LIVING WITH MOSHIACH, Parshat Shelach, 5755 B"H LIVING WITH MOSHIACH Weekly Digest About Moshiach PARSHAT SHELACH Sivan 25, 5755 June 23, 1995 * Published Weekly By Lubavitch Shluchim Conferences On The Moshiach Campaign, Committee For The Blind * * * 5755 "Year of Hakhel" ********************************************* * TO RECEIVE THIS PUBLICATION VIA INTERNET: * * E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org * * FOR CHABAD-LUBAVITCH IN CYBERSPACE: * * E-Mail: info@chabad.org * ********************************************* THIS PUBLICATION IS DEDICATED TO THE REBBE, RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON OF LUBAVITCH "I BELIEVE WITH COMPLETE FAITH IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE MOSHIACH. AND THOUGH HE MAY TARRY, I SHALL WAIT EACH DAY, ANTICIPATING HIS ARRIVAL." Maimonides, Principles of the Faith, No. 12 ********************* * TABLE OF CONTENTS * ********************* Introduction The Weekly Torah Portion The Rebbe's Prophecy The Wellsprings A Call To Action **************** * INTRODUCTION * ***************** We are pleased to present, to the visually impaired and the blind, our weekly publication, Living with Moshiach. * In this week's issue we focus on the importance of studying chasidic philosophy, in order to hasten Moshiach's coming. * Our sincere appreciation to L'Chaim weekly publication, published by the Lubavitch Youth Organization, for allowing us to use their material. Also, many thanks to our copy editor, Reb Mordechai Staiman, for his tireless efforts. * It is our fervent hope that our learning about Moshiach and the Redemption will hasten the coming of Moshiach, NOW! Rabbi Yosef Y. Shagalov Administrator Committee for the Blind E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org 15 Sivan, 5755, Year of Hakhel Brooklyn, New York *************************************** * THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * *************************************** Parshat Shelach This week's Torah portion, Shelach, relates the story of the spies and their unwillingness to settle in the Land of Israel. As we now stand on the threshold of the messianic era, when all Jews will return to the Holy Land, it is interesting to explore that event. The spies' reluctance to leave the familiarity of the desert, their home for forty years, stemmed from the fact that it represented a radical change in their spiritual service. For forty years the physical needs of the Jewish people had been met miraculously--manna from heaven, fresh water from Miriam's well, their clothing miraculously growing along with them, clouds protecting them from their enemies--enabling the Jews to concentrate on their relationship with G-d without distractions. Settling the Land of Israel would involve embarking on an entirely new path, intimately involved in agriculture and necessitating direct interaction with the material world. True, these activities would be Torah-guided; the people would refrain from stealing, slander, gossip, etc. And they would also fulfill the precepts of giving a tenth of their earnings to charity, etc. Nonetheless, there would remain very little time to study and pray compared to life in the desert. Yet embarking on this new path was precisely what G-d desired. The sin of the spies, each one of whom was a righteous and upstanding Jew, was their rejection of this notion. They worried that working the soil would take away precious time from their Torah study. Rather than purify the material world through their practical mitzvot, the spies preferred to continue their G-dly service removed--as much as possible--from the world and its demands. But this is not the Jewish approach. The Divine mission of the Jew is to go out into the material world and conquer it, elevating physical matter by imbuing it with spirituality; working hard to provide the physical necessities of life, while at the same time imbuing their surroundings with G-dliness and holiness. For this is what G-d really wants Jews to do. Our mission in life is to lead a normal, physical existence, while at the same time following the precepts of the Torah. This reluctance on the part of some people was limited to the very first time the Jews were about to enter the Land of Israel. When Moshiach ushers in the Redemption, no one will be ambivalent about the new era. At that time, our return to Israel will be complete and wholehearted. On the one hand, the Jewish people will return to an agrarian existence, symbolic of G-d's desire that we elevate the physical world through our service. Yet at the same time, the substantial labor involved in this work will be done for us by others, as the Torah states, "And strangers will arise and tend your flocks, and the children of foreigners will be your farmers and winegrowers," enabling the Jewish people to pursue their primary role, the uninterrupted worship of G-d. This is also alluded to in G-d's promise to bring us to "a land flowing with milk and honey." In the messianic era, the sustenance of the Jews will be as bountiful as the milk that flows by itself from the goat and the honey that drips from the date palm--without our having to expend any effort. We will then be free to dedicate all our time to the joyful service of G-d. ************************ * THE REBBE'S PROPHECY * ************************ The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of Lubavitch, issued a call that "THE TIME OF OUR REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED!" and "MOSHIACH IS ON HIS WAY!" The Rebbe stressed that he is saying this AS A PROPHECY, and