Because, sometimes we all are at risk of being satisfied with Jewish burial, rather than striving for more than that.
What is Jewish burial? After a person completes his 120 year sojourn in this physical world, there are very detailed halochos that govern how to deal with the body. This is a body from which the soul, the ruach chayim, has departed, it is a lifeless corpse of flesh and bones and blood. Yet there are detailed directives about how it must be treated, what must be done with it and how it must lay.
Unquestionably these laws are of paramount importance, and the job of the chevra kadisha–who are entrusted with carrying out these directives meticulously (and who’s yearly day of fasting (to atone for any inadvertent misstep in carrying out these duties) took place today, on the 15th of kislev)–is most sacred.
But sometimes, perhaps, we all get stuck with our preoccupation with kevuras yisroel, and forget to aim for more than that:
An important part of our focus as Yidden is on kabolas ol;–on ensuring that every single aspect of our conduct, every single detail of our day from the moment we rise until the moment we drift off to sleep and even the moments in between, is in accordance with shulchan aruch and the Will of Hashem. That focus, we know, is at the root of our entire avodas Hashem;–ראשית העבודה ועיקרה ושרשה.
But that is not enough. For is that not unlike kevuras Yisroel,–the focus on ensuring that the body is positioned correctly, that every single limb is in its’ designated place and that all that is necessary takes place with it. And, as important as that is, a chosid is meant to strive for more, to yearn for life, for the life and vitality that is much more than merely the position of the limbs.
The Possuk says: סור מרע ועשה טוב. Chassidus explains that the instruction of סור מרע, turning away from bad, includes both abstaining from any negative acts ch”v and being meticulous in the performance of all mitzvos and obligations. Because, someone who fails to carry out a mitzvah in which he is responsible is doing something “bad”, and in violation of סור מרע. What then is missing? In סור מרע the focus is on kevuras yisroel, on ensuring that every part of his body and his being is the way a Jewish body is meant to be. But it can be a lifeless body, devoid of the chayus and vitality that is supposed to define a Jew and a chosid. As the Possuk states: ואתם הדבקים' בה' אלקיכם חיים,–cleaving to Hashem is identified and reflected by liveliness and pnimiyus.
This is what the Possuk adds ועשה טוב. It is not enough that you are carrying all of your duties with precision. There must be something more, a deeper soulful involvement that goes beyond doing merely what you are required to do. The Possuk is telling us, perhaps, that it is not enough to preoccupy yourself with kevuras yisroel, with ensuring that every part of you, every act and speech and thought is as they are meant to be, you must also concern yourself with life. Don’t let that body be lifeless and superficial, and satisfy yourself with the fact that nothing is out of its’ proper place, but strive to imbue it with chayus and pnimiyus.
We are now on the threshold of Yud Tes Kislev, Rosh Hashono of Chassidus. We are all–hopefully–each in our own way engaged in our last minute preparations for this auspicious day, in our efforts to ensure that our Yud Tes Kislev is spent the way that it is meant to.
But we have to look out for the trap of concerning ourselves only with kevuras yisroel. It’s easy to focus on the position of the body, on making sure that our Yud Tes Kislev checklist is appropriate. To make sure that we eat the shvartekasha, participate in a chassidishe farbrengen, learn something extra and–of course–be sure not to allow ourselves to be tempted to say tachnun ch”v.
All of these things are beautiful and important. They all are necessary. But they are merely kevuras yisroel. Making sure that the Jewish chassidishe body is positioned properly. But that is not enough. That is not what Yud Tes Kislev is all about. Because that body may just be lifeless ch”v, even while going through all of the right motions. And the defining description of Yud Tes Kislev is–as the Rebbe Rashab wrote in his famous letter: אור וחיות נפשנו ניתן לנו! Chassidus provides us with light and life, and to properly mark this Rosh Hashonoh we have to be seeking (not just kevuras yisroel, but) ohr and chayim.
What is אור?
The Alter Rebbe once explained the difference between rishonim and achronim as follows: A person who is in a dark room and is seeking the exit, will be doing so by trial and error. When he feels an obstruction in his path, he will realize that he is going in the wrong direction, and try elsewhere. If his way seems open, he will proceed further, assuming that that is the way out. But in truth, even then he may be going into a closet or a corridor that takes him deeper into the house, in which case ultimately he will have to retrace his steps again.
However, if the room is illuminated, then he is able to go directly to the exit, without even paying attention to any alternatives. So too, the Alter Rebbe explained, the achronim toil to answer a question in the gemoro or the rambam. If one attempted answer encounters further difficulty, they will need to retrace their steps and try again. Eventually they may find the right path. In contrast, with the rishonim, the Torah is illuminated before them, and they go directly to the correct path.
