Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazeltov to Issur Lubecki on the special and momentous occasion of his having made a siyum hashas this week! And Mazel Tov as well to his entire family. May he continue in this direction מחיל אל חיל, with tremendous hatzlocho וממנו יראו וכן יעשו! (Who is going to be next?)
Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Shmully Shuchat on the birth of their son. May they bring him up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be a true chayol! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
One of the most gifted talmidim of the great Magid, a colleague of the Alter Rebbe, was known as the Volper. At the time that he studied by the magid he was the best chozer of the Maggid’s teachings. When he spoke, everything was crystal clear and his audience would comprehend and be completely overcome. He and the Alter Rebbe were the only talmidim who were able to follow the entire discourse of the Magid from beginning to end without getting lost in ecstasy.
Nobody knew what led to the Volper’s downfall. The Alter Rebbe once said a worm ate away at him. At some point, he lapsed into depression and began drinking excessively. He did not speak about himself. Wherever he went on his wanderings, his mouth would spew forth pearls of Torah and wisdom, even the deepest secrets of Torah. The more he drank, the more the "secret came out," the secrets of Torah. People who did not understand him mocked him.
One day the Volper arrived in Liozna in White Russia, where he went to the local beis midrash. The Alter Rebbe was there with his Chassidim and he was saying a maamar Chassidus. The Volper sat in a corner, and listened closely to the Rebbe’s teachings. Nobody paid him any attention at all. When the Alter Rebbe concluded the maamar, he left the beis midrash. The Volper also left the beis midrash, backpack on his shoulders, to continue his wanderings. Before leaving though, he proclaimed: "Ach, we all ate from the same bowl, but he got all of the gedichte (the choicest portion of the soup)."
Word got around, until the Alter Rebbe was heard what the stranger had said. "That was the Volper," the Rebbe said. "If I knew he was here, I would have tried to get him to stay with us so that he would no longer need to wander."
The Volper's story became known throughout White Russia. If a chassid heard a drunkard talking about spiritual concepts, he would not dismiss him, but instead would listen carefully (some do that until today...). For perhaps the drunkard was the Volpe, and the listener might discover a gem of wisdom.
Once while visiting an inn, one of the Alter Rebbe’s chassidim heard a drunkard holding forth on the Torah's mystic secrets. This chassid had heard of Der Volpe, and so he lent an ear. From the various things he had heard from the Alter Rebbe, he was able to positively identify the drunkard as the Volper. The chosid was very excited.
When the Volper left the premises, the chosid gained entry to his room and began rummaging through his belongings, hoping to find a manuscript containing a discourse of the Maggid or another such treasure. All he found were a few rags. Suddenly the Volper returned, and the embarrassed chosid was caught red-handed. "What are you looking for in my pack?" the Volper demanded, “did I steal something from you?” Unnerved, the chassid could do no more than tell the truth: he had heard about the former greatness of the Volper when he had studied under the great Magid, and he was searching for some Chassidic manuscripts which he was certain the Volper must have had in his possession (the urge to carry out a “chassidishe gneiva” was apparently around back then already).
"That's the problem with you chassidim today," the Volper growled. "For us, the chassidim, the Rebbe and the Torah were all one; we didn't need a written text. Today, the Rebbe and the chassidim are each distinct entities; that's why you need a manuscript."
One of the recurring themes in (at least 2 of) the maamorim on the beginning of Chaye Sara is about the risks connected with Simcha – with joy: On the one hand, simcha is a crucial ingredient in serving the Eibishter. But it is not without it’s inherent dangers. Experiencing or expressing simcha is always associated with experiencing oneself, it is the antithesis of bittul. Simcha and self-effacement seem mutually exclusive, thus simcha, despite it’s tremendous importance, can lead to the negative outcomes that naturally result from too much feeling of, and preoccupation with, self.
These maamorim clarify, however, that there is a solution: it’s called “bittul be’etzem”. When the bittul is not who you are, but something that you practice, something that you force onto yourself, then the bittul and simcha are contradictory. Simply put, either the person is acting in a way of bittul, of nullifying himself, or with simcha, which involves feeling himself. However when one is essentially bottul, when his bittul is what and who he is, then even his hispashtus – his feelings of happiness and satisfaction with himself go hand in hand with his bittul, because that is his real self. It is the bittul that is being mispashet, - that is being expressed.
As the Volper told the chosid: when the Rebbe and the chassidim and the chassidus are essentially one then everything comes together, and you don’t need to seek ways to unite them.
Here is a story to illustrate this somewhat:
R’ Shmuel Dovid Raichik a”h was a shliach to California. He used to daven in a shtibel in Los Angeles. R’ Shmuel Dovid was held in the greatest esteem, universally respected and recognized as a muram mei’am, and it was only natural that his place in the shibel was in one of the most honored spots at the mizrach wall.
