Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazeltov to Yisroel Dovid Gelman on the occasion of his engagement. Mazeltov to Moshe Epstein on the occasion of his engagement. Mazeltov to Velvel Rosler 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. Dovid Lein Schmerling on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Yonasan Abrams on the birth of their son. May they bring them 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.
A group of people were once in yechidus by the Rebbe. The group consisted of families (probably coming in for the event of a simcha). The usual procedure was that as soon as they came in they would all hand in their letters, and then the Rebbe would address the group. In this case, however, something unusual took place: After being handed all of the letters–instead of beginning to speak–the Rebbe waited. Then the Rebbe asked: “dos iz aleh brivlech” [Is this all of the letters?]. The members of the group each double-checked that they had in fact handed in their letters. They looked at each other, questioningly, and they looked around. They were puzzled, not knowing what it was that the Rebbe was waiting for.
Suddenly, one of the members of the group noticed a very young child, sitting on the floor and scribbling on a piece of paper. “What are you doing?”, he asked the child. And the child indicated that he was “making a picture” for the Rebbe (the child was too young to know how to write). ‘Could this be what the Rebbe is waiting for’ he thought to himself incredulously. But–not seeing any other option–he took the paper with the scribbles, and passed it forward to the Rebbe.
The Rebbe took the piece of paper, placed it on top of the pile, and immediately began to address the group!
Rather than just a beautiful story, this is a perfect illustration of the Rebbe’s way of dealing with others: To the Rebbe, no one is “just” a child, “just” a youth, “just” a plain person or “just” a simpleton. To the Rebbe, every single individual is important and precious. Besides seeing this in many stories and anecdotes, this was readily apparent in all of the Rebbe’s interactions with children;–whether by dollars, kos shel brocho, or other occasions. The Rebbe never talked “down” to a child, or treated him in a lesser way in any sense. Instead the Rebbe focused fully on every man, woman or child and communicated with them.
To the group of people in the room, during the yechidus in the abovementioned story, the child on the floor was “only” a child, and his scribbling on the paper was “only” a means to keep him busy and out of trouble. But not to the Rebbe. To the Rebbe, the child is inherently important. The Rebbe pays personal attention to him, and finds him relevant. There’s no such thing as a worthless scribble. If it means something to the child, if it has relevance and importance to him, then it means something to the Rebbe.
Of course, one lesson to be learned from this is the way we should be viewing others. Whether it’s our own children, our campers, acquaintances or other people whom we may not think are important or noteworthy, we need to remember that everyone is an individual human being who is an entire world, as Chazal taught us אין לך אדם שאין לו שעה. A child should be viewed not as just a child, but, rather, see him as the “zeide” that he’s going to be a few years down the line.
[R’ Eizik Hommler, one of the foremost chassidim of the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek, came to the Alter Rebbe as a young man and became very attached to him. The Alter Rebbe had a custom to say maamorim to a select group of eltere chassidim and dignitaries. Once, the select group of invitees came into the alter Rebbe’s room, and before the Alter Rebbe began the maamar he asked if there is anyone missing. One of the chassidim went to check, and saw R’ Eizik Hommler outside (who he did not expect to be amongst the invitees in any case, because of his youth). So he reported to the Alter Rebbe that there is “only a yungerman” (left) outside. The Alter Rebbe replied: “call him in, a yungerman ken verren an alter man”]
Just seeing the Rebbe greeting people made it amply clear that every single person was important to him. But there is another message here: Because that is the way that the Rebbe viewed each and every of us as well. Sometimes it is easy to find relevance in others, but the challenge is to recognize our own importance. If you are a counselor in camp, it may be easy for you to recognize how every mishna baal peh, or every hour of learning or every davening properly of each camper carries so much weight (and not only because it might win you bunk competition, but because you can appreciate how it’s truly important to the Eibishter, in the big scheme of things).
But it is more difficult to acknowledge that my own learning is important, to put in the equivalent effort so that my own davening should be up to par and to ensure my own personal growth. It is much easier to think “it is only me”, “I’m just a simple person”, “what difference does it make if I go to a shiur or I stay in bed?” It’s much easier (at least when it comes to our avodas Hashem) to see ourselves as just a small keg in a big machine, and not the dealmakers or breakers.
Which couldn’t be further from the truth, and the Rebbe constantly communicated the fact (and the Igros of the Rebbe are replete with this) that everyone is immensely important.
A chosid, who was in 770 for Tishrei, was in yechidus after Tishrei. During the yechidus, the Rebbe inquired: “What was with your son? He used to wear eyeglasses, but when I saw him in 770 by tekios, he wasn’t wearing any glasses?” The father found the question extremely puzzling (besides it being remarkable that the Rebbe should be able to notice what one individual would be wearing during tekios, he found the relevance of the question extremely baffling), but he replied that (due to the pushing during tekios in 770 etc.) for Tishrei he wore contacts.
When the father shared the exchange with his son, the son confided in him the following: “I had been having troubling thoughts lately that I hadn’t shared with anyone. I was thinking: ‘what is the point of my being in 770 Yom Tov? Here I am merely a number, a statistic. Surely the Rebbe can’t even know whether or not I’m here’. Apparently the Rebbe’s conversation with you was his response to my thoughts”!
To the Rebbe, each and every one of us is personally relevant. Each individual is an עולם מלא, deserving of whole and undivided attention. It is necessary for us to work on internalizing this mindset for ourselves. If I could understand that my diligence in learning, or my concentration by davening is of utmost importance to the Eibishter Himself and carries weight in all of the worlds (as Chazal tell us חייב אדם לומר בשבילי נברא העולם), then I would be putting in similar effort into every aspect of my own spirituality as I do in global projects and campaigns (and into winning color war), and–undoubtedly–I would see very different results.
And this is the theme of Parshas Pikudei. “Vayakhel” is about the “kahal”, the collective, -the group. But “Pikudei” is about the count, -the individual. Not only is the finished product that is constructed from the combined efforts and collective materials and parts a mishkan that draws G-dliness into the world, but each individual, each specific item also “counts”.
Simply said, we have to know and realize that we count, that everyone counts, and nothing and no one is “just” or “only” or unimportant. And this realization should spur us on to greater efforts and greater achievements, until we finalize the hakomas hamishkan with the ultimate dira lo yisborach batachtonim!
L’chaim! May we each appreciate the fact that we count and every Jew young or old counts, and that appreciation should enhance our efforts, and may the Eibishter, in turn, show the entire world how important we are and how much we count to Him by immediately sending us Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