[There was a chosid of the Alter Rebbe, by the name of R’ Avrohom Kalisker, who was a brilliant talmid chochom. Once, the Alter Rebbe was discussing a matter of learning with him, and showed him a particular teshuva of the Maharam miRottenberg. In that teshuva, the Maharam proposes a chidush, and supports it with one proof, that appears to be rather flimsy. The Alter Rebbe asked R’ Avrohom: “Couldn’t you find other, better, supports for this chiddush?’ R’ Avrohom gave the matter some thought, and brought forward 7 solid proofs to the chiddush of the Maharam. The Alter Rebbe then showed him 8 more. “Why, then”, the Alter Rebbe asked, “did the Maharam base himself on this one, seemingly weak, support, when there are 15 other solid proofs for the same idea?” When R’ Avrohom had no answer, the Alter Rebbe proceeded to refute each of the proofs, until all that remained intact was the one proof that the Maharam has proposed. The Alter Rebbe then concluded to him: “Do you think that the Maharam thought of the 15 proofs, refuted them one by one, and was therefore left with his final one? That is not the case! Rather, this was the way of the rishonim. The Torah was illuminated before them, and they went directly to the path of truth].
Similarly is with regards to avodas Hashem (see also Sotah 21A). As the Rebbe explains in a sicha (with regards to לדוד ה' אורי ממי אירא), when one’s Yiddishkeit is illuminated, then he is protected from sin. He doesn’t have the risk of stumbling into potholes or making wrong turns into dangerous areas because he assumed them to be shortcuts.
And what is the source of this illumination? Hashem ori. If someone is merely following instructions, trying to do what he is supposed to do, there is bound to be confusion, doubt and moments of indecision. But when one is connected to Hashem, he learns about G-dliness and sees how his whole avoda is connecting with the Eibishter, then he has clarity of direction and his path is illuminated.
Yud Tes Kislev was the revelation of Elokus in the world and the tool for each and every one of us to carry out the דע את אלוקי אביך. That is when "אור..נפשנו ניתן לנו". It is up to us to take advantage of this light, to no longer be stumbling along in the dark.
And what is chayus?
The Frierdige Rebbe once said, explaining the difference between a chosid and a misnaged, saying that a misnaged is like a portrait. The portrait may have the identical features that the person has, the nose, mouth, ears etc. and even the expressions exactly the same as they are by the person. But it is devoid of life. A chosid, in contrast, is alive (Ok, stop complaining, didn’t you know that since Trump was elected we no longer have to be politically correct).
[A misnaged once came to R’ Yisroel of Ruzhin with a complaint: ‘We misnagdim, when we finish davening, we right away sit down to learn a few mishnayos. But by you chassidim, you finish davening, and you right away say l’chayim. What kind of Judaism is this?’ The gabbay of the Ruzhiner could not contain himself, and he exclaimed: “By you, misnagdim, everything you do is dead, and your davening is dead, devoid of liveliness, and for a dead person one studies mishnayos. By us chassidim, on the other hand, everything we do is with life and zest, and a living person needs l’chayim!]
It is possible for every single act to be in accordance with shulchan aruch, for every single part of the body to be in its’ precise place, but it is merely kevuras yisroel. The body is lifeless. Chassidus gave us the ability to be alive.
A dead body doesn’t cry out in pain when it is pricked, and doesn’t exclaim happily when hearing good news. It is devoid of any feeling and involvement [R’ Mendel Futerfas once said: ‘What is the definition of a dead person? Look at a beis olam (a cemetery). There are hundreds–or even thousands–of people there in the same place, yet each is in his own world, there is zero interaction between them, no good morning, no hello, no sensitivity at all from one to another’].
Through learning chassidus, we acquire that sensitivity and feeling. Yiddishkeit is not merely fulfilling our roles, carrying out our obligations. It is our life, and connecting to our source of life. And having feeling and sensitivity for that changes our whole involvement in Yiddishkeit.
Chassidus enables to learn about the Eibisahter, to understand (each person according to their individual capability and capacity) Elokus, and (through that) connect with the Eibishter and live our lives in a manner in which they are all about the Eibishter because everything is him. Chassidus is אור וחיות נפשנו ניתן לנו.
Approaching Yud Tes Kislev, therefore, it is especially important not to satisfy ourselves with kevuras yisroel, with going through the motions and being able to say that we fulfilled all of our chassidishe obligations, but rather to live it and internalize, to seek life ובחרת בחיים, and be sure to internalize more of the life and illumination of chassidus into every aspect of our own lives!
L’chaim! Let us all make the proper preparations to properly experience and internalize the אור וחיות נפשנו ניתן לנו of Yud Tes Kislev, and may the Eibishter bring about the ultimate completion of the geulah of Yud Tes Kislev, the hafotzas hamaayonos chutzah which was a preparation for אתימר, with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
לזכות 'ר שלום מרדכי הלוי בן, רבקה לישועה וגאולה בפשטות ובגשמיות ולמטה ט"מיי"ת ומממש ולזכות 'רב ברוך מרדכי בן 'חיה אסתר ש"ל רפוק" ורפוט" ואויוש מתוך בריאות הנכונה, ס"וכט ולזכות יצחק בן איידלה מלכה ש"ל רפוק" ורפוט" ואויוש
