Chai Elul marks 279 years since the Alter Rebbe was born on 18 Elul 1745, exactly 47 years after the birth of his “spiritual grandfather,” the Baal Shem Tov. The two luminaries have more in common than their birthdays: both began their journey toward Eretz Yisroel, but neither made it there.
The Alter Rebbe’s journey began in 1772, five years after he began his leadership in Lithuania and White Russia. He and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, along with 300 of their disciples, set out toward Eretz Yisroel. It would be an arduous, weeks-long trek through rough terrain, unforgiving weather, and danger-fraught roads. But their love for the land eclipsed their fear. They were heading home.
All along the way, the Alter Rebbe was filled with anticipation. In a few weeks, his life-long dream would be realized. At the time, Israel was a Torah wasteland; his would be the largest group to settle there in centuries, bringing some light to a barren land, one that was thirsting for her children. And who knew what spiritual heights the Rebbe could reach when studying Torah and Chassidus on the holy land of our Avos and Imahos?
But the Alter Rebbe had only covered a fraction of the journey when everything changed.
In the city of Mohilov Podolskyi, on Russia’s eastern border, Chassidim in his group challenged the Alter Rebbe.
“How could the Rebbe leave behind the millions of Jews who so desperately needed his guidance?”
The Rebbe took their words to heart. For two weeks, mid-journey, he secluded himself and thought about what his next steps should be. His personal yearning for Eretz Yisroel battled with his sense of responsibility to his Chassidim back home.
It was the latter that won.
Only weeks away from his arrival in Eretz Yisroel, the Alter Rebbe turned back, embracing the mission that would be his for the rest of his life: guiding the thousands of Chassidim who turned to him for physical and spiritual guidance.
The Alter Rebbe’s passion for the holy land still burned strong. Though the Alter Rebbe abandoned his dream of physically settling there, he was dedicated to helping those living in Eretz Yisroel and founded Colel Chabad.
The Alter Rebbe had been troubled by the reports he heard from Eretz Yisroel – especially reports from the Chassidim in his group who actually continued forward. The Chassidim who settled there wanted nothing more than to immerse themselves in their Torah learning, but it seemed impossible. They were struggling to feed themselves and their families, with no time or ability left for Torah and Chassidus – the reason they’d come.
The Alter Rebbe urged his Chassidim outside Eretz Yisroel to fulfill their responsibility to their brothers and provide financial aid. It was the beginning of Colel Chabad.
Years later, the Alter Rebbe would credit his miraculous release from prison on 19 Kislev 5559 (1798) – not in the merit of his dissemination of Torah and Chassidus to thousands of Chassidim – but in the merit of his support for “the holy land and its inhabitants.”
To the Alter Rebbe, supporting Israel’s struggling Jews was a fulfillment of his love for the land. But more than a consolation for the loss of his dream, Colel Chabad was a substitute. As the Alter Rebbe explains in Iggeres Hakodesh, 21, that giving tzedakah to Jews in Israel means accessing Eretz Yisroel’s life-giving blessings, even when we’re living thousands of miles away.
“Charity protects and saves one — by its ‘fruits in this world’ — from all kinds of calamities that may come about. As our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: ‘When the Jewish people were exiled to Edom, the Shechinah went with them…. because reviving the spirit of the poor causes an arousal from Above, especially when people offer to support the people of the Land of Life, for Eretz Yisrael, the geographical Land of Life, corresponds to the heavenly Land of Life.”
A year ago, none of us could dream of what we’d see in our homeland. The reality of being so far from home becomes even more painful when the war makes it harder to visit.
But the Alter Rebbe offers us a way to fulfill our longing for the land and access its blessings even from afar: by helping our brothers who live there. This Chai Elul, as we reflect on the life and legacy of the Alter Rebbe, we can find a way to “reach” Eretz Yisroel just as he did, even when we’re stranded oceans away – by supporting the organization starting by the Alter Rebbe in 1788 and still operating today with the same mission and values.
So if Eretz Yisroel is on your mind – and a visit seems like a far-off dream, donate to Colel Chabad.
In the merit of being there for our brothers in Eretz Yisroel, as the Alter Rebbe tells us, we’ll soon find ourselves in our homeland once again.
This time, though, we’ll be there to stay.
Strengthen your connection to Eretz Yisroel with a donation to Colel Chabad, the Alter Rebbe’s charity.
