Rebbe Rashab

A prayer of thanks:

Thank You so much for the new discourses I am studying from the Rebbe Rashab, particularly “Hemshech Ayin Beit” with the interwoven commentary. I’m so taken with his slow presentation of nuances. Even if they may be inherent to the point of almost obvious, without his help they’re so easily glossed over and missed.

In real truth, he’s like an artist who makes his performance seem so easy that all youngsters in the audience harbor the silly thought of, “Oh yeah, I can get right on stage and do the same thing!”

Though the simplicity they see is there, it’s still not theirs. It’s something which requires much work and refinement to even approach. Inherent talent is not enough.

Case in point, I was very taken yesterday by his distinction between “forcing” (כְּפִיָה) and “controlling” (שְׁלִיטָה). The Rebbe Rashab explains that “surrounding light” (אוֹר מַקִיף) “forces”. That’s because it’s external to the recipient. By contrast “inner light” (אוֹר פְּנִימִי), since it’s within the recipient does not need to “force”. It simply “controls”. By “control” the Rebbe Rashab does not mean in a harsh demanding way, the way the word is often used. Rather, he means a situation where a bond of trust and love have already been established and feedback is welcome. Otherwise, that would simply be what he means by “forcing”.

It’s similar to the difference between being motivated by the raw demand of a royal edict or by the guidance of a dear teacher. The king “forces”, while the teacher gently “controls”. The king feels distant, outside, while the teacher feels intimate, within; has a place within the recipient’s heart.

Now, this teaching is just a logically inherent part of what it means to be “surrounding light” or “inner light”. However, for all my previous study, this distinction did not fully occur to me beforehand. Hints of it had dawned on me, with my studies on the Sefirah of Keter. However, those hints too were from Chabad teachings. It took the subtle and mentally patient approach of the Rebbe Rashab to tease out such breathtaking and refined details.

Thank You for giving us the Rebbe Rashab and all the teachings he left for us.

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