ISSUE 2!

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26 KISLEV, 5774 NOV 29, 2013

Question: Why should I be expected to be a Chosid? After all, its not my Rebbe, its my fathers Rebbe? - A Mesivta Bochur

Answer: Every Bochur, every time, in the times of the Alter Rebbe, in the times of the Mittler Rebbe, every time, a Bochur who comes from the most Chassidisshe family, has to sit down, sometime, and ask himself, "is this my own thing, or is this my father's thing?" You have to do that. Particularly today. I want to tell you something shocking. If you're not a Baal Teshuva, then you're missing the whole point. There is no other way to be a Jew today. There's no other way to be a Chossid today, except by being a Baal Teshuva. Anybody who thinks that he's Frum from ! birth, he's o! base. It doesn't work, it can't work, it's not good. ! What is a Baal Teshuva? A Bal Teshuva means I am beginning today. A person who is not a Baal Teshuva, has been Frum for a long time, is not beginning today. A person whose family was Frum, "my Zaida was Frum, my Alter Zaida was Frum, my Bubbe was Frum," he's got a long history. A Baal Teshuva means ! I am starting today. Yesterdaynothing. Nothing. It all begins today. That's the only way to wake up in the morning, ! So even if you come from a very Chassidishe family, and your father was a very big Mekusher, it has nothing to do with you. You wake up in the morning, and you have to ask yourself, "is this my life? Is this my Aibeshter? Is this my Chassidus? Am I going to be a Chossid?" It starts today, and it starts with you which means very simply, you have to ask yourself, "am I following something that isn't me, or is this me?" If you decide I am going to start today, this is my thing, now you're a Baal Teshuva. So to be a Baal Teshuva doesn't mean you have to eat Chazer. Does't mean you rst have to be Machallel Shabbos. To be a Baal Teshuva means, I don't care what

happened yesterday, I want to start ! today. From now on, I am going to be a Chossid. In what way is the Rebbe going to be your Rebbe, and not your father's Rebbe? If you're excited about a Mivtza, then the Rebbe is your Rebbe because you're excited about the same things he was excited about. If you feel that you need to change the world, that when you are doing Mitzvos it's because it changes the world and when you don't do an Aveirah it is because you don't want to ruin the world, where did you get that notion from? Who tells you that what you do a!ects the whole world? The Rebbe. You have a guy out some place in a Chabad House. He puts on Tellin once a week, that's all he does. He is the Rebbe's Chossid. You know why? 'Cause the only reason he puts on Tellin is because of the Rebbe. So the Rebbe is his Rebbe. Since the one thing he does in Yiddishkeit comes from the Rebbe, then his Yiddishkeit is from the Rebbe. So he is a Chabad Chossid. We do more than just put on Te!llin. Where does it come from? What inspired you to want to be a Shliach? What inspired you to want to do a Mivtza? What inspired you to care about another Jew? The Rebbe. So he's your Rebbe. Whether you met him, you got a dollar from him or not, you wake up in the morning because of something he said, because of something he taught, so you are his Chossid and he is your Rebbe. Let's put it in di!erent terms. Let's say the Rebbe comes L'maaleh, and Beis Din Shel Maaleh asks the Rebbe, "what did you produce, what did you accomplish in all your years?" Who is the continued on back

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Rebbe going to point to? Who is the Rebbe going to say, "that is what I accomplished"? He's going to point to you. You are the result of his e!orts, of his projects, of his Farbrengens of his Maamarim, of his Sichos. You are his product. So if the Rebbe has something to be proud of, it's you. That's what the Rebbe did all of his life. So if the Rebbe feels you are his products and this is what he claims as his success, how could you not feel the same way? The Frierdikker Rebbe said that when he came to America and he started a few Yeshivos, the Frierdikker Rebbe once said, "if you would know how much I cry about the Bochurim in Russian and the Bochurim here in America, you would realize that all of them could go to the Mikvah in my tears." How much did the Rebbe worry about you? About the children of those fathers who stood by Farbrengens.

26 KISLEV, 5774 NOV 29, 2013

The Frierdikker Rebbe cried a lot. The Rebbe didn't cry in public, but how much did he worry, and how much did he try to inuence your father so he will have an inuence on you. When the Rebbe spoke to your father, he was really talking to you because the Rebbe's plan, or the Rebbe's vision, was much more than one generation. So you can imagine the Rebbe sitting at a Farbrengen, and you can imagine he is looking at somebody sitting there, and the Rebbe's thinking, "what can I say that will make this man inspire his son?" So, as far as the Rebbe's concerned, you are his Chossid. If he is willing to accept you as his Chossid, you should certainly accept him as your Rebbe, not your father's Rebbe. Transcribed excerpt from On The Hot Seat an open forum discussion with Rabbi Manis Friedman and ULY Mesivta, full audio available on 11213.org

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