THE REBBE : The Ache in my Heart

August 3rd, 2015

I am basically one of those “flesh and blood” sort of people. While the Rebbe’s writings and teachings are of great importance to me, while I continue to experience the Rebbe as a very active, involved part of my life, still, I miss the flesh and blood connection.

Perhaps I must apologize for not having risen to greater spiritual heights. For if I had attained these heights, then perhaps my spiritual connection with the Rebbe would suffice; or perhaps I would have more internalized the truth that a great tzaddik, once freed from his body, is freed as well from the limitations of his body.

But, if I am to use this opportunity to write, I must use it to be honest. And in honesty, in spite of my spiritual connection to him, I miss the Rebbe. My heart aches to once again have him as part of his and my flesh and blood relationship.

What was this relationship? Well, if I were to tell you how few times I even saw the Rebbe you might wonder at my grief. And knowing that I never spoke directly to him, your wonder would be greater.

No, I was simply one of those people who went to a few farbrengens (I never lived in Crown Heights), stood in line for dollars[3] once or twice, and sent letters when needed and received answers when they were necessary. I was thirty-six years old when I first saw the Rebbe some seventeen years ago.

But, you see, whenever I went to the Rebbe, or even when I wrote him, I felt known by him. Seen by him. And I mean these words—known and seen—in their most profound sense. I felt naked before him. And through him I saw myself fully exposed. Stripped of illusion and self deceit.

Whether I was privileged to a momentary glance when he caught my eye and nodded as I lifted my cup at a farbrengen to say l’chaim; whether, in a whoosh of excitement, I passed before him to receive a dollar; or whether, in one of those extraordinary times when he caught and held my eyes for what seemed like an eternity but was in truth only five or ten or fifteen seconds, I was stripped bare: known from my most superficial, petty self to the depths of my being, deeper than even I knew existed.

My conscious self cannot know, much less describe, what the Rebbe placed within me during these encounters. The incomprehensible ways he affected me; the life, inspiration, courage and commitment with which I left these brief meetings changed my life more than any human could ever expect a life to change.

But there was something else, something much simpler, more easily comprehensible, more connected to the simple flesh and blood existence of the Rebbe that had great power over my life.

It was merely the expectation that I would see the Rebbe again. Or, to be more precise, that he would see me.

I knew that I would, at some point in the future, stand fully exposed before him, his eyes piercing through my best “look good” to see who I really am.

And I wanted both he and I to feel proud at that moment. And I didn’t want to feel ashamed. And I knew that while the Rebbe had the greatest compassion and understanding of my very limited self, that still, he had great expectations of me. That he saw my highest potential, and believed that I could attain it. And though I knew that he would love me in spite of what I did or didn’t do to live up to his expectations, I wanted him to love me for what I did do to live up to his expectations.

Is this a childlike relationship? Perhaps. Would it be better, more mature for me to strive for my highest potential without requiring “outside approval”? Perhaps. But as I said, I am a simple, limited person of flesh and blood who has not reached such great spiritual heights. So be it.

The expectation of meeting soul to soul with a person who has reached heights so far greater than I can imagine, and the knowledge that this meeting would reveal the gap between who I was and who I could be, kept me straight. It helped me be more honest with myself. It invigorated my potential and forced it before my awareness, constantly. When I saw the Rebbe’s capacity for love, it enlivened and expanded my own capacity for love. When I encountered, directly, personally, the Rebbe’s capacities, it enlivened the whole of my own.

And always, daily, I carried with me the anticipation of our next meeting.

So, what do I do now?

I have much advice to give myself in answer to my own question, as I’m sure many of you who read this have much advice, words of wisdom to share with me. Certainly there are countless, perhaps even more profound ways, to maintain communication with and receive inspiration from a tzaddik even when we cannot see him, hear his voice, and experience his physical presence.

But this does not ease the ache in my heart. Nor replace my personal encounters and my very fervent expectation of them. Nor have I found a way to replace that moment when I stand revealed before one who can both see me for who I am and love me at the same time.

As a man of flesh and blood, I find consolation neither in my memories nor in the Rebbe’s writings.

I find it instead in the ache in my heart, the place I keep the Rebbe. For each time I feel the ache I am reminded of him for whom it aches. I am reminded of what he taught me: That for every sickness there is a remedy, for every pain a consolation, for every act of G-d there is a purpose, for every lack there is a fulfillment, for whatever potential the Rebbe sees in me, there is the possibility of its realization.

Will I find the strength, wisdom, courage, devotion and faith during this most difficult time?

Sometimes I wonder. But then, in these moments, if I allow myself to truly feel the ache in my heart, to enter fully into the depths of this ache, a strange thing happens. I begin to see myself once again standing before the Rebbe, bringing before him my doubts and my fears, my loneliness and limitations.

And from the ache in my heart, in a soft and gentle voice, I hear his answer, clearly..

Tags: courage, relationships, Physicality, Rebbe, Tzaddik, personal growth, story, Jay Litvin, inspiration, Rebbe's letters, love, commitment, heart, potential
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Modern, Personal Life, Torah Personalities, Bamidbar, Korach, Torah, Emotions & Psychology, Pain & Suffering, Rebbe, Personal Stories | No Comments »

The Believer

August 3rd, 2015

Translator’s note: the following are translated excerpts from an account by Israeli activist, writer and former Knesset member Geulah Cohen of her meeting with the Rebbe. The original Hebrew version was published in the Israeli daily, Maariv, December 18, 1964.

