The Secret Behind Chabad

will not just evolve beasts trying to survive and survival of the fittest is not the driving ethos but essentially the concept of transcendence and reaching great aspirations and Noble goals hello [Music] my name is Simon Jacobson I'm born and bred in Crown Heights USA let's begin by defining what is Chabad so the word itself is a Hebrew and acronym for the three words which refers to the three cognitive faculties that every human being has we conceive develop and process and come to the conclusion of any concept so that's Shabbat why is it called Chabad because Chabad is a philosophy and I would also say psychology that uses the mind's powerful resource to reflect process try to understand ourselves our souls and our relationship with God and ultimately apply it to our emotions our feelings so essentially it's emotions that are being Guided by the mind and then brought into Behavior into action so it's really a comprehensive system of how to actualize your personal mission in life why you were sent to this world understanding your role in dispensable role in God's larger plan so the Chabad movement technically was established by rabbis we're talking about late 18th century and this was in white Russia and Belarus where he established a full comprehensive system called a philosophical slash mystical slash psychological movement as he received it from his great teacher the magnet of his Rich who in turn received from the Great balsamtov and he established this uh this this system which then was passed on generation after generation for seven generations with Arabic the Seventh Generation an unbroken chain that moved from Russia and to Europe and ultimately to the United States and it wasn't just a philosophy it was of course one that was being taught in a practical way to students and disciples what are sometimes known as the followers but they're more than just followers they were empowered with these teachings to go out and be leaders each in their respective communities so in the earlier generations of the Chabad movement it was perhaps a lot more insulated a lot more limited but as technology and travel expanded so did the the different Rebus the Reba being the leader in each respective generation and ultimately the seventh in this dynasty where today we know khabar is a movement a global movement with little Chabad emissaries and ambassadors spread from one corner of the world to the next in every continent every major city even minor cities essentially propagating and teaching the message of Chabad which is that with our minds and our hearts and our actions we can transform and we must transform the corner of our world into a more refined more civilized a more spiritual Place philosophy is not just a concept an ideology it's also a practical movement of communities all over the world living by these principles and acting and living and acting on them as well building schools teaching educating inspiring and Illuminating everyone they come in contact with so I think it's important to distinguish between khasidom and hasidism because now in every Community there are cult there's a culture many people first reaction to husted they say oh those guys that wear white shirts long black coats some wear side curls curls on their what's called payout on their on their faces long beards that's that's a culture and there there are differences between difficultism they wear different garments as we find in different cultures but I want to focus is citizen is a way of life and it's also a a way of thinking it's a school of thought so what Chabad focus on most as its name implies is on the philosophical I like to call the philosophical psychological approach and this is not meant to be a critique or meant to be comparing it just meant to spell it out so the founder what he emphasized was a very comprehensive system it wasn't just a few short thoughts which you'll find in many other Hasidic movements it was giving a big picture like a panorama of how we look at the global picture of life of the cosmos of our relationship with each other and our relationship with God so one of the things that really stands out which means teachings you'll find there's no short lines there's no two line you need to sometimes read five pages 10 pages 15 pages there are actually discourses that go for hundreds of pages because it's meant to give the big picture that's one of the things that jumps out at you a specific to take a specific ideology or a specific we'll call it Torah I would choose from Tanya to major points one is the first section of Tanya Tanya is the classic work the magnum opus near Zaman is called the Bible of khasidis so in a sense it's like the Cornerstone and really the basis of it all so take two principles one is the idea of self-control alter Rebel lays out Altera being rep Schneider Zama lays out a very comprehensive picture of the struggle that every human being goes through the struggle between selfishness and selflessness between survival and Transcendence and he calls it the the battle between the animal soul and the Divine soul and we all know what the struggle is like every one of us every moment of our lives have two choices you're going to serve yourself or you're going to serve some higher purpose you're going to serve others they're going to just be focused on loving yourself or also loving others and he says one of the key instruments or tools that we have given to us this is like a fundamental principle which he calls which means self-control that we inherently not acquired inherently have the ability to restrain ourselves to discipline ourselves which is a critical point because if you're contrasted for example to Freud and Freudian thinking there we have the ID the human being is essentially a beast at heart selfish and the concept of self-control is seen more like a superimposed acquired tool or resource so the outrep is establishing that the human being created in the Divine image has