If you walked into any Chabad high school and observed the students in the study of Chassidus, you would hear the employment of a lexicon that is nearly unknown to those unfamiliar with this genre of Torah study. Students might be discussing subjects such as the loftiest realms of the spiritual cosmos with the ease of a tourist who is describing a recent destination that they visited. These young men and women are as comfortable with the doctrine of Tzimtzum (an abstract Kabbalistic concept that explains how a finite world comes from an Infinite Divine Energy) as they are talking about the weather or current events. Students of Chassidus are elbow deep in the type of character analysis and refinement that would otherwise be reserved for professionals in that field. When they read a Torah or Talmud narrative, they are as likely to relate to it on the esoteric level as they would on the level of the straightforward.
How did this happen? How were concepts that were reserved for the select few over thousands of years made available to all who seek them? How did a mindset that took millennia to develop within the greatest Tzadikim, become the natural perspective of teenagers?
This is the story of Yud Shevat – the 10th of Shevat, a day that marks a key turning point in open access Judaism. On Shabbat morning, the 10th of Shevat, 1950 the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe passed away at the age of 69. That Friday he released an essay based on a talk that he had given years earlier, which he reworked for publication in honor of his grandmother’s yahrtzeit (the 10th of Shevat).
In the essay he employs an analogy of a king who is embroiled in a war. In the interest of victory, the king expends all resources necessary. He is even willing to tap into the greatest treasures that were kept hidden for generations in the storehouses of the Kingdom.
The Previous Rebbe explains that this is a reference to the battle against exile/evil. Hashem created a world that appears to be at a disconnect with its creator, with the intent that it would be transformed through human effort into a “dwelling for the Divine.” As the war becomes more intense, greater resources are needed to ensure victory. In the past 300 hundred years, the Torah’s deepest secrets, the precious gems of the Divine storehouse, have been made increasingly more accessible. This effort began with the Baal Shem Tov. It was taken to new heights with the founding of the Chabad movement. Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the Alter Rebbe, used accessible language of human intelligence to present these lofty ideas. In the 1940s these teachings started to get translated into additional languages, such as English. The Rebbe made this effort the mandate of his leadership, making the deepest concepts of Torah accessible to the greatest extent. To this end he was willing to use any method and means available that would advance the cause. He established centers around the world. He embraced the use of technology. He encouraged innovation and initiative on the part of his Chassidim to discover new methods and new frontiers.
Today a person can access these precious treasures anywhere and anytime. They are available in print form, digital form, videos, podcasts, live streams, posts, tweets, and tiktok reels. Hashem has empowered us. We are ready for victory. Let’s roll!
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin