Leadership of Light
Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the day my teacher and mentor the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, assumed leadership of the Chabad movement in 1950.
For a glimpse into the Rebbe's extraordinary leadership, I share the following short story:
Rabbi Moshe Hecht had been the Chabad rabbi in New Haven, Connecticut, since 1941. The demands on him grew year by year, with a synagogue, a school, a yeshiva and many other responsibilities that required a staff several times that which he could afford.
In 1974, he wrote a letter to the Rebbe complaining that in 33 years of work he felt he was back at the same place as when he started and that he simply could not continue.
He signed off the letter with a heart-rending plea that “the Rebbe should please help and do all he can.”
The Rebbe responded—not with counsel, but with light:
I’ve already followed your advice [to help you].
I’ve sent Rabbi Moshe Hecht to New Haven in 1941. But it appears from your letter and from those preceding it that you still are not familiar with him and with the capabilities with which this person is endowed.
Whatever the case, you should get to know him now.
If you do, immediately, everything will change—your mood, your trust in G‑d, everyday happiness, etc.
The Rebbe empowered every individual to live up to their fullest potential, guiding them to get in touch with their true self, the ‘self’ one may have not yet come in contact with before.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky