Simchas Torah by the Rebbe

At the Farbrengen of Simchas Torah 5727 the Rebbe tells the story of the first time the Alter Rebbe saw the Baal Shem Tov while he, the Alter Rebbe, was awake. And then quotes the Rebbeim that just like "Yehoshua never departed from Moshe's tent" so too the Alter Rebbe never departed from the Maggid's 'tent'. And asks: the Maggid was Rebbe for 13 years and the Alter Rebbe was by the Maggid for only 32 months, how is that never departing the Maggid's tent?

The Rebbe answers that when the Alter Rebbe left the Maggid he did so as a Shliach and the Meshalayach is always with the Shliach. That is how the Alter Rebbe never left the Maggid's tent.

Therefore, the Rebbe explains, there are those who aren't here by the Farbrengen because they are on Tahalucha, in other Shuls making Jews happy. Some are so far they can't even make it to Hakafos. And some can't even be here for Shabbos Bereishis. They should know that the Rebbe is with them and they can even see the Rebbe and even while they're awake!

What I "took" from this Sicha is that trying to relive the Rebbe's Hakofos, reading and studying about it, hearing about it and then picturing it, is important to know what my Hakafos should aspire to be. Yet if I want to actually be by the Rebbe's Hakafos then I must find another Jew and simply make him happy! And that's the Rebbe's Hakafos!

I had also read Rabbi Yossi Lew's description of Simchas Torah 5748. What stuck out for me was how the Rebbe encouraged everyone to dance. The Rebbe would turn to a section of the Shul till they where dancing their hearts out, then the Rebbe turn to the next section and so on. At one point the Rebbe even turned to the elderly Chassidim and didn't stop encouraging them until every single one was dancing and jumping! This is our job! Take one person and dance your heart out with them
then go to the next one...!

One thing I couldn't relate to was seeing the Rebbe while we're awake. For people like us?

Comes Hakafos I grab a Jew, that I don't really know, I can't even remember who he was, and start dancing with him. Dancing hard for a little while. We slow down and he stars gushing about what I just did for him... Thanking me... I grab someone else, dancing hard... He opens up to me... Starts telling me about himself... I grabbed a few more Jews...

The next day after musaf everyone went to eat and I'm sitting with a couple of 'anash' telling them this insight. A congregant sticks his head in and asks if he could also listen in. Sure! After I finish talking about finding a Jew and dancing with him. This person says but you didn't dance with me! So I say "let's dance now!" We get up dance hard for a while and then he got all emotional and starts crying! He sits down and it takes quite a while to he gets back to himself...!

Seeing the Rebbe while we're awake means, to paraphrase the Rebbe Maharash, literally. But it did feel real close!