from the mental self-control and we can be therefore expected to be accountable to be responsible which and also live up to our greatest potential will not just evolve beasts trying to survive and survival of the fittest is not the driving ethos but essentially the concept of transcendence and reaching great aspirations and Noble goals that's one principle that stands out a second one I would take from the second section in this book of Tanya where he talks more the philosophy the philosophy of divine Unity and it's interesting how this parallels so much of what where science is going that despite the fact that the Universe to the naked eye appears like a fragmentation of multitudes of millions billions trillions of Parts there's an integral Unity like a thread type of Harmony within all this diversity it's actually the most fundamental prayer in Judaism and we conclude that God is one and one doesn't just mean monotheism one God and not many but one reality and this is a critical piece because it essentially tells us that our mission in life is to find that unity in everything that we do in our personal lives in our Collective lives in on a global level so it's really about creating unity in a world of diversity think of it like many different musical notes Paul part of one Symphony one Orchestra and that's a another key Hasidic idea you may find it in other schools of thought and other bodies but it's really extremely elaborated upon throughout Hasidic discourses many can ask why is there so much focus on the mystical dimension in Chabad philosophy and Chabad teachings so I want to also dispel the myth about mysticism mysticism sounds very esoteric very abstract and some people just say hey it's not for me it's it's too uh lofty too Sublime so I want to rephrase it it's all about language I think all of us all human beings would like to know what makes us tick what makes the world work the the DNA so the DNA of the human psyche the DNA of the human soul is essentially what some people would call mysticism it's understanding that just as we have a body and the body has all kinds of systems and Physical Medicine analyzes and evaluates and comes to understand whether it's human anatomy or biology or chemistry or Dermatology and so on there's also a study of understanding the spiritual the spiritual physiology the spiritual makeup of what who we are for example you may have heard of the concept of the tense fears 10 spiritual mystical spirits but they're really essentially the 10 faculties that again Define who the human beings on a conscious level we have three cognitive faculties we have seven emotional faculties so the spectrum of human interaction and Human Relationships is based on love discipline compassion determination humility bonding and dignity so does that sound mystical it may be for some but it's really about understanding it is invisible so it's harder to understand when you look at something an empirical external level but it's really similar to in physics you learn about the molecular structure of things the atomic structure the subatomic structure so on a spiritual level spiritual mysticism is essentially understanding the DNA the inner workings of existence one of the Hallmarks that stand out about Chabad as people talk about the rib sometimes just lovingly known as the rib so let's talk about a moment what is the role of a rebel who is a rebel what is a rebel I think it's also important to state that for many of us especially Americans where we know that George Washington refused to be called King or emperor instead of it's called president that we actually are repulsed somewhat when we hear about someone having too much Authority so some people have actually uh I've been asked this question many times what is this rabbit this like everybody worships the rebels like you have absolute Authority and what happens with our autonomy and our independence and individuality so I think it's important to that stated for the record what this really means so the concept of a rub is not new Moses the great first leader of the Jewish people who took them out of Egypt and led them through the Wilderness and so on is called rabena so the word Reb itself means master or teacher or mentor or spiritual Mentor there are many ways to translate it but the real purpose of a rabbit is to actually provide an objective bigger picture look at life the fact is all human beings are subjective we all have self-interest at heart we all can be biased and Prejudiced Arab is meant to be a person who's a selfless individual who's transparently connected to higher purpose through his own work he's come to that type of selflessness and egolessness so the rubber can provide us with objective guidance and give us perspective on things that sometimes we may be blinded to that's on a very basic level the role of a rib so it's not about occult personality it's not about any worship we only believe in Judaism one God but there are god-like godly people in this world there are people who are men and women of God what does that mean it means people who've dedicated their lives not to themselves but to a higher cause I speak for myself personally I sat at the feet of the rib and what did I learn I learned about selflessness I learned it's not about him it's about a higher purpose so it teaches you how to be that dedication it teaches you how to live up to your calling and to live up to your purpose in life so River plays a tremendous role as a living example also as someone who's besides being brilliant but also knows how to apply these teachings in ways that can address our concerns the rebel was a person who took the pulse of his times of this generation and addressed it issues that come up whether it was issues in education or issues in spiritual uh alienation or um indifference and apathy I mean all the challenges of our times that the rebel would take the teachings of Torah hasidis and apply it so in addition to being that example also gave us