My family and I just returned to the Midwest from a visit to Crown Heights, Brooklyn.  We were following in the tradition of Lubavitch chassidim ( my particular sect of Orthodox Judaism) by celebrating my son’s bar mitzvah in the main synagogue, famously referred to as “770”.

The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the chassidic movement, teaches that nothing is coincidental and everything is divinely orchestrated from Above — even the swaying of a blade of grass in the wind.

Thus it should not have been surprising to me that I was standing on the corner of Kingston Ave, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. And yet, every time I think about the significance of these names in connection to 770, the Rebbe’s Headquarters, I’m awed once again.

Moshiach represents kingship in the world — the Kabbalistic attribute of Malcus. According to mystical Judaism, the role of Malchus is to bridge and unite the higher, spiritual worlds with the lower, physical world. This is to enable the ultimate revelation of G-d down below, with us during the time of the final redemption (Geula). And that’s why it’s astounding to me, that the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who has dedicated his life to this very process, established his headquarters here.

In 1940, the building 770 Eastern Parkway, was purchased as a home for the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson. After his passing in 1950, it transitioned into the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters under the leadership of our current Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. It is fitting that the Rebbe resides in a community called “Crown Heights”, and is surrounded by streets with names such “Empire”, “Crown”, “Union”, and “Kingston”. The Rebbe’s personal residence is on “President Street” in the center of the neighborhood.

Each one of these street names has a significant connection to the attribute of “Malchus”, or Kingship and Moshiach. And where else in the world is a synagogue referred to by it’s numerical address? But the Rebbe shed light on this as well, in a discourse given in 1992, that 770 is the gematria (the Jewish numerical equivalent) of the words “Beis Moshiach (the house of Moshiach).

In my mid-twenties, when first exposed to these concepts, I was a bit put-off by the concept of kingship — it represented authority and absolute control. But in Judaism, kingship is defined as the relationship between the King, who is lovingly sensitive to his people, and acts as a bridge for his nation, who yearn to be in relationship to Hashem (G-d).

I continue to experience this on the deepest level. I have always felt treated like the Rebbe’s only child, a father who only has my best interests in mind. And this enables me to get in touch with my essential spiritual nature, and have an intimate relationship with G-d.

Bar Mitzvah boy at 2 1/2, outside 770

The Baal Shem Tov teaches us that there is a divine message in everything in this world. Looking up at the street names in Crown Heights, I felt deeply grateful of noticing the spiritual significance being revealed to me in a physical street sign. That Malchus, the unity between the physical and spiritual, is not something just learnt in a text book, but available to me, like the Rebbe teaches, wherever I turn, whenever I’m willing to open my eyes.