I’ve met wise people, I’ve met scholars, I’ve met artists, but to meet a believer is an altogether different experience. After meeting a wise person, you remain what you were before—wise or stupid; after meeting a scholar, you remain what you were before— learned or a boor; after meeting with an artist, you remain what you were before—artist or artisan. But when you take leave of a believer, you leave his presence different than you entered it. For even if the believer’s faith does not infect you, it affects you. For the believer believes in you, too.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the spiritual leader of the international Chabad movement, is a wise man, a learned man, but above all, he is a believer. And if faith is the art of truth, he’s also an artist. A particularly creative artist. His creation: an entire army of believers whose commander-in-chief he is. The faith army of Israel, dedicated to the G-d of Israel and the people of Israel.

***

The Midrash does not anywhere describe how the supernal angels are received in audience before the divine throne. But were it to describe this, it might well take its cue from the manner in which one is received by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Of course, there is a secretary, a line, and reception hours, as with every human being. Here, however, the secretary doesn’t ask what you wish to discuss with the Rebbe—your questions to the Rebbe are between you and him. Here, though it might be necessary to wait weeks or months for your turn, anyone who so desires can be received by the Rebbe. And here, the reception hours are not during the daytime, but at night—all night long.

“Eleven in the evening?” I repeated in amazement when Rabbi Chodakov, the Rebbe’s secretary, notified me of the time of my appointment with the Rebbe.

“Tomorrow night at eleven,” came the clear reply through the phone from the Rebbe’s Brooklyn headquarters.

“Why not during the daytime?” The chassid to whom I addressed this query gave me a look as if I had asked the most bizarre question in the world. “During the day the Rebbe studies,” he stated with finality.

Instead of asking why the Rebbe doesn’t study at night and receive people during the day, I found myself thinking that, perhaps, this is as it should be; that perhaps at night the hearts speak more freely and the heavens are more open to listen.

***

When I read a book, I always skip the introduction. But the long introduction that preceded the moment of my meeting with the Rebbe taught me that there are introductions that should not be skipped, for the simple reason that in them the story really begins. The Rebbe’s chassidim are a part of his personality, just as Chassidism believes that all of humanity is part of G-d’s personality. My audience with the Rebbe began when I arrived at his headquarters and met his disciples.

I hesitate to refer to the young Talmud-studying men who filled the place as “students.” Yes, each sat with open book before him, but none of them looked like someone who is learning something he did not already know. They looked more like one who stands in a laboratory and manipulates spirit and the letters of spirit as a scientist manipulates matter, dissecting, deciphering, building structures and forging forms. And all this with a melodious song. What has not already been written on the Chassidic melody? What will not be yet written of it? For it has neither beginning nor end. It sounds like a continuation of your own melody, like a song that you are singing for someone else to come and continue for you. At that moment it occurred to me that the Ten Commandments ought to have been said with a Chassidic melody…

Those students who were not engrossed in their studies but stood around talking—perhaps of ordinary, everyday matters—nevertheless wore the expression on the face of a front-line soldier, and the hushed atmosphere was that of impending battle. Their commander was not visible here, but his presence somewhere in the building was well-sensed. No audible command had been sounded, but all were poised for the moment it would be given…

***

I, too, am awaiting word—word that I am to enter the Rebbe’s room. It’s already eleven-fifteen, eleven-thirty—when will my turn come? I’m about to ask one of the young men in the office, when a fashionably dressed young woman, heels clicking and a scream of blonde hair spilling out from under her hat, enters the room. I hear her voice before I can catch a glimpse of her face.

“Is there an answer yet?” she asks in choked, fervent voice.

In lieu of a reply, the young man walks over to a mound of letters, removes one—the letter that the woman had written to the Rebbe—and tells her that the answer is inside. The woman grabs the letter from his hand, opens it, and reads. Her eyes freeze for a moment, then fill with tears—whether from joy or sorrow one cannot tell. Wordlessly, she leaves the room.

Immediately she is back. “If so, I have another question. Can one ask the Rebbe again?”

“Of course,” says the young chassid. “Anytime, anything.”

Her face lights up with joy…

***

When the door closed behind me and I stood alone with the Rebbe in the room, it was midnight. But the Rebbe rose behind his desk to greet me with a midday smile.

If you will, before you is a handsome face, a black hat slanting above it and a gray beard flowing beneath it, expressing grace and benevolence. But if you will, a pair of eyes alone confront you, gazing at you not to see but to reveal. In such case, you feel quite uncomfortable if you have something to hide, quite uncomfortable if you have thought of uttering an untruth. You sense a need to do up all your buttons to the very last one—somehow it feels as if they have all become undone. Does the Rebbe really have such magical eyes, or have you brought this magic in with you, the result of the night and the impression made on you by his disciples? But now’s not the time to ponder questions of this sort. You came here for a purpose, didn’t you? So I begin to introduce myself.

But it turns out there’s no need—he already knows more about me than I’ve intended to tell him. He tells me not only what I’ve done, but also what he thinks I ought to do; not only what I’m doing, but also what he feels I’m not doing…

“I hear that you’re now working as a journalist. Nu, that’s also good. Writing is very good, but it’s not the main thing. The main thing is the youth. To the youth one must speak, not write. Why don’t you speak to the youth? The youth is waiting to be spoken to, and no one is doing it. They make speeches at them—but they don’t speak to them. And then they wonder why they aren’t motivated.

“The youth,” continued the Rebbe, “is waiting for a command—a command issued in the same voice that all the great commands in Jewish history were issued. Where are all the commanders? In the Knesset! What happened to all the leaders who burned with a holy fire? What are those who know how to command doing? Today they’re arguing about whether to increase or reduce the income tax by a percentage point…

“A basic law of physics is that no energy is ever lost. What once was will always be. The youth of Israel has shown its power in the past; this power still exists, and will return. All that lacks is the force that will rouse it…”

***

When I left the Rebbe’s room, it was past two in the morning. Scarcely a second had gone by before the students pounced upon me. “What did the Rebbe say?” they wanted to know.

My acquaintances who had accompanied me on my midnight trip to Brooklyn immediately wanted to know: “So, what did you think of the Rebbe?”

Today, many weeks after my encounter with the Rebbe, I can say only what I felt at the time. When I first entered his presence, I thought: “Here is a believer.” As I sat there listening to him speak, I reassessed: “No, a wise man.” When I left his presence, I said to myself: “Yet a true believer.”

Tags: experience, Rebbe, Ten Commandments, belief, truth, Israel, story, chassidism, chassidim, youth, scholar, wisdom, Jewish leaders
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Holy Sinners

August 3rd, 2015

Lift up … the offering-pans of these mortal sinners, and beat them into sheets with which to plate the altar; for they have been offered to G-d, and have become sanctified.

Numbers 17:2-3

The sixteenth chapter of Numbers relates the story of Korach’s challenge to the authority of Moses and the priesthood of Aaron. Korach, joined by 250 of the spiritual elite of Israel, rebelled against the granting of the kehunah—the privilege of serving G-d in the Holy Temple—to Aaron and his descendants. They, too, desired the opportunity for such communion with G-d, and demanded of Moses that he admit them into the kehunah.

Their spiritual mutiny ended in tragedy. To prove their worthiness for the priesthood, these men made an offering of ketoret (incense) to G-d—the holiest and most potent of divine services, whose performance is strictly limited to kohanim at specially appointed times in the sacred intimacy of the Sanctuary. “A fire issued forth from G-d and consumed the two hundred and fifty offerers of the ketoret.”[1]

Yet G-d instructed that the copper pans in which they made their forbidden offering should be hammered into a covering for the altar. These pans have been sanctified, said G-d to Moses; their very metal has been hallowed by an act which, though sinful and severely punished, was motivated by a holy desire—a desire to come close to Me.

The copper plating of the altar holds an eternal lesson: if such is the divine regard for a piece of inanimate metal, certainly no human being is irredeemable. For no matter how deleterious his deeds, they hide a desire and striving, intrinsic to every creature of G-d, for the goodness and perfection of the divine.

Based on the Rebbe’s words to a group of high school students, circa 1955[2]

Adapted from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Yanki Tauber.

Tags: sacrifices and offerings, Aaron, kohanim, sanctification, Korach, sin, Holy Temple, lessons from Torah, connection with G-d, Moses
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Bitter Knowledge

August 3rd, 2015

On one occasion—it was Rosh Hashanah of 5641 (1880)—Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch said:

In truth, we could be rid of the oppressors of Israel. But the Jewish people prefer the bitter medicine.

There are two types of medicines: sweet medicines and bitter medicines. The problem with a sweet medicine is that when it is administered to a child, the child wants more; the child does not understand that he is ill and that this is medicine. With a bitter medicine, one at least knows the truth.

Cited by the Rebbe in HaYom Yom, vol. II (unpublished)

Tags: Rebbe Maharash, Rosh Hashana, truth, Jewish nation, medicine, enemies, children, Parable, knowledge
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Israel, Bamidbar, Shelach, Rebbe Maharash, Torah, Emotions & Psychology, Pain & Suffering | No Comments »

The “Impossible” Dream

August 3rd, 2015

And Caleb silenced the people toward Moses…

Numbers 13:30

He cried aloud, saying: ‘Is this all that the son of Amram [Moses] has done to us?’ One who heard him speaking in this way was under the impression that he was about to speak disparagingly of Moses. Since they had hard feelings toward Moses because of the words of the spies, they all became silent to hear his criticism. Said [Caleb], ‘Did he not split the sea for us, bring the Manna down for us, and collect the quails for us’…

Rashi on verse

Have you ever dreamed that one day our world could actually become a better place, only to conclude that such hope is merely a utopian fantasy? The concept of “Global Perfection” is seemingly one that is as unrealistic as it is idealistic. Our world is flawed, brimming with evil, pain, and suffering. Man has reached new heights, walked on the moon, and yet at the same time plumbed the depths of inhumanity to an extent that one would not have believed possible. To fathom a perfect world is to imagine a completely different realm of being, one that is not marred with the natural imperfection of physicality but is rather an angelic abode where celestial beings reside in complete harmony. Our world is so steeped in imperfection that the notion that it, our very existence, could reach a state of utter perfection is one that evokes ridicule. And the idea that we, mere human beings of flesh and blood, can be the catalysts for this utopian state is entirely preposterous!

