This past week I spent twenty-four hours in the presence of thousands of people from around the world. This was not at some fancy conference center; it was at a cemetery in Queens, New York. Granted, this cemetery is not just any cemetery—it is the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This place is simply known as the Ohel (the tent).
Why are men, women, and children from all walks of life coming to spend a few minutes at the Ohel on the Rebbe’s yahrtzeit? I met Jews from France, Bangkok, Israel, and across the U.S. They were there at all hours of the day and night. Even at 2 a.m. there was a line to get into the Ohel just to spend two minutes at the Rebbe’s resting place to say a prayer.
Why do these twenty-four hours mean so much to so many people, twenty-three years after his passing?
I will attempt to shed some light on this by explaining an enigma from this week’s Torah portion, Chukat.
This week’s portion discusses how the Jews wanted to go to the Promised Land of Israel, but in order to do so they had to pass through another people’s land. To get permission to do so, Moses sent messengers to the King of Edom asking for permission, which was not granted. Later in the portion we are told that the Jews sent messengers to Sichon, the King of Amori, but again permission was not granted.
Why does the Torah say that the first time messengers were sent, that Moses sent them, yet the second time, the Jews sent them? Does it really make a difference who sent them? After all, Moses was the leader of the Jewish people, which means that he was acting on their behalf. So it really means the same thing. Yet if it is so simple, then why does the Torah go back and forth?
Rashi, the famous classic commentator, teaches us a powerful lesson. He says: Moses, the leader of the Jews, and the Jews, are one! There is no separation between Moses as leader and Moses as an individual. Therefore, Moses’s essence and the essence of the Jewish people are one.
Not many leaders in history are like that. Many in leadership positions feel it is an occupation, a job, a responsibility, and perhaps even a burden. Only for a select few in history is it their life.
I am not a judge of history who can decide who is a leader like Moses and who isn’t, but the only explanation that I can come up with to explain why thousands of people would stand for hours to visit the Rebbe’s gravesite, is because they feel a connection to him. They feel that the Rebbe cared – and on a spiritual level still cares – for them. The Rebbe was a person whose life was dedicated to every single Jew from every walk of life without any judgement whatsoever.
I would like to share a story with you.
In the mid 1950s, the Chabad community in Russia was working covertly teaching Jews Torah. Some were scared that the Communists would catch them, and recommended that they limit their “outreach” to “in-reach,” meaning that they should only teach their own. Why risk being sent to prison for the “Bukharin Jews?” They decided to ask the Rebbe for advice. Since they could only write to those in the U.S. in code, they asked the Rebbe whether they should polish their “white shoes” only, or also their “brown shoes.” The response that they received was, “Shoes are shoes; who cares the color?”
The Rebbe’s love for every Jew was real. It was sincere. He cared. The evidence is clear twenty-three years later.