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