This Shabbat marks sixty years since the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, assumed the leadership of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement.
Generally, when the anniversary of a special event arrives, the first thing to do is to take stock of the past and make projections for the future. In fact, every aspect of life can be analyzed at different levels of depth and applied to different situations. Regarding anniversary reflection, the same applies annually on birthdays, monthly on Rosh Chodesh, weekly on Shabbat, and daily during the recitation of the Shema before going to sleep. The Hasidim used to say "tomorrow will be better," meaning not that the day will be more pleasant, but rather that the person will strive to be better the following day, in connection with the teaching of our sages to "rise in holiness" (Talmud Shabbat 21b).
However, I do not consider myself qualified (for several reasons) to analyze the Rebbe himself or to take stock of his work and the last sixty years, but I felt that I could highlight some points of the Rebbe's teachings.
1) The Rebbe always mentioned this teaching of our sages about "rising in holiness." This means, among other things, that there is always room for personal growth. There should never be a situation in which a person can consider themselves "complete" and should not continue improving themselves and/or influencing others to improve. Now, the original Talmudic text says "maalin baKodesh," which is generally translated as "rising in holiness." However, when we are precise with the words, we can extract two messages: the first, for someone who is not yet connected to holiness, that is, not a Torah-observant Jew, to that person our sages say, "You must rise," baKodesh, "to enter into holiness." The second, for someone who is already an observant Jew, our sages say, baKodesh, "even in holiness, you must continue to rise.".
2) Very often (if not always), the Rebbe would end his talks by mentioning another teaching of our sages in Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Fathers (1:17): "Not study but practice is the most important thing." This teaching encourages a person to practically apply the teachings of the Torah, each in its corresponding sphere, whether in personal improvement, helping others, studying, etc.
Now, since the founding of the Chabad Movement by the Alter Rebbe, we have gone through seven different generations of Rebeim, each with their own qualities and characteristics, which are reflected in their Chassidic speeches and discourses. Our generation is the seventh. The idea of a seventh is that there was a first, and the seventh bases its greatness and virtue on being the seventh after a first. Now, just as beginning with Abraham, there were seven generations of Tzaddikim (righteous men) who brought the Divine Presence to earth (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Moses), ending with Moses, who finally brought the Divine Presence to earth with the Giving of the Torah, in the same way, our generation, the seventh since the Alter Rebbe, has the mission of bringing about the Final Redemption once and for all. May it be the Will of the Almighty, that we may fulfill expectations and lead the world to its very reason for being, a dwelling place for God.