Dear Alumni Sheyichyu! Sholom U’Brocho! Mazeltov to Rabino Avrohom Stiefelman on the occasion of his engagement. Mazeltov to Mendel Ginsberg on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the period of yokor mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Dovid Vidrin on the birth of their son. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Levi Simon on the birth of their son. May they bring him up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim! (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.
These days there is an amazing video that is circulating, that depicts a few samples of the Rebbe’s interaction with young children. Chazal say ראה מעשה ונזכר הלכה. In this case, it was ראה, ווידיאו ונזכר מעשה. One of the clips in the video reminded me of a remarkable story. I can’t say for certain that the clip in the video is that of the story (although that may be the logical assumption), since it may have occurred more than once, but the video is definitely the most perfect illustration for the following story:
Two young sisters were preparing to go to the Rebbe to receive a dollar and a brocho. Just before leaving the house, the older girl realized that her little sister was holding her doll, one that was very dear to her. “What do you think you’re doing with that?”, she exclaimed. But the younger girl maintained that she was taking it with her, as she always did. The doll provided her with comfort and security, and she wouldn’t leave home without it (besides which–who did her sister think she was to tell her what to do).
The older girl began to forcefully explain to her, at first patiently but gradually with exasperation that “this just isn’t done!”. She emphatically explained what it means to go to a Rebbe, and how important the Rebbe is. One just doesn’t bring a doll to the Rebbe! It’s out of the question!
But–as children sometimes will be (and many adults, for that matter)–the more she was told not to, the more stubborn the younger girl became, and the more insistent that she would not leave her beloved doll behind. So, sure enough, when they went, the doll did in fact come along.
But as they neared the Rebbe, the words of her sister suddenly replayed themselves in her mind. She suddenly regretted her previous obstinacy, and was filled with misgivings. She wished she would have been more cooperative earlier. There nothing she could now, however, except walk by the Rebbe feeling acutely uncomfortable.
But, the Rebbe very quickly changed by... taking out an additional dollar and–giving it to the doll! And when the doll wouldn’t take it (for some strange reason) [and all of the wise people around the Rebbe tried to “explain” to the Rebbe that it’s “only” a doll], the Rebbe gave the dollar to the young girl, telling her to give it to charity for her doll!
Of course, on the one hand, the story illustrates the amazing sensitivity of the Rebbe to the feelings of a young girl (not to mention the fact that he utilized his ruach hakodesh for that purpose). Perhaps it also portrays the Rebbe’s encouragement to ‘do your thing, with pride, and without concerning yourself with what other people will think or about how they will look at you’ (a message that the Rebbe expressed very emphatically during a yechidus with Rabbi Moshe Tendler).
But, perhaps, it also contains a deeper lesson for us. Because we all have our “dollar” experiences. We all received and receive brochos and hashpo’os in many different forms. This is especially true as we end the chodesh hashvi’i, which Chazal teach us is “mesuba”, is satiated with all kinds of goodness. And this is true in a physical sense because it is so in a spiritual sense.
However, we may need to stand back, take a deep breath, and ask ourselves: did I receive them, or was it the doll? A doll can be almost identical to a real baby. The features may be extremely realistic and lifelike. The eyes are there, and the ears and the nose and the mouth. It can even be made to be very pretty or striking. But it’s a doll, it’s not alive. The difference between a doll and a real person is that the doll is devoid of any life or vitality, only the superficial is there. While a dollar can be given to a doll, in that case the experience is entirely that of the one giving it, and has no connection to the doll.
Similarly, we can go through all of our spiritual experiences, and the entire Tishrei experience, as dolls. To be sure, all of the hashpo’os of all of the special days of this month are genuine, and they take place. But the question is, do we have anything to do with them? Are we playing any part in the experience, or are we merely passing through as inanimate objects?
The Satmar Rov and the Badchan: A Lesson in Authenticity
[There was once a badchan who was performing before the Satmar Rov, R’ Yoel Teietelbaum. The badchan, in order to maintain his reputation, had to entertain, and, on that occasion chose to do so by imitating the ne’ilah of the Satmar Rov. The Satmar Rov would generally daven ne’ilah before the omud himself, accompanied with much crying and beseeching, and this badchan did a perfect imitation, bringing the entire gathering to tears of laughter. But, when he looked at the Satmar Rov, he suddenly realized that he was crying in earnest. The bachan became alarmed, feeling that he had somehow hurt the feelings of the Rov, and began to apologize profusely. The Rov, however, calmed him down. “You did nothing wrong”, he told him. “It is merely that when I saw what a perfect imitation you did of me, I began to worry that perhaps when I myself was davening, on Yom Kippur, I, too, was not actually davening but just doing a very good imitation”].
Seeing that the Rebbe can give a dollar to a doll should make us all the more committed to ensure that our involvement–in the special moadim that we experience and in the many hashpo’os that we receive from the Rebbe–should not be as dolls, but as real people. And real people are alive, they react and relate and interact. Every experience is something that they live and make a part of their life, ensuring that it doesn’t merely pass by, but impacts them and changes them.
Parshas Noach: From Doll to Life
This is also the central idea of Parshas Noach: Before Noach, the sustenance given to the world was not connected with the world itself. It was, instead, similar to giving a dollar to a doll. Therefore the world itself was not defined by it,-the existence of the world was not about itself, but about the Al-mighty being benevolent. As soon as there was wickedness in the world, and it was no longer a manifestation of G-dliness, it had no existence and there was a great mabul.
However, the purpose of the flood was to refine the world itself; - its’ connection with G-dliness is what defines its’ own existence. This was the reason for Hashem’s promise, following the flood, that the world’s existence would be secure and it would never again be interrupted.
This is what we all have to apply to our own lives and our own Yiddishkeit. It’s not enough for us to be dolls, even if we are perfectly crafted ones. It’s not enough to go through all the motions and have all the limbs and body parts of a Jew and a chosid.
We have to also ensure that we are alive. Whether through contemplation during kriasshma she’al hamita, focus and concentration in avodas hatefila or earnest involvement in a chassidisher farbrengen, we have to take steps–and then more steps–to ensure that our Yiddishkeit and chassidishkeit are truly a part of us, and continuously affect us and influence our behavior and growth.
This is the theme of ויעקב הלך לדרכו,-the motto and guiding force that has to be defining the coming days and weeks. Now is the time to unpack, to see to it that every special date of the past month, Rosh Hashono, Aseres yemei Teshuva, Yom Kippur, Sukkos and Simchas Torah, and the experience we each had in our own way of spending them at the Rebbe and with the Rebbe, need to become our luggage that we unpack and make a part of our life.
We are not a “bubba”, we feel for this and care about this and are living it. And by increasing our own life and vitality in Torah and mitzvos and limud ve darkei hachassidus, we also increase the presence of the Eibishter, the true חיעולמים (which is also the roshei teivos of this year) into the world in a visible manner, and the connection of the world with the chai olamim, which reaches its’ ultimate with the coming of Moshiach Now!
L’chaim! May we each take the “luggage” that we brought back with us from the month of Tishrei and use it to increase our own life and vitality, and may the Eibishter speedily unpack all the accumulated luggage from the entire golus (that was all heretofore “kemunach bekufsa”), and reveal it all down here with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
