All We Have are the Words of בן עמרם

Jews are believers and children of believers.

There exist moments in a chassid’s life when reminders help him stand firm about a supernatural belief inspired by his rabbi, one that otherwise would fly in the face of reality were we to measure reality simply with our fleshy receptors. Such reminders keep us separate from non-believers who would consider things strictly from Nature’s perspective. A Jew, after all, wears supernatural lenses.

That this rabbi happens to be the Rebbe of Lubavitch is not insignificant, for he is the Moses of OUR Generation!

We have such a reminder in this week’s Korach portion of the Torah.

During an argument between Aaron and the Angel of Death, we overhear Aaron say to the Angel something that ought not escape our attention. He said (see Rashi, Num. 17:13),

אין משה אומר כלום מלבו אלא מפי הגבורה

"Moses (of the generation) does not say anything of his own but that which he hears from God!”

Note how Aaron does not simply make a positive statement. Rather, he makes his point more emphatically. Note his assertion's incisive, unequivocal and resolute tenor - “does not say anything but”!

You can see the difference when you compare these two statements:
I drink tea.
I drink nothing but tea.
The latter uses the assertive language of exclusivity.

Similarly in our case. The Rebbe’s words continue to resonate with his chassidim (much more so than with those who were distant from him). We know the Rebbe spoke only that which the divine wanted him to say, to the point of excluding anything else!

He told us we are beyond the threshold of the Era of Redemption! Do we SEE Redemption? What we see or don’t see does not change the facts.

He also implored us to “open our eyes” to see the Redemptive events unfold - at least with our mind’s eye! He wanted us to believe him even though the world did not SEEM to be in the state he said it was in.

The Rebbe never gave false forecasts. And with regard to such a grand assertion - that we have entered the Era of Redemption - only a fool can think the Rebbe did not know what he was speaking about, or that he made a mistake, or that he was really just praying.

All the Rebbe said will happen will happen. If only things were more clearly visible for us already now!

(The Rambam too spoke of the first phase of Geulah as proceeding under the guise of "normalcy" - "עולם כמנהגו נוהג" [Melachim 12:1]. Thus we hear sad news too, such as the kidnapping of Jewish boys by scum of the earth. Apparently, while the view among the trees remains painful, the view from above the jungle delivers a rosy picture nevertheless and tells an altogether different story.)