Weekly Dvar Torah: Chassidus and Marriage
It is so amazing and inspiring that every few days in this month, the month of Kislev, we have another special day, a Chassidisher Yomtov to celebrate, as the saying goes: יום רודף יום = one day chases another, one holiday after another.
Sure, we celebrate and we Farbreng and we say L’chaim, but after all we are Chabad, it’s all about Chabad. And every holiday has tremendous depth to it.
This week is Yud Daled Kislev, the anniversary of the Rebbe’s wedding. The history and the diaries of the wedding and how the Rebbe celebrated his wedding, has been published and they are all available to read. Let’s focus on the deeper relevance.
The Rebbe used a very unique expression when he spoke about his wedding date, the Rebbe said; “this is the day that connected me with you and you with me”, and the Rebbe concluded by saying; “together we will tire out (compel) the Geula (to come)”.
The Rebbe is granting us the ultimate form of connection, and every Chossid wants to be connected. The highest compliment to a Chossid is to call him a Mekusher, one who is connected to the Rebbe.
And here the Rebbe calls us his Mekusharim, we are connected to him! How? By the mere fact that he got married on this day to the Rebbetzin, the daughter of the Frierdiker Rebbe.
This has so much meaning and depth, the Rebbe is saying; this is part of my marriage, the fact that we became connected.
This is not just a technical matter, this expresses the essence of Chassidus. A marriage is all about connecting G-d with this physical world, the manifestation of fulfilling G-d’s desire to make Him a Dira Betachtonim, a dwelling place in this physical lowly world. That happens through marriage.
Therefore, through marriage we became connected, because as the Rebbe said that as a result of this marriage he became Rebbe, and he led us in his quest to make a Dira Betachtonim ever since. The ultimate desire of Hashem is happening thanks to this marriage.
This is a Yichud, a union of a man and a woman, a Yichud of G-d and the world. This is a direct result of the union between the Rebbe and us, his Chassidim.
Perhaps this is why the Sheva Brochos of the Rebbe took place on Yud Tes Kislev, because this day of Rosh Hashana for Chassidus, is the most appropriate day to celebrate the fulfillment of the goal of Chassidus started by the Alter Rebbe.
Chabad is the most self-contradictory Chassidus; on the one hand it demands Avoda, self-refinement, and constant self-evaluation in order to grow. On the other hand, Chabad values even one single Mitzvah of one Jew who has never done another Mitzvah in his life.
On the surface we could say what’s new? Don’t we find this all in Torah and earlier Chassidic sources? But in reality, this became part of Chabad routine by the Rebbe, and not before.
Sure, the Alter Rebbe wrote in Tanya about the value of every Mitzvah and the preciousness of every Jewish soul, but the one who brought it to life on a grand scale, is our Rebbe.
An example we can use is the Mitzvah of Hakhel, the Rebbe is the one who brought to life this Mitzvah after thousands of years that it lay dormant. The Rebbe is the one who introduced the whole idea of Shnas Hakhel, a “year” of Hakhel, because the Rebbe saw how this Mitzvah is all about our connecting with G-d which is an everlasting thing, and cannot be limited to just one night.
The Rebbe did not invent Hakhel, but the Rebbe brought it to life and showed how fundamental Hakhel is to Yiddishkeit, that one wonders what happened for all these thousands of years.
The beautiful chain link of seven generations come to full fruition through this day of marriage. And the Rebbe is kind enough to include us in this game plan.
The Rebbe’s teachings are not based on clichés that inspire and get us to work, they are the culmination of deep and broad teachings of Chassidus started by the Alter Rebbe, which was developed over seven generations in order to be implemented today by our Rebbe.
And the Rebbe connects it with bringing Moshiach, because this whole process had to evolve over the years, and only when we came closer to Moshiach are we able to implement this in real life.
Chassidus taught us how to understand G-d, and how to appreciate a Jew, and how by doing a Mitzvah we create a unity of G-d with the Jew, and the Rebbe not only published all the Chassidus which gives us this wisdom, but he also guided us to bring it down to action.
This is the ultimate union, which is what a wedding is all about, a union between a Jew and G-d. And through this wedding we are preparing the ultimate wedding of Hashem with the Jewish people, as Moshiach told the Baal Shem Tov that “when your wellsprings will spread forth I will come”.
Was there ever a better and more appropriate time than now?
Have a union of a Shabbos,
Gut Shabbos, Gut Yomtov, לשנה טובה בלימוד החסידות ודרכי החסידות תכתבו ותחתמו
Rabbi Yosef Katzman
