Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Yossi Matusof on the occasion of his engagement. May he use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Gershon Avtzon, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch of Cincinatti, on the birth of their daughter. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim/os!
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
The following story was recently told to me by my brother Rabbi Dov Wagner, shliach of the Rebbe to USC:
A Lubavitcher balebos, we’ll call him Yankel, deals in real estate, and is frequently involved in purchasing large commercial properties for investment purposes. Recently, he was pursuing a deal that involved the purchase of a monastery that was located in Boston.
When it came time to close the deal, Yankel travelled to Boston to the site, to meet with the current owners and finalize matters with them. As he was about to enter the building, he suddenly felt self-conscious about his yarmulke, and was debating with himself whether or not he should leave it on. In the end, he thought to himself that the actual entry into the monastery was also very questionable, and very likely was itself not halachikally permissible, so if he’s already going in, he needn’t make an issue about the yarmulke. So concluding, he left the yarmulke in his car, and entered the building bare-headed.
As he came in, he encountered a group of nuns, who were sitting around a table waiting for him. Immediately, one of them said to him: ‘You’re Jewish, aren’t you?’
‘Yes’, he replied, wondering why this was relevant.
‘Then where is your kipah?!’ she asked him pointedly.
Rather shamefacedly, he excused himself, and rushed out to the car, returning momentarily with his head now covered.
‘Where are you from’, the nun asked him when he returned. When he said that he was from New York, she asked him if he was familiar with Lubavitch. Surprised at the question, he informed her that, in fact, his family belonged to Lubavitch.
‘Tell me a story about the Lubavitcher Rebbe’, she demanded. He acquiesced, telling her a story about some advice that the Rebbe had provided his mother with, that subsequently was instrumental for his own birth. When he concluded, she said: ‘Now I will tell you a story about the Rebbe’, and she proceeded to share with him the following:
‘When I was in school, studying religion, we used to gather once a day for prayer-meet. One day, I was unable to attend, as I was in a different section of the campus, and I decided to drop in to my professor, whom I had a question to ask. When he didn’t respond to my knocking, I gently opened the door, and was shocked to see him sitting by a table wrapped in a talis and teffillin. Speechless, I closed the door quietly, and departed. After a few days passed, I gathered the courage to approach him and ask for an explanation. The professor enlightened me to the fact that he was born to Jewish parents, but was given over to a Christian couple, as an infant, for protection (during the war?). When his parents didn’t come back to claim him, he was raised as a Christian. Recently, he became conscious of his true identity. He established contact with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who is helping him return to his roots; - thus the talis and teffillin.
‘Some time later’, the nun continued, ‘I spent a day in New York, and had the afternoon off. Remembering what I had heard from my professor, I decided that I would like to meet this Rabbi. I found directions to his headquarters, dressed as a regular woman, and got in line to get a dollar. ‘When I passed by the Rebbe, without my saying a word, he gave me a dollar, then handed me a second dollar, saying “Regards to the professor”!’
Chazal tell us, as one of the prophesies about what the world will be like when Moshiach comes, that in the era of Moshiach, when someone attempts to pluck a fig from a tree on Shabbos, the tree will shout at him: “Stop it! What are you doing?! It’s Shabbos today!” Likewise, when a person contemplates transgressing a sin, the stone on which he treads will prevent him, shouting out “Stop it! What are you doing?! This is prohibited!”
This is not a description of an ultra-restrictive police-state, in which the inanimate objects join forces with the neturei karta and the vaad mishmeres hatznius patrols to encroach on people’s freedom. Rather, this is a reflection of the tremendous state of refinement that the world will reach then.
Today the world, by its’ very nature, is a helem ve hester; - an obstacle to our association with G-dliness. However, in the times of Moshiach, the world itself will have been elevated, and brought to its purest state. The world will no longer hinder us from serving Hashem, rather it will serve as a tool and a vehicle to bring us closer to Him. Moshiach rides on the donkey, representative of the chumryus – the physicality in the world, and it itself lifts him up and helps him reach his destination.
