מַעֲלַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה עָנָיו, דַּהֲגַם שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בְּתַכְלִית הַגַּדְלוּת, וְיִלְמוֹד תּוֹרָה עִם הָאָבוֹת וּמֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, בְּכָל זֶה יִהְיֶה בְּתַכְלִית הָעֲנָוָה וְהַבִּטּוּל לִלְמוֹד גַּם עִם אֲנָשִׁים פְּשׁוּטִים.

The distinctive quality of Mashiach will be his humility. Though he will be on the highest level, and will teach Torah to the Patriarchs and Moshe Rabbeinu, he will nevertheless possess ultimate humility and self-effacement, and will teach even simple folk.1

A Faithful Shepherd

Anyone who ever received a dollar for tzedakah from the Rebbe’s hand on one of the many Sundays from 11 Nissan, 5746 (1986),2 to 26 Adar I, 5752 (1992),3 understands this teaching. Together on one line was a true cross-section of the entire Jewish people: venerable sages and young children, Americans and visitors from every country; the punctiliously observant, the not-yet-practicing, and the entire range in between; musicians and businessmen; political leaders from the United States and Eretz Yisrael; prominent public figuresand amcha-Yidn, “ordinary Jews,” by the thousands. Non-Jews, too — whether government officials, or simply men and women who sought a blessing from a holy man — stood in line.

Every person received the same caring attention. With fatherly love, the Rebbe divested himself of his own concerns and invested himself in each individual on that line, no matter who he was or what his unresolved problems were.