"I felt it was worth living for this man" - in these words a young Haifa resident named Reuven Donin expressed his deep feeling at the moment of his first meeting with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, a founding moment that led to a complete revolution in his life: He lived in Haifa and devoted his life to composing and bringing thousands more to the Rebbe and his teachings.
Reuven's story is one of countless testimonies of men and women in Israel and around the world about the revolution that brought about the encounter with the Rebbe in their lives.
For some it was a face-to-face meeting, but for many it was a meeting through watching his pictures or videos, reading and studying his teachings or asking for blessings and answers to life questions in his "Holy Epistles" series.
Even today, in 2022, the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the center and cause of life for tens of thousands of men and women around the world - believers live and work out of a deep and absolute consciousness that the Rebbe is the president and leader of the Jewish people.
Today, Y. B'Shvat, they are celebrating 72 years of his leadership.
Many wonder and ask: How does one leader manage to illuminate in such a great light the lives of so many, who draw from him and his teachings inspiration and taste for life?
What is the secret of the Rebbe's charm, which wins the admiration of the masses of believers who see him as the Messianic King?
In this week's parshas, which are recited on these Shabbats, we become acquainted with the figure of the first leader and savior - Moshe Rabbeinu.
In our parsha we read the verse: "And we believed in Gd and in Moses served" (Exodus, no).
Moses himself testifies to the essence of his role: "I stand between the Lord and you" (Deuteronomy 5: 5).
Simply put: this is the man the Creator chose to communicate through with his creatures.
What is the leadership model of Moses?
Its main uniqueness is that it is the leader of the whole nation - it does not reduce its influence to a particular group, community or sector.
He is the personal leader of each and every one of the people of Israel.
"There is no generation that is not like Moses," it is said in the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah Nu, 7).
Indeed, in our generation the Rebbe is realizing this model of leadership.
The Rebbe's emissaries spread Judaism in every city and country in the world.
His teachings and influence reach every Jew, regardless of sector, appearance and accent, age and language, place and affiliation.
The Rebbe's letters contain letters addressed to worldly geniuses and Torah scholars, statesmen and IDF champions, but also to kindergarten children in Holon and to the school girls in Jerusalem, to a woman from Netivot and to a young Tiberian boy.
Among the tens of thousands who met with the Rebbe: Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Yitzchak Kadouri;
Prime Ministers Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu;
Singer Bob Dylan, author Eli Wiesel and Israel's beauty queen for 1991, Miri Goldfarb.
The Rebbe received them all with the same cordial smile and the same fatherly look.
The Rebbe foretells to us in prophecy that our generation will be redeemed, and it is now our job to continue in the Torah and the mitzvos and prepare to receive the Messiah of our righteousness - the President of our generation, who will come and save us soon.
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