a blueprint an approach a methodology which is what drives every Chabad teacher and leader till this day even though the rep is not here physically it lives on because it's a methodology that was taught to us by the rabbit so let's dig a little deeper into the rivers so-called the qualities of areba and again I speak from my personal experience um the first thing that jumps out is actually a phrase a verse from the Torah talking about Moses that he was the humblest man that walked on Earth what I always felt around the river was a certain profound humility I know it's not the first reaction most people would think a leader like of his of his stature would be charismatic influential powerful awesome but humility there was a certain um element of almost self-effacement uh because it was always not about him and that was number one I think it's one of the most important elements in a true leader because it's not about the individual it's about what they represent that's one thing I remember I was once asked right after the rub is passing about you know what does it feel like being around the rabbit it felt like that you felt the individual felt responsible and you felt empowered that you couldn't do anything that you set your mind to do which is quite amazing as well usually you think you're on a leader you want to be dedicated to the leader but no it was really about your empowerment you felt that you have a responsibility and a gift to accomplish everything that you need to accomplish in life that was another thing that really jumped out now there are obviously elements of warmth and empathy and compassion you saw the rubber shine when he was around children it was just that natural you know around children usually see what people are like some people face sour up some people get angry some people don't know how to deal with children the river like blossomed when he was around children he would just hello and the reason is as the Reb himself once says is because around children you're a little closer to the truth you know we live in a world where there's a lot of duplicity and a lot of uh kinds of negotiation and and stuff like that and the rebel was around children there was that type of seamlessness these are a few things that jump out when I speak about the river and the qualities then there's the final thing I would say is about his His Brilliant mind the ability to cut through the symptoms and get to the root of an issue that's another tremendous thing you know many of us deal with the symptoms we deal with externals but to be able to see clearly that type of clarity of looking at something and not getting the the distracted or obfuscated by externals and really looking at a person for who they could be not just what you see and you saw that when every time anyone went by the rebel whether it was for dollars on Sunday or private audiences or other personal interactions you could see there was that element of the river encouraging that person to live up to their greatest potential not just talking about what you are right now but what you're capable of becoming what's the driving force behind chabad's all-inclusivity well you see one of the things that stands out people go to a Chabad house anywhere in the world no questions asked everybody's welcome color size age race level affiliation in a true uh all you all inclusive and all United fashion well it lies at the heart of what Chabad represents another name for Chabad that is Lubavitch is of course the city the town in white Russia where the first Lubavitch leaders lived but do you know that babic is actually a word actually made up of two words which is like a suffix in Russian but Luba means love City of Love think of it that way what does that mean because another fundamental principle in Chabad thinking philosophy is not just understanding the unity of all the cosmos and the unity of all of existence but it's also the unity of all people which means that we are not complete unless we have each other there's no such thing as an island unto yourself so just like a human healthy human body as many Limbs and organs and systems and the healthy body they work in a synchronized harmonic fashion the same thing as the entire human race we're all part of one larger organism whether we feel it or not frankly all war all Injustice all crime all violence all abuse is due to the blindness that we don't see that when you hurt someone else you're hurting yourself so how about thinking is all about understanding that Unity which is why rabi Akiva the Great Sage in the talmud says that which means to love your fellow like yourself is claudible Torah it's a fundamental principle so if you were to say it's standing that will teach me the Taurus standing on one foot which is an actual question and answer given in the talmud Hillel says don't do unto others that which you don't want done unto you which the positive side is love everyone equally so this isn't just a philosophy in Chabad we grow up with it I saw it from my youngest age I saw the river how he looked at everybody in that fashion there were no one got special treatment there wasn't like Oh The Scholar sits on the top of the aisle and someone else in the bottom of the aisle didn't work that way there's basically no Us and Them I always ask this question I said you're sitting around the table and someone will say so who's the greatest Soul sitting right here immediately will say we don't know the answer to that question as a matter of fact in chapter 32 in Tanya in the classic work called Tanya chapter 32 in Hebrews Lev which means heart can also be pronounced as love the chapter on love so the ravishness says the class this tremendous statement he says we don't know who's the greatest Soul we're all part of one larger organism we have one Father in heaven and that when you that's ingrained in you from your childhood that's the attitudes that lies at the heart of khabad's all-inclusivity and basically not ever judging anyone