Dear Alumni Sheyichyu! Sholom U’Brocho! Heartfelt wishes to haTomim Sholom Dov Ber ben Miriam for a complete and immediate refuah shleima. May this time of Noach, the time when םלועש דחה האר, be nizkorim ve naasim, and bring a true hischadshus in every area, to experience new and improved health be tachlis hashleimus bGUR! Birkas Tanchumin to my mother, Mrs. Batya Wagner, and to all of her siblings, on the passing of their sister, my aunt, Mrs. Shulamis Beckhoffer a”h. Hamakom yenachem eschem besoch shaar aveilei Tzion ve Yerusholayim, and may we only share happy news from now on, be tov hanireh ve hanigleh! (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.
The following story, which was heard during a farbrengen over Tishrei, is being presented according to the best recollection of those who were present at the farbrengen. If I get corrected about the details, I will share those with you:
In the year 5746, R’ Chanina Sperlin was helping out in the Rebbe’s house, and was there during the day of Purim. While the Rebbe was having the Purim seuda, together with the Rebbetzin, there was a knock on the door. R’ Chanina opened the door, and there were two French women there, saying that they had come to request a brocho from the Rebbetzin.
R’ Chanina told them that this was not the address to come to for brochos, and that if they were seeking a brocho, they should go to Merkaz (the office in 770). A moment later, the Rebbe inquired who had been at the door. When he was informed of the above, the Rebbe exclaimed: “Zei zennen gekummen doh, un menshikt zei in merkaz?!” [They were here, and they’re being redirected to the office?!, i.e.,- While it is undoubtedly true that the official address for anyone seeking a brocho is 770, nevertheless it is understood that the real source of the brochos is here, by the Rebbe himself. If so, once they are here, at the source, what logic is there to redirect them to 770?! (Presumably R’ Chanina’s reasoning was that part of his responsibility was to keep all nudniks at bay)].
And the Rebbe added: “Zollen zei onshreiben a tzettel” [Let them put their request into writing, and give it in here].
The women had already been sent off to 770, and R’ Chanina was not sure which route they took, so he ran out to search for them. Boruch Hashem, he soon found them, in front of a house, and conveyed the message of the Rebbe to them. The women were, of course, very excited, and they all returned to the Rebbe’s house. R’ Chanina found them some paper, and they immediately wrote their request. R’ Chanina then took the letter, and placed it on the table, next to the Rebbe (where the seuda was still taking place).
The Rebbe glanced at him, rather sharply, and demanded: “Dos hot men geshikt far mir?!” [Was this letter sent to me?]. R’ Chanina replied that it had been sent to the Rebbetzin. “Iz farvos legist du dos doh?!” [Then why are you placing it here?!]
The Rebbe continued (as if in explanation of why it was fitting that the requests should be given directly to the Rebbetzin): “Zi hot gehat a tateh vos iz geven a Rebbe vos zeine brochos zennen mekuyam gevorren, zi hot gehat a zeideh vos iz geven a Rebbe vos zeine brochos zennen mekuyam gevorren, zi hot gehat an elter zeideh vos iz geven a Rebbe vos zeine brochos zennen mekuyam gevorren” [She had a father (the Frierdige Rebbe), a grandfather (the Rebbe Rashab), and a great grandfather (the Rebbe Maharash) who were all Rebbe’s, and who saw their brochos fulfilled].
[While the Rebbe was saying all this, the Rebbetzin was laughing]. Of course, he immediately took the letter and delivered it to the Rebbetzin’s place.
Later, the details of the story emerged: The woman (for whom the request was being made) had been married for 25 years, without meriting children. That year, she had triplets!
[Of course, it is noteworthy that the Rebbe mentioned 3 generations of Rebbe’s in the Rebbetzin’s ancestry. In fact, it could go back another 3 generations. On the other hand, the fact that she had a father who was a Rebbe should also suffice? It may be that the Rebbe was mentioning 3 Rebbe’s to draw down brochos for 3 children!]
There is much we can learn from this story, but one of the points that we can focus on is the first point that the Rebbe raised: If someone is at the source of brochos, at the Rebbe’s house, while the Rebbe is there, then there is no logic in him going to 770 to arrange for a brocho.