Yet Judaism teaches that this ultimate state of being is not mere fantasy, but a reality that will soon be experienced in the Messianic Era. In the words of Maimonides: “In that time there will be neither famine nor war, neither hatred nor competition, for good will flow freely, and all delights will be as common as the dust.”[1] Furthermore, Torah teaches us that we are the ones who have been entrusted with this mission; it is the cumulative efforts of mankind throughout the ages that will eventually usher in this revolutionary epoch.[2] How are we, rational human beings who recognize the imperfection of the world and of ourselves, to view this seemingly impossible mission?

The Story

The Jewish people encountered a similar dilemma 3311 years ago.

The exodus from Egypt was little more than a year old. In one stroke, we had become a nation. Fifty days later, with the revelation at Mount Sinai, we were entrusted with G-d’s Divine directive—the Torah. All that we lacked was our own land, and as we stood encamped at Kadesh, on the border of the land of Canaan, this too was about to become a reality. Then, tragedy struck. The Jewish people, surrendering their faith in G-d to doubts of their own military prowess, demanded of Moses, “Let us send men before us so that they shall search out the land for us and bring back word as to which road we should take and into which cities we shall come.”[3] After consulting with G-d, Moses agreed to their request, and twelve spies were duly dispatched, one representative from each of the twelve tribes.

Forty days later, on the eighth day of Av, the spies returned from their mission, native produce in hand, and issued their assessment of the land in the following statement:

“We came to the land to which you sent us, and indeed it flows with milk and honey; this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very great; we also saw giants there. The Amalekites dwell in the Negev; the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Emorites dwell in the hills, and the Canaanites dwell at the sea and on the banks of the Jordan.”[4]

It was at this point that Caleb (the representative of the tribe of Judah), sensing the impending disaster, passionately proclaimed, “Let us go up and occupy the land, for we are able!” Tragically, his pleas fell on deaf ears, and the people, swayed by the negative rhetoric they had already heard, grew despondent and doubted their ability to enter the new land.

“All night the nation wept and bemoaned their fate, crying to Moses and Aaron… ‘Why is G-d bringing us to this land to fall by the sword, and for our wives and children to fall into captivity? It would be best to return to Egypt!’”[5]

Because of their lack of faith and unwillingness to enter the land, the entire generation (with the exception of Caleb and Joshua[6]) was deemed unworthy, destined to fulfill their lives wandering in the desert until, some thirty-eight years later, a new generation was prepared to carry the torch.

The Jewish people, forgetting the miracles and wonders they had so recently experienced at the hand of G-d, had succumbed to their fear of the unknown, melting under the pressure of the challenge they faced in conquering an unknown land.

What was the message that Caleb was conveying, and what relevance does it hold for us in overcoming the challenges that we face today?

The Claim

The human mind is quite remarkable, enabling the stubborn man to rationalize his whims with “logical” explanations. Being shown the fallacy of his argument serves not as a refutation, but provides another opportunity to express creativity and ingenuity. This self-righteous curse can afflict us all, dragging us down by essentially blocking out all objectivity. Nowhere was this destructive cycle more apparent than in the story of this week’s parsha.

Clearly, the spies (apart from Caleb and Joshua) did not wish to enter the Land of Canaan,[7] and so produced three seemingly sound arguments to support their stance:

“The people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very great”

The first and most logical accusation was that the mission of conquering the nations of the land was simply too difficult, in a word, unrealistic. Thus, they began their propaganda with scare-tactics—insinuating that the strength of the land and its inhabitants was too awesome to overcome.

“The Amalekites dwell in the Negev”

That initial argument, though compelling, was nonetheless not entirely effective for a people whose belief in G-d’s promises is innate,[8] and who, having G-d’s assurance, would have no doubt in their ability to overcome the indigenous population. It was therefore necessary to imply a more dangerous assertion, one that hit closer to home: that we are simply not worthy enough to merit G-d’s miraculous aid in conquering the land.[9] The very fact that the people demanded spies in the first place is proof enough that they lacked complete faith in G-d and their worthiness of His continued miracles. There was even a historical precedent for this: their fierce battle with Amalek was a result of their doubting G-d.[10]

“The Hittites, the Jebusites and the Emorites in the hills, and the Canaanites at the sea and on the banks of the Jordan”

The necessity of this argument stemmed from the weakness of their previous claim, for G-d eventually acquiesced to the peoples’ request,[11] proving that sending spies was not contrary to the Divine Will. The spies therefore countered with their final argument: although we have been promised success in conquering the land, who says that G-d will help us against the nations that we will encounter on our journey prior to reaching the land?[12]

The Rebuttal

As Rashi explains, Caleb responded to the other spies by first citing three miracles that Moses elicited for the Jewish people. By doing so, he intended not merely to demonstrate the possibility of a miracle, but rather to answer their specific challenges point by point:

“You assert that the task of conquering the land is too difficult,” began Caleb. “Do you not remember your fear when you found yourselves trapped between the wide expanse of the sea and the oncoming onslaught of Pharaoh’s army? Have you forgotten the emotion of hopelessness that coursed through your veins at that moment, looking from one adversary to the other, thinking that what had almost become reality was suddenly in jeopardy? And do you remember the feeling of sheer joy at witnessing the salvation that came directly from His all-powerful Hand, as He split the sea for us, allowing our safe passage, while simultaneously drowning our former taskmasters in the water’s murky depths? Do you not remember how quickly that “insurmountable” obstacle vanished?

