Gimmel Tammuz

Korach (3 Tammuz) 5751: The Sun Stood Still For a Reason
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Korach (3 Tammuz) 5751: The Sun Stood Still For a Reason

The Miracle of the Sun standing still was only in order to allow Israel to defeat the enemy by their own power in a natural way.

Gimmel Tammuz is the day that the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe was released from Soviet prison in 5687 (1927).

Prior to that, we find that it was on this day that Yehoshua bin Nun performed a tremendous miracle, causing the sun to stand still.  The story behind the miracle is that Israel were doing battle with the enemy.  Sunset was approaching, and with the setting of the sun the battle would cease and the enemy would be able to escape.  In order to enable Israel to defeat the enemy, Yehoshua instructed the sun to “be silent”, causing it to cease it’s flight in the heavens, preserving the daylight so that the battle could be won.

The Rebbe asks an obvious question: if one has the power to cause the sun (and the entire heavenly system with it) to pause, why not simply bring about the defeat of the enemy in a direct fashion?  The preceding verses in Sefer Yehoshua tell us that more of the enemy were killed by stones which fell upon them from heaven than were killed by the sword.  Is it not a simpler matter to rain down some more stones than to freeze the entire heavenly system?

The answer the Rebbe gives is that the battle is Israel’s battle, it must be won by them under their own power.  Of course Hashem is helping with miraculous assistance from above, but this is only assistance.  The war must be fought and pursued by Israel in a natural fashion, even if on top of that there is super-natural assistance.  Thus, instead of Yehoshua simply bringing about the defeat of the enemy and Israel stand by passively, he used his power to give Israel more time to overcome the enemy in a natural way.

In our day, Gimmel Tammuz is primarily associated with the transition from the years when we saw the Rebbe to the current situation where the Rebbe is not seen except in videos and dreams.  Moshe Rabbeinu is likened to the sun, and the Rebbe, Moshe Rabbeinu in our generation, is still providing all the assistance necessary to win the war against evil.  But the war must be won by us, under our own power.  While the Rebbe was visible to all, it was possible to “rely on the Rebbe” to win the war.  Today, when it seems that the sun, Moshe Rabbeinu, has “stopped moving” it is only in order to allow us to overcome the enemy using natural means.

For a more detailed explanation, with comprehensive references from Chassidus, see the Kuntres Inyonei Moshiach and Geulah for Gimmel Tammuz.

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Some Thoughts on Gimmel Tammuz

Today, walking on Eastern Parkway near 770, I overheard a Yeshiva Bochur explaining to an older woman that the upcoming day of Gimmel Tammuz is “the day the Rebbe passed away in 1994; you see, he is the Moshiach…”

Moshiach is described as transcending paradox (“nosei hafochim“).  We have no greater paradox than Gimmel Tammuz.  On the one hand, it has all the hallmarks of a “histalkus“, which essentially means “disappearance” as in “passing away” (although Chassidus explains that it actually means greater revelation, one which transcends revelation).  A “histalkus” of a Rebbe is the culmination of his leadership, and even though he continues to live on (also in this physical world, and even in a body [as we know that the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezeritch were present in a bodily form in the Alter Rebbe’s prison cell])—nonetheless, there is an “end of an era”, and a new Rebbe emerges to carry on the mission.

Nothing of the sort happened on Gimmel Tammuz 5754.

The leadership of the Rebbe has not diminished by even the smallest measure, rather, to the contrary—the dedication of his Chassidim is stronger than ever and his leadership is more widely influential than ever.  There has not been a “break” but rather a “continuation” (see the sicha of 28 Sivan).

The Rebbe, in the sichos of Gimmel Tammuz, addresses the previous miraculous events of Gimmel Tammuz:

  1. Yehoshua bin Nun causes the sun to stand still (the sun is the tzaddik of whom it says “the sun sets and the sun rises”—on Gimmel Tammuz the sun did not set);
  2. The Previous Rebbe was redeemed from a death sentence under the Communists and sent to exile.  It was the “beginning of the redemption”, but it was not clear to the Chassidim at the time. [Read further]

The power of our generation, the generation of Moshiach, lies in our ability to “see through the darkness”, to know that even despite all appearances to the contrary the leader of the generation, the Moshiach of the generation “stands and serves” and his leadership is uncontested.  The terminology for this day, and what the Rebbe’s present address is, are not the decisive factors.  Rather, the incontestable focus of this day is the fact that the Rebbe continues to lead our generation, the 7th generation, to greet the true and complete Geulah!

Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach l’Olam Vo’ed!