Sublime

The homiletical genius of the Rebbe, a quality familiar in diverse masters, consisted of his ability to meet the moment always, to offer a genuine replication, an utterance both derivative and innovative. The reverberation, therefore, cannot simply be passed over.

In private encounters and public addresses,410 the Rebbe emphasized that only through countering default cynicism and actively embracing educated optimism can we see the true import of our lives and move toward reaching our highest potential.

through which he is best known to tradition: Moshe Rabbenu, the leader as teacher. Leadership is not a gift with which we are endowed at birth. It is something we acquire in the course of time, often after many setbacks, failures, and disappointments.

exponents of Lubavitch lore—in line with other Ḥasidic masters who trace their way of thinking to the Beshṭ—have repeatedly stressed that all of reality is infused with divine light, and that the telos of human existence, which is fulfilled most perfectly in the rituals of the Jewish people, is to liberate these holy sparks from their encasement in

“Ben Azzai said, hasten to commit good acts and flee from misdeed since every good act encourages another in its wake, while every misdeed eases the way to the next.”3

Now you must grow in that job, always seeking new areas to expand your responsibilities and continually seeking ways to enhance your usefulness.

The sixth Rebbe deduced from this principle that Israel ben Eliezer (1698–1760), the Ba‘al Shem Ṭov, “master of a good name,” generally abbreviated as the Beshṭ, should be considered the “Moses of Ḥasidism” and Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the “Moses of Ḥabad.”