The Kinus Was Much More Than Just a Gathering

From the Anash.org Inbox: I’m not going to attempt to express what the Kinus means for these young Shluchim, I’m speaking about what I feel, as a Bochur looking on from the side. Seeing the young shluchim gather together, singing how happy and proud they are to be the Rebbe’s Shluchim, brings out ״ווי דער רבי לעבט״ in a very real way.

By a Bochur

The Kinus.

Not a simple gathering.

Some things are difficult to put into words. But it is words that are the containers for our thoughts and emotions. And so, I must try:

Many people look forward to the Kinus HaShluchim.

First and foremost, the Shluchim themselves. Once a year, they come together. They come home to recharge with their Meshaleiach, the Rebbe. But, for so many others, the Kinus HaShluchim is also a special time.

What is this joy and excitement about?

Is it the awesomeness of seeing so many Shluchim together; ordinary folk who do extraordinary things as they represent and tend to the Jews around the world?

Well, Yes. But I feel it’s more than that.

When a Chossid beholds the Rebbe’s army in all its splendor, it is impossible not to feel that the Rebbe is with us, here and now.

When you behold the shluchim, you are seeing the Rebbe’s energy in the flesh. You are seeing the gathering of שלוחו של אדם כמותו. That is powerful. When every year, more and more Shluchim take their posts around the world, it is clear that דער רבי לעבט.

In a certain sense, this is all the more powerfully showcased by the young Shluchim. These Young shluchim, have never seen their Meshaleiach, the Rebbe, physically, but are on his Shlichus and fulfilling it joyfully. There is no other explanation: the Rebbe is poel yeshuos b’kerev ha-aretz!

In a sicha, referring to the Kinus HaShluchim, the Rebbe stated that the Kinus is a כינוסן של צדיקים טוב להם וטוב לעולם it is a gathering of Tzaddikim,which is a pleasure for them, and a pleasure for the world. The gathering itself is good. There is something special about it. It’s not about a specific story heard, or incident, or recollection. Just the gathering itself is good for the world.

(After the kinus, on Sunday night in 770, hundreds of shluchim and chassidim come to farbreng and celebrate Rosh Chodesh Kislev. I notice individuals standing on the side, and watching. Not looking at anything in particular. Not hearing a word. Just standing and watching, looking on in awe, watching the scene in front of them.)

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Both me and the Tzeirei HaShluchim were born after Gimmel Tammuz. We are all constantly trying to connect to the Rebbe, in the העלם והסתר we are in at the current moment. We are all trying to internalize in a real way, that the Rebbe is something real, and with us today, caring for and guiding us.

No matter how much you know , how many things you have learnt, you have to bring it into your reality. Which is a difficult task.

It is at times difficult to feel in actuality how the Rebbe is with us, it is at times difficult to actually believe and feel that at any moment we will see the Rebbe with our physical eyes. We all know that It is true. Nonetheless, it is a continuous task to keep this real.

Seeing the young shluchim, and especially when they gather together, singing how happy and proud they are to be the Rebbe’s Shluchim, I feel this brings out ״ווי דער רבי לעבט״ in a very real way, in a tangible sense.

I’m not going to attempt to express what the Kinus means for these young Shluchim, it is beyond something I can understand, and perhaps sometimes beyond their own comprehension of what they are experiencing.

I’m speaking about what I feel, as a Bochur looking on from the side, and the feelings and thoughts swirling in my mind and heart.

Some may ask, this is what inspires you? This is what gives you a dose of strength? Maybe for a Baal Habos, but for a Bochur?

Of course it’s true, that as the Rebbe’s bochurim our avoda is Learning and Davening. However, this uplifting experience is no contradiction at all to what a Bochur is, rather I feel on the contrary, it gives me more strength in my avodas Hashem, in what I have to do.

כינוסן של צדיקים the very coming together itself טוב להם – is a benefit for themselves but also טוב לעולם – gives so much strength and hope to others as well.

May we merit very soon, to the day we see the טוב לעולם in it fullest sense, the real ultimate טוב, when we will see the Rebbe בגוף גשמי, והוא יגאלנו, right now!