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Nurturing Faith
This is the 16th volume of the popular Chassidic Heritage series. It is based on the Rebbe's renowed Ata Tezaveh maamer. This maamer was delivered on the 10th of Adar I 5741, and was given out by the Rebbe on Erev Purim Katan, 5752. The maamer is largely based on the maamer of the Frierdiker Rebbe VeKibel HaYehudim from 5687, which is referred to throughout. It was the last maamer given out by the Rebbe, and is thought amongst Chassidim to be the Hiskashrus maamer, both in terms of its content, and considering the fact that these were the last words the Rebbe "gave over" to us. The theme, as states the title, is "nurturing faith". Exploring this subject through the lens of chassidus invokes a deep understanding of a Jewish leader, a nasi, who's function is, as explained in the maamer, essentially to nurture the faith of the Jewish people. Corresponding to the sefirah of daa's, a Jewish leader provides a potential for one's otherwise superconsious faith to become internalized and thus materialized in everyday life. This dynamic has been illustrated throughout our history, when during times of extreme duress, our leaders aroused and awakened our essential, yet supra-consious faith. Manifesting in our incredible mesiras nefesh, these brazen displays of emunah were nesessary for our survival. Our challenge now, says the Rebbe, is to awaken and internalize this mesiras nefesh related emunah in our present times of freedom and abundance. Here too,explains the Rebbe, it is the nasi who generates this reality, if we only allow ourselves to connect through him.
138 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2005
About the author
Menachem M. Schneerson
293 books14 followersThe Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory (1902-1994), the seventh leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, is considered to have been the most phenomenal Jewish personality of modern times. To hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of sympathizers and admirers around the world, he was -- and still is, despite his passing -- "the Rebbe," undoubtedly, the one individual more than any other singularly responsible for stirring the conscience and spiritual awakening of world Jewry.
For the Tzemach Tzedek, see https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
The Rebbe was born in 1902, on the 11th day of Nissan, in Nikolaev, Russia, to the renowned kabbalist, talmudic scholar and leader Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson. Rebbetzin Chana (1880-1964) was known for her erudition, kindness and extraordinary accessibility. Her courage and ingenuity became legend when during her husband's exile by the Soviets to a remote village in Asian Russia she labored to make inks from herbs she gathered in the fields -- so that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak could continue writing his commentary on kabbalah and other Torah-subjects. The Rebbe was named after his great-grandfather, the third Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, with whom he later shared many characteristics.
To Save a Life: There is a story told about the Rebbe's early life that seems to be almost symbolic of everything that was to follow. When he was nine years old, the young Menachem Mendel courageously dove into the Black Sea and saved the life of a little boy who had fallen from the deck of a moored ship. That sense of "other lives in danger" seems to have dominated his consciousness; of Jews drowning in assimilation, ignorance or alienation--and no one hearing their cries for help: Jews on campus, in isolated communities, under repressive regimes. From early childhood he displayed a prodigious mental acuity. By the time he reached his Bar Mitzvah, the Rebbe was considered an illuy, a Torah prodigy. He spent his teen years immersed in the study of Torah.
Marriage in Warsaw: In 1929 Rabbi Menachem Mendel married the sixth Rebbe's daughter, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, in Warsaw. (The Rebbetzin, born in 1901, was chosen by her father, the sixth Rebbe, to accompany him in his forced exile to Kostroma in 1927. For sixty years she was the Rebbe's life partner; she passed away on 22 Sh'vat in 1988.) He later studied in the University of Berlin and then at the Sorbonne in Paris. It may have been in these years that his formidable knowledge of mathematics and the sciences began to blossom.
Arrival in the U.S.A.: On Monday, Sivan 28, 5701 (June 23, 1941) the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin arrived in the United States, having been miraculously rescued, by the grace of Almighty G‑d, from the European holocaust. The Rebbe's arrival marked the launching of sweeping new efforts in bolstering and disseminating Torah and Judaism in general, and Chassidic teachings in particular, through the establishment of three central Lubavitch organizations under the Rebbe's leadership: Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch ("Central Organization For Jewish Education"), Kehot Publication Society, and Machne Israel, a social services agency. Shortly after his arrival, per his father-in-law's urging, the Rebbe began publishing his notations to various Chassidic and kabbalistic treatises, as well as a wide range of response on Torah subjects. With publication of these works his genius was soon recognized by scholars throughout the world.
