ה"ב ליל ק"ועש 'פר כי ,תבא י"ח ,אלול יום הולדת את שני המאורות ,הגדולים מלך" "בשדה ז"תשע'ה
Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Shaya Zirkind on the birth of their son. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Shloimy Greenwald on the birth of their daughter. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Berri Spitezki on the birth of their son. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Levi Vogel on the birth of their son. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Eli Simpson on the birth of their son. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim/os! (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.
Let us all hope and daven that all of the powerful winds blowing in the world at this time should emerge only as Teshuva and Ellul winds, resulting only in more Torah avoda, Gemach, Teshuva and geula for the entire world, with everyone’s health and possessions intact.
In honour of this upcoming Shabbos, Chai Ellul, the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and of the Alter Rebbe, here is a story with the Alter Rebbe:
A terrible thing happened; - a young person was possessed by a dybbuk.
We all know what a dybbuk is. Sometimes a neshomo is so badly blemished that it is unable to find respite even in the darkest corners of gehinom. In such instances, the poor soul is refused entry to the entire upper realms, and, instead, the celestial immigration officials fling it back to where it came from. This is a cause of tremendous anguish and suffering for the affected neshomo.
[We think that things are great down here. We’ve got our cars (with their automatic steering and automatic climate control and automatic seat adjustment, and – from what I hear – they’re just on the verge of driving themselves altogether), our swimming pools, our i-phones, our Kosher pizza shops and our vacation resorts (in those lovely places like Florida and the Carribean islands), why, we think, it’s a veritable Gan Eden down here. But to the hapless neshomo that was refused entry up above and returned here, it has already acquired a different perspective, and it is all pure torture].
The only temporary respite that a neshomo in such a position can realize is by taking possession of some other neshomo of a person still on this earth. This becomes a source of tremendous suffering for the possessed individual, and the services of a tzaddik were generally needed, to deal with the invading spirit.
In the case of our story, the possessed individual was brought to the Alter Rebbe, with the hope that the Alter Rebbe would help him find an end to his suffering. In the course of the discussions, the dybbuk revealed that he had been guilty of a terrible sin in his lifetime:
“When the Jews murdered the prophet Zecharia (out of anger, because he foretold the terrible events of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash), I was the fellow who threw the very first stone, and ultimately brought about his death. Since then, I have been wandering the worlds aimlessly, with endless suffering, unable to find any peace for my sinful soul!”
While they were there, the Alter Rebbe began contemplating yichudim (kabbalistic ideas that were sure to have an immediate impact on these visiting neshomos). To everyone’s surprise, instead of being impressed, the occupying neshomo began to scoff.
“Why, in my times”, he informed them, “these ideas were child’s play, literally. Little children were familiar with these yichudim!”
“In that case”, the Alter Rebbe wondered, “the question begs an explanation: how can it be that you, who were on such a high level, were able to stoop so low so as to murder the novi of Hashem?!”
The soul became very serious. “You don’t understand”, he clarified, “this was not just a random act of violence. Our actions were well thought out. We had ample cause and justification (in our eyes) for our behaviour.
“You see, we reasoned as follows. It’s true, undoubtedly, that Zecharia was given these prophecies by Hashem, as terrible as they may have been, in order to communicate them to us, to the Jewish people. As such, he had an unavoidable obligation to do so, because נביא שכבש נבואתו חייב מיתה , - a prophet who withholds his prophecy and does not share it is punishable by death.
“On the other hand, if a prophet does not actually articulate his prophecy, then the prophecy will not come to be. We reasoned, therefore, that Zecharia had been wrong. He should have chosen to withhold his nevuah , with the subsequent punishment of death to himself, if only to have a possibility of preventing through that the churban of the beis hamikdash!”
The Alter Rebbe was overjoyed with this explanation. “By sharing this idea and ideal”, he informed the unfortunate spirit, “you have fulfilled the purpose of your existence, and your wandering can now come to an end”. The Alter Rebbe rectified the wretched neshomo and had the dybbuk removed (and everyone, presumably, lived happily ever after (except for the dybbuk)).
The above story is found in various sources about a few other tzaddikim (including the Koznitzer maggid and the Belzer Rebbe). The Rebbe once shared this story during a farbrengen (and someone, please remind me of the date), and added: This story is attributed by some to other tzaddikim. They are welcome to their version. I think, however (the Rebbe concluded) that it is clear that this story “fits the most” for the Alter Rebbe.
I don’t think that the suggestion of the story is that the novi Zechariah was in any way wrong ch”v for not withholding his nevuah (and presumably the notion that that could have somehow changed the inevitability of the churban was also erroneous). Nor is it a vindication for the murder committed at the time (as is clear from the terrible punishment which the neshomo could not avoid).
