20 JUDAISM
ASK THE RABBI Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com THE REBBE – 28 YEARS ON
Dear Rabbi I know this weekend is the 28th anniversary of the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I know he was admired by many and I understand why. But if he is no longer alive why do so many people continue to revere him as they do and why do they continue to always celebrate his life? Gilad Dear Gilad When the renowned Rabbi Yisroel Bal Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jewish people it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his chief disciple, the Maggid of Mezritch had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Dear G-d. I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer and that must be enough,” and it was and the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, his disciple, Rabbi Moshe Leib Sasover, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, “I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to G-d: “I am unable to light the fire, and I do not know the prayer, and I cannot even find the place in the
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forest. All I can do is tell the story, and this must be sufficient.” And it was. There are so many different lessons one can derive from this story, but for me the most glaring and obvious lesson is that different people have different ways to engage with their Judaism. They have distinct ways by which they identify, individual ways that they approach G-d. Some can light the fire. Their souls are aflame. They are full of passion and fervour for their Judaism. They approach everything with excitement and they indulge in a most ecstatic manner. Yet others may not be as deeply connected. They may not feel the full fervour of their souls being drawn to their supernal source above. But they pray. They still remain eminently attached. They may not be dancing on spiritual rooftops but their Judaism is still everything to them. Their people mean everything to them. There are those for whom the fire is certainly not discernible and even prayer is something of an alien concept. Maybe they endured suffering in some manifestation that led them to become sceptical, and embittered. But they know where to go. Every now and then they will surface at Synagogue however sporadically that might be. Finally there are those for whom the fire seems all but extinguished. Prayer is something other people do. They don’t even know where to go. All they have is a story to tell. A story about a parent or a grandparent whom they recall being Jewish. A grandmother who lit Shabbat candles, a mother who fried latkes. They remember their grandfather wrapped in a talit, their father
saying kaddish. They can tell the story but that’s all. It’s a story of yesteryear, in times of yore. This is the reality of the history of our people through the ages. We have transformed through the course of time from the fire of once upon a time to the mere story tellers that epitomise so many today. You’d think it was a lost cause. You’d think we ought to give up. But there was one man who rose to the challenge. One giant of a leader who committed himself to recognising that even those who but tell the story still have little embers burning within and that so long as there is a spark – and there is always a spark – there is the potential for even that person, for every person, to aspire to light the fire once more. And when the Rebbe committed himself to this mission, like the many greats before him, the miracle was once again accomplished. When the Brandenburg Gate, upon which Nazi flags were hanging, now has a public Menorah erected in front of it, is that not a miracle? When Uganda, home of Idi Amin, who famously held 106 Israeli hostages, now has a Chabad House, is that not a miracle? When the former Soviet Union persecuted millions of Jews, and today boasts more Chabad Houses, more schools and other suchlike institutions than all of Europe combined, is that not a miracle? To the Rebbe, those who light the fires and those who say the prayers and those who know where to go and those who tell the story – they are all part of the same people, the same family, the same history and the same destiny. The Rebbe also believed in the
intrinsic value of every human being who is “formed in the image of his/her Creator.” Thus, what one might typically perceive as character shortcomings, the Rebbe saw as opportunities to maximise potential. As he famously declared to a young man sharing a personal quandary: “I envy you! That G-d has given you this particular challenge means He also gave you unique strengths with which to overcome it. I don’t have such a challenge which suggests I don’t have that unique strength either.” It was precisely because of this deep-rooted belief in both the micro and macro dimensions of the world that the Rebbe broke radically with protocol. Unlike many Jewish communities and sects that assemble within their own enclave, the Rebbe dispersed his community sending out shluchim, a dozen or so at first, and then over the course of time, several thousand to literally every corner of the world. Ask yourself, where would the world be today without the Rebbe’s vision? Who would provide a Pesach Seder for twenty-five hundred Israeli backpackers in Kathmandu? Where would Jewish women have access to a mikvah in Saigon? How would Israeli war orphans celebrate their Bar Mitzvah each year in Israel? What would have become of the near three thousand children, victimized by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster? Is all that not a miracle? But here’s the greatest miracle of all. I have almost every newspaper clipping from twenty-eight years ago, when the Rebbe’s physical presence was removed from this world. Such was the impact of the Rebbe that practically every respectable newspaper throughout the world carried the news. They all shared two common themes. They reported
on the Rebbe’s sad passing whilst referencing his vast accomplishments. And they all questioned the viability of Chabad going forward. What they did not know is that true leaders are great not because they have power but because of their ability to empower others. Thus in these past twenty-eight years another 2000 Shluchim went out, hundreds more Chabad Houses and other centres etc. were opened. Is that not a miracle? And why does the Rebbe’s legacy continue to impact in ways unimaginable? Because when you limit yourself then your impact will always be limited. But when you are committed to the totality of the Jewish people – those who know the fire and those who pray and those who only know where to go and those who can but only tell the story – when your concern and your love is for each and every one, then the leadership continues no less, the demands continue no less, the impact continues no less. Demographers were predicting the demise of Chabad but it has gone from strength to strength because the legacy of true leaders is eternal as their life continues to inspire everlastingly. That’s certainly something to revere and to celebrate.
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