Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Moshe Weinfeld on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Yisroel Halon on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Pinchas Adler on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Nissan Friedman on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Moshe Schurder on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Schneur Weinberg on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Motti Iffergan on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Schneur Zalman Marshal on the birth of their daughter. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Hersh Loschak 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.
Recently Mendel Deitch (who was a shliach in Toronto for 2 years) shared with me the following story, that the Frierdige Rebbe tells in his sichos:
R’ Hillel Paritcher, who was one of the renowned Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach tzedek, used to travel around from place to place as a “shadar” (a shliach of the Rebbeim) to influence and inspire Chassidim. One of the main subjects that R’ Hillel would address with his listeners was the subject of avodas hatefila. One of the focal points of chassidus (as is known, - the reason the Alter Rebbe chose to go to Mezeritch as opposed to Vilna was in order to learn about avodas hatefila), R’ Hillel would encourage and exhort the Chassidim to place more effort and attention into concentrating on their davening.
In one of the cities that he would visit, he came to them once, and they complained to him: ‘We’re working and working on our davening as you instructed us, ober ess geit nisht” [but it’s not going]. R’ Hillel listened to their concerns, and responded: “At least now you have what to be embarrassed about”!
What is so great about a chosid being embarrassed, and why would a chosid and oheiv Yisroel like R’ Hillel see it as an achievement to be the cause of their discomfort? Mendel (who told me the story) suggested the following interpretation: The intent was not that they should be embarrassed about the fact that they are unsuccessful in their efforts to daven. Rather, R’ Hillel was telling them that their sense of embarrassment is the outcome and accomplishment of their efforts in davening. He was telling them: perhaps, indeed, you were not successful in awakening in yourself a feeling of ahava ve’yirah, a tangible love of Hashem. It may be that your davening didn’t result in a positive feeling of excitement and ecstasy. However, one thing surely resulted from your efforts, and that is the consciousness of the Eibishter. Your efforts to contemplate an idea of chassidus and to focus on it during davening have, at the very least, provided you with an increased awareness of His presence and your relationship with Him.
And, even if that didn’t express itself in love–which is the ultimate goal of davening,-to experience properly the “ve’ohavto ess Hashem Elokecho”–nonetheless this heightened awareness of the Eibishter will surely imbue you with a sense of awe of Him, and a shame of doing anything that is not in according to His wishes. And that embarrassment, even though it is definitely less than the tangible love that is the goal, is also a not insignificant achievement. At least–as a result of your focusing on G-dliness–you now are more conscious of Him, to the point of having what to be embarrassed of.
Firstly, this gives us a better idea of what we should be aiming to achieve with our own avodas hatefilla: While we may not be capable of awakening tangible feelings of love of the Eibishter, we are definitely capable of affecting our consciousness and our mindset. By thinking about G-dliness, and each one of us is able to choose at least one inyan in chassidus that we can think deeper about; - that we can be misboinein in, the presence of the Eibishter becomes more of a reality to us.
It’s not necessary for us to know chassidishe interpretation on the words of every or any part of davening. It’s enough–more than enough to daven with the pirush hamilos. But any extra time spent thinking about Elokus before davening; - thinking deeper and in a more personal way into any maamar–will automatically have a tremendous impact on every single word of our davening, even if we know nothing more than the meaning of the words.
Imagine you come to the border, and you’re being interrogated by the border guard. How long are you staying for, what’s the purpose of your travel (how many bottles of mashkeh in your suitcase..) etc. etc. You understand the questions, and give the correct answers. You may even be very nervous during the exchange, being worried about what he may choose to investigate. But the exchange doesn’t affect you in any way other than your faculty of speech: He’s asking and you’re answering. Of course, you understand what you’re saying and what he’s saying, but the experience, all the same, is no more than your mouth saying the words that it’s supposed to say.
Let’s say, however, instead, that you’re having a heart to heart talk with a good friend. ADMC (or a deep meaningful conversation as it is known today, for those of you who are not as much with the times as me). That experience is not one that you would describe as being experienced by your mouth. While it’s true that it is only your mouth that can articulate the words, the experience of the conversation is undoubtedly one that is shared by your entire being (kol atzmosai tomarnu). Not because you are reading any deeper meaning into the actual words. But because the words being spoken, in that case, are serving merely as a tool for you to connect with your good friend. Every moment of that conversation encompasses you in your entirety.
Now imagine a chosid speaking with the Rebbe. Regardless of what the subject matter of the conversation may be, every moment of that discussion will surely be an unforgettable experience for that chosid. Well, when we daven, we are not paying our dues, or trying to get the right answers to the border guard. Rather, we are having the ultimate DMC with the Alm-ighty Himself. And that’s a heavy, meaningful and unforgettable experience (when you do it right).
