IN HIS PRESENCE
Rebbi taught, "Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin: An Eye that sees, an Ear that hears, and all your actions are recorded in a Book." (אבות פ"ב מ"א)
In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe writes that before fulfilling a mitzva we should refresh our awareness of the Presence of HaShem and His concern for our performance.
Whenever we do a mitzva, HaShem (so to speak) sets aside everything else in the physical world and the spiritual realms, and focuses his Sovereignty upon this one Yid who performs the mitzva, just as he was concerned with the service of Adam HaRishon who was the only human being on the planet. Realizing this will cause a person to serve HaShem with awe and fear, as if he were standing before a mortal king.
Although every Yid is born with this latent fear of HaShem, it can be a challenging task to uncover it so that it will be felt in one's day-to-day life. To this end a person must meditate upon HaShem's all-seeing Presence until he feels it. (תניא ריש פמ"א ופמ"ב)
A MOMENT OF SILENCE
In the summer of 5743 (1983) the Rebbe urged that in all schools a moment of silence should be instituted, at the beginning of every day. These sixty seconds should be designated to thinking about the Creator and Director of the world, and about performing the universal Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach. Heeding the Rebbe’s call, the President of that time signed a call for the moment of silence. The Rebbe acclaimed this act of the President and wished that all Senators and Congressmen would follow suit. In the coming years the President’s call was accepted in many states of America.
Many questions were raised concerning this idea and the Rebbe addressed and dealt with each of them during the farbrengens in the following years, explaining at length the reasoning and the purpose behind this campaign.
At one farbrengen the Rebbe explained:
The only way to guarantee that people should follow the straight and just path is to instill in them a faith in the Creator of the world.
In this country many parents do not have the time or patience to educate their children. They discharge their obligation by sending them off to school with tasty sandwiches, giving them spending money for treats, and nice clothing, of course. Education they leave for the school.
And for absurd reasons, mentioning the Creator and Conductor of the world is not allowed in school! As a result, hundreds of thousands of Jewish children and millions of non-Jewish children who are enrolled in public schools do not hear or know anything about the Creator!
The only solution to this is to institute a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day, which is designated to thinking about the Creator. This, the Rebbe assured the critics, would influence the rest of the day.
Furthermore, even if children receive the best education at school, it is important that they hear these messages at home as well. As a result of the Moment of Silence children will ask their parents what they are meant to think about at that time, and this question will remind the parents of their role in educating their children. (תו"מ תשד"מ ח"ד ע' 2172 ובכ"מ)
The Rebbe made it clear that the Moment of Silence is not a lifeless silence, but rather a purposeful meditation – that the Creator of the world also directs it in every detail. And His involvement includes the child himself, his parents and his friends. (תו"מ תשמ"ו ח"ד ע' 265)
HOW MUCH TIME?
A non-chossid once asked the Alter Rebbe: Chazal say that one should divide his time in thirds between the study of Mikra, Mishna, and Gemara. Now, you say that the study of Chassidus fits into the category of Mikra. Why, then, do chassidim spend more than a third of their time studying Chassidus?
The Alter Rebbe did not respond, and instead steered the conversation to a discussion of this man's business endeavors.
"How much money do you have invested in business?" the Alter Rebbe asked. The man replied that practically all of his assets were invested in the business.
"But don’t Chazal say that one should invest a third of his assets in business, a third in real estate, and a third he should keep in hard cash?!" the Alter Rebbe challenged.
"Rebbe, you obviously don't know very much about business. That may have worked fine in the old business model, but nowadays, even if you invest everything you own, you're lucky if you break even."
"Aha!" said the Alter Rebbe, "The same is true for the study of Chassidus. In earlier times, people didn’t have to study so much to acquire a Fear of Heaven. Today, even if one were to study Chassidus all day long, halevai one should break even!" (למען ידעו ע' 245)
CONSIDER
Why is remembering the Creator the only way to influence people to be honest? Does it always work?
