What does it mean to be a Chabad chassid post-Gimmel Tamuz? How can we and our children connect to the Rebbe? In a fiery Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen, Rabbi Shlomo Sternberg points out that the one thing we can transmit to our children is our family atmosphere. If we strive to create a home founded on yirat shamaim, Shulchan Aruch, good middot, and chassidic ways, then we have made a home where the Rebbe would feel welcome.
Why is this important? Firstly, because we are the Rebbe's children, and it would be tragic to have a home where the father and grandfather were not made to feel comfortable. Secondly, because the future of the Jewish nation is in our hands. We must ensure that our home reflects the trust placed in us by G-d when He granted us our children. Does our home atmosphere nourish righteousness on the part of our children, or G-d forbid, the opposite?
Just as our Mother Sarah was vigilant in protecting her son Isaac from spiritual harm, so must we be. What in our home must be driven out in order to protect the spiritual purity of our children?
Gems:
"The chassidim celebrating in the mine were deep under ground, but on top of the world."
"We need to support each other not to fall asleep before dawn - it's very close!"
"The key to your house is the key to your heart."
"You were always waiting to see a picture of my children -- here they are."
