This year marks 31 years since the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on 3 Tammuz 1994. The question which plagues many people who are unaware of the inner workings of Chabad is, how 31 years after the Rebbe’s physical demise, there has not been a successor?
While there are many technical answers to that question, the truth is that there really is only one true answer. There was a uniqueness to the Rebbe’s leadership that we don’t find by other ascendant Rebbes, and that is the degree to which he remained a chassid of his father-in-law and predecessor throughout his reign at the helm of the Lubavitch organization. In response to hundreds of thousands of requests for blessings, the Rebbe would sign off with the famous words: “azkir al hatziyon,” “I will mention it at the graveside” of my father-in-law. In fact, in the face of mounting pressure within the year of the passing of the Rebbe Rayatz, the Ramash, as the Rebbe was known then, insisted that despite his father-in-law’s passing, he still had a rebbe and, as far as he was concerned, there was no need for a successor. However, ultimately, he would acquiesce and go on to guide, not only Chabad Chassidim, but the world, in navigating a path towards the coming of Moshiach.
This fact is not just an arbitrary piece of history. The onset of the Rebbe’s leadership introduced a new era in Jewish history wherein every individual Jew, regardless of how observant they were or how much Torah they knew, were being tapped as leaders, rather than mere followers. The uniqueness of the Rebbe’s style of leadership was famously encapsulated in a speech by the late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks at the annual Kinus Hashluchim when he said: “A good leader creates followers; a great leader creates leaders.” In fact, in a sicha during the early 1990’s the Rebbe said, and it’s printed in black and white for everyone to see, “The time has come wherein every Jew can be referred to by the honorific ‘Admor,’ which is an acronym for Adonenu Morenu V’rabbenu, a title typically held by rebbes.
The Baal Shem Tov was recorded in Tzava’as Harivash as having said that he had a vision: that prior to the coming of Moshiach, there would be thousands of rebbes, which seems to be a foreshadowing of the era that we have been describing which began with the Rebbe occupying what in retrospect could be characterized as a hybrid state of Rebbe and Chassid simultaneously.
So the response to the question of why 31 years after the Rebbe’s demise has there not been a successor is: there has been a successor, and that is me and you and each and every Jew. The Rebbe, using the age-old Talmudic dictum of shlichus, would send emissaries across the world to every conceivable outpost in order to search out and reconnect every Jew with their heritage. The Talmud teaches that one shaliach can appoint another shaliach even one-hundredfold. This means that anytime one shaliach is tapped by another, they are acting as a direct extension of the Rebbe as his successor.”
A lot of ink has been spilled in trying to capture and characterize the uniqueness of the towering persona of the Rebbe. But the Rebbe himself was not interested in hearing his praises. On one occasion, a petitioner exclaimed: “Rebbe, you are amazing!” Without skipping a beat, the Rebbe responded: “And how does the world benefit at the fact that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is amazing?”
The Zohar famously teaches: “Ispashtusa d’Moshe bechol dara v’dara,” the soul of Moshe is spread out across every generation. Great Tzadikim throughout the generations have always been referred to euphemistically by the name Moshe. We find in the Talmud the statement: “Moshe shapir ka’amres” meaning Moshe has spoken correctly, referring to various Amoraim whose names were not Moshe, but were nevertheless referred to by his name.
The Gemara relates that a convocation of people set out to locate the burial place of Moshe in spite of the fact that the Torah tells us that nobody knows where he is buried until this very day. They stood at the foot of the mountain of Nevo and it appeared to them that he was interred at the top of the mountain. When they climbed to the top, it appeared that he was at the bottom. They left a few on bottom while others went on top, and it remained elusive. The Meor Einayim of Chernobyl famously wrote that the reason why Moshe Rabbenu’s burial place remains unknown is due to the fact that he is interred within the hearts of every Jew.
Despite the fact that the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s burial place is well-known and remains one of the most visited holy sites in America, the fact that the Rebbe’s legacy continues growing over thirty years after his physical passing, the only way to explain that would be to say that, like Moshe, there is an extension of his soul that is interred within the souls of every Jew. This has given us the wherewithal to lead in the manner that he did for over forty years.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 41 Lubavitcher Rebbe Yahrtzeit Edition.
