As the year 5748 --
Hak’hel and
Tismach -- drew to a close, the Rebbe Shlita took the opportunity to talk about the importance of building new institutions and homes. It was also during those last days of 5748 -- on the 17th of Elul -- that the groundbreaking for the new Synagogue at "770" took place. As the year 5749 commenced the Rebbe broadened and deepened his theme of building and designated 5749 as "A Year to Build."
This essay is based upon the Rebbe’s talks during the first few weeks of 5749 on the subject of building homes and institutions. The special role that Shluchim and their lay partners must play in this important area is also clearly delineated. We have endeavored to include the philosophical and esoterical explanations expounded by the Rebbe on this subject as well as the practical applications.
In practice, we must build houses for Torah, prayer and charity, as well as private homes which should be dedicated to G-dliness.
At the beginning of every new year it is proper to undertake new projects and to make good resolutions for the future; to attain new goals that were not accomplished in the past.
Coming after the Hak’hel year, which was also the year of Tismach-Tesamach, it follows that the activities of Hak’hel and Tismach should continue during this year and that our innovations for the future should be in an ever-increasing manner, for "in matters of holiness we increase."
This year is also a leap year when we reconcile the lunar and solar years by adding a full month, this not only compensates for the deficiency of the lunar year, but also brings a net gain -- which acts as a preparation for the future. Being that the leap year ends up with more days than a regular year, therefore the Divine service of the year must be "greater" than in the past, in quality as well as quantity.
This year is 5749 from creation, the Hebrew letters that form the numeral 5749 also spell the word Tashmet, which alludes to the Biblical phrase: "release your hand." (Devarim 15:3) It means that a Jew should remove his hand from any negative acts, and at the same time it is a request of G-d to release us from any debts that we may owe to G-d. In this way we can fulfill our Divine service in a new and increased manner.
The first letter of Tashmet -- Tav -- also stands for Teshuvah (repentance) which corrects the past and adds perfection to our Divine service. The letters T’Sh’M’T’ also stand for T’hei Shnas Maasim Tovim or T’hei Shnas Mashiach Tovah. This means that as a result of our good deeds, this year of Mashiach will be exceptionally good.
The role of Teshuvah is to make all of man’s actions luminous and good, so that even the actions which were previously neutral will be retroactively enhanced through Teshuvah.
Each year, during the early days of the new year, we emphasize the aspect of building -- spiritual building. Esoterically speaking, the Jewish people "build" the essential attributes of
Malchus, royalty, on Rosh Hashanah, and the other attributes of royalty are "built" during the Ten Days of Repentance.
In a Jew’s personal Divine service this expresses itself in accepting the heavenly yoke in all the ten attributes of his soul. In this manner during the first Ten Days of Tishrei a Jew builds a spiritual edifice which is permeated with commitment and humility.
After Yom Kippur this edifice must be incorporated in the inner essence of the Jew and revealed in his daily activities. This process begins during the four days which follow Yom Kippur which are compared to the four letters of G-d’s name. Through them the order of the development of the world devolves, including the microcosm -- man. During Sukkos the construction takes on a revealed form (albeit temporary) and after Shemini Atzeres, on Simchas Torah, we reenter our permanent dwellings. The goal is to structure our daily Jewish lifestyle for the whole year so that the inner heart becomes a permanent dwelling place for G-d.
This requires further elucidation:
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The names which we use to refer to G-d, such as Havaye (Eternal) or Holy One, Blessed be He, all refer to aspects of G-d which have some relationship to the created world, at least to the created spiritual world. If we want to refer to G-d in His essential existence it is absolutely improper to use any name or term...on the day after Yom Kippur we relate to G-d in this manner and therefore we use not the name Eternal, nor L-rd, we simply say it is the day of G-d’s Name. (Kesser Shem Tov)
Clearly there can be a revelation from Above which emerges from a source even higher than
Havaye, the
Eternal.
Normally the Name Elokim alludes to G-dliness as it permeates the corporeal world -- in the case of man it becomes the lifeforce and inner strength of the person. The Name Havaye usually alludes to a transcending level which hovers over and encompasses the person. When on Yom Kippur we proclaim: "Havaye Hu Ha’Elokim!," we speak of a unification of the immanent with the transcendental which becomes part of the Jewish people in a penetrating manner.
