Welcome to Hashem’s army! We have the tremendous zechus of training our children to be true Chayolim – Chassidim, Yirei Shomayim and Lamdonim. Because YOU are the leaders of Hashem’s Army its imperative the you understand the Mission and Plan of Action of Tzivos Hashem. So lets get started!
1. Who made Tzivos Hashem?
2. Why did the Rebbe start TH for kids?
3. What did Tzivos Hashem Head Quarters (HQ) do to make that a reality?
4. How can your school be a Tzivos Hashem Base?
Whenever an army has a special campaign they are about to fight they draft new soldiers. According to all signs in gemora soita we are now in the last moments of Golus. We need more soldiers in Hashem’s Army for our final campaign of Geula!
Only males were drafted into Hashem’s Army at the age of 20, however, Shevet Levi was drafted from when they were only 30 days old. Some opinions write that Shevet Levi was drafted when they were born or from when they were still in the womb. The Torah tells us that anyone is able to be like Shevet Levi and “volunteer” to dedicate their lives to Hashem from an early age. And so Hashem’s Army is now drafting children! The children are the most powerful soldiers. Even girls are being asked to join this wonderful army. You may think that a girl has no place in an army; however when it’s a Milchemes Mitzvah, then even a Kallah on the day of her Chupah goes to war!
The Rebbe explained that the children are the best soldiers as they have nothing else on their heads and can be totally dedicated to the Mission. The Rebbe also quoted what Dovid Hamelch writes in tehillim “Mipi Olelim Veyonkim Yisadeto Oz.”- The Torah spoken from the mouths of little children gives Hashem (kaviyochul) the strength to destroy the enemy and the avenger. Today, will all the modern enemies, there is a greater challenge especially because we are in the last moments of golus, Hashem is drafting its best soldiers, EVERY JEWISH BOY AND GIRL, to be soldiers in His army.
The Rebbe said that all children’s groups around the world should be called the same name “Tzivos Hashem” and that will unite them all. They should behave like an Army.
Then the Rebbe asked, “How do we know how Hashem’s Army should function?”
The Rebbe explained that everything in this world is a reflection of what’s above, the army below is a reflection of Hashem’s army above. We should look at a regular army as a model for Tzivos Hashem. In fact the only reason a regular army exists is in order for us to know how Hashem’s army should function! We should copy the good things in an army, especially from the armies of Moshe, Yehoshua and Dovid Hamelech. Over the years the Rebbe drew many comparisons to the army. This is just a small taste of what the Rebbe wrote. To understand this properly, please learn the many sichos in The Rebbe Redt Tzu Kinder volume 5.
The mission of an army is to conquer more land and to ensure that its citizens live by the laws of the land. The mission of Tzivos Hashem is to make the world aware of Hashem’s Oneness. That HE is the creator of all things and the One and Only in charge of all seven heavens until the four corners of the earth! To accomplish this everyone and everything must live in the way that Hashem desires. In all that we do we must keep this Mission in our mind, to bring Moshiach. When we daven, learn Torah, and do mitzvos we must remember that we do all these things for Hashem, our ONLY KING.
When everyone recognizes this and ONLY does Hashem’s will, then our mission will be complete with the final coming of Moshiach.
By following the Torah, Hashem’s Will, we become a role model to our family and friends and all the people around us. When you look at a chayol, you should instantly recognize who his commander in chief is. Hashem!
After the Rebbe established Tzivos Hashem for Children, an educator wrote a letter to the Rebbe bashing the whole concept. His complaint was that the Torah is “Drocheho Darchai Noam- His ways are ways of peace” and Tzivos Hashem is teaching children to fight.
The Rebbe responded with a two page letter explaining his opinion; that the root challenge with today’s youth is the lack of Kabbolas Ol. Not only do children disregard the authority of heaven, but completely disrespect their parents or teachers. An American child that is bent on mischief with a sense of cockiness feels he can outsmart the cop on the beat and the judge on the bench. Because of a breakdown in law enforcement there is little to fear in the way of punishment and parents have all too often abdicated their authority and left…
“I thought long and hard,” writes the Rebbe “how to get an American child accustomed to the idea of subordination to a higher authority”. “I came to the conclusion that there is no other way besides for a system of discipline. However the only way the system of discipline will work, is if it is freely and readily accepted without coercion.” The Rebbe came up with a perfect model of a rigorous system of disciple that people want to join and follow. The Army!