Leadership: After the passing of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1950, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson reluctantly ascended to the leadership of the Lubavitch movement, whose headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. Soon Lubavitch institutions and activities took on new dimensions. The outreaching philosophy of Chabad-Lubavitch was translated into ever greater actio
For the Tzemach Tzedek, see https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
The Rebbe was born in 1902, on the 11th day of Nissan, in Nikolaev, Russia, to the renowned kabbalist, talmudic scholar and leader Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson. Rebbetzin Chana (1880-1964) was known for her erudition, kindness and extraordinary accessibility. Her courage and ingenuity became legend when during her husband's exile by the Soviets to a remote village in Asian Russia she labored to make inks from herbs she gathered in the fields -- so that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak could continue writing his commentary on kabbalah and other Torah-subjects. The Rebbe was named after his great-grandfather, the third Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, with whom he later shared many characteristics.
To Save a Life: There is a story told about the Rebbe's early life that seems to be almost symbolic of everything that was to follow. When he was nine years old, the young Menachem Mendel courageously dove into the Black Sea and saved the life of a little boy who had fallen from the deck of a moored ship. That sense of "other lives in danger" seems to have dominated his consciousness; of Jews drowning in assimilation, ignorance or alienation--and no one hearing their cries for help: Jews on campus, in isolated communities, under repressive regimes. From early childhood he displayed a prodigious mental acuity. By the time he reached his Bar Mitzvah, the Rebbe was considered an illuy, a Torah prodigy. He spent his teen years immersed in the study of Torah.
Marriage in Warsaw: In 1929 Rabbi Menachem Mendel married the sixth Rebbe's daughter, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, in Warsaw. (The Rebbetzin, born in 1901, was chosen by her father, the sixth Rebbe, to accompany him in his forced exile to Kostroma in 1927. For sixty years she was the Rebbe's life partner; she passed away on 22 Sh'vat in 1988.) He later studied in the University of Berlin and then at the Sorbonne in Paris. It may have been in these years that his formidable knowledge of mathematics and the sciences began to blossom.
Arrival in the U.S.A.: On Monday, Sivan 28, 5701 (June 23, 1941) the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin arrived in the United States, having been miraculously rescued, by the grace of Almighty G‑d, from the European holocaust. The Rebbe's arrival marked the launching of sweeping new efforts in bolstering and disseminating Torah and Judaism in general, and Chassidic teachings in particular, through the establishment of three central Lubavitch organizations under the Rebbe's leadership: Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch ("Central Organization For Jewish Education"), Kehot Publication Society, and Machne Israel, a social services agency. Shortly after his arrival, per his father-in-law's urging, the Rebbe began publishing his notations to various Chassidic and kabbalistic treatises, as well as a wide range of response on Torah subjects. With publication of these works his genius was soon recognized by scholars throughout the world.
Leadership: After the passing of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1950, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson reluctantly ascended to the leadership of the Lubavitch movement, whose headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. Soon Lubavitch institutions and activities took on new dimensions. The outreaching philosophy of Chabad-Lubavitch was translated into ever greater actio
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February 21, 2012
This book consists of two discourses; one given by the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson on 10 Adar in 1981 and re-published and re-distributed in 1992 in honor of Purim kattan, the other given by his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch on Purim kattan in 1927.
Both talks give a person much to meditate on, and to take into one's life. They both cover much of the same material but are given over in the style of the particular Rebbe.
The biblical verse being discussed here is:
"And you (Moses) shall command the Children of Israel, and they shall bring to you pure olive oil, crushed for the luminary, to raise up a constant flame."
I was rather surprised to see how much complex meaning this one verse had. Here is just one tiny taste of the discourse:
"The interpretation of the verse AND YOU SHALL COMMAND appears (in the discourse) following the concept discussed at the start of the discourse - namely, that the meaning of the verse, AND THE JEWS ACCEPTED WHAT THEY HAD BEGUN TO OBSERVE, is that they accepted (in the days of Achashveirosh)what they had begun at the time of Mattan Torah, the giving of the Torah.
