By Dovid Zaklikowski
The last trolley of the evening rolled by as a jolly young Shimshon Stock ushered a close acquaintance and his soon-to-be-Bar-Mitzvahed son into the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway.
Inside “770,” as Lubavitch headquarters is known, was the study and office of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who a few years earlier had accepted the leadership of this small Chassidic community.
At the time, the Rebbe had only a handful of representatives scattered across Israel, America, Europe and North Africa; but he was already relentlessly and tirelessly building a global network of communities.
Shimshon introduced his friend and his friend’s son to the Rebbe, who greeted them with his comforting and warm handshake, requesting them to please take a seat.
The Rebbe briefly blessed the boy that he should grow to become a source of pride to the Jewish people and to his family. As they turned to leave, Rebbe surprised the three Americans with the question he addressed to the youngster: “Are you a baseball fan?”
The Bar-Mitzvah boy replied that he was.
“Which team are you a fan of — the Yankees or the Dodgers?”
"The Dodgers", replied the boy.
“Does your father have the same feeling for the Dodgers as you have?”
"No."
“Does he take you out to games?”
"Well, every once in a while my father takes me to a game. We were at a game a month ago."
“How was the game?”
"It was disappointing, the 13-year-old confessed. By the sixth inning, the Dodgers were losing nine-to-two, so we decided to leave."
“Did the players also leave the game when you left?”
"Rabbi, the players can’t leave in the middle of the game!"
Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l, circa early 1950s
“Why not?” asked the Rebbe. “Explain to me how this works.”
"There are players and fans", the baseball fan explained. "The fans can leave when they like — they’re not part of the game and the game could, and does, continue after they leave. But the players need to stay and try to win until the game is over."
“That is the lesson I want to teach you in Judaism,” said the Rebbe with a smile. “You can be either a fan or a player. Be a player.”
Outside 770 father and son said goodbye to Shimshon, the three now sharing a new admiration of a pioneer in Jewish education.
Reprinted from the Parashat Mishpatim 5784 edition of L’Chaim, a weekly publication of the Lubavitch Youth Organization.
