Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Mottel Gordon on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Berel Lavner on the occasion of his engagement! May they use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I am missing please let me know).
Thank you very much, as always, for the feedback, it is much appreciated!
On Yud Shvat 5722, 12 years after the histalkus of the Frierdige Rebbe and 12 years of the nesius of the Rebbe, there was a farbrengen in South Africa. The speakers of the farbrengen were taped (I guess some of the participants had their cellphones recording...), and, after the farbrengen, the tape was sent to the Rebbe. Recently, this recording was publicized and circulated.
One of the speakers was Rabbi Yirmiyahu Aloy, and he spoke about the great achievements of the Frierdige Rebbe, and then said that BH it is all continuing with the nesius of the Rebbe, and he told the following story (in the recording that I heard, the very beginning of the story is unclear, and the recording ends before it is completed. I am writing whatever I was able to hear):
There was a Yid by the name of Rabbi Dr. Koppel Rosen, who was a dedicated activist in the field of Jewish education. At one point, he was diagnosed ע"ל ע"ול with a severe case of leukemia, and the doctors gave him no hope. Needless to say, he was very shaken by the dire prognosis. He gave up all of his activism, and was preparing himself for the end ch”v.
One day, he met Rabbi Bentche Shemtov, with whom he had worked extensively. R’ Bentzion reprimanded him, telling one must never lose hope. "יש נביא בישראל", he told him, “get onto a plane, travel to New York, and get a brocho from the Rebbe”.
Rabbi Rosen lost no time, he immediately travelled to New York with a colleague of his by the name of Rabbi Spector. They arrived on Wednesday night, and Thursday night Rabbi Koppel Rosen had a yechidus and spent two hours (!) in the Rebbe’s room.
When he came in, the Rebbe offered him a chair. At that point, Rabbi Rosen was greatly weakened by his condition, and every 100 yards that he walked he would need to sit down and rest. Nevertheless, he refused to sit, and remained standing for the duration of the 2 hour long yechidus! During the yechidus, he told the Rebbe of his situation in detail and asked for a brocho.
The Rebbe replied to him: “People sometimes come to me and request a brocho, and I can see on them that there is something missing; - that they are in need of a brocho. In your case, however, I don’t see that you need ch”v any brocho! The doctors are all mistaken, - you are healthy. Especially since you are involved in chinuch, and that is something that requires many more years of your time. So, you don’t need any brocho, go back to your work, forget about all of this! If you want to go to a doctor once a year for a checkup – after all, the doctor needs to make a living also – that’s ok, but the rest you can forget about, you are healthy and you don’t need any brochos”!
He exited the yechidus completely overwhelmed, he was like a new person. On that motzoei Shabbos the chassidim made a melaveh malka for him and they celebrated together. The next Shabbos mevorchim the Rebbe, during his farbrengen, spoke about leukemia, and how the functions of the red cells and the white cells don’t seem to reflect the ideas that these colors portray according to chassidus.
Reb Koppel Rosen went on to say that the time that he spent by the Rebbe was like a new maamad Har Sinai for him!
The Rebbe’s Unique Response
The reply of the Rebbe to this Yid seems singular. The Rebbe did not give him a brocho, or a promise, or good wishes. The Rebbe – seemingly – told him: You still have work to do, you still have children to provide an education for. It is not conceivable that any aspect of nature should be an impediment to your work. Because your work, your mission, is more powerful than any force of nature.
If a Jew is merely dedicated to his mission, a mission with which he was entrusted by the Eibishter Himself, who is the Creator of, and controls, every single aspect of the world and of nature, then it is not possible for anything in the world to hinder him.
This week we will mark the very special day of Yud Shvat, and the very special occasion of 70 years of the nesius of the Rebbe. On this day we were each entrusted with a very sacred mission, which is very clearly spelled out in the maamar of Bosilegani, - to complete the bringing down of the shchina into this physical world. There can be no separation of any sort between G-dliness and the world; - every single aspect and part of the world must be visibly a vehicle for giluy Elokus.
Sometimes this mission may seem very challenging. It might be a very nice ideal for us to pursue, but the world and its nature seem to be very uncooperative. Every part of the world seems to be pulling us into the helem vehester of “ani ve’afsi od”, of ‘olamos bepshitus ve’Elokus behischadshus’.
