Ronnie Rendel's Blog on Kabbalah, Business, and Life

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This coming Erev Pesach, 14 Nissan 5770, or this March 29th, will be the 5770th day since “Gimmel Tammuz” (the 3rd of Tammuz, the date the Lubavitcher Rebbe passed, and the date that Chabad Chassidus became divided into 2 camps).

This means one day per year since the Creation of the world (how is that you ask, that’s for a different section, but for now just take my word on this one).  Every day since the Histalkus rectifying one day in creation.  Until they meet – the year 5770 is rectified on day 14 Nissan 5770.

So what exactly was affected during these 5770 days?  Well, first of all, the number 770 for this year (Tav, Shin, Ayin) represents the Sefirotic Arrangement known as Hod of Hod.  Suffice it for us, Hod of Hod represents kabbalistically the subject of Lag BaOmer – which is both the celebration of the revelation of the secrets of the Torah in the Zohar by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, as well as the celebration (Hilula) of the passing of the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai – who was the Moshe Rabeinu of his generation.

All of these subjects connect through the Kabbalistic meaning of Lag BaOmer, and hence the structure of Hod of Hod.  As the Alter Rebbe brings in his Kabbalistic Siddur, Lag BaOmer is a point in a Kabbalistic universal space.  It is a point of completion of the rectification of the Emotive Attributes.  To us, this means the end of our rectification of our internal Emotive Attributes, or those sub conscious “currents” that define our later behavior in our thoughts, speech, and actions.

This point of the end of rectification (Gmar HaTikun) is also represented in the dimension of Time, and is implemented through the year 770 of the 6th Millenium.  Since the purpose of the 6th Millenium (beginning with the year 1240 to the Common Era) is to rectify the emotive attributes as they are expressed in interpersonal communication, this point (Hod of Hod) in the 6th Millenium becomes one of the most powerful points in time throughout history.

What does that mean for us?  The practical application of the Kabbalah mentioned above is that our perfection of our interpersonal relationships is based on tolerance of opposites.  This is a critical concept in Kabbalah and is explained in depth in the Alter Rebbe’s Torah Or on Parshas VaYislach.  For our purposes, the process of building and creativity are based on the creation of two opposites (Thesis and Antithesis) and combining them (Synthesis).  This is true in sexual relationships and the birth of offspring, as well as formation of new ideas and concepts.  This is also true in Torah, which is the blueprint of creation, and hence those things that exist in creation only exist through their existence in Torah.

Within the entire body of the Torah (from the Scripture to the Laws, Talmud, and Kabbalah) no subject is more vague then the Laws and Kabbalah of the Coming of Moshiach.  While most of Kabbalah discusses the process of Redemption, in the Laws, Moshiach and Redemption are summarized (and only in general rules) in the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah.  There, the Rambam outlines the process of the True and Complete Redemption by Moshiach – as:

1) A king will arise from the House of David

2) Practicing Torah and Mitzvos like his ancestor David

3) Fight the “wars of G-d” and win

4) Build the 3rd Temple in its place

5) In-gathers the Jewish exiles back to the Land of Israel

If someone did all of the above then he is certainly Moshiach, which is a very practical and necessary ruling in Jewish Law.  And here’s why.  The King Moshiach will have the halachic authority of a Jewish King, which carries with is many halachic implications, including giving the king the right to kill.  For this reason, throughout generations of exile, the Jewish People guarded the Laws of Moshiach so that when the time comes, immediately now,  we would be able to recognize the King Moshiach.

So, what does all this mean after Gimmel Tammuz, after the passing of the Rebbe, whom EVERYONE believed was Moshiach (and according to the Rambam’s Laws of Moshiach was actually considered a “potential Moshiach.”  And then came Gimmel Tammuz, after almost 3 years of the Rebbe giving discourses that shocked the very being of Chossidim, explaining that the redemption is here, the redemption started, and elaborating on personal levels of divine service that in previous generations were only discussed among the greatest Kabbalists and holy men.

So now Chabad is “split” into two camps – those advocating that the Rebbe never passed, the funeral was a hokes, and that the Rebbe is alive in a physical body only we can’t see him.  Sounds crazy, right?  Not so fast.  There’s more true with the above statements then there is false, but that’s for later.

On the other hand are the Chossidim (usually those people that are in daily contact with the “outside world” outside of Crown Heights, Brooklyn), that are careful to use the terms “Of Blessed Memory” every time they mention the Rebbe’s name.  They are experiencing a tremendous loss, looking at the days before Gimmel Tammuz as the “good old days” when we daw the Rebbe and heard discourses, etc.  They consider Gimmel Tammuz to be a great spiritual holocaust, G-d forbid.

Needless to say, the two camps (the second being considerably larger then the first by the way) got into some heated debates and sometimes a little bit of fighting too.  But why?  What does the Rebbe want from us, his Chossidim right now?  What does G-d want from us?  To bring Moshiach and the True and Complete Redemption immediately now.

You must understand that Chabad Chossidim are the best and most elite group of orthodox religious Jews anywhere int he world, and not by our own merit or even choice.  The fact is that the Rabbeim of Chabad have invested all they have in the Chossidim, and in fact departed from the Chossidic Rebbes of other dynasties in insisting that their Chossidim develop their own spiritual powers (up to the performance of miracles) through their own toil in spiritual development, not relying on the riotousness of the Tzadik, or the Rebbe.

Chabad Chassidus is the richest Torah revealed since the Zohar and the Writings of the Arizal, and in many ways is greater then them.  The “problem” with learning Kabbalah has always been that Kabbalah texts were written using cryptic analogies that mean very little to the uninitiated.  This included all Jews but those elite scholars who maintained the traditions of the holy prophets dating back to Moses, and even before him to Abraham and even Adam HaRishon.  For the rest of the Jews, even some of the greatest Talmudic scholars, the codes of Kabbalah remained nothing more then mystical terms with some vague connection to Scripture.

