What is the Rebbe's Job?

Q- What is the Rebbe's job?

A- To feed us faith in G-d. (This was the Rebbe's answer to the question in the maamor ד"ה ואתה תצוה)

Q- Why do I need to be fed faith in G-d?  I already believe in G-d!?  Is it not possible to serve G-d on my own without a Rebbe or a Moses?
A- Our natural belief in G-d is subject to cognitive dissonance and mindless roteness.

Here's what I mean:

One example from the Talmud, that many thieves pray to G-d that their theft be successful.  But hold on, if they believe in G-d, why are they stealing?  Because of cognitive dissonance.  It's possible for a person to maintain two contradictory beliefs simultaneously: (1) belief in G-d (2) stealing is ok.

On the flip side, it's possible for a completely religious and pious person to not believe in G-d.  Unfortunately, many religious communities have people who live completely religious lives but aren't sure if G-d exists, and if He does, they definitely don't have a meaningful relationship with Him.

Why would a person inconvenience themself to lead a religious life, pray so much, study Torah if they don't really believe?  It could be habit, or rote, or fear of rejection from their community or many other things.

The bottom line is that a Jew naturally believes in G-d, but it's possible for that belief to be dormant, immature, and superficial.

The job of a Rebbe is to feed us faith in G-d so that G-d becomes a real part of our lives, and that we develop a real relationship with Him.

How does he do this?

Number one is by teaching Torah.  Studying Chassidus is the single most effective way for a person to mature their faith, and the Rebbe taught volumes and volumes of Chassidus.

But there's the way the Rebbe says it.

Every week after Shabbos, we watch a video of the Rebbe.  A year or two ago, the Rebbe was talking about how a person's livelihood comes from G-d, something pretty baseline in Judaism.  Here's how he said it, though, "In today's day, a person's sustenance comes directly from G-d, exactly as it did for the Jews in the desert who were eating manna from heaven.  The only difference between then and now is that then it came in a as an open miracle, and today it comes through the veil of nature (you need a job).

I don't know if that inspired you, but watching and hearing how obvious and real this truth was to the Rebbe "fed" me faith in G-d.  I had learned this concept before and read it in books, but seeing and hearing him say it, even in a video, had a deep impact on me. 

Yes, we're all born with faith, but we can help our faith mature. 

We can develop our relationship with G-d beyond a childish give-and-take-game, where we do what G-d wants as long as He gives us what we want or even worse, a completely mindless and heartless relationship (think about marriage).

I hope this encourages you to challenge whatever the status quo of your faith in G-d is, learn Chassidus, and connect to the Rebbe, learn from his vast teachings, and allow him to help you develop your relationship with G-d to new heights.