In the first rally the Rebbe told the children, “The foundation of an army is Kabbolas Ol which is ‘Naase kodem nishma- you do before you understand.’”
1. A soldier must complete the command and after he is allowed to understand why he did it! “It is not WHAT is being asked of you, it is WHO is asking it.”
2. A soldier can never say he is not up to doing the task, because when a soldier slacks on his responsibilities, the enemy can come right through and that puts the whole country in danger. So too if a child eats something that is not kosher, for instance, he puts the whole Jewish nation in danger.
3. A soldier can never disobey his commander, even if he believes that it’s for the benefit of the army. Even a general can never override the commander in chief. ONLY the Commander in Chief sees the entire battle field and truly knows what each and every soldier must do. We may not understand Hashem’s reasons, but they are always the right course.
So when you are in the army, there is NO asking, why should I? What will I get if I do it? What will you do to me if I don’t do it? I know better than you!
We need to train our chayolim that the whole world is relying on them. They are not doing this for prizes; this is their responsibility and purpose. YOU ARE A SOLDIER OF HASHEM AND YOU MUST OBEY EVERY COMMAND AND DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO COMPLETE THE MISSION! HASHEM NEEDS YOU.
The enemy of every army is those who oppose the leaders of the land. The enemy does not want us to follow the laws of the land. There are open enemies who declare war against us, and then there are those enemies who hide as friends.
Our enemy, the Yetzer Hara, is no different. At times he will come and tell us to openly do something against Hashem. But he also has another side, when he plays nasty tricks and pretends to be our friend. The Yetzer Hara has one intention, to take full control of our thoughts, speech, actions and feelings. At times he even disguises himself as a chassidishe Yetzer Hara. The worst thing is NOT when a soldier gets captured, but when a soldier gets captured and joins enemy forces. As the Yetzer Hara gets us accustomed to doing things his way, not only do we come to terms with it, we actually identify ourselves as the Yetzer Hara’s soldier. When someone asks us why we behave this way, we respond this is “me.” This is what “I” like.
We need to train our children to be able to recognize their enemy, and to train them how to combat their enemy. When a child says “I don’t care” they need to know it’s their Yetzer Hara who doesn’t care, not their real self.
The Rebbe established Tzivos Hashem 13 years before gimmul tammuz and personally trained those soldiers. He spoke to us by rallies as a true commander. The Rebbe made sure we understood that being in Hashem’s army is a great privilege and very exciting. But “it’s not a game,” it’s coupled with responsibility. Lives are on the line. He made sure we understood our mission. And then made sure that we had a plan in place how we would accomplish that mission.
Just like every army has a book of orders for its soldiers, Hashem’s Army has a book of orders - the Torah. It gives us our orders for what we need to do each and every day and special orders on special occasions. The Rebbe himself, by every rally, would decode those orders and teach us how the Torah is a book of lessons on how to overcome the Yetzer Hara and bring Moshiach!
Sadly, all our children and many of the commanders have not yet had the zechus to receive cos shel brocha, a dollar or a kuntres from the Rebbe’s holy hand. Nor were they privileged to have yechidus or to go with their parents to a farbrengen with the Rebbe. The only ways our youthful soldiers are able to get these messages from the Rebbe are through YOU, the commanders. We become the Rebbe’s mouth piece to train the soldiers. What a great Zechus and Achraus we have.
This is why, it is so important that we make time each week to watch videos of the Rebbe and learn his sichos that the Rebbe told to us by the rallies and convey the powerful messages that the Rebbe gave over to the children.
IYH very soon we will be zocha to march on the front lines of the greatest parade out of golus, with the greatest general, Moshiach Tzidkeinu NOW!