At this point we have a clear definition of what it means to be a Chassid and what the Chassid's task and mission in life is. But how is he to set out to realize his ideal? The answer to this question is found in the following quotations from the Rebbe (Quoted in C. Raddock, "Bridging the Gap between East and West," The Jewish Forum, December 1953.):

"The essential features of the attitude and policy of Lubavitch are not to content ourselves with defensive tactics. That is to say, not to wait until a position of Yiddishkeit is attacked in order to rally to its defense. This has been the erroneous attitude of American orthodox Jewry and also of Jewries in certain European countries. The proper attitude is to employ offensive and preventative methods through the widest possible dissemination of, and propagation for, those high ideals for which the classical Torah-tradition stands. As a logical corollary of this attitude it follows that we cannot remain content with activity confined to our own, immediate circle. Propagation of Torah-Judaism must be directed at all strata of Jewry."

In a conversation in the summer of 1951, the Rebbe dealt with this same point at greater length:

Orthodox Jewry has unfortunately concentrated upon defensive strategy. We were always worried lest we lose positions and strongholds. And indeed we had all reason for worry. One Jewish bastion after another had fallen into the hands of the non-religious. Had orthodox Jews, instead of waiting to defend, taken the initiative and sought to widen their influence and created more and better bastions for Torah - Yiddishkeit, the situation would be quite different and the non- religious would not, as is now the case, dominate Jewish communal affairs.

As quoted in G. Kranzler, "A Visit with the new Lubavitcher Rebbe," Jewish Life, Sept.-Oct. 1951:

"The lesson to be drawn from this is obvious. To discharge ourselves of our duty we must take the initiative. This, of course, takes courage, planning, vision and the will to carry on despite all odds."

"But that has always been the true Jewish approach, the Torah perspective on life and the ways of Divine Providence. If we were to count the odds and weigh the chances, we would be lacking in bitachon faith in the ultimate affirmation of the right and justification of the just."

"Weakness, lack of power and influence, should never deter us from the path prescribed by the Torah. We must not be frightened by the fact that only a minority of the millions of Jews gathered in this country are to be counted as Torah-conscious Jews. We must know only one thing: our task and our will to do it. Success is not up to us; it is in higher hands."

"The thing we have to fear most at this moment is the defeatism and the defection that has gripped some of our best elements in this country in the face of the growing effects of so-called `inter-faith' movements, and the watering down of the very content of our religion to a point where our children will no longer know whether they are Jews or not. This defeatism is even worse than the limitations to defensive tactics."

"Charity begins at home. We cannot talk of assuming responsibility for the rest of the Jewish world, of building new centers for Torah and Yiddishkeit elsewhere, even in Eretz Yisrael, if right here in our midst our brothers and sisters are being engulfed. More than that, we have no right to teach and lead others if at home we neglect the very thing we want to make others do."

The offensive for Torah-Judaism that the Rebbe speaks of is directed at all Jews, regardless of their background and present status. For one thing, all Jews in unison are one body, the individual members of which interact and are most intimately related to one another. The acts and affectations of any one of them affect directly every other one as well. (See Mechilta deRashby on Exodus 19:6: "They are as one body and one soul, if one of them is afflicted all of them feel it.")

Also, there is not a single Jew, as far as he may seem or consider himself to have drifted from the center of Yiddishkeit, who does not have some good point, some particular mitzvah which by nature or inclination he may promote. This spark of 'good' in each soul can and must be utilized for the good of the Jewish community, and, in turn, for the good of the person who does it. Each individual counts, because each individual may perhaps become a leader or the father of many generations to be gained for the Torah, or Heaven forbid to be lost.

The Rebbe sees the non-orthodox not only as the objects but also as subjects of the call to arms for Torah-Yiddishkeit.

For example, take the danger of mixed marriages. If we can use even those of our people who do not believe in any other of the 613 mitzvot than the preservation of the purity of our families, we must definitely call on them in order to be able to stem such defections from our faith and with it from our nation. Not always does it matter who does the `doing,' as long as it is done. The accomplishment counts for what it achieves objectively and for what it does to the one involved. (The same would apply to Jewish education - that whoever has the power and the will to contribute some aspect, some particular skill or capacity towards the offensive for Jewish education, must be drawn upon.)