we never know what people go through and trying to live by that ethos this doesn't it's not a license for everyone to do whatever they like you can always disagree with someone but you never invalidate them as a person because individually we're all part of this one larger organism one larger Unity so to choose one Universal powerful message what I would even call revolutionary message from khabad and especially through the words and lens of the rabbit I use this line in my book toward a meaningful life birth is God saying you matter and let me explain you know we have eight billion people on this planet so it's very easy to fall into almost the resignation what can I really accomplish one eight billion people imagine a grain of sand on a beach with billions of other grains of sand we don't feel significant and Technology actually only amplifies that the idea and concept is this that you every individual was put here on this Earth for a reason you're indispensable what you have to accomplish only you you and only you can accomplish simply put and no one else can do what you have to accomplish this I think is one of the cardinal cornerstones because when you feel you matter and you feel your choices matter and your decisions matter it changes a whole different level of urgency a sense of urgency in your life if you feel doesn't really matter how committed can you really be you know you don't do it you don't do it you do it you do it someone invites you and says hey we need you tomorrow morning wake up early to volunteer we're going to visit some people in a hospital you'll say do I really have to wake up early and they'll say oh you know what if you don't want to okay it's also fine it's not really going to be motivating but when you're someone tells you we must have you we must we need you we can't do it without you it changes the whole equation so that message of indispensability of each individual man woman or child is my opinion maybe the first of all messages using business language no business can function without a mission statement you have to begin with your mission what is your calling in in Chabad parlance in Chabad lingo it's called the idea that you have a mission you're God's messenger you're an ambassador to bring light and to refine the corner of the world in which you were placed in a way that you and only you can do so why is Chabad spread all over the world wouldn't it seem more potent if everybody just lived in one place they'd be much more powerful the numbers and so on so I'd like to share something I heard from the late chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs this was at the sloshim this was 30 days after the rep is passing so he was speaking about the rabbit the rub is great love for every Jew across the world and he made this point which I think is really powerful he said what drove the rebel to send his students young men and women young couples literally to every corner of the world you know would make more sense to send them where there's a lot of Jews there are many Jews in New York Los Angeles London Paris Tel Aviv Melbourne but to send them to find the Jews somewhere in Bangkok or in Vietnam to bring a matzah seems like a not a uh a focused use of resources and his response was unbelievable he said after the Holocaust where the Nazis image the Nazis hunted down every Jew every single Jew with hate and we know the extent they went the lengths that they went I mean God Almighty they would use stethoscopes to see if there's a Jew hiding inside of a wall I mean if the be like the obsession so if we don't hunt down the river says every Jew with love with more passion than they hunted the Jews with hate in a way they will have one so it was really a demonstration of tremendous love you know a parent doesn't say oh I have 10 children already who cares what happened to the 11th child love is something that is not measured in numbers so it's actually that profound love for every single Jew everywhere on Earth and I would say every human being for that matter by extension was what drove the rep is saying no we're not going to all live in Crown Heights and we're not going to all live in London we're not going to all live in one city or two cities or three cities we are responsible to go out there and help every person we can reach every Jew we can reach and we'll do whatever it takes to do exactly that so when you see Chabad spread over the world think of it as a tremendous gesture gesture of Love of care of compassion and responsibility that we're not here just to take care of ourselves and be comfortable in our own skin because many of these Chabad individuals could have been much more comfortable sitting in their own hometown would have kosher would have resources would have schools and they send their children they send their they send they were sent out to all these fireplaces where there was no Judaism no synagogues no Kosher and they built Empires it's now 29 years since the rub is passing in 1994. almost 30 years it's a lifetime it's a generation but I want to say this the rubber's message the relevance I see more relevant today than ever because it's far more than the river as the individual it's his understanding of the generation of which we're in all the challenges that we face and all the blessings that we have which is this sign of a true leader a leader that's a visionary and that's why I often say that the rep is the first 21st century leader even though he passed away in the 20th century because what he left is a legacy that lives on and I would encourage everyone to check out bring any question you have in your mind in your heart about your life any challenge and I assure you that you can find in the Rebus teachings a relevant answer that could even be transformative [Music]

Channel: Jewish Learning Institute

Views: 18,221

Keywords: jli, Jewish Learning Institute

Id: onhsyL4mRtQ

Length: 27min 8sec (1628 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 25 2023