70 years ago I heard from people heard from people thean finished around 12:30 at night on Wednesday night so first of allel KH between he was 20 years old 21 years old between Thursday between Wednesday night and chabas 20 times people walked in he the the m is pretty long let's say it's half an hour he just reviewed the whole people walked in he when shabas came had repeated the M I don't know how many times and when the re came Friday night to the Reb saide why didn't tell me anybody the good news that he repeat the m so many times yes sir day before no I don't know he did it work but after he kept the black hat instead of the gray hat of the blue hat but he went back to the suits and it made him crazy he came of course yeah it probably was a silk I'm going to guess but the part that I want to tell you guys is that it's 12:30 at night 770 was so packed you couldn't put a spindle in you couldn't only for a toothpick the walked out I don't who I don't know who left and who stayed but someone described to me old men old men a lot older than the theb was not yet 50 jumping up and down like school boys the joy that they had the happiness that there was by when the de became a was extraordinary they were they were just so thrilled I mean in you know in a cultural sense that there is a continuity that there's a a it's going to continue but in a practical sense that the re is re we have a and it's him the the people old men were M jumping up and down like school boys The Joy was unbelievable that's one side of it and the other side of it is and you need to understand this you're dealing with kids who are basically American Americans loved jio they loved I should know this ER Mickey Mantle that's what they loved okay they didn't love re this was not their business the Europeans had not really arrived and the Europeans came very very slowly the young boys and girls even before they ever passed Fe ever passed but after the ever passed as they ever went through this year of transition they were drawn to him like a magnet like a magnet kids just fell in love with him they just absolutely adored and loved this man and they stood around him and ate every word out of his mouth and whatever they could do that would make him happy made them happy and he was a big big sadic who wasn't playing baseball you understand he wasn't winning any games he was a re and kids American kids who you would think would find nothing in common with a man of such Holiness were drawn to him like metal is drawn to a magnet there was an old that wrote a letter he said I don't understand why but the boys and the girls are running around them like flies are chasing a bul there was a magnetism to the reab from Young American boys and girls the had a people were drawn to him and and the Reb being a Reb you can ask people in that generation it made you so proud it was it was so cool that your re was the he was just such a wonderful re he there was an incredible amount of happiness around the becoming a and I want you to think about this I want you to think about this for a moment because this is something that you need to consider for yourselves okay what do simple people have in common with holy people nothing and the Holier the person the less you have in common with them it's the way it works right if you went into a Yeshiva and there's a rash who knows the whole sh and when he gives a Shear the Shas is flying around about six guys who understand him they say wow he's a smart guy he's amazing right but what do you and him have in common what kind of relationship can there be between you and now if you're very smart and you know half so you would benefit from hearing a she from such a person but if you're a regular person a simple person you don't have you can respect such a person but what draws you to such a person the the the rule is that somebody that you cannot relate to you have no relation ship with but there's a there's a weird exception to this rule there's a weird exception to this Rule and the weird exception to this rule is that the holiest of the holiest the biggest sadik for some reason even the lowliest of the lowest feel connected to you know what they say in Europe you know what the proof that you are bigba was in Poland there were many rebas yeah you know what the proof that you were a big Reb you know means a terror Brigade guys who were they did a but if you would dare say one bad word about the Reb they CED you up at the 47 pieces the greatest rebis the trademark of the greatest rebis was the had who were in terms of doing what the reab said very poor but in terms of feeling the love for the Reb very rich for some reason the holiest people in the world have the Gest appeal the best example I think the best example of our none is passed away 1,800 years ago wrote the Zohar okay do you know do you know what the Zohar looks like you don't to read the Zohar how much Zohar do you understand but everybody has like and we celebrate it it's not just a day off and marshmallows we actually celebrate like we make fires and we don't say and we sing and dance they make a whole thing we go to the fields and we relate to what do you and I have in common what if even people who are on a some level of learning some level of scholarship if you understand a little bit who is you appreciate that none of us have anything come with them and yet everybody relates to dashb why because the Jews who were the holiest of the Holy somehow you didn't have to be able to relate to them to relate to them and that's the story of the Reb that's the story of our re that's the story of theb theb the Reb's Holiness is unbelievable is genius Reb's genius Reb brain Reb's brain the smartest people in the world met that re they didn't know his head doesn't explode how much he knows how deeply he understands and everything is so everything is so collected so cool so calm the re's greatness in so many ways each one of those greatnesses makes them greater than anybody else you combine all the different the greatness of the you're dealing with a Superman and everybody felt close to him everybody felt like he's theirs and they're his it wasn't only because he made them feel that way it's how they felt about him the re made people feel unbelievably comfortable there are a thousand stories of people waiting outside the Reb's room to go into and thinking to themselves I'm such a nervous wreck I'm not going to hear a word that ever tells me they walked into the Reb they walked through the door gave him a smile and they so relaxed that they felt like they sitting in the room with their father having AO in an afternoon that ab's ability to make people comfortable to make people feel embraced by him was extraordinary that's from the Reb but from our end the sense that we had of this is my Reb and this is good I'm proud to be his that I want to make him happy even though we may have been considering L compromised in all kinds of ways is really something very special the Reb's greatness is not that the a big the's greatness is not that there big the's greatness is that every Jew in the world