Weekly Chasidic Story #749 (s5772-27 / 12
Nissan 5772)
Erasing the Past
One of the university students exclaimed in amazment and skepticism
to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, "Does that mean the Rebbe never makes
a mistake?"
Connection: Seasonal -- Passover
Erasing the Past
Many years ago, a group of university students came to the Crown
Heights section of Brooklyn in order to visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
While they were in the waiting room, someone told them that the Rebbe channels
divine inspiration and the spirit of G-d speaks from his throat.
The youths were both amazed and skeptical. One of them exclaimed,
"Does that mean the Rebbe never makes a mistake?"
Later, after they had already entered the Rebbe's room, one of
them asked the Rebbe pointblank, in quite a clever fashion: "If the Rebbe
never makes a mistake, why does he have an eraser on his pencil?"
The Rebbe, unphased, quietly answered, "A Rebbe does not
err, but today he is greater than yesterday and today he adds to what was written
yesterday. In other words, it's not in order to erase a mistake, but to erase
what was correct yesterday. Today he is of a different, higher stature."
* * *
This was clearly the case with the Rebbe when he edited his discourses for publication.
Whenever one was brought to him, the Rebbe worked on the editing for several
hours, sometimes four or more. Afterwards he phoned the secretaries to come
and take the pages to the editors and from there to the printer.
Sometimes, after going in, the secretaries waited in the room
for another three quarters of an hour as the Rebbe continued to add and correct.
On one such occasion, the Rebbe told them, "Take this to the printer now
because otherwise I will never finish."
After all the corrections were made, the discourse was submitted
a second time. The Rebbe would make more corrections, because once again he
was adding fresh new insights.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: As reported by one of the Rebbe's secretaries,
Rabbi Binyomin Klein, and first posted by The Avner Institute Rebbebook@Gmail.com
Connection. Yud-Alef Nissan (this year: April 3) is the 110th
anniversary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's birth.
Biographical note:
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
(11 Nissan 1902 - 3 Tammuz 1994), became the seventh Rebbe of the Chabad
dynasty after his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, passed
away in Brooklyn on 10 Shvat 1950. He is widely acknowledged as the greatest
Jewish leader of the second half of the 20th century. Although a dominant scholar
in both the revealed and hidden aspects of Torah and fluent in many languages
and scientific subjects, the Rebbe is best known for his extraordinary love
and concern for every Jew on the planet. His emissaries around the globe dedicated
to strengthening Judaism number in the thousands. Hundreds of volumes of his
teachings have been printed, as well as dozens of English renditions.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.
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