מָצִינוּ דְעִקָּר חִבָּתוֹ שֶׁל הקב"ה לְאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם הָיָה לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה — כְּפֵרוּשׁוֹ יְחַבֵּר — אֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בֵּיתוֹ. הַיְנוּ דְּכָל גּוֹדֶל עֲבוֹדָתוֹ בְּהַנִּסְיוֹנוֹת אֵינוֹ בְּעֶרֶךְ לְגַבֵּי הָא דִיצַוֶּה וִיחַבֵּר אֲחֵרִים, מַה שֶׁיְּזַכֶּה אֲחֵרִים.

We observe that G‑d cherished Avraham mainly because “he commands his children and his household.”1 Now, the word here translated “commands” (yetzaveh) can also mean “connect.”2 [This implies that] all of Avraham’s prodigious endeavors in the face of his trials pale in comparison to his commanding and connecting others — bymaking them, too, meritorious.3

A Faithful Shepherd

In the chassidic community, the date of this entry already tingles with anticipation of the festive commemoration of the release from imprisonment of the Rebbe Rayatz on 12 Tammuz, in 5687 (1927). The Rebbe Rayatz had been incarcerated, maltreated, and placed under capital sentence, for pursuing the path of Avraham. Rather than secluding himself with a small group of advanced students (a policy that the Soviet authorities might have overlooked), he showed concern for the Jewish people as a whole, by providing them with everything they needed to maintain their Jewish heritage.

His concern for Jewish continuity was most apparent in his efforts on behalf of Jewish education, and it was this activity that aroused the fiercest opposition from the Soviet authorities. One might have questioned the reasonableness of his policy. After all, maintaining a nationwide underground network to secure the survival of Jewish education was a formidable undertaking that required extensive effort, with little guarantee of success — especially in an environment as hostile as that of Stalinist Russia. Nonetheless, despite all the risks, sacrifice and possible disappointment that the work entailed, the Rebbe Rayatz directed his main energies to this goal. For, to borrow the homey metaphor of our Sages,4 “If there are no kids, there will be no goats.”