In this powerful Chanukah episode of Greeting Moshiach, Levi Polichenco and Simcha Fisch sit together in person to process a painful tragedy that shook the Jewish world — and to ask the deeper question: How does a Chossid respond when something happens that does not seem to fit with Geulah?
Rather than rushing to slogans or instant positivity, this conversation takes the Rebbe’s approach seriously: allowing space for grief, acknowledging fear and pain honestly, and then carefully rebuilding clarity without weakening faith.
The Rebbe taught that we do not explain away tragedy, justify it, or use it as a prop for inspiration. Some events are simply not okay. And yet, even while saying “this doesn’t make sense,” the Rebbe never retreated from his insistence that we are in the time of Geulah and that Moshiach is here.
This episode explores how both truths can exist at once.
We discuss the necessity of processing pain, the difference between questions and doubts, and why seichel (intellect) alone can never be the foundation of belief. Using examples from Gemara, Chassidus, and lived experience, we explain how a Jew lives with unanswered questions — without allowing them to become cracks in emunah.
A major theme is Kosis LaMaor — the idea that even in times of comfort and menuchah, a Jew must feel “crushed” by the absence of the full revelation. Not crushed into despair, but pressed into deeper urgency. Not complacent, not numb — but alive, demanding, and ready.
Chanukah, with its lights shining outward into the darkness, becomes the framework for understanding why life in this physical world is infinitely precious, why loss hurts so deeply, and why the ultimate answer is not escape to heaven — but Geulah here, in this world, with the return of every soul in a physical body.
This is not an episode of easy answers.
It is an episode of honesty, depth, and resolve.
L’chaim — and may we immediately merit the Geulah Ha’amitis Ve’hashleimah, with Moshiach Vadai, the Beis HaMikdash, and Techiyas HaMeisim.
📩 Questions or thoughts? Email: Levipolichenco@gmail.com
—or comment below.
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Timestamps:
0 seconds Introduction and Context of Chanukah
3 minutes, 42 seconds Processing Grief and Emotional Responses
7 minutes, 16 seconds Understanding Life and Death
9 minutes, 17 seconds The Essence of Life and Spirituality
10 minutes, 51 seconds The Role of a Jew in This World
12 minutes, 33 seconds The Tragedy of Loss and Its Impact
15 minutes, 40 seconds The Nature of Questions and Doubts
19 minutes, 52 seconds Inquiries vs. Objections in Understanding
21 minutes The Nature of Inquiry and Objection
22 minutes, 16 seconds Understanding Kfirah and Genuine Questions
23 minutes, 24 seconds The Role of Authority in Questions
24 minutes, 34 seconds Limits of Seichel and Beyond
26 minutes, 20 seconds Foundation of Belief Beyond Seichel
28 minutes, 10 seconds The Necessity of a Higher Power
29 minutes, 26 seconds Intellect and the Concept of a Creator
30 minutes, 21 seconds Contradictions in Understanding Geulah
32 minutes, 41 seconds Moving Beyond Complacency
34 minutes, 13 seconds The Importance of Feeling Crushed
36 minutes, 38 seconds The Cycle of Strength and Weakness
40 minutes, 38 seconds Taking Action in the Face of Geulah
42 minutes, 15 seconds Outro