Some 12 years ago the  Israeli Ambassador to  Australia was a man by the  name of Yehuda Avner.  He was very close to former Prime  Minister Menachem Begin and  had previously been his personal  emissary on a number of  occasions.

On one occasion Begin sent Avner  to the Lubavitcher Rebbe in an  attempt to convince him of the  correctness of the Camp David  Accords. However, after several  hours of conversation it became  clear that the Rebbe was not going  to be persuaded.

The Ambassador then said to the  Rebbe, " I would like to ask you  something that has been on my  mind for a long time." 

"What is a Rebbe?" 

The Rebbe pointed to an unlit  candle in the cupboard behind  him and asked, "What is this?" 

"It's a candle" replied Avner.

"No, " said the Rebbe, "it's a wick  surrounded by wax". And pointing  to a box of matches the Rebbe  said, "it only becomes a candle  when you light it." 

"Ah", said Avner, "So the Rebbe is  the one who lights up the soul of  every Jew  and transforms him into a  candle." 

"No," said the Rebbe, "the Rebbe  shows him the matches - it's for  the Jew  to light his candle." 

Every Jew has untold potential.  His body is the wax and his soul is  the wick, but it requires our holy  Torah and the Mitzvot to truly  light us up.
 
Boruch Hashem,we have been  blessed with great Rebbes. They  show us the way, inspire us and  often give us a much needed  boost. But it is up to us to light our  own candle and assist those  around us to light theirs.

Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM
June 12, 2009