A True Leader
There are various types of people. There are those whose main drive is for the good of the community and they feel that the needs of private individuals must be pushed aside for the needs of the community. There are others who feel that the main focus is the individual: they think about each person and believe that the community should worry about the needs of each unique individual.
There is a constant need to maintain a sense of balance between these two philosophies. One example of this balance is when a Jew gives half a shekel to buy korbonos. The value of that money is thereby transformed from being within the private domain to being within the public domain.
Rashi says in this week's parsha that Moshe is Yisroel and Yisroel is Moshe (Bamidbar 21:21). Hanassi Hu Hakol - the Nassi is everything. Hence, in one aspect, he is a single individual. On the other hand, everything he does is connected to Klal Yisroel and he is the Nassi over each individual person. The Nassi Hador combines both attributes.
This is what we find in connection with the Previous Rebbe. The Previous Rebbe accomplished much for the community, first among the Soviets that caused him to be arrested; and then when he left Russia when he was involved in all aspects of Yiddishkeit, building Mikvaos, Yeshivos and Chodorim, appointing shochetim and rabbonim, saving individuals from the Soviet Union and during WWII, as well as expounding Chassidus. The general ruchnius and gashmius of Klal Yisroel were important to him and, at the same time, each individual’s physical and spiritual welfare was equally important.
Likewise, the Rebbe transmitted to us the power to spread Yiddishkeit in a broad, community sense, while at the same time working to help each individual. This avodah affects our work for the redemption of Klal Yisroel in general, as well as for every individual personally. Like the prophet says, “as you will be gathered one by one” (Isaiah 27:12). Rashi explains the possuk to mean that Hashem will grasp each person by the hand, and we will be gathered as one community with Moshiach.
In 1976, right after the Entebbe rescue, my brother Yossi and another bochur went to Japan and other nations of the Far East on Merkos Shlichus. He visited Bangkok, India, Iran, and other neighboring countries. One Friday in Japan, he put tefillin on the Israeli Ambassador and a mezuzah on the door of the embassy. He met a certain man in the embassy and asked him, “Do you want to put on tefillin?” The man responded, “I have a story to tell you. After the Six Day War, I was at the Kotel and I was asked to put on tefillin. I told them that I believe in the country and the history, but I’m not religious and I will not put on tefillin. Later I visited the United States and was on Fifth Avenue in New York City. A young fellow came out of a van and asked me to put on tefillin. I refused, telling him that if I didn't put it on at the Kotel, do you think I'll put it on in New York? I traveled to Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell. While I was there, someone approached me and asked me to put on tefillin. I refused again. If I didn't put it on at the Kotel, do you think I would do so at the Liberty Bell?” The man then looked Yossi in the eye and said, “If the Lubavitcher Rebbe sent two rabbinical students ten thousand miles away to Japan just to ask me to put on tefillin, could I still refuse? I'll put on tefillin."
When Yossi told this by a farbrengen, he explained that he obviously did not only travel to Japan for this one individual. He had many opportunities to meet people and do mivtzoim on this trip. Nevertheless, the person felt as though Yossi’s entire trip was for him.
What do we learn from this? When we do mivtzoim, the Rebbe is sending us personally to fulfill his shlichus. When it is done in this manner, the person cannot refuse the Ahavas Yisroel of the Rebbe. This man in the Israeli embassy felt how much the Rebbe cared for him as an individual, and was finally willing to put on tefillin.