But their underlying rationale did have some merit - that sometimes we have to focus on the communal benefit and not on our personal perfection – and that is where we each have to find a lesson and message.
Now we are in the month of Ellul. It is the time for Teshuva, for introspection, for soul-searching and for cheshbon hanefesh . Of course, we need to examine our davening and learning, we need to analyze our performance of mitzvos and we need to weigh our good deeds against our failings. But we have to bear in mind – as the story makes so clear – it’s not only about whether I am a tzaddik, whether I reached lofty levels and became a righteous person. We need to take that cheshbon hanefesh one important step further, and ask: how did I help the world? How did my behavior prevent the churban, avoid the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash?
We all know the sichos in which the Rebbe cried out soulfully, reminding us of what Chazal say כל מי שלא נבנה בית המקדש בימיו כאילו נחרב בימיו , if the bais hamikdash isn’t being rebuilt, it is as if it was just destroyed! The coldest, most heartless unfeeling callous insensitive (in)human being, were he to know that the beis hamikdash was just destroyed, would be completely shaken up! And if we have it in our power to avoid this destruction, that would surely take precedence over any other consideration.
Our chesbon hanefesh, then, is not (only) about whether we acquired enough zechusim, whether we became a greater tzaddik and are worthy of more blessings for ourselves (and, of course, deserving of a more respectable Aliya on shul). Our cheshbon , more importantly, is about how our behavior is serving to stave off the churban, and replace it with the new beis hamikdash.
Mr. Gordon Zacks had encounters with the Rebbe that spanned several decades. He related the following about his (final?) encounter:
“In 1987, my youngest daughter, Kim, had just returned from Israel and she wanted to participate in the custom of Sunday Dollars. I said fine I would take her. I neither called nor told anyone who I was when we arrived. I stood in line with her. It had been seventeen years since I had seen the Rebbe and ten years since he wrote me his last letter.
When it was our turn to pass by the Rebbe, he looked at me and asked “What are you doing for Jewish education?” His eyes had the same penetrating look that had scanned me seventeen years earlier and asked, “What are you doing to take care of your soul, Mr. Zacks?” It was as though I had just walked back into his office (and he was resuming the conversation of 17 years before). In truth, hundreds of thousands of people had filed past him over those years.
“You are amazing!” I exclaimed to him.
“What will the world benefit from the fact that I am amazing?” he retorted, “What are you doing for Jewish education?”
Likewise, we need to focus our cheshbon hanefesh not merely on how amazing we are (or aren’t), but on what impact that has on the world, on bringing closer the rebuilding of the 3rd beis hamikdash.
This Shabbos, Chai Ellul, begins the last 12 days of the year, the days, we are taught, each of which correspond to one month of the departing year. On the day of Chai Ellul our main focus needs to be, then, on the last Tishrei.
What is unique about Tishrei, and what needs to be corrected about Tishrei? Many things, surely, but – for chassidim – it is the month, more than any other, that is customarily spent in the daled amos of the Rebbe. What is our cheshbon hanefesh about Tishrei supposed to address, and what is it about our last Tishrei that we need to, perhaps, rectify? Seemingly the above idea. A chosid spending time by his Rebbe is primarily about forgetting about himself and being preoccupied with the Eibishter.
A chosid was once following the tzaddik R’ Elimelech of Lizhensk on Rosh Hashono, when the tzaddik was going to do Tashlich. The tzaddik noticed him, and asked the chosid what he was seeking there.
The chosid replied: “I am waiting for the Rebbe to do tashlich and throw away his aveiros. I want to run and grab them, because for me they will be mitzvos!”
There is a similar vort of chassidim, to the effect that the aveiros that we commit while by the Rebbe are mechaper on the mitzvos that we perform throughout the year.
The point being: we can do mitzvos all year long, but they can be all about how amazing we are and how amazing we are becoming. We are amassing credits, collecting celestial travel points towards our dream vacation home in the World to Come. But it is all self-serving.
At the Rebbe, in the daled amos of the Rebbe, everything is about the Rebbe, - about getting closer to the third beis hamikdash and bringing G-dliness into the world in a revealed way. My part in all of it is secondary.
[They once found a pan written by the Tzemach Tzedek to be read at the the tziyon of his mother. It was written in connection with removing a decree against the Jewish people, that the Rebbe was involved with. The Tzemach Tzedek asked that the decree should be removed, and the pan concluded " ואם אזכה שתהיה על ידי ".]
