Musings Of A Shliach From Montana

Rabbi Chaim Bruk with Rabbi Yossy Goldman of Johannesburg, South Africa

Montana State college students at a pre-Chanukah doughnut making event at Chabad in Bozeman

It’s been a few years since I made the deliberate decision to refrain from lashon ha’ra and rechilus, when I consciously removed myself from the juicy gossip machine that exists in the Jewish community. Like every community, Lubavitch has its share of strife and machlokes, and each Chassid has to make a conscious choice whether to adhere to the Rebbe, zt’l’s instructions to run from divisiveness, or to continue being a part of the problem, while dressing it up in holiness while covered in shmutz.

Almost all division is unholy, and convincing ourselves otherwise is simply a form of justification.

So, how has my life been since I took on this pledge? Well, life without gossip is an absolute pleasure.

While on occasion some information sneaks up on me, showing up unsolicited from left field, for the most part I am 100% focused on Jewish life in Montana, my family, and other Chabad activities with which I strive to help, and totally stay away from the noise of machlokes and gossip.

I’m writing about this today because, as it turns out, when we don’t spend our lives focused on other people’s lives, we have more time to be effective in our mission, in our Avodas Hashem, which is both personal to our journey in this world and part of the collective mission to bring Mashiach now.

A few months back, Lahak Hanochos, the preeminent publishers of the Rebbe’s teachings, an organization that has been led by my uncle Reb Chaim Shaul Brook since the 1990s, finally printed the two-volume set of Sefer HaTanya with all the commentary of the six Chabad Rebbes that followed the Alter Rebbe. It’s a masterpiece that took almost two decades to compile and publish. I was so excited about this new development in the spread of the Baal Shem Tov’s wellspring of teachings that I sent about sixty copies to friends whom I thought would enjoy it. I didn’t think it through too much, so when it arrived to many of them, they said “Chaim, we love the gift but now you need to start a shiur in Tanya, so we can learn it together.”

I was touched by the sentiment, but uncertain how to proceed.

My life is very busy. I start my day somewhere between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. and I’m on the go until around 8:00 p.m., and when I do something, I try to give it my all. So, I wasn’t sure I could do this properly. Adding an additional class in addition to my two weekly shiurim for the local community, the one-on-one classes, the fundraising, home visits, sermons and kriah and chazzanus on Shabbos, writing this column, and my community weekly email, publishing Montana’s Jewish Voice, counseling, and community advocacy, operating a shul, mikvah, guest house, and cemetery, while overseeing four additional Chabad centers in Montana, I wasn’t sure that I was ready to take on a new weekly endeavor.

But could I really say no?

Just this past Friday, the 15th of Kislev, I celebrated my 44th birthday. I invited my uncle Rabbi Yossy Goldman of Johannesburg, South Africa (yes, he’s Larry Gordon’s first cousin. Remember Larry and I are related?) to farbreng and inspire our community in celebration. It’s a great combination of my birthday and the Shabbos before Yud Tes Kislev, as mentioned in last week’s column, and so it was an auspicious time for a good soulful weekend. He did a beautiful job, and our community was inspired, educated, and laughed a lot, especially at his talk “thou shall not be miserable.” I received sweet gifts from my community members with beautiful birthday cards, and it felt nice to be celebrated. Yet, a birthday is a personal Rosh Hashanah, it’s the day that Hashem decided that I matter and am needed in this world, so in addition to celebrating, I needed to contemplate my mission and whether I’m moving forward with this Tanya class.

Of course, I’ve heard of the famous proverb: “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” I knew that the Rebbe gave the busiest of people, including Reb Ephraim Wolff of Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Bentzion Shemtov of London, Rabbi JJ Hecht of New York, and so many others, more and more things to accomplish despite how much was on their plate already. But did I want to spend another evening of the week devoted to teaching Tanya? Did have the inner capacity for this? The more I pondered my mission, the more I realized that I already knew deep down in my kishkes what I needed to do.

So, starting on January 9, 2026, Chaf Teves, I am starting a men’s chaburah in Tanya, where Litvish, Chassidish, Modern Orthodox, Lubavitch, and any man who knows Torah lingo can join an in-depth Tanya class. Chavie has been teaching Tanya to women for years and still does, now it’s my turn to share the wellsprings of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe with those who want to change their life for the better with the inner dimension of Torah that open the inner dimension of our soul. Learning Tanya allows us to journey through life with an understanding of our ruchniyus, our spirituality, and our mission in this world through the good and challenging times.

While Chabad shluchim serve as beacons of Yiddishkeit in thousands of communities, building shuls, schools, mikvaos, and yeshivas, our central role is based on the conversation of the Baal Shem Tov with Mashiach.

Let me explain.

In the Gemara Sanhedrin, it says that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi went to the Mashiach. He said to Mashiach: Greetings to you, my rabbi and my teacher. Mashiach said to him: Greetings to you, bar Levi. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to him: When will the Master come? Mashiach said to him: Today. Sometime later, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Eliyahu. Eliyahu said to him: What did Mashiach say to you? He said to Eliyahu that Mashiach said: Greetings [Shalom] to you, bar Levi. Eliyahu said to him: He thereby guaranteed that you and your father would enter the World-to-Come, as he greeted you with Shalom. Rabbi Yehoshua benLevi said to Eliyahu: Mashiach lied to me, as he said to me: I am coming today, and he did not come. Eliyahu said: This is what he said to you when he said that he will come today—only if you will listen to his voice.

Over one thousand years later, the Baal Shem Tov asked Mashiach: “When will the Master come?” The Baal Shem Tov was in effect saying to the Mashiach: “We have already listened to His voice, even to the extent of giving up our lives in order to do so. Why, then, have you not come?”

Mashiach answered: “By this you shall know: In the time when your teaching will become public and revealed in the world, and your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest extremes…”

So, our role isn’t just to teach Torah and inspire Jews to do mitzvos, it’s to spread the wellsprings of Chassidus. We will continue our many programs for kids and college students, young and old, tefillin and mezuzos, mikvah, and Shabbos, Sukkos and Shavuos, kashrus and menorahs, but we will never forget that the Baal Shem Tov guided us to teach the inner beauty of Torah and the more we spread the inner Torah, inspiring the inner soul, we will merit the arrival of Mashiach Tzidkeinu.

Let’s get it done. 

Rabbi Chaim Bruk is co-CEO of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana and spiritual leader of The Shul of Bozeman. For comments or to partner in our holy work, e-mail [email protected] or visit JewishMontana.com/Donate.