| Sivan 17, 5772 · June 7, 2012 The Agony of Leadership
Moses, my master, annihilate them (11:28) "Annihilate them" - Appoint them to a position of leadership, and they will deteriorate of their own accord. - Rashi's commentary After the passing of Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, the elder chassidim gathered and decided to confer the mantle of leadership on his middle son Rabbi Sholom DovBer. A delegation visited Rabbi Sholom DovBer and requested that he assume his father's place as Rebbe. Rabbi Sholom DovBer heard them out in silence, playing with the chain of his pocket watch, and did not respond in any way. Soon after they left, Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Chein, an intimate friend of Rabbi Sholom DovBer, entered the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, the new Rebbe burst into tears. "If you are truly a friend of mine," he wept, "you would tie a rope around my neck, secure it to a heavy stone, and throw me in the river."
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