In the previous generation, people asked: What is the secret of Chabad Chasidim's success? Chasidim attributed their success to two things – the Rebbe and self-sacrifice! In truth, one depends on the other – the Rebbe provides a personal example of self-sacrifice, awakens and reveals the point of Jewish self-sacrifice in all those connected to him, and also shows the unique path of self-sacrifice to be taken in each era.
In the previous generation, which suffered the Holocaust and unspeakable persecution, the need for self-sacrifice was clear – there was no other way to survive as a Jew in the horrors of the Nazi regime or under the oppressive Communist boot. Even places of refuge, the Land of Israel and the United States, required a type of self-sacrifice to stand against Israel's enemies and to preserve Judaism. But is self-sacrifice a necessary characteristic of Chasidism?
The purpose of Chasidism is to bridge the passage between this world and the World to Come: In this world, one can mostly be a good Jew, observing Torah and mitzvot and loving God, within the limitations of the world. In the World to Come, God's unity will be revealed to all, without trials demanding self-sacrifice, and there will be no need for a Rebbe – "For in those days, knowledge, wisdom, and truth will increase, as it is said, 'For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God,' and it is said, 'They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother.'" But one who wants to reveal the World to Come now, within this world, to reveal God's unity even in a world of limitations, concealments, and trials, needs a special power.
Chasidism comes to provide this power, as the Rebbe sacrifices himself to allow the chasidim to taste God's unity as it is felt in the higher world. He arouses their self-sacrifice to break through the boundaries of reality and withstand all trials. The chasidic mission to the world always demands that a person transcend himself and his limitations, making a new breakthrough into reality, crossing the boundary between worlds and revealing the Infinite here and now. Success in this mission comes through connection to the Rebbe and self-sacrifice.
Self-sacrifice, then, is the very essence of the Rebbe and of Chasidism, and it remains constant in every generation. Nevertheless, the main transition from generation to generation and from leader to leader is expressed in the nature of self-sacrifice. Sometimes self-sacrifice is required in new revelations, which until now were concealed; sometimes self-sacrifice is in shaping new patterns of Jewish life; sometimes it is self-sacrifice in its simple meaning, standing firm in trials or fighting against Israel's enemies; and sometimes it is self-sacrifice of giving up comfort and moving from passivity to activity in spreading Judaism.
The common denominator of all self-sacrifice is the need to confront opposition from within or without – fighting Israel's enemies, struggling with "your destroyers and those who laid you waste come from you," dealing with spiritual opposition from distant surroundings or reservations in close circles, and overcoming internal resistance within one's own soul. The attribute of Chasidism goes beyond the letter of the law of the Torah and operates above reason and knowledge – all under the guidance of the Rebbe, the leader of the generation, who identifies the opposition and knows where to break through now.