In previous generations, a Kabbalist must have proven his scholarship and purity before engaging in the practices and teachings of Kabbalah.  Learning them in the manner of “receiving chapter headings” – the initiate would learn short pessages packed with wisdom and meaning, and would be left to examine and deduce new wisdom from those writings.  This had to be done, of course, under the close supervision of a master who has acquired the traditions of the prophets.  Slowly, the initiate would develop abstract thinking capabilities and later even Holy Spirit, through the practice and the teachings of Kabbalah.

The Baal Shem Tov, the father of the Chassidic movement close to 300 years ago, revolutionized and reinvigorated Judaism with the teaching of Kabbalah principles to the most common Jews.  The Baal Shem Tov also instituted many practices for all Jews that were deeply rooted in Kabbalistic practices, and later revealed many Kabbalistic practices for the average Jew.  However, by the Baal Shem Tov, these teachings were still mystical and the teachings of Kabbalah still could not be understood by a common person.

Of all the Baal Shem Tov’s students, and all of the Rav HaMagid – the successor to the Baal Shem Tov, the task of “bringing G-dly wisdom into a human intellect” was explicitly given to the Alter Rebbe, which he accomplished through the Sefer HaTanya – the book of Tanya.  The publishing of the Tanya was the first time that it was possible for an average G-d Fearing Jew to make use of the deepest teachings of Kabbalah, and hence the Torah.  This was the first generation of Chabad Chassidus.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe was the 7th generation to the Alter Rebbe, and of all the Rebbeim, the Rebbe gave his Chassidim everything.  In the late 1980′s the Rebbe started discussing Moshiach more and more.  As mentioned before, the subject of Moshiach and Redemption was far from a main subject in Judaism, especially after some unpleasant incidents with false Messiahs in the 17th century…  The Lubavitcher Rebbe, following his predecessor’s example, elaborated more and more on the anticipated and overdue final redemption of the Jews from exile and rebuilding of the 3rd Temple by Moshiach.  In the 1980′s this took on new intensity, much to the opposition of many of Judaism’s main stream orthodox rabbis.  Incidentally, those same streams of Judaism today herald the imminent coming of Moshiach, 30 years later.

In 1990, the Rebbe intensified the message of the imminent redemption even further, and in 1991 (5751) the Rebbe announced on several opportunities that “the time of your redemption has arrived.”  Much more on this in the book Besoros HaGeulah, also available in English.  From that point on, we are living during “the redemption”.

But it has been 20 years since the anouncement of redemption, and we are still in exile, both a spiritual exile (where G-dliness is not openly revealed in the world and bad things still happen to good people) and a physical exile from control over Eretz Yisroel and the 3rd Temple.  Moreover, since the 3rd of Tammuz (Gimmel Tammuz) 5754 we cannot see the Rebbe anymore, and the discourses and public leadership of the Rebbe over Chabad has ceased.  But did the Rebbe’s leadership cease?  Is this the end of the 9 generations from the Baal Shem Tov?  Certainly it isn’t.  Should Chabad elect an 8th Rebbe to regain public leadership?  The very thought is insulting to a Chabad Chassid.  Did we lose the Rebbe?  Certainly not.

So what’s going on?  That’s what we have been asking ourselves for more then 15 years, specifically 5770 days on the 14th of Nissan.  The fact is that this division in Chabad is based on a dispute in Torah Law and Kabbalah on the subject of Moshiach and Redemption.  Torah is the blueprint for creation, like we said before, and therefore, as the Rebbe says on the discourse of Tzariah-Metzorah 5751 that the fastest and easiest way to bring about the redemption by Moshiach is by learning specifically those subjects in Torah that discuss Moshiach and Redemption.

Now, anyone who is familiar with Torah scholarship knows that the main form of study in the Torah is the establishment of two conflicting arguments and reconciling them.  The reason for this is based on a Kabbalistic concept of “rectifying the Lights of Tohu utilizing Vessels of Tikkun”.  This happens to be the same process guiding the messianic redemption, and is a deep study in its own right.  For our purposes here, it’s enough to understand that the formation of two opposing camps and the meditation of the two opposite opinions (thises and antithesis as we mentioned before) is the best way to reveal a new concept – or a new creation.

In other words, to bring about the redemption, we must reconcile the opposites in the Torah (both Law and Kabbalah, but leveraging the open knowledge of Kabbalah, as we know that the publishing of the knowledge of Kabbalah is the guiding force behind the redemption) to advance in the redemption.  And yes, redemption is a process (just read the other posts on redemption as a process and the Zohar timelines for redemption, which we are reaching the climax of.)

The Rebbe is here with us in a very real and even physical way, even after his passing.  How this is so is well explained in other places and I should probably dedicate a separate posting for it).  With that said, we cannot see the Rebbe, and in many ways (including practical legal perspectives including the saying of Kaddish on the Rebbe’s Yertzeit) the Rebbe, like every other man except Chanoch and Eliyahu HaNavi, has also passed.  And yes, the Rebbe can and most probably will be revealed again.  And yes, this probably has a lot to do with a critical point in the coming of Moshiach “process”, and yes it could be any second, and yes – it will probably have something to do with the Rising of the Dead.  Here’s is where it gets interesting and certainly deserves its own post.

This entry was posted on March 8, 2010 at 6:26 pm and is filed under Kabbalah of Moshiach, Moshiach Coming in 5770, Uncategorized, תש"ע 5770 גיךוי ל"ג בעונר. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: 5770, baal shem tov, Chabad, Kabbalah, lubavitcher rebbe, messianic movement, moshiach, moshiach coming, moshiach controversy, redemption, zohar