“You also claim that we are unworthy of G-d’s miracles! How soon you forget your demand for meat, which was miraculously granted with the quails despite the wantonness of your intentions.[13]

“Furthermore,” continued Caleb, “take a look at the Manna that we are given to eat everyday. Although we have not settled in the Holy Land and are merely traversing the desert in preparation of that great step, the Almighty nonetheless showers us with His supernatural blessing! How can you even entertain the idea that G-d would not provide salvation on the road to our future homeland?”[14]

For the first time since their return, the spies, along with the entire nation, remained silent,[15] recognizing the truth in Caleb’s impassioned plea. Tragically, though, the people chose not to repent—for such is the power of stubbornness.

Closer to Home

Now, as then, there is a mission that must be fulfilled, a goal that stands just ahead on the horizon. We, the Jewish people, have been charged to change the world, to perfect it one corner at a time,[16] and this process begins with refining our own character.[17] We can refuse to accept this mission—offering excuses that it is too difficult, that we are too weak, that there are unforeseen challenges that lie in wait along the journey—or we can embrace the challenge, drawing strength from Caleb’s inspiring words which still resonate in our ears, encouraging us to go onward, telling us that success is not just a possibility, but a guaranteed reality. Now, as then, the choice is ultimately ours. However, we have the benefit of hindsight: the ability to draw lessons from our history, making sure we never again repeat the tragic mistakes of the past.

Let us not squander the tremendous opportunity we have been granted. Let us accept the challenge—and triumph.

Based on an address of the Rebbe given Shabbat Parshat Shelach 5726 (1966)[18]

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Ari Sollish

Tags: Exodus from Egypt, Moshiach, tragedy, redemption, doubt, The 12 Spies, silence, repentance, truth, reality, Torah, worlds, personal growth, generation gap, human being, mission, Holy Land, meat, Jewish leaders, dreams, Jewish nation, manna, miracles, Moses, elevating the world, Mt. Sinai, learning from failure, faith, Trust in G-d, challenges, Maimonides, suffering, Caleb, Joshua, personal refinement, pain
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Beliefs & Concepts, Bamidbar, Shelach, Free Choice, Exile, Moshiach & Redemption, Torah, Emotions & Psychology, Pain & Suffering | No Comments »

Subjective Judge

August 3rd, 2015

Know… before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting.

Ethics of the Fathers, 3:1

Said Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov: When a person comes before the supernal court to account for his sojourn on earth, he is first asked to voice his opinion on another life. “What do you think,” he is asked, “about one who has done so and so?” After he offers his verdict, it is demonstrated to him how these deeds and circumstances parallel those of his own life. Ultimately, it is the person himself who passes judgment on his own failings and achievements.[16]

This explains the peculiar wording of the above passage of the Ethics, “before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting.” Is not the verdict handed down after the cross-examination of the defendant? So should not the “judgment” follow the “accounting”? And why are you destined to “give judgment” as opposed to being judged? But no judgment is ever passed on a person from above. Only after he has himself ruled on any given deed does the heavenly court make him account for a matching episode in his own life.

The same idea is also implicit in another passage in our chapter of the Ethics: “Retribution is extracted from a person, with his knowledge and without his knowledge.”[17] As a person knowingly expresses his opinion on a certain matter, he is unwittingly passing judgment on himself.

What we have here is a most profound insight into the specialty of the human soul. In all of creation, nothing is loftier than the “spark of G-dliness”[18] that is the soul of man. This is reflected in the fact that man has been given the power of choice—a power he shares only with the Creator Himself.

Free choice allows him to stumble and err, but it is also what makes his potential for good infinitely greater than G-d’s more spiritual creations. So even when a soul comes to stand in judgment, implying that there are perhaps faults and failings in its past performance, no judge, be it the loftiest and most spiritual of heavenly beings, has any jurisdiction over its fate. The only power on earth or heaven that can judge man is man himself.

From an address by the Rebbe, Shevat 10, 5720 (February 8, 1960)

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: knowledge, free choice, mistake, deed, soul, ethics, accountability, divine sparks, Baal Shem Tov, Heavenly court, creation, judgement
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Soul & Mystical, Beliefs & Concepts, Bamidbar, Shelach, Free Choice, Pirkei Avos, Spiritual, Torah, Emotions & Psychology | No Comments »

Doubly Small

August 3rd, 2015

Describing their feelings of inferiority when they encountered the fabled giants of Canaan, the spies said: “We were in our own eyes as locusts, and so were we in their eyes.”[15]

Said Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk: “We were in our own eyes as locusts”—fear and intimidation in the face of one’s adversaries—is bad enough; worse still is the sense that “so were we in their eyes”—concern about how one is perceived by others.

