9499 —על הנזק שבעידוד מנהיגים רוחניים לעזוב את קהילותיהם

B"H, Eve of Rosh Chodesh the third month, 5728.

Brooklyn, NY. — Haraha"g veHaraha"ch iy"a nu"n oseik b'tzt"z rav pe'alim etc. Moharar Nisan Vaksman — Beit Din HaRabani, King David Blvd 33, Tel Aviv

Shalom u'Vrachah!

I hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter from Gimel Lametmonim, which reached me after some delay. Of course I remember your honor, even though I do not recall if we met personally, since in the past you sent me Sefer Tomer Devorah, where it also discusses the greatness of Ahavas Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew). Although I do not have this edition of yours at hand, it seems you addressed this topic in your commentary.

Regarding the main point of your letter: It gave me satisfaction to see that your heart is attentive to the situation of our brethren in the Indian diaspora. This gives me hope that my following words will find a receptive echo in your heart. For some time now I have been urging and requesting—using every possible expression—from those involved in aliyah activities that—without entering into their work or methods—they should not cause spiritual leaders of any community to leave their congregants and relocate elsewhere—even to Eretz HaKodesh (the Holy Land). For at all times the state of Judaism everywhere depends on community leaders and especially their spiritual guides; how much more so in our generation—a generation orphaned of leadership.

It is absolutely clear and certain that it is forbidden to assist these leaders when they flee from their posts; all the more so it is forbidden to campaign for them to abandon their positions—for by doing so they are knowingly abandoning many precious Jewish souls. Unfortunately this is not a mere suspicion or concern but something seen tangibly whenever a city or community loses its spiritual leader.

Even where there are two or three spiritual leaders etc., aside from what our Sages taught—that two righteous people in a city are not comparable to one righteous person in a city—they also said: "Its radiance has departed; its splendor has departed," etc. In our generation even when several leaders are present together in one place they cannot provide sufficient spiritual nourishment for all those around them—not even minimally—for many reasons; hopefully they can reach even an important portion. The consequences are obvious when one leaves and there is no replacement; his colleagues are weakened by his departure and begin thinking that if so-and-so left his post then it must be permitted etc.

The well-known saying and hint from our Sages is: "Such is the craftiness of the evil inclination: today he tells him do this... until he tells him..." (Shabbat 105b). The evil inclination’s seduction begins by agreeing with previous conduct according to Torah and mitzvah—in other words, he cloaks his temptation in a garment of righteousness. What better cloak today than aliyah to Eretz HaKodesh?

When I pleaded with certain aliyah activists who visited me that they should direct their campaigns among those being guided rather than among the guides themselves—even those who promised at the time later began campaigning specifically among rabbis and educators. When I asked how this could be, they answered: there is hope that "the body follows the head," so if it becomes known that a community’s rabbi made aliyah then all his congregants will follow! Surely you know—as someone familiar with youth and baalei batim (laypeople) in America—how absurd these claims are and how little basis they have in reality; similarly regarding South American Jewry.

Moreover, even regarding Moroccan Jewry—where several baalei batim made aliyah—their move was not influenced at all by whether their rabbi had gone before them; what did have an effect was when the rabbi or sage relocated—this caused a marked decline in religious observance within the community as a whole and especially among Jewish youth. This is well known to anyone who visited these countries recently and saw firsthand how such campaigns—where successful—led to immeasurable religious decline.

At present I do not see anyone who has begun correcting this situation—even though opportunities exist—and it is very painful to elaborate on this matter, especially since as mentioned above emissaries continue along these lines throughout all those countries from which such reports reach me. It is likely that this also happened in India—in several important places—just as it occurred in Morocco and South America etc.

The above does not begin to reflect the seriousness of the situation nor the destructive nature of such campaigns—especially since it makes no sense: had equal energy been invested campaigning among baalei batim instead, success would have come without waging war against those remaining behind religiously—or morally—and after all even children living outside Eretz Yisrael must not be harmed by relocating their spiritual leader etc.

May it be G‑d’s will that each one of us within Klal Yisrael recognizes his greatest responsibility—especially nowadays—toward Jews near and far around him; may he do everything possible to ease Torah study and mitzvah observance for them; may he instill Torah and mitzvos wherever possible; may he strengthen all those involved in this work everywhere Jews reside; may he explain our Sages’ ruling: "A student who goes into exile—we exile his teacher with him," which certainly implies an absolute prohibition against persuading or assisting a rabbi to abandon his students while they remain exiled abroad. There is real soul-responsibility here—a matter of pikuach nefesh (saving lives) regarding eternal life through Torah and mitzvos—and if doubt about pikuach nefesh requires such caution, how much more so when unfortunately there is no doubt at all as explained above.

I have no interest whatsoever in speaking negatively about any Jew—and certainly not about spiritual guides—but it makes no sense for someone’s own spiritual ascent—even moving to Eretz HaKodesh—to come at the expense of serious spiritual decline among many of his students or followers.

Although I have written at length on this topic—it does not begin to match its seriousness nor the danger posed thereby to so many precious Jewish souls. After all—even one Jewish soul is an entire world; whoever sustains him with true life—with Torah and mitzvos—has sustained an entire world; from a positive statement you can infer its opposite meaning etc.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that encouraging rabbis or spiritual leaders to leave their communities causes great harm both spiritually and communally. True leadership means remaining with one's flock, strengthening local observance, and prioritizing communal needs over personal advancement—even for worthy goals like aliyah.