asks us all to prepare ourselves for the Redemption, through increasing acts of goodness and kindness. LET US ALL HEED THE REBBE'S CALL. ********************************************* * IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDPARENTS, * * * * Reb Shmuel Pesach Ben Reb Yaakov Dovid * * Passed away on 3 Tishrei, 5755 * * * * Mrs. Fraidel Chedvah Bas Reb Zev Wolf * * Passed away on 4 Adar II, 5755 * * Pais * ********************************************* ************************************* * THE WELLSPRINGS * * Adapted from Letters of the Rebbe * ************************************ The Baal Shem Tov writes in a letter to his brother-in-law that on Rosh Hashana of the year 5507 (1746), his soul ascended to the heavenly realms where he was granted the privilege of entering the palace of the soul of Moshiach. He asked Moshiach, "Master, when are you coming?" Moshiach responded, "When your wellsprings [teachings] will be disseminated outward." To this end, the Rebbe has always stressed the importance of studying chasidic philosophy and teaching it to others to hasten Moshiach's coming and to prepare ourselves for the messianic era. * What follows are excerpts of letters from the Rebbe about the importance of disseminating Chasidut. The destiny of the teachings and the message of the Baal Shem Tov--that they should be disseminated to the furthest reaches of the world--must be fulfilled. Accordingly, no corner of the globe inhabited by Jews should remain untouched by this message. And since we are now in the era in which we hear the approaching footsteps of Moshiach, who "is standing behind our wall," waiting only for the finishing touches to our refinement of this physical world, it is thus imperative that Chasidut be studied in Australia, too. This applies not only to the Russian-born chasidim who were sent there as emissaries; it should likewise permeate the local Jewish population. And since this is something that must happen, all the necessary resources will no doubt be forthcoming. * * * I was pleased to read of your decision to engage in the diffusion of the light of Chasidut, and so on. It is a pity, though, that you are deferring this for some time, when "behold, [Moshiach] is standing behind our wall," and is being delayed only because the wellsprings are not yet sufficiently widespread. Can anyone measure [the Jewish people's] anguish with every additional moment of exile, or [their] bliss in every additional moment of the Era of the Redemption? * * * It is my obligation (and my privilege) to make you aware of the great necessity of studying the inner dimensions of the Torah, which in these latter generations have been revealed within the teachings of Chasidut. And if this study is a necessity for every Jew, how much more is this true of a person who is in a position to influence others, and who is thus (in the words of the Mishnah) "himself meritorious and causes many others to attain merit." Moreover, from this affirmative statement one can infer [that the reverse is true when one does not take steps to be meritorious]. Especially in this period of the approaching footsteps of Moshiach, when "behold, he is standing behind our wall" and everyone should be prepared every day for his coming, every single individual must do his duty. For, as the King Moshiach himself stated, he will come "when the wellsprings will be widespread." Heaven forfend that the exile be prolonged, even for the shortest time, by reason of any inactivity in this task of dissemination, or even by incomplete activity. For this is an exile both of G-d and of the House of Israel, since "when they were exiled to Edom the Divine Presence accompanied them." * * * From the perspective of this world, today's world needs a more intense light and a greater diffusion of light, because of its lower standards (as the Sages write, "If the early generation were like angels, we are like mortals; if they are like mortals, we are like donkeys"), and because of the seriously depleted numbers of our Jewish brethren (as a result of the events of recent years). From the heavenly perspective, year by year, in every era, a new and lofty spiritual light that has never yet radiated is drawn down to this world each year from a higher realm. This obliges us to provide additional "vessels" for this light. In this era in particular, we are coming ever closer to the time of which we have been promised, "In its time I will expedite it." This verse refers to the time of the coming and revelation of Moshiach. The "vessel" for this revelation is the light of Chasidut; the condition for this revelation is the dissemination of the wellsprings of Chasidut. It follows that this light must radiate even to places that until now were "outside" and that everywhere, vessels to contain the light of Moshiach should be expanded. ******************** * A CALL TO ACTION * ******************** The Rebbe's slogan is: "The main thing is the deed." Hence, we present suggestions from the Rebbe's talks of what we can do to complete the Rebbe's work of bringing the Redemption. THE SEVEN UNIVERSAL LAWS OF NOAH: Influence non-Jews to observe the seven universal laws commanded to Noah and his descendants. These include the prohibitions against: adultery, murder, theft, eating the limb of a living animal, saying G-d's name in vain, the obligation to establish a system of justice, and belief in one G-d. ============================================================ = End of Text: Living With Moshiach, Parshat Shelach, 5755 = ============================================================