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: Holy Land, scouts, enemies, inferiority, emotions, fear, perception, The 12 Spies
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A Restless Land

August 3rd, 2015

When the spies returned from their mission to the Holy Land, they reported that “it is a land that consumes its settlers.”[14]

Chassidic master Rabbi Yitzchak of Varka explained the deeper significance of this statement: the Holy Land does not tolerate those who “settle down,” content with their achievements…

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: content, teaching, achievement, mission, consumption, The 12 Spies, Holy Land, scouts, perspective, Chassidus
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The Alter Rebbe

August 3rd, 2015

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Alter Rebbe) – (1745-1812)

Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad Chassidism, drew from all previous mystical and Talmudic teachings to create the most comprehensive blueprint for modern life, uniting faith and reason, spirit and matter. Deeply involved in the turbulent history of his day, author of the Tanya and thousands of discourses, Rabbi Schneur Zalman revolutionized every aspect of Jewish life.

Biographical Highlights:[1]

~ 1745: Born on the 18th of Elul to R’ Baruch and his wife, Rivka, daughter of Rabbi Avraham.
~ At his Bar Mitzva celebration, the greatest scholars of the generation entitled him Rav tana upalig, meaning “He is equal in stature to the scholars of previous generations, and is entitled to disagree with them.”
~ 1760: Marries Rebbetzin Sterna, daughter of magnate R’ Yehuda Leib Segal and his wife Beila. Together they have 3 sons and 3 daughters.
~ Launches a vigorous campaign – with personal effort and his own funds – to encourage Jews to take up farming.
~ 1764: Visits Mezritch for the first time and becomes a disciple of Rabbi Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezritch.
~ 1767: Accepts post of Maggid (preacher) of Lyozna.
~ 1770: Begins compiling the Shulchan Aruch [HaRav].
~ 1772: Defines the doctrine of Chabad Chassidus; begins campaign for Jews living in the Vitebsk area to
move across the frontier into Russia.
~ 1773-78: Establishes Yeshiva in Lyozna, known as Cheder I, II and III.
~ 1774: Travels to Vilna with R’ Menachem Mendel to Vitebsk to meet the Gaon of Vilna. The Gaon refuses
to meet with him.
~ 1783: Engages in the great disputation in Minsk and emerges victorious.
~ 1791: His writings on Talmud, Halachah and Chassidus are widely disseminated.
~ 1794: Publishes Hilchot Talmud Torah (Laws of Torah Study).
~ 1797: Publishes Tanya.
~ 1798: Arrested on the day after Sukkot; released on 19 Kislev.
~ 1800: Summoned to Petersburg on the day after Sukkot.
~ 1812: Leaves Liadi. After wandering with his family and many Chassidim, arrives in the village of Piena on 12 Tevet. Passes away after Shabbat on the eve of Sunday, 24 Tevet. Is interred in Haditz, Poltava Province.
~ 1813: His son, Rabbi Dovber (the Mitteler Rebbe) succeeds him as leader of Chabad Chassidim.
~ 1812- 2002: 5000 editions of Tanya printed worldwide in many languages.

Some Concurrent events in History:

Industrial Revolution: period of social and economic changes that mark the transition from a stable agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial society relying on complex machinery rather than tools. It is used historically to refer primarily to the period in British history from the middle of the 18th cent. to the middle of the 19th cent.
1750-59: Globe lamps used to light streets of Philadelphia – Britain adopts Gregorian calendar – French Canada falls to Britain; Jesuits expelled from Portugal.
1760-69: Baal Shem Tov passes away in 1760 ~ Europe’s Seven Year War ends ~ first savings bank opened in Germany ~ 10 million Indians die in the Great Famine of Bengal.
1770-79: Boston Massacre ~ James Cook crosses the Antarctic Circle ~ Boston Tea Party ~ American War of Independence ~ Declaration of Independence signed ~ King George III releases women & children from working in coal and salt mines. 1780-89: American Revolution ends ~ Australia becomes a British penal colony ~ beginning of French Revolution, 1789 ~ George Washington becomes first President of the United States.
1790-99: Bill of Rights ratified ~ Denmark is first country to abandon trading slaves ~ cotton gin invented ~ Louis XVI guillotined ~ France is first country to free slaves ~ lithography invented ~ Edward Jenner creates smallpox vaccine.
1800-09: Iron-framed printing press invented ~ Ireland becomes part of Great Britain ~ Thomas Jefferson takes office ~ John Dalton arranges periodic table ~ Beethoven composes ~ Immanuel Kant dies ~ Battle of Trafalgar ~ Napoleon’s army defeats Russians at the Battle of Austerlitz ~ Britain seizes Cape Colony from France – slave trade banned by American Constitution ~ Napoleon annexes Papal States.
1810-12: Homeopathy developed by Samuel Hahnemann ~ number of cotton mills in USA triple in one year ~ English Romantic poets and musicians create ~ Napoleon invades Russia but is forced to retreat and flee.

