THE REBBE'S PROPHECY B"H THE REBBE'S PROPHECY * Published By Lubavitch Shluchim Conferences On The Moshiach Campaign, Committee For The Blind * * * 5756/1996 ********************************************* * 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 ****************** * INTRODUCTION * ****************** We are pleased to present, to the visually impaired and the blind, our publication, "The Rebbe's Prophecy." * This Shabbat, Parshat Shoftim, is five years since 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. * 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 28 Menachem-Av, 5756 Brooklyn, New York THE FOLLOWING IS ADAPTED FROM THE REBBE'S TALK, ON SHABBAT PARSHAT SHOFTIM, 5751, As Edited by the Rebbe, and Printed in Sefer Hasichot 5751, Vol. 2 (Pp. 780-795): Our Torah portion, Shoftim, opens with the command, "Judges and officers you shall place at all your gates." The wording is reminiscent of, but differs from, the one that we say three times daily in the silent Amida prayer, taken from the prophet of Redemption, Isaiah, "Return your judges as of old and your advisors as in the beginning." We can well understand why the word "officers" is not part of the promise of the Redemption, for officers enforce the law and will therefore not be necessary at a time when the very existence of evil will be banished from the earth. Here we see the difference between the times of exile and the times of Redemption. In our portion, the Torah links the judges to officers, indicating that their rulership is by decree and dependent on enforcement. In the Redemption, soon to come, the judges will be seen more as advisors as the people will be convinced more of the personal benefit that is derived from compliance. This feeling develops the closeness between judge and judged, that is implied in the wording of Isaiah, "your judges" in the second person. The way this concept is worded in the Torah is associated with the nature of the Torah itself, it being a direct revelation of the will and wisdom of the Al-mighty, a decree from Above, as it were. On the other hand the words of the Prophets, though also emanating from G-d, are more clearly associated with the human mind, which transmits them and thus are more similar to the judge as advisor mentioned before. Indeed part of the role assumed by the prophets of each generation has been to care for the spiritual and even material needs of the people. Our current portion is also the source of Maimonides' ruling that the belief in human prophets is a fundamental of Judaism. In his letter to Yemen, Maimonides describes "Prophecy returns to Israel" as a preparation to the Redemption particularly in the personage of Moshiach who is to be "close in prophecy to Moshe." IT IS THEREFORE ESSENTIAL TO CONVEY TO THE WORLD THAT THERE ARE HUMAN BEINGS IN OUR TIMES WHO HAVE BEEN ENDOWED WITH PROPHECY, THAT WE HAVE A POSITIVE COMMANDMENT TO OBEY THEM ONCE ESTABLISHED AS SUCH. PARTICULARLY IN THE MAJOR PROPHECY THAT ALL REQUIRED CONDITIONS FOR THE COMING OF MOSHIACH HAVE BEEN MET AND THAT WE SHOULD PREPARE TO GREET THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IMMEDIATELY TO UNFOLD. ********************************************* * 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 FOLLOWING IS ADAPTED FROM THE REBBE'S TALK, ON SHABBAT PARSHAT BALAK, 5717, As Edited by the Rebbe, and Printed in "Likutei Sichot" Vol 2 (Pp. 588-9): Of all the prophecies in Scripture that refer to the messianic era, the one contained in the Torah portion of Balak, is most unusual in that it came from Bilaam, a gentile prophet. Bilaam, the foremost prophet of his time, was forced against his will to foretell the downfall of the nations of the world and the ultimate ascendancy of the Jewish people. The very fact that this prophecy is included in our holy Torah indicates its special significance; indeed, it contains a distinct advantage precisely because it was said by a non-Jew. For when Moshiach comes the Jewish people will no longer be subservient to the nations; on the contrary, the gentile leaders will vie with one another for the privilege of serving the Jews! Thus, the prophecy of Bilaam concerning the Final Redemption not only gave the Children of Israel cause for rejoicing over their future, it actually afforded them a "taste" of the way things will be in the messianic era. As far as prophecy itself is concerned, our Sages foretold its reoccurrence among the Jewish people before Moshiach's arrival according to the following chronology: Commenting on the verse in the Torah portion of Balak, "At the proper time shall it be said to Jacob and to Israel, what G-d has wrought," Maimonides noted that prophecy would return to Israel after "the proper time" had elapsed after Bilaam, i.e., after the same number of years as had passed since the creation of the world until his prophecy. Bilaam's prophecy was said in the year 2488; 2488 years after that, in the year 4976, prophecy was destined to return to the Jewish people. In fact we find that this was indeed the case, for it was then that prophetic luminaries began to appear on the Jewish horizon --Rabbi Shmuel Hanavi, Rabbi Elazar Baal "Harokeach," Nachmanides, the Ravad (Rabbi Abraham ben David), Rabbi Ezra Hanavi and Rabbi Yehuda the Chasid, and others. More generations passed until the birth of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chasidut, and his successor, the Maggid of Mezeritch, about whom it was said that they "could see from one end of the world to the other." The following generation produced Rabbi Shneur Zalman, who formulated Chabad Chasidut. Had he lived in the times of our prophets he would have been on a par with them; moreover, this chain of prophecy continued from one Chabad leader to the next, until the present day [when the Rebbe has prophesied that Moshiach's arrival is imminent]. The return of prophecy to the Jewish people is therefore both a prerequisite and preparation for the messianic era, which is due to begin at any moment. * * * * WHAT MAKES THE REBBE'S DECLARATION --THAT MOSHIACH'S ARRIVAL IS IMMINENT AND THE TIME FOR THE REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED-- DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF GREAT LEADERS OF PREVIOUS GENERATIONS? The Jewish people have believed in and awaited Moshiach's coming since the beginning of our nation. In numerous instances throughout Jewish history, tzaddikim (righteous people) of various generations pointed to hints in the Torah that the promised Redemption was near at hand. Sensing the special opportunity for Moshiach's coming, they motivated the Jewish people to study more Torah, do more mitzvot and repent in the hope that these actions would be what was needed to make the Redemption happen. In the times of the Previous Rebbe, the anticipation for the Redemption was truly tangible. The Previous Rebbe issued an urgent call to world Jewry: "Immediate repentance brings immediate Redemption." Even when the Rebbe accepted the leadership in 1950, though he said unequivocally that our generation is the last generation to live in exile and the first generation of the Redemption, he did not say that we had yet reached the moment of Redemption. Only forty years later, after sending thousands of emissaries around the world, initiating the Mitzvah Campaigns to reinvigorate Jewish observance, and inspiring millions, did the Rebbe proclaim, "The time of our Redemption has arrived." This is a totally different message that has never before been enunciated in the history of the Jewish people. The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) tells us that in a time when we will witness certain events (similar to those that we saw during the time of the Gulf War), Moshiach will tell the Jewish people that the time of the Redemption has arrived. This is not a hope, a wish, or a special opportunity, but a call to prepare to greet Moshiach. The Rebbe has never given a date. But the Rebbe has said that the time is now. The question each of us must ask ourselves is not, "When is Moshiach coming?" but rather, "Am I ready for Moshiach's coming today!" ======================================= * End of Text: "THE REBBE'S PROPHECY" * =======================================