Weekly Dvar Torah: Simcha After Simcha, And a Rebbe Who Keeps Us Close

When Hashem blesses you with a Simcha, He blesses you with even more Simcha.

This past week was one of those weeks.

We celebrated the wedding of our daughter. It was magnificent, full of joy, dancing, tears, family, gratitude. Then came Shabbos Sheva Brochos. The entire family gathered together. All my children and grandchildren were there. The Gopin side of the family, their children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren. A house overflowing. A Shabbos overflowing. Pure Jewish joy.

And then, as often happens in life, reality intervened.

We were informed that a storm was coming. Suddenly everyone scrambled to get home. Flights were changed, delayed, rescheduled. Some made it out in time. Others did not. One of my children, the Kalmenson family members, who needed to return to London, England, had their flight canceled, once, twice, three times. What was meant to be a smooth return turned into an extended stay.

Not comfortable. Not convenient.

But then something dawned on us.

The day they were meant to return to London was the day before my grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. The plan had been simple: he would celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in London, and next week we would travel there for the larger celebration with the Chabad community in Central London, where they serve as Shluchim.

But now he was stuck in New York.

And suddenly I realized — this is the day of his Bar Mitzvah. He needs an Aliyah. He needs to review the Maamar for his Bar Mitzvah. Where will this take place?

And then it hit me.

What an opportunity.

He could receive his Bar Mitzvah Aliyah in 770, in the Rebbe’s room.

Quickly, arrangements were made. He received his Aliyah. Afterwards, we sat in the Rebbe’s shul, and he repeated the Chassidic discourse for his Bar Mitzvah right there in 770.

Wow.

What an “accident.”

What a storm.

What Hashgacha Pratis.

The Baal Shem Tov taught that everything is by Divine Providence. Nothing is random. If you see something, you must learn from it. The Alter Rebbe writes in Tanya that the entire world was created for you, and everything that happens is to help you serve Hashem properly and to receive His blessings.

So what are we meant to learn from this?

When we celebrated quietly at home afterward, I said to my grandson: You should realize something. The storm, the cancellations, the confusion, all of it happened for one reason. The Rebbe wanted you close. He was saying: “Don’t leave yet. I want you to celebrate your Bar Mitzvah with me.”

In the most roundabout way, you received an invitation.

And it worked.

You stood in the Rebbe’s shul. You celebrated your becoming a Bar Mitzvah in his presence.

And that brought me to this week’s Parsha, Parshas Tetzaveh.

This is the only Parsha from the time Moshe Rabbeinu is born until the end of the Torah where his name does not appear. It is also the week of Moshe’s Yahrzeit, the seventh of Adar. His name is absent. We feel his absence.

Yet the Parsha begins: “V’atah Tetzaveh”, “And you shall command.”

Hashem speaks to Moshe not by name, but by essence. “You.”

The Zohar tells us that in every generation there is a Moshe. From the day Hashem said that the Jewish people will believe in Him and in Moshe His servant, we understand that a Jewish leader is not an accessory. He is central to Torah and to Jewish life.

Over the generations, this became expressed in the relationship of Chassidim and their Rebbe. The Baal Shem Tov revealed this model. The Alter Rebbe established Chabad. Our Rebbe is the seventh Rebbe.

And now we live in a time where we do not see him. We experience a certain concealment. A certain darkness.

But absence of name is not absence of essence.

Just like Moshe in Parshas Tetzaveh, unnamed, yet fully present, so too our Rebbe. We do not see him face-to-face. We cannot call him by name in the way we once did. Yet we feel his guidance, his blessings, his leadership constantly.

When we need a Bracha, we go to the Ohel. We feel his presence. We feel his care.

And sometimes, if we are sensitive enough, we feel that he reaches out first.

In this case, my grandson did not plan to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in 770. The Rebbe “arranged” it. Through a storm. Through canceled flights. Through inconvenience.

The Talmud relates that Haman once thought the seventh of Adar was a bad omen for the Jews because it was the day Moshe died. But he forgot something — it was also the day Moshe was born.

Doesn’t death cancel birth?

Rashi answers: No. The birth cancels out the death.

Moshe’s birth can never be canceled.

In fact, sometimes it is only after a leader passes that we fully grasp who he was and what he accomplished. At birth, we do not yet know the impact. After a lifetime, and even more so after his passing, the legacy becomes clearer, stronger, deeper.

The passing does not erase the birth. It reveals its power.

Our connection with the Rebbe is like that. Even if we do not see him, the connection cannot be erased. It is woven into who we are.

This week we move from Simcha to Simcha. From wedding to Bar Mitzvah. Next week, we will travel to London to celebrate with the community. And after that, we will celebrate an Upsherin of one, and the Bas Mitzvah of another grandchild in Ellenville.

Simcha after Simcha.

Blessing after blessing.

And beneath it all, connection.

Connection to our children. Connection to Torah. Connection to our leader.

If we stay connected, if we follow the Rebbe’s guidance, walk in his path, live the mission he gave us, we will be blessed.

And his mission is clear.

To bring Moshiach.

When we live with that clarity, when we build Jewish homes, celebrate Bar Mitzvahs in holiness, gather in 770, teach Torah, raise children and grandchildren in his ways, we are continuing Moshe. We are continuing the Rebbe.

And just as Moshe’s birth can never be canceled, so too our connection can never be broken.

May we continue to go from Simcha to Simcha. May our children and grandchildren remain connected. May the blessings continue to flow.

And may we merit the ultimate Simcha, the revelation of Moshiach very soon, when what is now concealed will be openly revealed, and we will understand that every storm, every delay, every unexpected turn was part of a loving invitation.

Have a Shabbos of Keeping close, Connected, and full of Simcha,
Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Yosef Katzman