Of course, 770 is the formal address, and it’s a holy place, and it’s the official channel, and that’s where everyone generally gets their brochos from. But the channel is merely the way via which the brochos from the source are channeled; - it can never take the place of the source itself! If you are already at the source, you don’t leave from there to go to the channel!
How can we apply this in our own lives? Here, I think, is one way:
We stand every day and daven. We all appreciate and value this time. We all know what the Alter Rebbe teaches us in Tanya, that this is the hour when the King Himself reveals Himself to His subjects (as discussed in last week’s email). Of course this is something that no one would take lightly.
But sometimes, we find ourselves compelled to rush through the davening. Perhaps we are rushing because we need to visit our physician, to check out our health. Or maybe we are hurrying to a game of basketball, or some other form of healthy exercise, because we are meticulous in fulfilling the directive of the Rambam that היות הגוף בריא ושלם מדרכי (עבודת) השם היא.
Most commonly we are rushing to an important business meeting, or to get updated on the latest news of the stock exchange, or some other means of making a vessel for our livelihood, in compliance with the instruction in Torah וברכך'ה אלקיך בכל אשר תעשה.
But aren’t we, then, making the same mistake, missing the same point? We are all Yidden, Chassidim, maaminim bnei maaminim. We know that the True Source of everything is the Eibishter. We know that even when a Jew is involved in business, it’s because he’s מאמין בחיה עולמים וזורע, - because he believes in the Eibishter, and this is what the Eibishter wants him to do.
But we never doubt for a moment that these are merely the official channels; - the doctor is the channel for my health-brochos, the investment manager is the channel for my livelihood-brochos, and so on. We all know, however, with absolute certainty, that the Source of everything is the Eibishter Himself, not any of the channels.
So what logic could there possibly be, when we’re already standing at the source, when we already got to the Rebbe’s house, so to speak, we are conversing directly with the Eibishter Himself, to go away from there because we need to avail ourselves of the official channels?! Mir zennen doh, and we want to go to the formal addresses, the offices?!
Not only out of our desire for giluy Elokus should we spend more time davening, but even our interest in acquiring our physical needs should motivate to spend more time in shul, more time thinking about the words in our siddur, and not be rushing to our next destination. You’re standing in front of the Eibishter, the Melech malchei hamelochim, the source of everything spiritual and material, to Whom we say ממך הכל.. ובידך לגדל ולחזק לכל, what more important place can you possibly have to be?!
This week is Shabbos Noach, the week in which, during the farbrengen in 5725, the Rebbe famously spoke at length and passionately about avodas hatefillah. The Rebbe then stated emphatically that no one is exempt from avodas hatefilla. Everyone, from bochur to kollel yungerman to UN ambassador, needs to apply themselves more to avodas hatefillah. And the Rebbe was very unambiguous; - this means literally, spending more time on your davening. If you’re giving more attention to your davening–thinking about the words and about the greatness of the Eibishter–then it is inevitable that it will take more time on the clock.
This is a good time for each of us to rethink what we’re doing: where are we rushing to, and why don’t we realize that this is the one place where we’d most rather be, more than anywhere else in the world?!
In fact, I think the above may shed light on a puzzling story in this week’s Parsha:
The Possuk teaches us that Noach sent out the Yona twice. About the first time, we learn ולא מצאה היונה מנוח לכף רגליה, the Yona did not find any place to rest, and returned to the Teiva. After the second time Noach sent out the Yona, it returned with an olive branch, which informed them that the waters had receded.
The question is: why is the first sending of the Yona a part of the story? There were seemingly no results from that incident, there was seemingly nothing accomplished in that mission. What, then, is the point of that part of the story? Why does the Torah tell us about it? What are we meant to learn from the first sending? [With regards to the sending of the Orev, there are numerous midroshei Chazal, even in Rashi, that give it its’ own independent significance. But what is the significance of the first time of sending the Yona]?
Perhaps we can understand it in light of the above: As mentioned, the Teiva represents the words of davening and the words of learning. The Baal Shem Tov explains that בא אל התיבה means inserting ourselves and immersing ourselves into the words of davening and the words of our Torah learning, as we all do each day.
But sometimes, towards the ending of davening, we are already becoming restless. We are checking the time, looking at our watch or glancing at the clock on the wall (but not checking our phones, ch”v, which are surely always turned off during davening..). We are starting to anticipate our next activity, planning what to eat for breakfast and ensuring that we’re on time for our upcoming appointment.