As a result, the highest encompassing facets of the Jewish soul is revealed, even higher than Yechidah.
Another aspect of this process is its connection to the Tetragramaton whose four letters are associated with the four days that follow Yom Kippur. The transcendental and all-encompassing supernal forces that radiate above and beyond the Name
Havaye after Yom Kippur are then focused and devolved into the letters of the creative Eternal Name of G-d. Each day builds another letter so that the four letters of the Tetragramaton are constructed, even as the four walls of a house.
These "walls" then surround us during Sukkos in a temporary manner and they become fixed and permanent during Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. From this Divine inspiration rises the human attributes of love and fear of G-d and all their good ramifications throughout the year.
It is now a "time to build," a propitious time to be involved in constructing, and this is a year of building, to construct edifices which will be dedicated as houses of Torah and mitzvos in the three areas of Torah, prayer and good deeds.
We have often mentioned that a Jew always has the opportunity to convert his home into a mini-sanctuary. Parents can do this even for their infant children and as children gain maturity and understanding they must be trained to utilize their intellect to know G-d and to dedicate their domicile to be a mini-sanctuary.
Let us take a new project for this year, based on the spiritual construction of Tishrei -- to build new buildings -- permanent homes.
Build good buildings and dedicate them as public houses of holiness, for Torah, prayer and good deeds, or for personal use which is then dedicated to G-dliness. This brings Torah and G-dliness into a permanent setting.
Those who presently rent apartments should build or buy homes. And the organizations which currently rent facilities should buy or build public buildings, houses of Torah, prayer and charity.
Human needs include food, clothing and shelter. While food and clothing are very important and very close to the person, a house makes a person complete.
A question comes to mind concerning Adam, the first man. In the Torah we find references to the food Adam ate and the clothing he wore, but we have no indication that G-d made a house for Adam and Chavah.
We must say that Adam’s house was the whole earth and the sky was his roof.
Later on, when human population began to increase, people built individual homes and formed villages and cities. This subject of houses also applies to our Divine service.
Years ago not everyone could afford a house. In recent years it has become possible for more people to own their own homes or even to build homes. At the same time there are many Jews in the construction industry who earn their livelihood from building houses, communities and even cities.
There is enthusiastic involvement in this area of private construction and there should be even more motivation in the construction of houses of Torah, prayer and charity.
In speaking of expanded construction of Jewish homes I want to emphasize that I speak of building houses all over the world. Wherever there are Jews, who were led by Divine Providence to those places to do their Divine service in purifying and refining the "lost sparks of holiness" in the physical world, they should build more houses. In recent years the Jewish population in the far-flung corners of the globe has increased and therefore there must be a concomitant increase in private houses, as well as houses for Torah, prayer and good deeds.
A broader analysis is called for on this topic.
Jews are to be found today in places where once there were no Jews. For example, in the Western Hemisphere, America, after its discovery, became a magnet for Jewish settlement.
Similarly, Australia was once a "terrible land" used as a prison-penal colony. After many years Australian society evolved and many Jews settled there.
Divine Providence directs the footsteps of man and certainly the purpose of widespread Jewish settlement is to elevate and purify the "lost sparks of holiness" in these far-away places; which engenders the obvious question. Why do we see this phenomenon only in recent generations? Surely the sparks of holiness that have been implanted in the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms of the earth were there many centuries ago. If they need to be refined why could it not be done in the past?! Why were there no Jews in those places in ancient times?
One explanation to this question is that in ancient times the process of purification could be accomplished from a distance. When Shlomo was king, Yerushalayim was the center of spirituality and G-dliness in the world and the light of holiness was so intense that it could magnetically attract all the "lost sparks;" Even the Queen of Sheba came to Shlomo and "lost sparks" came with her.
As the generations went by this power diminished and now one must be physically present in a place to accomplish this goal in several ways: When a Jew walks down the street and his mind is filled with the thought that "G-d is always before me," or when he deals with physical matters, or when he eats and drinks, all of these activities effect a purification of the physical world and raise the "lost sparks of holiness."
There is another rationale for the need for broader Jewish settlement in these generations. Simply put, as more and more people (gentiles) settled the New World, they brought with them more and more buried sparks which had to be uplifted by more and more Jewish people.