Published Writings:

Hilchot Talmud Torah; Birchot Hanehenin; Tanya; Siddur; Shulchan Aruch; Sefer Sha’alot Uteshuvot; Bi’urei HaZohar; Torah Or; Likutei Torah; Boneh Yerushalayim; Ma’amarei Admor HaZaken: Hanachot HaRaP; Et’haleich Lyozna; 5562- 2 vol.; 5563, 2 vol.; 5564; 5565, 2 vol.; 5566; 5567; 5568, 2 vol.; 5569; 5570; 5571; Haketzarim; Al Parshiyot HaTorah VehaMoadim, 2 vol.; Inyanim; Ma’ameri Razal; Nach, 3 vol.; Igrot Kodesh, 2 vol.

Some Resources in English:

Likutei Amarim Tanya. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Bi-Lingual Edition. New York: Kehot, 1984.
Lessons In Tanya. Rabbi Yosef Wineberg, translated by Rabbi Shalom B. Wineberg. New York: Kehot, 1987-1989.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Rabbi Nissan Mindel. New York: Kehot, 1973.
The Philosophy Of Chabad. Rabbi Nissan Mindel. New York: Kehot, 1973.
The Long Shorter Way: Discourses On Chasidic Thought. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Edited and translated by Yehuda Hanegbi. Northvale, NJ. London: Jason Aronson Inc., 1988. [On book one of Tanya]
The Sustaining Utterance: Discourses On Chasidic Thought. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Edited and translated by Yehuda Hanegbi. Northvale, NJ. London: Jason Aronson Inc., 1989. [On book two of Tanya]
Themes In Tanya. Rabbi Yekutiel Green. Translated by Rabbi Moshe Miller. Kfar Chabad, 1992.
The Arrest and Liberation of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Rabbi A. C. Glitzenstein. New York: Kehot.
Search under ‘Alter Rebbe’ on the web for 35 pages of references, examples:
beverlyhillschabad.com/kabalah-jewish-mysticism/alter-rebbe-maamor.htm and chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp

Overview:

If the Baal Shem Tov taught that each person has the power to access the Divine, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of Chabad Chassidism, taught how this access can be achieved. Rabbi Schneur Zalman, also known simply as the Rav, the Alter Rebbe, or Baal HaTanya v’HaShulchan Aruch, developed what can be called the most comprehensive system ever – a blueprint for life today. Drawing from all the mystical and Talmudic teachings before him, the Alter Rebbe offers us in Chabad Chassidus (Chabad is an acronym for Chochma, Binah, Daat, the three defining faculties of the intellect) simply a brilliant and complete approach to living our lives to its fullest potential. He synthesizes the pure experience of the spirit with a deeply intellectual system, teaching us how we can unite faith and reason, spirit and matter in our struggle with physical life. Considered to be a ‘new soul’ (one that never before came to Earth), the Alter Rebbe revolutionized every aspect of Judaism. His life too reflected a critical time in history. He was imprisoned by the Czarist Russian regime and led the community through those difficult times. He took an active role in supporting Czar Alexander in the Russo-Franco War against Napoleon. In addition, he set an exemplary model for how to deal with an adversary, both among Jews and the Russian regime. The Alter Rebbe left us a voluminous amount of material. Beginning with his classic, the Tanya and a new rendition of the Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish law), followed by thousands of discourses, Rabbi Schneur Zalman laid out a framework for infusing daily life with the deepest of mystical depths.

A STORY

The Parable of the King’s Son

One day the Alter Rebbe was walking in the street together with his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch, and another great Tzaddik, Rav Pinkus of Koritz. Suddenly Rav Pinchus spotted a sheet of soggy paper in the dirt, picked it up, and was pained to see the holy words of Chassidus laying in the gutter. Rav Pinkus questioned the Maggid’s policy of publicizing Chassidic-Kabalistic Torah ideas. The Alter Rebbe explained with a parable: “Once there was a great and mighty King who had an only son whom he loved with all his heart.
One day the boy fell ill and nothing seemed to help him. The best doctors were called in to treat him, but day after day their efforts unexplainably ended in failure. Needless to say the king was beside himself with grief. His beloved son was dying before his very eyes and he was helpless.
After several weeks, just as everyone had given up hope, an old man with a long white beard and a radiant face appeared in the king’s court. He approached the throne, bowed deeply and said, ‘Your Majesty please excuse me for not coming earlier, but I think I can cure your son. It will require a big sacrifice on Your Majesty’s part, and it just might be too late, but it’s Your Highness’s only chance.’
‘ANYTHING!’ Shouted the king, ‘Just tell me what it is I should do.’
The old man pointed to the top of the kings crown, where, set in gold, sparkled a huge diamond – The very symbol of the king’s greatness and splendor.
‘You must grind up that diamond,’ he answered.
A gasp went up from the crowd. When things quieted down he continued. ‘Then I must mix it in water and give your son to drink. There is very little chance of him opening his mouth, and even if he does, I can’t promise that he will swallow any. But if even the smallest amount goes down his throat, he will be healed.’
The king readily removed his crown, the old man removed the gem, prepared the mixture, and they all rushed to the sick prince’s bedside.
They watched anxiously as the stranger tried to open the unconscious boy’s mouth and pour the mixture in. At first it all trickled down his cheek, and onto his pillow and onto the floor. Then a bit seemed to get passed his lips, but he began coughing and this also he spit out. But finally he swallowed! And, true to the words of the old man and to the unbounded joy of the King, the prince opened his eyes and began to recover.”
“This is a parable explaining what you saw today,” continued the Rebbe.
“The King is G-d. The Prince is the people. The crown is Torah. The diamond represents its precious secrets. And the old man that healed the prince, is the Baal Shem Tov.
Like in the story, the people today are ill. Deathly ill. They have fallen into a spiritual coma.
The Baal Shem knew that the only remedy to revive the child is making the secrets of the Torah digestible for everyone; and that is Chassidus.
“But in the process, unfortunately, much may spill out. And that is why that page of Torah was laying in the gutter today.”
Later, the Maggid thanked his pupil profusely and told him that in heaven there was a decree against his policy. G-d created the world on the condition that the creation (both spiritual as well as physical) would conceal His Oneness, and the teachings of Chassidus were beginning to change that. Therefore the Maggid had opposition from heaven. But the Alter Rebbe’s parable abolished the decree.

