The Rebbe’s Memory?

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On one occasion, my father-in-law, the Rebbe said:

“I do not add nishmato eden (‘his soul is in Eden’) to my father’s name – I am not about to assign him an ‘address.’ Furthermore, as far as I am concerned, Father has not departed.”

I feel the same regarding my father-in-law, the Rebbe. Who can possibly assign him an “address” in heaven?! Who can possibly establish his place as being in “Eden,” be it the “Lower Eden,” or the “Higher Eden,” or any other heavenly abode, no matter how sublime? And why shall we dispatch him to the supernal yonder? He certainly doesn’t want to part from us!

Likewise, I do not add zecher tzaddik livrachah (“may the memory of the righteous be for blessing”) to my mention of the Rebbe. The concept of “memory” applies only to something of the past, to something that is susceptible to forgetting. Regarding our relationship with the Rebbe, forgetting is not a possibility; so there is no point in speaking of the Rebbe’s “memory,” just as one would not speak of the “memory” of a person who manifestly lives amongst us.

From an address by the Rebbe, Sivan 25, 5710 (June 10, 1950)

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

 

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