Praise all the yeshiva ketanas, all the mesivtas, all the kollelim – praise them. Praise all the houses that have big mezuzahs on them. Praise the boys who wear their tzitzis out and behave on the street. Praise them! Praise all the good things!
Of course you’ll say some ordinary talk too; you’re a human being after all. But you’re always on the lookout for opportunities to propagandize for the Torah, for the Jewish home. Don't just take it for granted; they know, why should I say it? Oh no! It’s something we have to do, it's an obligation. Talk always about how Torah living is a happiness! What a special and holy way to live! A life of tznius, of bein adam lachaveiro, of awareness of Hashem! Be a Torah propagandist, a shaliach d’Rachmana.
Part III. Praise the Righteous One
A Painful Example
And now we’re coming to the third chapter in this subject of raising up the name of the tzaddik. And it’s the most important chapter because we’re going to see that the first two are included in this one.
Because who is the tzaddik that deserves our attention more than anyone else? Who do we have to make righteous in the eyes of people? You’ll be surprised. The answer is Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hashem is the real Tzaddik; He’s righteous in all of His ways.
And therefore that’s the final part of tonight’s talk. Included in this great function is that we have to be on guard always to speak the praises of Hashem; to speak always about His righteousness, His chessed.
Now, before we start chapter three just one example to better help us understand the subject. I wasn’t planning on talking tonight about the Holocaust but I’ll say something very briefly because it’s connected to our talk. It’s an example of the obligation to speak up and be matzdik Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
You know when it comes to the Holocaust, I get phone calls all the time. People yell at me: “Why do you say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu was punishing the Am Yisroel? Don’t say those things.” They say that they were all tzaddikim in Europe and we just don’t know why Hakadosh Baruch Hu would do such a terrible thing to them. “We don’t know the secrets of Hashem,” they say.
Shifting the Blame
You know what that means in plain English? It means instead of putting the blame where it belongs, let’s blame Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And therefore it’s important to defend the honor of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and say the truth. And the truth is that in Europe the Jewish nation was actively throwing away the Torah. Not in ignorance, not tinok shenishba; they actually hated Judaism. Not all of them, but there were so many of them that it became a wave of revolt against the Torah; a national and violent revolt against Hashem and His Torah.
Reb Elchonon Wasserman zichrono livracha said: “The Jews in Europe declared war on Hashem and now He has declared war on them. That’s why He’s sending His armies against them.”
But Jews today are busy carrying out a propaganda campaign against Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They say it's a kitrug on the kedoshim, accusing the kedoshim, to say the truth. But the kitrug on Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that they keep quiet. Where's the kavod Shomayim?!
And so we have to speak up for the Tzaddik. Hakadosh Baruch Hu – for nothing at all – brought such a kilayon, a destruction?! We have to study the details and justify Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world. One day we’ll dedicate the whole lecture to the topic and you’ll be educated a little bit but for now we’ll leave it; it’s a very painful subject. But the klal gadol, the general rule, is that one of our important functions in this world is to raise up the honor of Hashem. Just like in beis din the judges have to justify the just we have to find ways and means of praising Hashem; of lifting Him up in the eyes of the world.
Speak Up For Rain
Not only the Holocaust; I’m talking now about much simpler subjects. Because wherever you turn people are doing the opposite of justifying Hashem. The world is finding faults. Don’t you go on the street sometimes and you hear two old ladies talking – worse yet, two yeshiva boys talking: “It’s such nasty weather today.”
Nasty?! Hakadosh Baruch Hu is being nasty and He’s sending nasty weather to bother you? What is it? It’s raining? Hashem is feeding you, He’s feeding the world, and you’re blaming and criticizing.
And so when the rain comes down and the world is complaining, that’s the time for you to speak up; it’s an opportunity. Speak up for the One Who feeds the world. Say it to whoever is willing to hear: How great is the One Who makes it rain!
Watermelons are coming down in the rain. Challah is coming down. Drinking water is coming down. Bathwater is coming down. Cholent is coming down. The potatoes, the barley, the beans. Even the meat is coming down. After all, what is a cow except for the grass that it eats? So even the cholent meat is coming down in the rain.
Speak Up For Air
Speak up for the One Who gives us air to breathe. Last week I heard a man complaining about Brooklyn air. An old man sitting on a bench on Ocean Parkway criticizing the Tzaddik Shel Olam. “Fech, this dirty air,” he said. Now, he didn’t know he was complaining against Hashem but that’s what it is.
