In the Passover Haggadah we encounter the 'four sons': wise, wicked, innocent, and one who does not know how to ask. These four sons represent four types of Jews, and the Torah guides us to pass on the tradition of the fathers and the story of the Exodus to each son according to his own concepts and language.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe added that in recent generations a new type of Jew has emerged, the "fifth son." The four sons, from the wise one to the one who does not know how to ask, all have one thing in common - they gather and sit together at the Seder table and celebrate Passover. However, the "fifth son" has strayed so far from Jewish tradition that he does not even feel the need to come and participate in the Seder.
While the Jewish people in the Diaspora celebrate the Seder, the "fifth son" wanders somewhere in the world, and is not at all interested in the Seder or the tradition of the ancestors.
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The mission of our generation, said the Rebbe, is to locate the 'fifth son,' to reach these Jews, to remind them that they too are sons of the people of Israel, and to return them to the Seder table and to the lap of Jewish tradition.
Don't be confused by the dust.
This saying beautifully reflects the Rebbe's leadership. He never thought in sectarian and communal terms, but rather had before his eyes the entire Jewish people. Like the first shepherd of the people of Israel, Moses, who went in search of the lost lamb that had abandoned the flock, so the Rebbe was concerned with searching for the precious Jewish souls who had strayed from the paths of life and rescuing them from the threats of assimilation and assimilation.
The Rebbe taught us to look at every Jew as a beloved brother, without barriers. Even those who have seemingly strayed from the values of Judaism have a precious Jewish soul within them. The external dust that covers it should not confuse us. Beneath the external covering lies a precious diamond.
Thanksgiving Day
Sunday, the 11th of Nisan, is the day on which 121 years ago the great soul of the Rebbe descended into the world, and therefore it is a righteous day. The value of his birthday for a tzaddik can be learned from the words of Chazal, who said that the wicked Haman chose the month of Adar to carry out his plot, because it was in this month that Moses the Rebbe died, and he believed that it was a bad month for Israel; however, his mistake was that he did not know that it was in this month that Moses the Rebbe was also born, and "the greatness of the day of birth is that it atones for the day of death.".
And so, thanks to Moses' birthday, which fell in the month of Adar, the entire month became a month of blessing and good fortune for the people of Israel throughout all generations.
We, too, who were blessed with the great light of the Rebbe, who enjoyed the light of his Torah, his insightful advice, his precise guidance, the abundance of his blessings, and his great leadership, deserve to thank God for planting this great soul within us. This is a day for increasing love of Israel, for spreading Judaism, for the acquittal of many in the mitzvot, and most of all – for strengthening the Rebbe’s main passion – the expectation of true redemption and completeness through our righteous Messiah.
May this month of Nissan also be the month of true and complete redemption, as our Sages promised us: "In Nissan they were redeemed - in Nissan they will be redeemed.".
