Reach

“… I was once privileged to hear from my father (the previous Lbavitcher Rebbe) that his father, Rabbi Shalom Dover, of saintly memory, was once asked, ‘What is a Chabad-Lubavitch chassid?’ He replied, a chassid is like a street lamp lighter. In olden days, there was a person in every town who would light the streetlamps with a light he carried at the end of a long pole.  On the street corners, the lamps were there in readiness, waiting to be lit; sometimes, however, the lamps are not as easily accessible. There are lamps in forsaken places, in deserts or at sea. There must be someone to light even those lamps, so that they may fulfill their purpose and light up the paths of others. It is written, ‘The soul of man is the candle of G-d.’ It is also written, ‘A mitzvah is a candle, and the Torah is light.’ A chassid is one who puts his personal affairs aside and sets out to light up the souls of Jews with the light of Torah and mitzvot. Jewish souls are ready and waiting to be kindled. Sometimes they are close, nearby; sometimes they are in a desert, or at sea. There must be someone who will forgo his or her own comforts and conveniences, and reach out to light those lamps."  –from address by Rebbe Menachem Schneerson