So we have to do the opposite. “Ah, Brooklyn air! We thank You for that, Hashem!” Say it! Speak up! Air is a cocktail mixed especially for our benefit; the exact proportion of oxygen and nitrogen, a tiny bit of carbon dioxide, other important gasses. And it’s perfect!
Breathe it in! Right now, take a deep breath. No drink in the world is as pleasant as a breath of fresh air. You don’t believe me? So try out my experiment; it’s an experiment anybody can carry out at home. I illustrated it many times here: Take a bucket full of water and put your head into it and remain there for about three minutes. And think how good it would be just to breathe one breath – don’t breathe under the water though. Then you pull your head out. Ahhh! Baruch Hashem for air!
For every breath you have to say hallel!
The Sun and the Cold
We could give a thousand and one more examples. Give Hashem credit for the sun. Every day we do it, only we do it like people who are walking in their sleep. We’re thanking Him for the sun, for light. Oh! He’s doing a great thing for us! From 93 million miles away He’s sending down light to us. A remarkable thing!
People complain about the heat of summer. What are they meshugeh?! You know Who you’re speaking against? Who made the heat? The heat of summer is a benison, a blessing that causes the fruits to ripen. A man walks through the kitchen when the wife is baking challah and cake and he complains about the heat. But later when he sits down at the table he does justice to the challah and the cake and he forgets about the heat.
The cold too. We have to tell people that the cold is a blessing for the earth; it causes the earth to desist from producing in order that it should recover all the materials that it had expended during the summertime. The earth during the wintertime regains those materials and replenishes its store in order to prepare for the coming spring. All these things we have to say.
Chazarah and Homework
Now I’m going to repeat briefly what we said here tonight in order we should have in our hands the general idea when we go home. We studied tonight the subject of who and what we should aggrandize in this world; what we have to be matzdik. And it’s a very serious subject. This is not something you come here and listen for entertainment and then you go out and forget about it. This is a program for life; it is a program for perfection.
Number one we said was that we have to be matzdik all of the righteous ones; all the tzaddikim. Always defend them and sing their praises. And we should not spare words. We should talk at length about them, as much as we can.
That should be our conversation. That’s why the Torah spends so much talking about Avrohom and Yitzchok and Yankev and the other tzaddikim because that is Torah. Talking about tzaddikim is Torah.
Praise the Ways
The second chapter, we said, is the importance of aggrandizing ideals – praising the ideals of tzedek and the acts of tzedek and avodas Hashem; every form of kindliness, middos tovos and gemillas chassodim, emunah, daas, yiras Hashem, bayshanus, anavah and all the good qualities, mitzvos and ma’asim tovim. And speak at length about it!
Praise everything that’s connected with avodas Hashem. Praise all the ways of the Am Yisroel. The Torah learning and davening and tznius and chessed and tzedakah. Talk and talk and talk! Be a propagandist for avodas Hashem.
The Grand Finale
And finally, if chapters one and two mean that we’re obligated in declaring the righteousness of Hashem’s chosen ones and Hashem’s chosen ways, so it comes out now that it’s only Hashem; the first two parts are really only Hashem. Hashem is the Tzaddik. And so the third chapter, the grand finale, is the one that includes the first two: We are obligated to speak up on behalf of Hakadosh Baruch Hu as much as we can.
I know people don’t do it. Even when they’re davening, saying words of praise, they’re only saying words; when they stop davening they forget all about it. But that’s not for us. We have to be different; we have to step forward and do more.
We should always speak about Hashem; whatever Hashem does in the world – and He does everything – we’ll say that it’s all good. When He causes rain to come down and the sun to shine; when He causes the wind to blow and cold to come. Everything! It’s a never-ending mitzvah. Tell the world, cry out from the rooftops, “Hashem is the Tzaddik.”
Speak Up For Him
What He does for our people! What He did for us as individuals. We should study our lives and speak about Hashem’s kindness. He causes our hearts to pump and our lungs to breathe. He makes our joints bend and our minds function. Endless kindliness in the world around us and in our own bodies. Wonders and wonders, miracles of nature Hashem made with His boundless wisdom!
And most of all that we are all together today under the kanfei haShechina. Baruch Hashem, Hakodosh Boruch Hu is guiding us and leading us in the right way. And many of us have already families with wonderful children, maybe grandchildren. Baruch Hashem! We thank You for all these blessings that You’re giving us! And we should continue to speak about the Tzaddik Shel Olam, always, all the days of our lives.
Have a Wonderful Shabbos
