There are people who are products of their times. Then there are people who transcend time.
This Shabbos is “Yud-Beis Tammuz” (12 Tammuz) the anniversary of the liberation of the Frierdiker (Previous) Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1927 who was imprisoned and sentenced to death in Communist Russia and set free on the twelfth of Tammuz. We celebrate a leader who carried the same unwavering Torah through some of the most dramatically different chapters of modern Jewish history. One of the unique aspects of the esrog that we bless as one of the four kinds of Sukkos, is that it remains on the tree throughout every season. It endures the scorching heat of summer, the rains of autumn, the cold of winter and the winds of spring, emerging whole and beautiful. It can be said that the Frierdiker Rebbe was the human embodiment of an esrog. The seasons around him changed dramatically. He never did. His first season was Communist Russia, where Judaism itself had been declared an enemy of the state. Teaching Torah, operating a cheder, arranging a bris or maintaining a mikvah could mean imprisonment or death. The enemy was obvious. Yet the Frierdiker Rebbe built an underground network of rabbis, teachers and activists who refused to surrender. His arrest and miraculous liberation on Yud-Beis Tammuz became far more than a personal victory—it was a declaration that no regime could extinguish the Jewish soul. Then came Riga. Here there were no prison cells or secret police. Instead, he encountered a Westernized Jewish community blessed with freedom but increasingly detached from tradition. The challenge was no longer preserving Judaism under persecution; it was awakening Jews who no longer felt they needed it. From Latvia, the Frierdiker Rebbe transformed Chabad from a movement struggling to survive into one reaching outward. He expanded the publication of Chassidus, established schools, strengthened communities and reignited Jewish pride in an environment where assimilation, rather than oppression, posed the greatest threat. From Riga he relocated to Warsaw. Poland was overflowing with Torah scholarship and vibrant religious life, yet Chabad represented only a small stream within a vast religious landscape. Here the challenge was neither persecution nor apathy, but building bridges. Through scholarship, humility and genuine love for every Jew, the Frierdiker Rebbe expanded the Chabad yeshivah network and inspired thousands, earning respect far beyond his own Chassidic circle. He demonstrated that one can stand uncompromisingly for truth while embracing every fellow Jew with warmth and dignity. All the while he relentlessly continued to rally Jewish organizations and government institutions to help support the Jews of Russia, whose suffering and persecution could only be conveyed by someone who had personally endured it. It was hard for anyone who hadn’t, to really fathom and process what was going on behind the Iron Curtain. Finally came America. Through a series of miraculous events and a dramatic rescue effort in the winter of 1940 that involved government officials at the highest levels of US and European Governments, the Rebbe arrived on these shores. He mobilized Jewish leadership and government officials to engage more actively in rescuing Jews from Europe. Here too, American Jews didn’t fully fathom what was unfolding in Europe. Ironically, the freedoms of America proved to be yet another battlefield. Here there was unprecedented freedom, but many believed that authentic Torah life simply could not flourish in the modern world. Upon arriving on American shores, the Frierdiker Rebbe famously declared, "America is no different." Torah would not bend to fit America; America could be elevated by Torah. The remarkable renaissance of Jewish education, outreach and Chabad institutions throughout the world began with that conviction. This week's double Parshah, Chukas-Balak, captures the secret of his greatness. Chukas introduces the chok—a Divine truth whose validity does not depend on changing human fashions or philosophies. Balak reminds us that while the world may try to intimidate, redefine or curse the Jewish people, our identity is determined neither by our enemies nor by the spirit of the age. We are shaped by Hashem's eternal Torah. Every generation experiences different seasons. Today we face rising antisemitism, unprecedented technological change, growing assimilation and painful divisions within our own people. The particulars have changed, but the leadership we need has not. Like the Frierdiker Rebbe, we must possess the courage to confront hostility, the vision to inspire the indifferent, the love to unite a diverse Jewish people and the faith to remain steadfast in an ever-changing world. If there is one book every Jew should read this summer, I would recommend Undaunted: How the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn Saved Russian Jewry, Reimagined American Judaism, and Ignited a Global Jewish Renaissance by David Eliezri. It is far more than a biography. It is impossible to truly understand the story of modern American Jewry—the remarkable revival of Torah after the Holocaust, the flourishing of Jewish education, and the global impact of Chabad—without understanding the life of the Frierdiker Rebbe. His journey is the bridge between the shattered world of pre-war European Jewry and the vibrant Jewish renaissance we are privileged to witness today. The seasons changed. The countries changed. The challenges changed. But because one man refused to change his commitment to Torah and to the Jewish people, he changed the course of Jewish history. Good Yom Tov and Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Ruvi New 