The Rebbe and the Infinite Value of the Individual

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Shais Taub’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

It is, uh, very special for me to be here with you at this rare occasion of the gathering of so many communities, which is in itself beautiful to see. In addition, I don't know how many people realize that the congregation, which has graciously hosted this event, Congregation Beth El, has a, uh, very important role in the history of Chabad in America because when the sixth Rebbe of Chabad, when our Rebbe's father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, came to America, he visited Congregation Beth El. Now, I believe it was a few miles away, the actual building. It was, uh, in in fact, I think they used to call it also, informally, the Fowler Street Shul in Dorchester, but it's the same congregation where we are right now. And, uh, if you tune into it, I think you can pick up on the on the energy of that. There was a, uh, small city in medieval Europe that had a significant Jewish population, and the local bishop was, uh, an anti-Semite. So, the bishop wanted to expel the Jewish community, and he told the city's rabbis that unless one of them could defeat him in a debate of theology, then all of the Jews from the this small city would have to leave. They'd be expelled. So, the rabbis were convening and they were discussing how they're going to deal with this uh situation. They were very worried. They didn't really have a didn't have a resolution to the problem and all of a sudden in comes Moishele. Who is Moishele? Moishele was a simple Jew. He says, "Rabbis." They say, "Moishele, not right now. We're busy. We have a very serious issue to deal with." Moishele says, "I know. I heard. The bishop is going to expel the Jewish community. I'm going to help." They said, "Moishele, it's a theological debate.

Jump to a moment

1. 0:01It is, uh, very special for me to be here with you at this rare occasion…
2. 5:53the rabbis are in shul. They're sitting with Moishele. They're elated, obviously. The community gets to…
3. 12:16And that's part of infinity. But if you only have partial infinity, you don't have infinity…
4. 18:44"Okay. Uh let me think." He says, "If I have two cows, okay. So, I keep…
5. 25:04someone has to have all the time when they look at their their their situation in…
6. 31:42We have no clue. But we possess infinite power. And every moment we have the potential…
7. 38:12gesture. He didn't believe in any of it. But, uh you guys know about the slope,…
8. 45:06And then after a while, it just became apparent to them that they needed to leave…
9. 51:30dollars. Sunday dollars. When the Rebbe was turning 90 years old, a few weeks before the…
10. 57:52So, the Rebbe said, "I can only tell you from my perspective about my Rebbe. My…

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