relates to him as if he's theirs they have nothing in common with him and somehow the re skips all the stops you don't need any preparation to have a relation have a brother who's a in a city where there's no reformed Temple there's no reformed Temple that's how religious the Jews in the town are not that they're all going to Orthodox there's no s s at all my brother rolls into town he's the first religious presence in town and he's doing stuff and people are coming and one of the things was very important to him was to make videos of the but he wrote to me he said to us to my to my siblings I'm afraid these people have no sense they go to him how are they're going to relate to the old man with the white beard who talks Gish in a monotone and the rebbit an old man with a white beard talking those are all facts he's an old man he has a white beard he talk he talk to the monotone the rebit didn't swing his hands and make himself looked exciting and dramatic and they didn't entertain he spoke like Moses from the mountain top and he's saying how am I going to put on a video for these people and not turn him off well he did it and they couldn't get enough when are you doing it next when are you doing it next the reaction of the balab him was so surprising to him and the only explanation is as they say this is a soul conversation they didn't understand the word was saying they L they the subtitles but sitting and looking at the Reb not a translation of the Reb not a translator of the Reb a commentator listening to the Reb everybody somehow relates to this person directly cuz his Holiness is so great that it extends so low that everyone every person including we who didn't know him have a deep sense of belonging and connection to the re the Reb makes every person you know one one a psychologist wants tell me the RE made sure everybody felt noticed which is an interesting thing the re there was thousands of people and the re looked at each person and gave that person what they needed the people that nobody paid attention to that ever let them know with his eyes or with his body language I know you're here he he lifted every one of us us and we all relate to him so today is the day of relationships today ISAT is the day get together and they talk about the but I have a secret for you anytime talk about and the same is true any time about they're not talking about not talking about they're talking about themselves when we talk about the interested in the we're interested in what means to me we talk about the interested in the abish as a philosophy we're interested what abish means to me your is a day connected to the re that means the they connected to our connection to the Reb now you guys are young and his ultimately is a choice the idea of being a having is a choice especially under the conditions as they are right now and it's it's a process that you go through when you're a little kid your father brainwashes you your mother brainwashes you your school brainwashes you so you're then you become a teenager and some of them remain brainwashed and some of them question it they think about it they doubt it what's going on what does it mean and what does it mean to me why does it important and why do I have to do it there have a thousand and one different ways of making the same question the answer ultimately is at some point each human being if he or she is going to be a of he or she is going to choose it and that's what this is today ISAT each person myself included and you included and everybody included re assesses what re means to me and on some level rededicates recommits themselves to be of the reb all the re wanted that we should be more Jewish all he wants and for this he gives and he gives love and he gives self-esteem and he gives no anxiety and he takes away our depression we should just be more Jewish I I spoke last summer to a group of people about o these were p and they all came with laundry list of requests for the every one of them had a whole list of things they want from the and before they went into the oil I with them and I I gave them I didn't give them this Spiel I gave them a different Spiel when I talked whatever I talked it's not important what I said to them but the substance of my is you came here not because the oil is a is a Historic Landmark in New York City you didn't come to the oil CU people visit special places this is one of the special places you visit you came here because over here there's life the is living and coming to the oil is rela to a living and getting living people come to the oil for one reason people because it works you come with a problem you leave a note and he solves the problem now it doesn't always happen right away it doesn't happen every single time people especially people not laich they're not coming again and again and again and again if in their language M if they were not helped the oil works that's why people come so I said to these men and women I said you're all here and you're here because you believe that this is a living place and over here you can get I just want to say a simple thing I told them I said all of you have your list of interests and needs and desires and priorities and some of them are probably very very real I just want to say a simple thing to you you're all coming here what you need from the rebba what does the rebba want from you he simply wants you to be a little bit more conscientious as a Jew daving a little more kav a shabus meal shouldn't be like should feel like a shabas meal and it should look like a shabas meal and it sounds like and it should be it's only once the wants us to be better yden we should DAV better we should learn better we should refine our character more the re simply want want us to be better Jews and all of us run to the oil for everything and more on a day like today and you were buy the oil already and the you know you go to the oil and everybody has their issues and their needs and their wants and their desires one of the things that should be a part of our relationship with is in what way am I going to be a better Jew because I have this relationship it's very important to include this in the Paradigm of our and we're very happy to be his and we try our best to do what need to do we need to appreciate that he gives so much he really does today always and what he wants is that we should allow ourselves to be a little bit more Earnest and sincere and dedicated and hardworking and committed to that's all so should bless us always have a successful and they should have Ripples and each person should find in himself the ability to be Aid I spoke today for the girls and I got into a big argument with the girls it was very interesting and I said the worst thing a person can do is be an ambivalent I'm but I'm angry about it why do I have to be in it's have toas and I this complaint and this complaint if you're GNA do it be do it joyously to do it then be miserable it's it's like the says right your young wife pulls out your white hair your old wife pulls out your black hair you have no hair at all you want to be a [Music] okay