Got Mashpia?

My brother called his brother and asked: It's Yud Beis Tammuz. What's the current topic for a farbrengen. So his brother told him: The topic is: Last week we farbrenged about Gimmel Tammuz. Do you remember it? Did it accomplish anything?

Brilliant. We're a week or two or a month removed from a farbrengen. What has it done for us? The Rebbeim instituted farbrengens as an integral part of being a chossid and growing in chassidishkeit. They need to be used, and used properly. We need to make sure that the farbrengen isn't simply munching on food with background talk. There's got to be toichen, the toichen needs to be ingested aliba denafshei - hey buddy! we're talkin' to you! - and then you need to live with it.

I was talking to a fellow the other day (other than what? maybe another time) and asked him how his gimmel tammuz hachlotoh to --insert hachlatah-- is coming along. "I made that hachlotoh? I don't even remember." ! The farb. and the hachloto were so ritual, he simply made it and got on with life.

We didn't think of farbrengens on our own. They were prescribed for us by the Rebbe. There's no need to look for a second opinion.