But we need to remember that, in truth, the whole existence of the world was created by Hashem בשביל התורה ובשביל ישראל, for the sake of us, Yidden, using it al pi Torah to transform it into G-dliness. If we are fully committed to this goal, then we will see that there is nothing else there; - any appearance of the world interfering with our avodas Hashem is non-existent, it is an error and a figment of our imagination.
There was a certain individual, by the name of Yehuda Leib Fishman (who later changed his last name to Maimon to Hebraize it). He was the founder of the World Mizrachi Organization. He was a very talented scholar (a mechaber of seforim as well), but who was the source of considerable anguish to a number of gedolei Yisroel on account of some of his views and positions. At one point, a group of Satmerer chassidim decided that they had had enough, and they wanted to come out with a very severe condemnation of him (or worse...). Such a step, they knew, would require the consent of other gedolim, and they came to 770, seeking the Rebbe’s endorsement.
During the yechidus that they had, when they revealed to the Rebbe the purpose of their visit and the identity of the person about whom they had come, the Rebbe exclaimed “Er iz doch nit do!” [lit. He’s no longer around]. They were shocked to hear this, since they hadn’t heard anything before they had left to their appointment with the Rebbe.
They assumed the Rebbe had more up to the moment information than them, and it must have just happened, and they asked the Rebbe, in surprise: “Ven iz dos geshen?” [When did it happen].
The Rebbe replied: “Zint tof reish peizayin, ven er iz arois antkegen dishver, iz er nit o!” [Since 5687, when he opposed the Frierdige Rebbe, he doesn’t exist].
We, too, need to know that anything that interferes with our carrying the mission of dor hashvi’i, outlined by the Rebbe, is something that we don’t need to engage with or deal with, because – in truth – it doesn’t exist. Even a health problem – as in the story – cannot hinder us from fulfilling our holy shlichus.
Rabbi Chodakov, in his later years, was very frail. This was to the extent that, when he visited the doctor, the doctor would insist that he has no idea how his body is alive (being so frail).
The Rebbe, however, once said to him: “As long as I need you, you will be here!”
If we are single-mindedly dedicated to the shlichus outlined by the Rebbe in Bosilegani, then there is no worldly or bodily limitation that can hold us back.
Emerging from Our Personal Mitzrayim
When the Yidden were finally liberated from Mitzrayim, in this week’s Parsha, the Possuk uses the title of tzivos Hashem: ויהי בעצם היום הזה יצאו כל צבאות ה' מארץ מצרים. In the maamar (that we all are learning this year), the Rebbe explains that this particular title describes the way Yidden are preoccupied with the job of birur nitzotzos, of elevating each aspect of this physical world and transforming it to G-dliness.
Perhaps, in that light, it can be understood as follows: Everyone of us, on occasion, experiences obstacles, - challenges that seem to make it difficult for us to carry out our mission. These are our Mitzrayim, our meitzarim u’gvulim, boundaries and limitations, that seem to impede our progress in elevating the world. But, when we truly see ourselves as tzivos Hashem, as entrusted with the job of transforming the world to holiness and Elokus, then it becomes impossible for any part of the world or of nature to be an obstacle, resulting, automatically, in each of us emerging from our respective Mitzrayim’s.
On a Personal Note
Part of the outcomes of what I’m going through is that I have undergone very extreme lifestyle changes, amongst them, regarding what I do and don’t eat. Now, like most people, I’ve been an on-again off-again diet person at various stages in my life. But this time it is very different.
You see, my illness is caused by cells in the body that split and create new cells where they’re not meant to, resulting in masses in the body that don’t belong there. These new entities, being living and growing masses, need nourishment to survive and – especially – to grow. Of course they, un-invitedly, partake of whatever foods the person eats. But there are specific foods that they have a particular liking to, that really cause them to grow and thrive. Mainly it’s sugar (which is why a sugar solution is used to identify their presence in the body during scans), and white wheat flour.
This is not some hocus pocus that some quack convinced him or herself about. This is (apparently) an undisputable scientific, biological fact. From the moment that I understood this, I stopped completely eating any of these products, in any form. I haven’t touched anything that contains any sugar etc. in over two weeks. I replace all of these product with other, more healthy, foods.
