Editing The Eternal Life of the Rebbe (section)

==== The Role of Nasi HaDor ====
In the Torah, the topic of a main Jewish leader, "Nasi HaDor," appears several times. His role is to connect all Jews to Hashem and additionally transmit Hashem's word to them. This topic is extensively explained and emphasized in Chassidic teachings, especially in the Rebbe's teachings, where it's explained that in recent generations, Chabad leaders fulfill the role of Nasi HaDor.

To define the role of Nasi HaDor, the Rebbe's teachings cite the Chazal about Moshe Rabbeinu, "Man of G-d" - "from his middle down he was man, from his middle up he was G-dly." The explanation is that Moshe Rabbeinu perfectly connected both extremes of spirituality and physicality - being completely nullified to Hashem while being a soul within a physical body.

Since the Nasi HaDor's role is to perfectly connect spirituality and physicality, he must be a physical person in this world; and immediately upon the passing of one Nasi, the role transfers to the next Nasi.

The Rebbe further explains that the Nasi in each generation is the Melech HaMoshiach of that generation, and he stands ready to redeem Israel if the generation merits it; and if they don't merit, the role passes to the next generation's Nasi.