The Previous Rebbe related that when the Tzemech Tzedek was nine years old, he wanted to hear the Chassidus that the Alter Rebbe would deliver on Friday night. He asked for permission to listen along with the advanced students, but his request was denied.
Once, his desire to hear his grandfather’s teachings was so great that he hid in the oven which heated the room. In that way, he could listen to the Alter Rebbe without being seen.
It was wintertime and when the temperature fell, the non-Jewish janitor came to light the oven. When he was unable to insert the firewood all the way into the stove, he piled it near the opening and lit it.
The room soon filled with smoke because the young boy was blocking the chimney. The janitor tried to push the wood further into the oven but realized it was blocked. When he pulled the wood out to investigate, he saw the boy and quickly pulled him out.
The future Tzemach Tzedek was unconscious, and no one was able to revive him. The Alter Rebbe then placed his holy hand on the boy, and he regained consciousness.
The Alter Rebbe’s wife was understandably upset and complained to her husband. “Why wasn’t the child allowed to hear Chassidus?” After all, if the Alter Rebbe had given him permission, he wouldn’t have had to put himself in danger!
The Alter Rebbe answered that Chabad demands that one internalize Torah. This can only be accomplished through actual self-sacrifice [mesiras nefesh].
Our Rebbe explains that this story serves as a lesson for everyone.
The Alter Rebbe was teaching us how to educate a child in the ways of Torah. The child should be implanted with a love of Torah so great that he is ready to give his life and soul for it, even for an extra little bit of Torah.
The Tzemach Tzedek could have stayed comfortably in his room and learned, but he felt it was worth putting himself in danger to hear something that had not yet been written in a book.
Even when the janitor started piling wood in the oven, he didn’t reveal his presence but put his very life on the line to hear a few extra words.
This example is not just a story of the Tzemach Tzedek. The goal of Jewish education is not for a person to become an expert, knowledgeable scholar. Instead, the way of Torah and the way of Torah education is for every Jew to grow up to be a Torah Jew and not, G-d forbid, anything less.
The primary means to accomplish this is for the child’s father [and members of the community] to be a living example.
Adults should learn extra Torah even at the expense of potentially profitable business activities. In this way, they will serve as living examples of self-sacrifice for Torah learning. As a direct result, the child will decide to defer his ball-playing and ask his chavrusa (study partner) to learn extra Chumash or Gemarah so that the next day they will be familiar with the subject being taught. For a kid, this is real self-sacrifice.
Through his self-sacrifice, the Tzemach Tzedek merited to reveal the once-hidden secrets of the Torah that have prepared us for the coming of Moshiach.
By having similar self-sacrifice, the parents will see nachos from their child in spirituality and physicality— true nachas from a generation steeped in Torah and Mitzvos, to the point where the entire world will recognize ‘This is the seed that Hashem has blessed.’
[Simchas Torah 5726]