Now that Jews have settled in these far away places there is also a pressing need to bring Torah and Yiddishkeit to these places. In this area the Previous Rebbe was very active (as was his father before him). He sent his emissaries to the distant Jewish settlements of the world to spread Yiddishkeit -- establish day schools, Yeshivos and girl’s schools so that the local Jews would be able to live proper Jewish lives.
Take Australia as an example, once a place of exile for convicted criminals it became a civilized country and attracted Jewish settlement. The time came when the local parents did not wish to send their children overseas to gain a good Jewish education, so the Previous Rebbe sent his emissaries to Australia to be involved in all areas of Yiddishkeit, including the establishment of branches of Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch -- by sending groups of students and Roshei Yeshivah -- to several places in Australia.
Relative to its origins, the fact that Australia is now a center of Torah emphasizes the quality of "light out of darkness."
Consequently, the more Jews are spread out over the world the more we must work to spread Yiddishkeit, Torah and mitzvos to those distant Jewish settlements -- all with the power of the Nasi of our generation. If not for this power why should one settle in such a place? The Rambam rules that a person should live near righteous people and scholars so as to always learn from their upright ways.
Only when you have the power of the Nasi can you allow yourself to settle away from vibrant Jewish life and there you must spread Torah and make that place a Torah place. This will happen especially by setting up branches of Tomchei Temimim, as was recently done also in this country.
We must strengthen Jewish settlement all over the world by adding more houses -- both public and private -- as well as communities and cities.
My proposal is to designate this year as "A Year to Build" and new buildings should be built everywhere. This of course relates to organizations in every place. Wherever there is no building they should build or buy their own. This will add to the continuity and strength of all the activities of the organization in an ever-increasing way.
There is a special responsibility in this sphere for those who are lucky enough to be
Shluchim (emissaries) of Lubavitch as well as their lay supporters who must really be partners in the work of the Shluchim. For them there is a special goal to build more buildings.
The responsibility for this rests not only on the organizations and on the Shluchim, but also, equally, on the laymen and businessmen associated with the local center. They must be partners in this project. They have proven themselves to be successful in raising capital in their own business life and they have the knowledge and experience to use those funds wisely and efficiently. They should be the experts to make the proper decisions in this matter.
Moreover, the center directors are busy finding sources of support for their ongoing programs and it is absolutely obligatory for new people to come in and undertake the new construction projects.
The construction itself should engender more activities, for when you make a building which is larger than the present needs this will encourage the people involved who are good, successful businessmen to feel that the empty space is being wasted and that more activities should be planned. This will eventually lead to new and expanded programs and the construction of more rooms and new buildings.
As explained above, when the inner, immanent forces grow, then the encompassing power is enlarged, so, too, the use and activities will expand.
Start at building big -- not little by little. Don’t be discouraged or overwhelmed -- for just as the baal teshuvah can make a change from one extreme to the other, so too, you can move from small rented quarters to a spacious, large building of your own.
Do it right away and do it with zeal. Influence other Jews to follow your example and publicize it as much as possible.
All this should be done in a spirit of great joy.
We speak of building all over the world and even more so in Eretz Yisrael, for in the galus when Mashiach comes all the buildings dedicated to G-d will be carried on the clouds to Eretz Yisrael, but all the buildings built now in Eretz Yisrael will be secure, permanent and eternal.
Individuals should also see this year of building in a personal vein, to build new homes or to expand their existing buildings by adding rooms. The individual must also strive to make his personal place a dwelling place for the Shechinah by making his home a place of Torah, prayer and good deeds. This includes the permanent attachment of a tzedakah box in the house so that it becomes a house of tzedakah.
The year of building also has a special connotation for the Yeshivah students. A "Yeshivah" is a place where students may permanently abide and "sit" to study Torah. This includes the main Yeshivah as well as its branches and outreach divisions.
The students are therefore directed first of all to "build" more students and to strengthen their role as "illuminating candles." The Yeshivos should add more and more branches, and each branch should spread to form other branches. All the students will be strengthened by this process.
All this will bring G-d’s blessings. It will also speed the construction of the Third Beis HaMikdash -- "built by G-d’s hand" with the true and complete redemption -- when we will see how the world is a dwelling place for G-dliness, with great joy, "Eternal joy upon their heads."
