(From a talk)

We find ourselves in the month of rachamim, a particularly auspicious time when the attribute of G-d's compassion and mercy, called rachamim in Hebrew, is revealed to all. Chassidus explains the importance of this idea by way of a parable, a meshol, of a king who goes out of his palace for one month of the year in order to meet his subjects in the fields, at their place of work. His specific intention in going out of the palace is so that even ordinary folk, to whom access to the palace is normally denied, can also see the king, speak to him, and make whatever requests they want of him.

The meaning of the meshol is this -- during the month of Elul there is a feeling of intrinsic closeness to G-d. Anyone, even the least worthy, can approach the King. And He shows a smiling face to all. Later on, however, the King returns to His palace, and it is much harder to get in to see Him and present your requests. So what do we do about it? How to bring this all down to practical deeds? We read in the Rosh HaShanah prayers that teshuvah -- sincere repentance, and tefilah -- prayer from the heart, and tzedakah -- charity and kind deeds, remove evil decrees.

According to the Gemara we are now in the time of ikvesa d'Meshicha, when the footsteps of Mashiach are approaching and can be heard. Chassidus explains that the era of Mashiach is a time when darkness will no longer cover the earth. The Rebbe has often repeated that through each and everyone strengthening themselves in Torah and mitzvos we experience not only a personal redemption, but we also bring the ultimate redemption of the entire Jewish people much closer.

At times a person can wonder: I'm too far away, too ignorant, too set in my ways which are so far from Torah -- is there any hope? There is a meshol used by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rayatz of sainted memory, which compares all Jews to letters engraved in stone, like the letters of the Ten Commandments. He explains that the letters of Torah have been engraved in the heart of every Jew, and they always remain clear and whole. You don't need a professional scribe to repair damaged or erased letters. All that is needed is to blow away the dust which has gathered in the letters, making them clearly legible once again. If there's a lot of dust you might need your dustbuster or vacuum cleaner but you're not creating anything new -- just revealing what was there the whole time.

This evening is sponsored by Machon Chana, Beis Chana and Machon Alta -- three places which specialize in blowing away dust with the warm breath of Chassidus. The philosophy of Chabad Chassidus is to emphasize the positive. Concentrate on doing good, rather than on turning away from evil.

It could be that many of you have tasted the fruits of this world. You've invested time, money and efforts in secular studies and pursuits. But we'd like to challenge you: Have you given your neshama -- your Jewish soul -- a chance to have her say? There are many routes to teshuvah, returning to Hashem, and many institutions and schools of thought. Why should you choose a Chassidic lifestyle and philosophy? Simply because it's a more direct route. Chassidus is the inner part of Torah -- the part compared to the soul of Torah, the fire of Torah, the light of Torah.

Please don't believe me. We invite you all to taste it for yourselves -- "Taste, and see that Hashem is Good." Try it -- you'll like it. Although Coca-Cola also makes this claim, Chassidus gives a Jew the true taste of life.