[1] From HaYom Yom, Kehot Publication Society, 1998, Brooklyn, NY.

Tags: Alter Rebbe, chabad, Chassidus, Baal Shem Tov, Chassidic stories
Posted in Alter Rebbe, Great Mystics, Torah Personalities, Modern, Spiritual, Torah | 5 Comments »

Self-Styled Spies

July 31st, 2015

Fourteen months after the Exodus, as the people of Israel were poised to enter and conquer the land promised by G-d to their ancestors, there occurred a tragic setback in the course of Jewish history.

Moses had dispatched twelve men—“all prestigious individuals, leaders of Israel”[1]—to survey the Holy Land and report back to the people on the nature of its terrain, its produce and its inhabitants. The spies brought back a most demoralizing account, causing the people to lose faith in G-d’s promise. As a result, that entire generation was deemed unfit to inherit the land, and it was decreed that they would spend the rest of their lives traversing the wilderness. Only forty years later did Moses’ successor, Joshua, lead a new generation across the Jordan River. (Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the spies to speak in praise of the land, and the only two of that generation to enter it.)

An old Chassidic saying says that a person lost in the forest was not instantaneously transported from a well-defined path into the thick of the forest. It all began with a slight deviation from the path, which led to a deviation of but several yards, which led to a deviation of many yards, and which ultimately deposited him many miles from his intended route. Life’s most tragic mistakes begin with the smallest of errors, which lead to graver errors, which are in turn compounded into mortal failings.

Where did these twelve leaders of Israel, hand-picked by Moses, go wrong? What was the initial deviation from their mission that led to their catastrophic sin?

Terms of Commission

The key is in the word “spies.” Throughout the Talmud and Midrash, the members of this ill-fated mission are referred to as “the spies” (meraglim); but there is no mention of this term in the Torah’s account of Moses’ sending them to scout the land. Instead, the term used is “surveyors” or “tourists” (tayarim): “Send men,” says G-d to Moses, “and they shall tour the land of Canaan”[2]; “And Moses sent them to tour the land”[3]; and so on throughout the account. It is only when Moses recounts the incident nearly forty years later in the book of Deuteronomy that he uses the term “spy.”[4]

Moses sent them as tourists, as a delegation charged to “see the land”[5]and report their findings to the people. It was they who reinvented their mission as the task to “spy” the land, to clandestinely appraise its strengths and weaknesses as a military target. This was completely unnecessary. G-d had promised them the land, and their victory over anyone who might challenge their right to it was assured. Their purpose was not to gather military intelligence, and certainly not to ascertain the feasibility of conquering it; it was to accord the people of Israel a view of the Holy Land which would motivate them in their new challenge to achieve the transformation from a people leading a spiritual existence in the desert[6]to a people creating a G-dly society upon the land.

Not only was spying the land unnecessary—it also cut off the self-styled spies from their source of integrity and empowerment. The law is that “A person’s agent is like the person himself”[7]; as agents of Moses they were literally extensions of his being, virtual “limbs” of the most perfect human being ever to walk the earth.[8] But the law also states that “An agent who deviates from his agency is no longer an agent.”[9] Moses was the very embodiment of truth[10]; spying—with its devious misrepresentation of oneself and one’s motives—was the very antithesis of Moses’ most basic characteristic. Having departed from the terms of their commission to pursue an activity so utterly alien to the one who sent them, they were now on their own, with nothing but their own fallible selves to fall back on.

Only Joshua and Caleb, who remained “surveyors of the land,”[11] retained their bond with Moses, ultimately achieving the purpose of their mission and leading the people of Israel to the land and life destined for them from the beginning of time.[12]

Based on an address by the Rebbe,  Shabbat Shelach 5745 (June 15, 1985)[13]

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: truth, transformation, Holy Land, connection, desert, mission, scouts, independence, wilderness, Jewish leaders, Caleb, mistake, Moses, sight, tragedy, Joshua, The 12 Spies, Exodus from Egypt, inheritance
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Beliefs & Concepts, Bamidbar, Shelach, Free Choice, Torah, Moses | 2 Comments »