It was a chilly winter night in the early 1940s, and the Academic Principal of the Rabbinical College at 770, Lubavitch World Headquarters, prepared to return home after a long day of instructing his students. As the Principal was not a Lubavitcher chassid, he did not usually attend the Chassidic gatherings that transpired among the young men.

However, that night, he noticed that the students were farbrenging with vigor. He inquired what event had inspired this gathering, and was told that it was the famous holiday of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe’s liberation,Yud-Tes Kislev. Once he was there, the Principal granted the students’ request that he speak.

The Principal sat among the students, accepted a small cup of vodka to say “L’chaim,” and said, “In every country there are citizens and there are tourists. The difference is that a citizen is deeply committed to his country. He cares about improving its cleanliness, voting for worthy leaders, and the like. Tourists lack this sense of loyalty.”

Then, raising his cup, he exclaimed, “L’chaim – you boys should be ‘citizens’ of Judaism, not ‘tourists!’”

—Heard from Rabbi Levi Wineberg

“It’s better to be on the outside looking in, than on the inside looking out.”
—Adapted from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch