Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
BORUCH MATIR ASSURIM!! BORUCH SHE’OSOH NISSIM!! BORUCH SHEHECHIYONU VE KIYEMONU VE HIGIONU LIZMAN HAZEH!! YODU la HASHEM CHASDOI VE NIFLEOISOV LE BNEI ODOM!!
Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Sholom Mordechai Halevi Rubashkin and to the entire Rubashkin family on the beautiful news of his release from prison!
Mazeltov to Mendel Greenwald on the occasion of his engagement. May he use out the period of yokor mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Mendy Marlow on the birth of their daughter. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Menachem Mendel Levitansky on the birth of their son. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Asher Simpson on the birth of their son. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Mendel Polter on the birth of their son. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim/os! (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.
I usually begin with a story, and Boruch Hashem, I have the perfect story for this week. A story that’s been over 8 years in the making. A story that we’ve been watching and following with faith and anticipation, with hope and prayers, with Emunah and bitachon seasoned with some growing impatience, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. A story that finally, with tremendous gratitude to Hashem Yisborach, we were able to get to the happy ending of (although not the final conclusion yet, we still await even better news!)
It is a simcha that we all shared in and we all felt a part of. It was amazing, inspiring and awesome to see so many Yidden, from so many different groups and “denominations”, in so many different cities and countries, all join together with tremendous achdus and celebrate the simcha of a brother as their own simcha. It is to the credit of R’ Sholom Mordechai sheyichye, that he is the force that had this remarkable ability to bring together so many diverse Yidden and unite them (in fact, this was very much his agenda back in Postville, before this whole ordeal began).
But, now that the initial shock and euphoria calmed down somewhat, I think it’s fitting for us to discuss a bit about what message we should take from the celebration, and what we can each apply to our own avodas Hashem in a way of pnimiyus.
Surely, each of us felt a special emotion and feeling when we recited the brocho of “matir assurim” this morning. And we all surely had an increased awareness of what we were saying during the second brocho of Shmoneh Esreh today, when we praised Hashem for being “Rofeh cholim and matir Assurim”.
So, let’s talk about what this means. In Chassidus there is an explanation for the brocho in Shmoneh Esreh as follows: There are two kinds of spiritual difficulties that people may face. One is a choleh, a spiritual illness.
The Rambam defines an ill person as one who confuses good with bad. What is sweet seems bitter to him, and what is harmful is appealing to him. In a spiritual sense, this represents someone who has his priorities all distorted. He is convinced that the bitter taste of physical, worldly pleasures (about which the Pesukim tell us that their end is bitter (as wormwood)) is what he wants, and he focusses all of his energies on acquiring them. The beauty and sweetness of Torah and mitzvos, in contrast, are unappealing to him.
About this person we say Rofeh Cholim. He requires the assistance from Above to be cured of this spiritual ill, to be able to appreciate and strive for the things that are truly good, and good for him. And at the same time to be indifferent – or less – to those pursuits that are really harmful to his spiritual well being.
But then there is the person who is in prison. An individual who is – lo aleinu – incarcerated in jail, does not have any confusion about what he yearns for and what his priorities are. He knows with the utmost clarity that he wants more than anything else to be anywhere but in this Place called Prison. He knows with absolute certainty that getting out of these walls is more important and valuable than anything else in the world (as the Yidden said regarding leaving Mitzrayim: “Halevai shenei tzei be’amenu”;- who cares about the rechush godol, about the immense wealth and all of the treasures that we could acquire? All that is important to us is to get out of this place one moment earlier!)
But he is imprisoned. Despite knowing where he wants to go, he is powerless to get there. In a spiritual sense, this is one who knows what is important. He truly desires more than anything to be a genuine chosid, to put serving Hashem with all of his heart and soul above and before anything else. But he feels imprisoned. The shackles of his guf and nefesh habehamis, of his natural desires and inhibitions, form a (seeming) impenetrable wall, that prevent him from becoming the person that wants to be and strives to be.
About this person we say Matir Assurim. He requires the assistance from Above to be liberated from his internal prison, to be able to scale his own barriers and rise above the constraints of his nature and instincts.
I have to point out, as anyone who has been following R’ Sholom Mordechai’s weekly emails can attest to, Sholom Mordechai was not spiritually imprisoned while in Otisville. The Emunah, bitachon and conviction that are so visible in each line of each email show very clearly how he rose above his physical circumstances, and didn’t allow them to have any spiritual impact on him.
