Rabbi YY Jacobson
The survival of our Jewish people, and the impact that this matter has on every Jewish individual, is not something which has yet to be investigated and experimented with. The Jewish people is one of the oldest in the world, and in its long history as a nation it has gone through various conditions and circumstances, mostly very unfavorable. If one wishes to know the secret of Jewish survival under circumstances which have obliterated larger and stronger nations, one has but to apply the same scientific method as in other cases. In other words, it is necessary to find the common factor, or factors, in all the various periods of Jewish history, which would then have to be taken as the basis of Jewish survival. Should two or three different factors be found, there would be the question of whether all of them were indispensable to survival, or perhaps only one or two would also have been sufficient. But if only one common factor is found, then there can be no doubt that this is the only basis of the survival...
Now, going back to the long history of our Jewish people over a period of some thirty-five hundred years, it will be seen that there has been only one factor which has preserved Jewish identity and survival throughout the various periods of our history. This factor was not language, nor country, nor anything else which is often associated with nationhood and nationalism; for in all these things there have been radical changes from one period to another, as anybody familiar with Jewish history knows. The single factor, and I emphasize, the one and only factor, which has preserved our Jewish people throughout the ages, under all kinds of circumstances, has been the fulfillment of the mitzvos in day-to-day life, such as the observance of Shabbos, the putting on of tefillin, and the Torah education of our children. These and all other mitzvos are already embodied in the Torah and have been observed by Jews since the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, and they have been observed in the same way throughout the ages, without change.
Rebbe’s letter. Chabad.org/therebbe/letters - The key to Jewish survival
Yom Habohir Gimmel Tammuz. Most mivtzos are mitzvos maasios – Action mitzvos. The first approach is to get a Jew to do a mitzvah – mitzvah goreres mitzvah. Secondary, is hashkafa and philosophy.
UFARATZTA
She was an American, a typical Jewish Baby Boomer from a strongly Jewish but non-observant home. Spiritual by nature, she became somewhat of a hippie in the Sixties. She wandered around the world until she landed in New York, where she would study.
An acquaintance mentioned Crown Heights, Brooklyn. "You really ought to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe there. He's something else." She accepted that it might be worthwhile, and soon she was invited to 770, Chabad headquarters, on an auspicious occasion. The Rebbe was about to give a sicha, a talk, to women and girls [in February 1973]. Afterwards, he would remain in his place while each woman who had a question or wanted a blessing would be allowed to ascend the dais and have a few personal moments with the Rebbe.
This woman decided to go up to the Rebbe. "I'd like you to know," she began, "that I'm not here because I believe in you or in any of this stuff. I don't believe any of the miracle stories. In fact, this seems like a cult." The Rebbe listened in good humor and smiled before responding. "Tell me, why then did you come?" She described her university studies, then posed a question. "I'm majoring in psychology. My parents want me to stay in school but frankly, I'd rather go to the Far East and study pottery. What do you think I should do?"
The Rebbe responded. "I think both options are wonderful and interesting. Pottery and psychology are both worthy vocations. And I can't tell you that one is better than the other.
"But I have a third idea." His eyes sparkled. "Why don't you devote some time to get to know yourself? To discover what it means to be human and Jewish?"
She appreciated the Rebbe's response. She liked his not being offended by her comments, and being totally open to her and her needs. She respected the fact that the Rebbe offered a highly perceptive response – as she was a deep seeker, and an idealist.
Some time later, it was suggested to her that she attend the summer program in Bais Chana, the Chabad women's institute in Minnesota. Unsure about the suggestion, she scheduled a private audience with the Rebbe. When she entered his office, this time with more reverence, she asked the Rebbe if he thought she should go to Bais Chana to learn more about her Jewishness?
The Rebbe smiled. "You are asking me what I think?" He said. "Well, certainly you know what I think! Of course I think you should go to Bais Chana."
She drove that summer to St. Paul from her home in Pittsburgh, and the rest is history. But the real message: here was someone flat out, in the Rebbe's face, saying she believes in nothing. She was ostensibly being disrespectful to the entire movement to which he devoted his life. Certainly, the Rebbe had every reason to "educate" her – to scold her and put her in her place. But then, what would have been achieved? He might have educated her, but he would not have mekarved her – brought her closer to Torah Judaism. The Rebbe wanted to give her the gift of her self – the gift of embracing her own soul, her own identity, so he spoke a language that related to her
I know this story well, for this woman is my mother in law, Mrs. Rochel Shlomo.
