נִיט עֲבוֹדָה אִיז אַז עֲבוֹדָה זאָל זַיין בֶּאֱמֶת, נאָר אֱמֶת אַלֵיין אִיז אַן עֲבוֹדָה, אַז דִי נעֶגעֶל זַיינעֶן אֱמֶת. וואָס וועֶרסְטוּ נִתְפָּעֵל? מִדַּת הָאֱמֶת רָאָה (סַנְהֶדְרִין קיא. א) וְנָפַל עַל פָּנָיו.

The concept of avodah — Divine service — does not [merely] mean that one must serve G‑d truthfully. Rather, truthfulness is itself a form of Divine service, to the point that even one’s nails [i.e., the most superficial part of a person] should be [permeated by] truth.

Why should this be so surprising? [After all,] it was the vision of G‑d’s Attribute of Truth [that caused Moshe to] fall on his face.1

A Story with an Echo

At the end of the letter entitled Katonti,2 the Alter Rebbe entreats his chassidim to be truly humble, even when confronted by enmity.

On this the Rebbe Maharash commented: “If the Alter Rebbe had not inserted the three words that mean ‘according to the attribute of truth personified by Yaakov,’ he would have had another 50,000 chassidim. But the Alter Rebbe demands the attribute of truth!”3

And that demand has been perpetuated by the Rebbe of every succeeding generation. In fact, after the passing of the Rebbe Maharash in the year 5643 (1882), it was precisely that demand that determined the succession — as eye-witnesses told R. Saadiah Lieberov some years later when he was a student at the original Tomchei Temimim Yeshivah in Lubavitch.

For more than a decade, delegations of respected chassidim entreated the two elder sons of the Rebbe Maharash in turn to assume the mantle of leadership. At the time of their father’s passing at the age of about 48,4 R. Zalman Aharon was 23 years old; his younger brother, R. Shalom DovBer, later to be known as the Rebbe Rashab, was 21. Time after time, each of them insisted that the other was more suited to the task, and begged to be released from the repeated pleas — but in vain.

Finally, after years without progress, an august delegation called on the elder brother, R. Zalman Aharon, and declared, respectfully but unequivocally: “This state of affairs cannot continue; you absolutely must consent to be Rebbe.”

R. Zalman Aharon’s reply was brief: “I hate falsehood; he loves truth. He has to be Rebbe.”

And so it was.5