This is not something that requires any effort on my part, I don’t have the feeling that I’m denying myself any worldly pleasures. On the contrary, from the moment I understood how all of this works, I had zero inclination to eat any of these foods, I felt no desire for them at all.
I know very well that there is this growth in my body, which, aside from causing me all kinds of aches and pains (thanks a lot but no thanks), is threatening my very life. It is doing everything in its power, for some odd reason, to choke away my life, ch”v, and I know very well that I am fighting for my life. Under these circumstances, would I even consider doing anything to nourish and sustain what is now my worst and most dangerous enemy??!! Of course not! It’s unthinkable!
In fact, even if there is a food that is questionable, that may be enhancing the growth of my tumor, I will, without much deliberation, reject it. Who would even consider ingesting poison, something that has even a chance of killing them?!
It’s not at all that I no longer enjoy worldly pleasures. If I see a tasty looking food, I can imagine it being enjoyable to consume. It is conceivable for me to eat it under different circumstances, in a different place and time (IYH very soon we’ll have a huge farbrengen together, full of an abundance of sugary foods and an abundance of sugary drinks, many pastries and of course an abundance of mashkeh). But right now, here, practically for me to actually eat any of these products just doesn’t come under consideration. I know what it would do to me right now, and I don’t want anything to do with that.
If it’s something that I know is harmful to me or that may be harmful to me, then, for all practical purposes, it’s as if it’s not there, because there is no way I would dream of prolonging or increasing my agony for a momentary pleasure.
And this is relevant to us all, to each and every one of us: You see, we are all, every single one of us, fighting for our lives. We are trying to be connected to the Eibishter, which is the only way to truly experience life ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם חיים. We try to learn and to daven and to be meticulous in our performance of mitzvas. But there is this uninvited growth, that is malignant and threatening, The forces of kelipah, of impurity, try to choke out the life of our nefesh ho’Elokis, to drown out our feelings for G-dliness. And, collectively, these impure forces imprison us all in golus, prolonging the suffering and the agony, withholding us from geulah ch”v. Obviously, we each and we all understand that this is a battle for our existence, that our life and our lives depend on it. We recite wholeheartedly in shmoneh esreh תעקרות שברות מגר ותכניע, - that Hashem should destroy and subjugate kelipah.
And yet... Somehow, sometimes, we’re faced with a certain behavior that seems appealing to us, and it becomes a whole struggle not to do it. Stop, and think! This machshovo, these impure thoughts, that seem so appealing to you, that you feel inclined to think, -- since it is against the will of Hashem r”l. it will be moisif chayus in kelipah r”l. Simply stated, an unkosher thought causes the forces of impurity to grow and to thrive. Regardless of how much momentary enjoyment you think that it will cause you, you will never feel drawn to do something that you know is empowering the forces that are threatening your life. You just need to take the time and effort to consider more close the implications of your behavior.
Or maybe it is about using your faculty of speech in a way that is inappropriate. Think about it for a moment. Whatever momentary respect or thrill you might derive from saying something negative about someone else, or, perhaps, speaking in a manner unbefitting of a chosid or religious Jew, will undoubtedly lose its appeal and significance even, when you consider that you are strengthening – r”l – your mortal enemy.
And, of course, this is true with actions, including what we do or don’t eat. When there could be something that is questionable according to shulchan aruch, then even the most delicious looking food (or conduct) becomes unwelcome. We know and understand that it may taste good, and that in different time and place (where there would be no conflict with rotzon ho’elyon) we would be eager to try it out. But, right now? I have no interest to do something that will knowingly harm me ch”v. It’s as simple as that.
L’chaim! Let us recognize the fact that kelipa is our mortal enemy, and be focused on destroying it, and may the Eibishter hasten the ואת רוח הטומאה אעביר מן הארץ with the immediate hisgalus of Moshiach Tzidkeinu NOW!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
לזכות ב"ש ד בן מרים, 'שיט" ל אויוש מתוך בריאות הנכונה ס"וכ ט בטוב! ג"הנרוהנ לזכות ת"הרה אהרן בן, חנה ק"ל רפושוט" ואויוש לזכות ח"הרה' רמ" מהכהן בן, חוה ש" לרפו ובריאות הנכונה ט" ואויוש