In other words, at Mattan Torah there was only a beginning (begun to observe), and in the days of Achashveirosh (during the period of Haman's persecution) there was an acceptance - AND THE JEWS ACCEPTED."
Near the end of his discourse he says,
"Likewise with regard to the Moses of our generation, my saintly father-in-law, the Rebbe, leader of our generation: His efforts to awaken and reveal the faith of the soul's essence with every single Jew was such that afterward they would serve G-d with their own faculties, even becoming CONSTANT FLAMES, which cannot change even as far as the conscious faculties are concerned."
The previous Rebbe starts his discourse with this very concept, AND THE JEWS ACCEPTED WHAT THEY HAD BEGUN TO OBSERVE. I.e., at that time, during exile, the Jews accepted (the process of spiritual progress that) had begun previously, at the time of the Giving of the Torah. I.e., "they now established what they had already accepted (when the Torah was given.)
Further on in a summary of part of his discourse it says,
"At the time of (Haman's) decree, the light in the soul of Israel was revealed, enabling them to stand firm in the face of challenges to their observance of the Torah and mitzvot with self-sacrifice. (Their resolve was inspired) by Mordechai, who was equivalent to Moses, concerning whom it is written, AND YOU SHALL COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL." This implies that he was granted the potential to connect the Jews to G-d, so that (each of them) would be "a constant flame".
The previous Rebbe ends his discourse with these words,
"The salvation of the Jewish people is brought about by the children who study Torah and by study of the Torah in public. During exile the Jewish people are granted the strength required for self-sacrificing endeavors for the fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvot. It is through this self-sacrifice that they merit redemption."
There is really nothing that I can add except that I found it very educational and inspiring.
Both talks give a person much to meditate on, and to take into one's life. They both cover much of the same material but are given over in the style of the particular Rebbe.
The biblical verse being discussed here is:
"And you (Moses) shall command the Children of Israel, and they shall bring to you pure olive oil, crushed for the luminary, to raise up a constant flame."
I was rather surprised to see how much complex meaning this one verse had. Here is just one tiny taste of the discourse:
"The interpretation of the verse AND YOU SHALL COMMAND appears (in the discourse) following the concept discussed at the start of the discourse - namely, that the meaning of the verse, AND THE JEWS ACCEPTED WHAT THEY HAD BEGUN TO OBSERVE, is that they accepted (in the days of Achashveirosh)what they had begun at the time of Mattan Torah, the giving of the Torah.
In other words, at Mattan Torah there was only a beginning (begun to observe), and in the days of Achashveirosh (during the period of Haman's persecution) there was an acceptance - AND THE JEWS ACCEPTED."
Near the end of his discourse he says,
"Likewise with regard to the Moses of our generation, my saintly father-in-law, the Rebbe, leader of our generation: His efforts to awaken and reveal the faith of the soul's essence with every single Jew was such that afterward they would serve G-d with their own faculties, even becoming CONSTANT FLAMES, which cannot change even as far as the conscious faculties are concerned."
The previous Rebbe starts his discourse with this very concept, AND THE JEWS ACCEPTED WHAT THEY HAD BEGUN TO OBSERVE. I.e., at that time, during exile, the Jews accepted (the process of spiritual progress that) had begun previously, at the time of the Giving of the Torah. I.e., "they now established what they had already accepted (when the Torah was given.)
Further on in a summary of part of his discourse it says,
"At the time of (Haman's) decree, the light in the soul of Israel was revealed, enabling them to stand firm in the face of challenges to their observance of the Torah and mitzvot with self-sacrifice. (Their resolve was inspired) by Mordechai, who was equivalent to Moses, concerning whom it is written, AND YOU SHALL COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL." This implies that he was granted the potential to connect the Jews to G-d, so that (each of them) would be "a constant flame".
The previous Rebbe ends his discourse with these words,
"The salvation of the Jewish people is brought about by the children who study Torah and by study of the Torah in public. During exile the Jewish people are granted the strength required for self-sacrificing endeavors for the fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvot. It is through this self-sacrifice that they merit redemption."
There is really nothing that I can add except that I found it very educational and inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review