There is a kind of Judaism that appears in moments of danger. Under threat.

When the Hamans rise up, Jews gather. When decrees are issued, Jews remember who they are. When the world presses against us, something deep awakens. We saw it after October 7th. Jews who had not thought about a mezuzah in years wanted one. Jews who had not entered the doors of a synagogue suddenly came. Jews who had felt distant from Israel, Torah, or community suddenly felt an ache, a pull, a responsibility.

That awakening is real. It is holy. And it comes from somewhere very deep.

But the Rebbe taught us that there is something even deeper.

In the last discourse he distributed, 34 years ago, a few days before he fell ill and then wasn’t able to speak anymore, the Rebbe explains a remarkable idea. There is a level of the Jewish soul that is revealed when a Jew is crushed by exile and by........

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