Today marks exactly 30 years since the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, may the memory of the righteous be a blessing. Decades of leadership came to an end, ushering in countless years of remembrance, commemoration, and the deepening of his rich legacy.
It's challenging to describe who the Lubavitcher Rebbe was. A wondrous figure with his head in the heavens and feet firmly planted on the ground. A genius and a righteous man, an unparalleled prolific writer, an original and remarkable innovator in Torah and Jewish thought, a loving father to his students and followers, and a uniquely pioneering leader in his pan-Jewish worldview.
The wider public has been exposed to his appearance, his character, his messages, his achievements, and his emissaries. However, the best lesson one can learn from the Lubavitcher Rebbe is through his own persona and behavior, which precisely embodied the model he demanded from his students and every Jew: tireless and energetic activism. In Chabad Hassidism, this is known as "action is the main thing." Behind these words lies a powerful engine of relentless demand for activity, initiative, and deeds.
If there's one thing a Chabadnik doesn't know how to do, it's sit quietly and do nothing. Or even rest. Give him a free hour in the park, and he'll come with children, a ball, and a snack, but also with a pair of tefillin to merit someone with a mitzvah. This trait is a direct education and legacy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This is exactly how he was throughout his 45-year tenure as Rebbe, without a single vacation, without a break in his personal and public work of 18 hours a day.
Hassidim tell a story of the Rebbe returning home after a long workday to find a pair of garden armchairs on the porch, purchased by the Rebbetzin. He sat on one of them, removed his hat for a moment, leaned back, and then stood up, went inside, and said, "There, I've fulfilled my obligation of an annual vacation." This endless diligence was a central message in his philosophy and a constant demand that repeated itself over and over again. Even if he didn't say it explicitly, the atmosphere was such. A demand and motivation for constant action.
Perhaps the physical movement most identified with the Rebbe is the circular hand wave to encourage the Hassidim's singing. It also contains a hidden message for a general life instruction: a gesture of encouragement for activism. For action.
Every Chabadnik, or quarter-Chabadnik like myself, is exposed throughout their life, thanks to Chabad's positive obsession with memorialization, to the Rebbe's voice and appearance in pictures, audio, and video. I personally hear and see him in online videos almost every day. If it's not me, it's someone in my household, and if not them, then a colleague at work.
The wider public has been exposed to his appearance, his character, his messages, his achievements, and his emissaries. However, the best lesson one can learn from the Lubavitcher Rebbe is through his own persona and behavior, which precisely embodied the model he demanded from his students and every Jew: tireless and energetic activism.
Somehow, there's hardly a day when the Rebbe's familiar and warm voice doesn't resonate in the air, even for a moment. And I've noticed that regardless of my mood or energy level at that moment – when that voice is heard, something in my posture straightens, and I become, for a second, active. As if I've received a mission. As if a voice is calling me to go. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said and wrote so many things.
There are so many clauses in his spiritual will spread across his work, but it seems that the main and most important content he left behind, and also the most implemented, is this: Action is the main thing.
May his merit protect us and all of Israel.
