BESURAS HAGEULO
The Announcement of the Redemption:
Chapter 8
"These are the generations of Yaakov, Yoseph"[1] - The name Yoseph,
which means "increase," alludes to the increase of the revelation and
dissemination of the teachings of Chabad Chassidus by our Rebbes and leaders,
successors of the Alter Rebbe, until my sainted father-in-law [Rabbi Yoseph
Yitzchak], the leader of our generation, the "Yoseph" of our generation.
His primary focus was the realization of the deeper sense of the name "Yoseph":
"may G-d increase another son,"[2] that is, to take the
"other,"[3] the "outsider," and transform him into an insider,
a "son."[4] This goal of transforming the "outsider" into an "insider"
became even more pronounced when he arrived in this lower5 hemisphere (analogous
to the descent of Joseph into Egypt). His arrival here facilitated the revelation
of Chassidus (along with the dissemination of Torah and Judaism) to the entire
world, even to the lowliest - the most spiritually remote - regions of the
world.
In the forty years since his passing, we have experienced an increase in
these efforts, an increase which finds expression in the verse, "paratzta
alecha paretz," "you have broken through a breach."[6] Our sages
teach that after forty years one has the capacity to "fathom the mind of
one's teacher,"[7] that then one can acquire "a heart to know,
eyes to see and ears to hear"[8] the teachings learned forty years
earlier. Similarly, the "dissemination of the fountains of Chassidus to the
outside" followed the Biblical description of "and you shall spread forth
to the west and east, north and south,"[9] reaching even the most
remote corners of the globe, breaking all the barriers. Therefore, as both
the forty-year barrier to understanding and the barriers to the "dissemination
of the fountains of Chassidus" have been breached, we are already prepared
for the coming of our righteous Moshiach. Significantly, Moshiach is identified
with Peretz,[10] as our sages comment: "Peretz, this is Moshiach,
as it says:[11] "The breacher [HaPoreitz] had arisen before
them."[12]
* * *
On Yud-Tes Kislev of this year, 192 years will have elapsed since the liberation
of the first Yud-Tes Kislev (5559-5751).[13] The significance
of the number 192 is that:
a) Rearranged, the Hebrew letters for 192
(áö÷) form the word
(õá÷) (collecting or gathering).
This suggests that we have now concluded14 the service of the era of Exile,
namely, the process of collecting and gathering the Divine sparks of the
entire world (for which purpose G-d exiled Israel among the nations). (This
includes collecting and gathering all the variations, represented by the
phrase "kabetz-shanah" - for the word "shanah," (year) is cognate to the
word "shinuy," (change) i.e., all the possible changes and variations of
[divine sparks]).[15]
b) The Hebrew letters for the word 192,
áö÷, derive from the term "fixed
time" or "cut off." This implies that the time for the dissemination of the
fountains to the far reaches (as well as the spiritual achievements during
this time), which commenced Yud-Tes Kislev 192 years ago, has finally reached
the "cut off" period, at last been completed. Therefore we are ready for
the realization of the promise that when the fountain [of Chassidus] will
be disseminated to the farthest reaches, the master, the King Moshiach, will
come.
This is one of the reasons for the publication of a special (and enlarged)
edition of the Tanya (the "written Torah"[16] of the teachings
of Chabad Chassidus) and its distribution to everyone present, men, women
and children, in conjunction with the "festival of Liberation of Yud-Tes
Kislev - 192nd year"[17] - to emphasize, in a concrete manner,
one visible to even eyes of flesh, the completion of the service of disseminating
the fountains to the farthest reaches during these 192 years. This completion
leads to the "end of days"[18] (that is, the end of exile), which
also implies the realization of another "end of days,"[19] that
is, the deadline for and the beginning of Redemption.[20]
(From the talk of Shabbos Parshas Vayeishev, 21 Kislev, 5751)
__________
1. Vayeishev 37:2.
2. Vayeitzei 30:24.
3. [Because of the construction of the Hebrew sentence and the double
meaning of the word "Acher" (both "another," in the sense of extra, and "other,"
in the sense of stranger), the phrase may be read in two ways: 1) "May G-d
add (increase)for me another son," meaning, give me another son; 2) "May
G-d add (increase) for me a son - an other (stranger)," meaning, make the
stranger my son. Translator's note.]
4. Or HaTorah loc cit.
5. [A reference to the Western Hemisphere which in relation to the Eastern
Hemisphere, where the revelation at Mount Sinai occurred, is considered lower.
Translator's note.]
6. Vayeishev 38:29.
7. Avodah Zarah 5, beginning of side b.
8. Tavo 29:3.
9. Vayeitzei 28:14.
10. [Peretz was a son of Judah. His name means "breach." Translator'
note.]
11. Micha 2:13.
12. Agadas Bereishis end of ch. 63. See also Bereishis Rabbah, end of
ch. 85 (and Rashi there): "this one who is greater than all the leaders will
arise from you (that is, Moshiach, concerning whom it is said:) "the breacher
arose before them."
13. [The anniversary of the liberation of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi,
founder of Chabad. Translator's note.]
14. "kabetz" is in the past tense, and not "kovetz" (with an additional "vov"
[the number six], which is in the present tense (implying that it could continue
for another six months).
15. Avodas HaKodesh vol. IV, ch. 19. Or HaTorah, Mikeitz, 338,
end of side b, and in other sources.
16. See Igros Kodesh of Admor Maharayatz, vol. IV, p. 261 ff. See
there for cross references.
17. Text taken from title page of [this edition] of the Tanya.
18. See Zohar 1:54, end of side a. Beginning of Parshas Mikeitz.
Eicha Rabba 2:6 - cited and elucidated in Or HaTorah, beginning
of Parshas Mikeitz.
19. [The word for "days" in Hebrew can be spelled with either a "mem"
or a "nun": "Yamim" or "Yamin". The former, "Yamim," is connected to the
left, the end of exile and removal of the negative. The former, "Yamin,"
is a phrase from the end of the Book of Daniel, connoting the right, and
the revelation of the positive. See the sources in note 14 for elaboration.
Translator's note.]
20. [The first "end of days" refers to the "end of the negative forces
identified with the left" and leads immediately and automatically to a second,
positive "end of days," the Redemption itself. Translator's note.]
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