Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazeltov to Peretz Chein on the occasion of his engagement. Mazeltov to Chaim Moshe Zirkind on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the period of yokor mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Levi Eckhaus on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Shmully Schochet on the birth of their daughter. Mazel Tov as well to the grandparents Rabbi and Mrs. Yossi Schochet. Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Yossi Gorman on the birth of their daughter. Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Dovid Perl on the birth of their daughter. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim/os! (If anyone is aware of any mazel tov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
A special heartfelt Thank you מקרב ולבעמוק for the many beautiful brochos in connection with the chasuna of our son Yitzchok. May we always share simchos and happy tidings, until we can speedily rejoice together in the ultimate simcha of simchas olam al rosham!
I guess history is repeating itself once again. Once again, we are hearing daily of bloodthirsty and barbaric Arabs massacring innocent Jews. Once again we are filled with pain and rage at how our brother’s and sister’s need to live in fear and suspicion. Once again we wake up in the mornings to the horrifying and intolerable news of more kedoshim who lost their lives simply as a result of their Jewishness, of poor victims who were wounded or crippled to satisfy the bloodlust of the wandering marauders; - despite so many stories of miraculous rescues and thwarted attacks for which we need to be so thankful.
Once again the world hears and watches these incidents with growing concern and outrage... against the Jews!
That’s right. As usual the shock and outrage of the world is reserved not for the lawless barbarians for whom killing and murdering is a way of life, but rather for their Jewish victims! To the nations of the world, the UN, the EU, the USA and so on, the problem is not the widespread murder and terror, but, rather, it is the reaction of the Jewish victims, their “excessive force” and “disproportionate responses” that they find so troublesome.
To be sure, it’s not that they hate us or are in any way anti-Semitic or anything of that sort. On the contrary, these nations have shown time and again their willingness and readiness to stand up for Israel and for the Jewish nation, in so many different ways. Undoubtedly now as well, if the Arabs were to kill Jews the nations would be unanimous in their indignation and condemnation of the perpetrators.
It’s the fact that we’re so uncooperative, we don’t play along, - we don’t let ourselves get killed but fight to stay alive that irks them and gets under their skin.
The disagreement really amounts to 2 different approaches on how to react in a dangerous situation. What should one do if there’s (G-d forbid) a murderous Arab running at him with a wicked looking knife? According to Mr. Kerry and Mr. Moon and Mr. Obama and their friends, - he should first talk nicely to him. Ask him politely if you can have the knife (not forgetting–of course–“please” and “sir”). Perhaps dance the hora with him, or offer him a falafel or some baksheesh.
Whereas the Israeli mentality seems to have the absurd mindset to first and foremost blow his brains out (or whatever garbage is filling his head that’s passing for brains) and ask questions later. As Chazal say: "הבאה להרגך השכם והרגו". If someone
A chosid once went into yechidus (after Simchas Torah?), and handed in his “tzetel”, his written request for the Rebbe’s brochos (as was customary). As the Rebbe read the paper, he remarked casually: “Un vos iz mit parnosoh?” [What about making a living].
“OY!”, the chosid exclaimed. He became very startled and frightened, realizing that he had inadvertently forgotten to include (in his list of requests for brochos) his usual request for (a brocho for) livelihood. The Rebbe, however, immediately calmed him down, saying:
“Es iz beseder, zol zein parnosoh (beharchovo?)” [It’s fine, don’t worry, I’m giving you (on my own) a brocho for livelihood].
This yungerman worked as a shoichet in Montreal. That particular year there was some kind of restructuring in the shlachthoiz where he worked (it was unionized and the upper management were dismissed, or something of that sort). The result was that there was a sum of money that got divided amongst the shochtim themselves, and each shoichet received about $3,000 (which may not sound like a lot to us, when we talk about fundraising campaigns in the tens of millions, but back then (over 50 years ago) and for them and was a very significant windfall).
The yungerman realized that by not asking for a brocho, the brocho that the Rebbe had given on his own turned out to have a much greater impact (apparently, when he requested a brocho, the definition of the brocho was limited by his understanding and intent).
The next year when he went into yechidus, he asked for a brocho for parnosoh “vidi Rebbe farshteit” [according to the Rebbe’s understanding].
We are at the threshold of a new year. Surely the Eibishter is bestowing His brochos on each and every one of us for much parnosoh with great harchovoh. Shabbos Bereishis, specifically, is a source for material brochos. At this time, we, too, ask Hashem that His brochos should be “vi Er farshteit”, not limited or confined by the limitations of our understanding or expectations.
