"אם יהיה נדחך בקצה השמים משם יקבצך ה' אלקיך ומשם יקחך"
“If your dispersed will be at the ends of the heavens, from there G‑d, your G‑d, will gather you in and from there He will take you.”

QUESTION: Since people do not live in heavens, should not the pasuk have stated, “If your dispersed will be at the ends of the earth?”

ANSWER: Shamayim — heavens — denotes spiritual matters, while aretz — earth — refers to the mundane and material. The term “biketzeih” — “at the ends” — comes from the word “ketzat” — “a little bit.”

Since every Jew has certainly done some good and therefore has some merits in Heaven, Moshe told the Jewish people: “Im yiheyeh nidachacha — In the event that some of you may be dispersed — you need not worry because as long as you are holding onto ketzeih hashamayim — a little bit of spirituality — this will serve as the string through which Hashem will take hold of you and bring you back to Him and the Jewish people.”

(שמעתי מדודי הרב ברוך הכהן ז"ל כהן מח"ס קול תודה)

* * *

Many people have questioned the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s mitzvah campaigns: “Why bother putting tefillin on a mechaleil Shabbat — Shabbat desecrator — why go through the effort of putting a mezuzah on a home where kashrut is not observed?”

In light of the abovementioned, his efforts can be well understood. The Rebbe has unlimited love for Klal Yisrael, and he wants every Jew to perform at least one mitzvah through which Hashem will take hold of him and bring him back into the fold of Judaism.