And to ensure that that is precisely what is taking place, we have the prerequisite of Chassidic contemplation beforehand, or hisbonenus. The goal is not necessarily to change our understanding of any of the actual words of davening. Of course, there are many places in chassidus that discuss, interpret, enlighten and illuminate various individual parts of davening. Undoubtedly, bearing them in mind will greatly enhance our davening experience, davening with the chassidishe pirush hamilos (in one or more part of davening) will make all that much more meaningful. But that is secondary.
First and foremost, what we’re looking to accomplish is to enable the awareness of Hashem to penetrate our mind and consciousness (in our own way to take one step–albeit a small or even midget one–from our recognizing the world as the only reality towards the recognition that Elokus b’pshitus veolamos b’hischadshus). And suddenly all the words that you say, even without deviating an iota from their simple meaning, become part of a DMC and life-altering event with HKBH. And this can happen every single day and every single davening. But because naturally we relate with the worldly definition of reality, it is dependent each time on learning chassidus anew, on thinking chassidus anew and applying (what we learn) to our mindset once again.
Needless to say, after such a davening your relationship with the Eibishter–your awareness of His presence (in general, and His presence in your life)–is greatly enhanced. Needless to say, after such a davening,-“you have what to be embarrassed about”. Suddenly, after experiencing your daily DMC, your negative thoughts or speech or actions seem out of place and downright shameful. Moreover, your regular lifestyle comes under closer scrutiny (by yourself). Here you just had a positive personal experience with G-d (and you connected–at some level–you really understood each other), and now you’re going to do... what? Really, such a pursuit, for you?! Ess past nisht!
And let’s not leave out most basic application: Imagine you’re truly carrying on a conversation with a good friend, your best buddy (let alone–for a moment-the Creator of the world), regardless of how deep of a meaning you may be able to grasp in the actual words being spoken. What are the chances that in the middle of the conversation you’ll check your texts, just for a second, just to see if your investment by Madoff is going up or down today?
HELLO, you’re in the middle of a personal conversation, what are you doing, what’s the matter with you? It’s not the issue of whether it’s permitted or not. We can find basis for permitting using your 7th generation i-touch phone during davening, especially if it’s bein haperokim (and many poskim hold that the i–phone has the status of “mipnei hakavod” when it needs to be answered, and some say “mipnei hayira” (and others say “machmas mius”)). The issue is it’s not normal, you just don’t do that. Not in the middle of a conversation. Not (at any rate) in the middle of a personal DEEP MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION.
And the better we can identify with that experience during davening, the more of an impact it will have on our ensuing mindset (and–through that–on our conduct) for the remainder of the day.
At this time we are all–as are Chassidim worldwide–preoccupied with our various hachonos for the upcoming Yud Shvat (which will include the historical 200th chof daled teves). Some are learning one extra maamar, or another one. Some are learning one sicha or the next. And some are seeking various ways of improving their conduct. Most people are trying variations of all of the above. But I think it’s important that we not lose sight of the main thing: Our goal with all of our hachonos of to change our mindset and our awareness. The Rebbe is our Moshe Rabenu. First and foremost, he is the one who takes us out–individually and collectively–of our mitzrayim, our various boundaries and constraints, and brings us to a connection with the Eibishter. Everything else is ואידך פירושא.
It follows that the more we enhance our relationship with G-dliness, the more we’ll be able to appreciate our connection with the Rebbe. And the underlying hachono for Yud Shvat, the day of the beginning of the nesius of the Rebbe, therefore, is to strengthen our connection with (and awareness of) Hashem. So that we can relate with אנכי עמד ביניכם לבין אלקיכם. (I know some of you might say this is backwards (if anyone reads this far), but it’s not, it works both ways, but it’s too late at night (or early in the morning) to elaborate further just now).
Don’t get caught up with the thought of multiple hachonos, that ultimately lead to confusion about where the climax is. Keep focus of the single nekuda around which everything revolves. Then every individual action, in learning or davening or any area, is a further practical expression of our enhanced relationship with the Eibishter (in the words of our parsha: of our אסורה מכאן להתקרב לשם).
Usually when I get to this part of the email, I start working on trying to figure out a good ending for the week’s e-mail. But, as we’re all in the mode of preparing for Yud Shvat, and at least need to be now, and we’re on the threshold of a very momentous chof daled teves, I think at this point we can all agree that all we really need is a good beginning!
L’chaim! As R’ Mendel Futerfas would say men zoll lernen, un davenen und in ender Eibishter, and that’s the best way to bring about the immediate hisgalus of Melech haMoshiach TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
לזכות 'ר שלום מרדכי הלוי בן, רבקה לגאולה וישועה קרובה, ושלימה י"תומממש ג"ב טוהנוהנ
ב"ה ליל ו עש"ק פר' שמות, שנת "תהי' שנת חיי עולמים"