We had numerous unique opportunities lately, during the season of yomim toivim and special days, to request the Rebbe’s brochos for a very successful year. And, just like the chosid in the story, we hope that those brochos go way beyond our imagination and expectations. In the words (that the Rebbe would often use) "למעלה מן המשוער".
[In fact, this may shed light on the (words of the gemoro, as well as the) famous niggun, that I always found puzzling. We sing "והריקותי לכם ברכה עד בלי, די עד שיבלו שפתותיכם מלומר די". Which sounds strange: What person says “enough” to a brocho? And–especially–to the point of ‘our lips becoming dried out from declaring enough’?! And, on the other hand, if it is a brocho that seems overwhelming, that is too much to bear (prompting us to cry out “enough”), then why is it a good thing, and what is the brocho in it?
One answer can be based on the above: We are looking from our very limited and incomplete viewpoint. Therefore, at some point we think ‘I don’t need this, I can’t use it, it is superfluous, a burden’. And we cry out “enough”! And the ultimate brocho is that the Eibishter gives us anyway. Vi Er farshteit, despite our crying “enough, enough”. Until, eventually we’re able to appreciate the gift from His perspective.
A case in point: I heard from Rabbi Mochkin, from Montreal, that when they were purchasing the land for Gan Yisroel Montreal, they had the ability, for just a bit more money, to purchase additional land to the point that they would own all of the land surrounding the entire lake. However, the prevailing viewpoint at the time was that that would be beyond superfluous. The amount of land that they were purchasing, as it were, was much more than they could ever hope to use. As it was, it was already “enough, enough, more than enough”.
That was from the very limited human viewpoint. Who could have imagined at that time that just a few decades later their tract of land would–due to the hundreds of campers etc.-seem to be tiny and bursting at the seams, and that what they had thought was more than enough was in fact barely sufficient!]
But there is another side to this.
While it is the “job” of the Eibishter to provide us with all of our material needs (and wants) with the greatest abundance מידו המלאה והפתוחה והקדושה והרחבה, it is our job to serve Him, to learn and daven and transform the world into a dira lo yisborach. As in the analogy–which the Rebbe repeated numerous times–of the goat; - the goat doesn’t worry about food or sustenance. It knows only that it has to provide milk for its’ owner, and the owner provides all of its’ needs.
And here, too, we can apply the same means of evaluation. It is not enough that we learn a lot or daven well according to our “measuring stick”. Perhaps we’re patting ourselves on the back because we’re learning more than the next guy. Maybe we’re proud of ourselves because we aren’t skipping (too many) words in davening.
But the question is: are we learning and davening according to the Rebbe’s expectations? Is this something that we would be comfortable “reporting” to the Rebbe about? For, if we want (and we surely do) our gashmyusdige brochos to be “vider Rebbe farshteit”, then doesn’t it follow that our ruchnyus avoda should likewise be “vider Rebbe farshteit”?
A philanthropist was once conversing with the Rebbe, and during the conversation he proudly informed the Rebbe of his intention to contribute a large sum to one of the mosdos (he didn’t specify the amount, but said that it would be a large donation).
The Rebbe asked him pointedly: “Loit eire hasogos oder loit meine hasogos” (do you mean a large donation according to your definition of large, or according to my definition of large, because if you go according to my definition it’s going to have to be very big)!
Similarly, the Rebbe once responded to a report of a group of bochurim who learnt an amount of Tanya by heart: “It is a case of עשיר שהביא מנחת עני (a wealthy person who tried to “get away” with the korban designated for a pauper)”.
We all know what we’re supposed to be doing. We need to avoid the trap of being satisfied with token efforts and achievements which are below our abilities. Let’s ensure that our hachlotos and commitments for the new year are “vider Rebbe farshteit”.
That will undoubtedly be a big step towards the whole world becoming “vider Rebbe farshteit”: Chazal tells us that Moshiach comes through “hesech hadaas”. It is not something that we can understand or can anticipate. It is a leap forward into a new world order. Just as we learn about Noach, when he embarked from the Teivah, that עולם חדש ראה; - he encountered an entirely new reality, so too–through applying ourselves to doing what we are supposed to beyond our understanding and expectations of ourselves (out of our own hagbolos)–we will speedily enter the entire new reality of yemos hamoshiach, = the world the way the Eibishter originally imagined it–NOW mamosh!
L’chaim! May we each take the extra step so that our learning and davening, our ahavas yisroel and our mivtzvoim, our hakhels and our leben mit Moshiach should be vider Rebbe farshteit, and may the Eibishter, in turn, transform the entire world to be vi Er farshteit with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