In the past, the world was the opponent, the enemy, and in our quest to do the right thing we had to draw from our inner strengths to be able disregard the taunting of the world around us and remain steadfast in our Yiddishkeit. A person wearing a yarmulke had to often endure ridicule and humiliation from his surroundings, and it was an act of courage to wear it in public.
But today the world itself, the nun – the official representative of other–hostile–religions says to the laid-back Lubavitcher: “Hey, stop, where do you think you’re going? You need a yarmulke!” In the past, perhaps, someone may have been wary about speaking too much about the Rebbe in a public forum. A speaker being brought out to give a lecture somewhere may have been forewarned “don’t push the Rebbe too much”. There may have been a fear and complex of being considered chauvinistic, or extremist, or narrow-minded.
But today, the catholic nun in the monastery says: “Tell me a story about the Lubavitcher Rebbe”! Not only that, but when he’s done she tells you an even better story about the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Because the world out there got the message already loud and clear, and the only remaining obstacle is our own built-in inferiority complex.
On Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sara 5752, the Rebbe informed us clearly and unequivocally:
“As mentioned above, we have completed all the service required of us. Moreover, it is apparent that the climate of the world at large is ripe for Mashiach's coming.. What is in fact required of us? Our Rabbis explain that in each generation, there is an individual who is fit to be Mashiach and "when the time comes, G-d will reveal Himself to him and send him." The service at present is thus to be prepared to actually accept Mashiach and create a climate in which he can accomplish his mission and redeem Israel from the exile. And this is the task of the International Conference of Shluchim: First and foremost, to make a public statement that this is the task confronting us--to prepare ourselves to accept Mashiach. Every aspect of our service and every dimension of our activity must be directed to this goal.. Every shliach should realize that he is responsible to explain the above concepts to all the individuals in his city. He must convey to them, in a manner which they can understand and relate to, the imminence of Mashiach's coming and the need to study about Mashiach and the Era of the Redemption”
The world is ready and prepared to hear the message. Moreover, if we are hesitant, the world itself will prompt us, and demand “What are you doing, why aren’t you fulfilling your shlichus adequately?!”
The Rambam writes that the existence of Christianity (hey, my spell-check changed that into capital contrary to my wishes) and other religions was in order to pave the way for Moshiach. Perhaps we can already begin to sense the era in which the Christians will arise and proclaim “Hey, we’re not here to make things difficult for you, we’re here to keep you on track, to make sure you’re focused on fulfilling your sacred mission of readying the world for Moshiach!”
Today is Chof Cheshvon, the yom holedes of the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe issued a directive to us (on Shabbos Vayera 5749) that on this day everyone should make an effort to enter a building of Tomchei Tmimim (and where there is no local T”T, and there is no possibility of travelling to a nearby city where there is one, to at least enter a building that is “related” to T”T such as a Chabad House), and engage in Torah, Avoda and Gemilas chasodim there.
Presumably, the Rebbe would like us to enter not just the physical “body” of Tomchei Tmimim, but – together with that and through that – to enter into the spirit and mindset of Tomchei Tmimim. We are being enjoined to take advantage of this auspicious date to remove ourselves from our routine, and immerse ourselves – at least for these 24 hours – into the life of a Tomim, for whom nothing exists except Hashem Echod. We are to use this unique opportunity to reconnect to our inner self; - the bochur, the Tomim, that is within us.
That will help restore our confidence in facing the outside world. That will help us recognize and acknowledge that the whole world is ready to become Tomchei Tmimim!
L’chaim! May we all contemplate the tremendous benefit that this day provided us with, and take advantage of the kochos that this day gives us to internalize those lessons, and to be living examples of Tmimim in our day-to-day life, and may the Eibishter in turn help bring to finality the impact of Tomchei Tmimim on the entire world, by bringing to a culmination the war against “cherfu ikvos meshichecho”, through the immediate hisgalus of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
