Rabbi Kotlarsky was the founder and principal benefactor of the Moshiach Office at Merkos Suite 302. His vision and steadfast dedication to the Rebbe’s desire to bring awareness and educate the world about Moshiach served as the guiding light to this organization.

As someone who stood at the helm of scores of global organizations, the Moshiach Office was central in his life.

May his memory be a blessing.

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The World and Thyself

​I remember the sicha of Chof-Ches Nissan 5751 clearly. I was standing on the floor right by the Rebbe's shtender and I saw the Rebbe's feet shaking when he said the famous words, "I have done all I can to bring Moshiach, now it is up to you."

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That night, the Chassidim were confused. And from what I can tell, three basic responses emerged.

Some people said, "The Rebbe threw in the towel, this is the end"—and they went home. 

Others asked, "The Rebbe couldn't bring Moshiach and now we can?"

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A third group tried to explain how indeed the Rebbe couldn't do it and we can. 

In the end, none of these were on target. The Rebbe himself laid out what he meant over the course of the following year. Look in he sichos of 5751 and 5752, and you will notice a trend, a pattern: Either the hora'ah was lehochin es atzmoi or lehochin es ha'olam, or both.

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The Rebbe was enjoining the Chassidim to take the task seriouslty and get on board with him. These two things need to be on our mind henceforth: either you are preparing yourself or you are preparing the world for Moshiach.
 

Which Chassid doesn't want to be reunited with the Rebbe? The Rebbe is waiting for us to bring him good news, to take on the mantle and accomplish the mandate.

From the Tut Altz Mega Farbrengen of 28 Nissan. 5781; lauch of Tut Altz by the Moshiach Office

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Anomaly in the Haggadah

​The entire lengthy narrative of Maggid at the Seder is really in response to the eino yode'a lish'ol. The other three prototype sons have short answers that parallel their questions, but the one who can't ask gets the entire Haggadah as his answer.

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This fourth child may be depicted in our minds as a baby with a pacifier, a mute child, or the like. But the eino yode'a lish'ol is actually a well-spoken, successful person, a millionaire-smart, intelligent, and far from unsophisticated. The Haggadah is referring to someone who doesn't even know to ask about ruchnius, who doesn't have the basic framework to get involved in the Seder. He was never exposed to Yiddishkeit in any way.

The world has millions of these people. Unfortunately, this is the story of the Jewish world. The Haggadah focuses so much on this prototype because our main shlichus is to educate specifically these people.

This should be our primary concern as well. Our job is to stay absolutely focused on the ultimate goal: create a world where there is not one Jew that doesn't have a mitzvah. Change the landscape to a world that is kulo zakai, fully ready for Moshiach.

We need to create a movement where every Jew is prepared for Geulah with a mitzvah in hand.
From the Tut Altz Mega Farbrengen of 28 Nissan, 5782

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He Had to Build Us Up

​After Hashem's appearance at the burning bush, Moshe tells Yisro that he is going down to Mitzrayim to see how his brethren are faring and if they are still alive. He had just gotten the instruction from Hashem to redeem them from Mitzrayim, so why is Moshe suddenly uncertain if they are still alive?

Moshe knew the Yidden were physically alive. His worry was that 210 years of slavery in a foreign land would cause a spiritual deficiency to even digest a message of redemption.

Indeed, when Moshe tells the Yidden the news that he has come to redeem them, they didn't listen to him due to kotzer ruach, shortness of breath, which can also be understood to mean a lack of spirituality. He had to build them up bruchnius so that they would even be open to the message.

Our era is a mirror of the dor of Yetzias Mitzrayim. The Rebbe took on the mantle to lead the Yidden in 5710 in the aftermath of near total devastation of the Jewish world, physically and spiritually. The Rebbe needed to revolutionize the spiritual landscape so that we could be receptive to the message of Geulah.

On Chof-Ches Nissan, we were ready to accept the responsibility for bringing Moshiach for which the Rebbe was building us up. We must take that mandate seriously and transform the world by flooding it with hundreds of millions of mitzvos.

Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev took an oath not to enter Gan Eden until Hashem brings the Geulah down on earth. He heard the malachim saying "Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh," and he capitulated. When the Rebbe shared this story, he added that to ensure that it doesn't repeat itself, he is asking the public to accept the oath, in which case it can never be annulled.

Close to thirty years after Gimmel Tammuz, the Rebbe is standing outside Gan Eden-and I am sure all the Rebbeim are with him-waiting for us to do what is incumbent upon us. Let's give the Rebbe the justification to demand from Hashem: "The world is kulo zakai; it's time to bring Moshiach!"
From the Tut Altz Mega Farbrengen of 28 Nissan, 5783

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They Took Everything Way But This

Mattisyahu Yakov Zeligfeld, a Yid from Williamsburg, was a Holocaust survivor. Originally from Poland, the Nazis destroyed his life, murdering his family and degrading him in unfathomable ways.

After the liberation, he went wandering through Europe seeking an opportunity to restart his life. One night, he found himself in a half-burnt village where some survivors were temporarily taking refuge. He recalled how, through the late hours, a Chabad mashpia (he does not recall his name) was farbrenging. The mashpia told the assembled, "The Nazis took away everything! They took our money, they took our property, they took our families, and they took our dignity. But there's one thing that did not take away from us-the yetzer hara."

Mattisyahu took this to heart. Despite everything he had experienced, one thing still remained, and that is his relationship with Hashem. This empowered him to continue on, rebuild his life, get married and have many children.
 

Let us take a lesson for our own lives. We all are missing things and we all want Moshiach in order to fulfill those things. Some people want Moshiach for a refah, some because they need to pay the mortgage, But the Rebbe taught us that we need Moshiach for Hashem's sake.
 

We need to need Moshiach just as the Rebbe needs Moshiach. Wake up, Yidden! Let's do all we can to bring Moshiach!
From the Tut Altz Mega Farbrengen of 28 Nissan, 5784: Reb Moshe's last public address