אות - קסה

Whenever his high spiritual level was mentioned, the Rebbe would say, “But I worked very hard for all this. Ich hab zehr gehoravet. Ich hab zehr fil gefast – I struggled very much. I endured many fasts” (see “ His Wisdom ” #158) .

We are taught, “Envy of scholars increases wisdom” ( Bava Batra 21a) . This is why the Rebbe told us all these things. He wanted us to envy his great achievements and emulate them, following his ways in striving to serve God.

The Rebbe once spoke to one of us about his attainments. He seemed to boast of his high level and deep perception just like one taunts another and tries to make him jealous of some mundane achievement.

The other man replied to the Rebbe, “How can I achieve this? Who is worthy of attaining such a high level? Surely only one with a lofty soul like yours!”

The Rebbe seemed very irritated and answered, “This is the trouble. You think that tzaddikim attain greatness merely because they have a very great soul. This is absolutely wrong! Any person can attain my levels and become just like me. All it takes is true devotion and effort” (see “ His Praises ” #25) .

I also heard this from him many times – that it depends mainly on hard work and doing.