Once R’ Shmuel Dovid was visited by a friend of his, who joined him for davening in the local shtibel. After davening R’ Shmuel Dovid approached his friend apologetically, appearing shamefaced as if he had been caught red-handed at some terrible offence. He began to defend himself to his friend for sitting in such a respectable place. To justify himself, he related that the Rebbe had instructed him that wherever he goes he should to the place which he feels should have been given to the Frierdige Rebbe (since that is whom he represents). And since he knows that the appropriate place for the Rebbe is at the mizrach wall, he felt no choice but to sit there.
The friend was flabbergasted. It had never occurred to him that R’ Shmiel Dovid should sit anywhere else. It was unlikely that all of the other members of the shul combined reached even a fraction of the stature of R’ Shmiel Dovid (and anyone who knew him knows that this is not any exaggeration). Yet in his mind it was an unpardonable offense to accept such honor, and only אנוס על פי הדבור – by force of the Rebbe’s clear directive – did he feel compelled to act that way.
Rabbi Raichik was truly self-effacing. This was part of his very being. Therefore he could sit in the most respectable place in shul and it did not diminish one iota from his bittul. On the contrary, - it was the bittul that was commanding the respect; - it was his conviction that it is not him but the Rebbe (who is being respected) that made him feel the necessity to sit there.
This, explain these maamorei chassidus, was the achievement of Sara Imeinu. Unlike Noach and Chava, who’s experiments with simcha led to negative outcomes (because of the inherent risk with any avoda that involves feelings of self), Sara was able to experience the greatest simcha while simultaneously manifesting total bittul. This was because with her (and with the sefira of malchus, which she represented) the bittul defined her very being, it was bittul be’etzem. and therefore her simcha and expressions of personal feelings of joy were merely further expressions of her bittul (which was her entire self).
You can see one person who works on himself to act (and feel) humble. The bittul - or the humility - is something that he puts into practice and imbues into his day to day life. But it is not him. When this person starts to display joy, to dance and sing and speak in a joyous manner, he will inevitably lose touch with his feelings of bittul, possibly resulting in a decreased level of yiras shomayim or kabolas ol in his practice (which was what happened, at some level, to Noach and Chava). For this reason, on Yomim tovim, when the mitzvah is to rejoice, the beis din would have to send out police to ensure that there should be no negative outcomes.
However, sometimes you can see a genuine chassidishe Yid who’s entire being is bittul. It is not something that he practices or works on, but that is who he is. He can farbreng joyously and excitedly, he can dance (on the table, of course) and rejoice, and it is all an expression and enhancement of his feeling of nullification; thus he never deviates even one iota from his consciousness of his bittul, and it’s impact on his conduct is never decreased.
[Once, on simchas Torah, the Rebbe Rashab (the baal yom holedes of the past week) was observing two of the temimim dancing together. They were both very chassidishe bochurim, from the original temimim, and yet, there was a difference between them.. After observing them for a few moments, the Rebbe Rashab remarked “Er (pointing to one of them) tantzt mit kabolas ol, un er (the other) tantzt mit prikas ol].
Although this level of bittul be’etzem, in which it defines our entire being, is a very lofty level (and would seem to be unattainable), nonetheless the Rebbe emphasizes that that is the lesson from this week’s parsha, and therefore something we all must aspire to and strive for.
The unquestionable highlight of this week is the international kinus hashluchim. And the above idea very much defines what a shliach is. The avoda of shlichus is not something external, something that the shliach is engaged in or involved in; rather the identity of a shliach and the avodas hashluchus is what defines the entire being of the shliach.
This is the secret of the success of shluchim. Just as in the story with Rabbi Raichik, he was able to go the front seats because it was not him, it was the Rebbe, so too the shliach can do anything anywhere, with no limitations, because it is not him, it is the Rebbe. Even those activities that require the involvement of his feelings and powers of strategy and abilities etc. are also not anything other than shlichus, because his very being is shlichus, and therefore that permeates every aspect of his personality and faculties.
His involvement with budgets and mortgages and campaigns and programs do not distract him one iota from his ultimate objective, because everything in essence is shlichus and there isn’t anything else.
As we join this Shabbos in celebrating shluchim and shlichus, let us focus on the important lessons for shlichus that are to be derived from Parshas Chaye Sara, and let us take advantage of the empowerment of shlichus, and especially of the tremendous energy emanating from the kinus hashluchim, to complete successfully and finally the most important and ultimate shlichus, - to be mekabel pnei Moshiach Tzidkeinu NOW!
L’chaim! May we each work on the ideas and concepts of shlichus the way they relate to our avodas Hashem ואין ענין יוצא מידי פשטותו, - everyone should go on shlichus and dedicate his or her life to carrying out the Rebbe’s shlichus, and together we should complete the ultimate shlichus of ushering in the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu – the ultimate shliach- TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
