Who Said It’s Dark Here?
Why is it so easy to fall into spiritual despair? The Rebbe teaches us how to look at reality the right way. • Moshiach Beparsha is a weekly drasha connecting the Rebbe’s teachings on Moshiach with the weekly Parsha, presented in an engaging way with stories and practical life lessons • Read More
BEGIN WITH A GRIN
In the current state of the world, what does the optimistic Israeli guy do? He learns English.
What does the pessimistic Israeli guy do? He learns Arabic.
What does the realistic Israeli guy do? He learns to swim…
KEEP IT REAL
This week, we read parshas Bamidbar which deals with… the desert! The Jewish people lived in the desert for forty years, and sometimes it seems like we’ve been living in a desert throughout thousands of years of exile. True, life in our modern “desert” is comfortable – there’s electricity, running water, fuel and gas (as long as the price doesn’t reach the sky anytime soon…), there also are computers and technology, and we’ve even managed to invent artificial intelligence – but on a spiritual plane, in the world of holiness, and in matters of serving G-d, a Jew can find himself in a state of depression and gloom from the spiritual darkness surrounding him.
Sometimes this ‘darkness’ is internal, and sometimes it stems from looking outward at the world around us. Sometimes we sink into “mara shechora (melancholy)” over our personal situation, over spiritual stagnation and lack of progress in our service of G-d, and sometimes we are saddened by news of what is happening in the world – the rising antisemitism, the spiritual low of the nation dwelling in Zion, the difficult struggle against assimilation across the globe – and then we raise our eyes and/or hands to the heavens and ask the Creator: “From where will my help come?”
At a joyful farbrengen held by the Rebbe in the year 5742 (in the same kevius as this year), the Rebbe emphasized the importance of serving G-d and preparing to receive the Torah (including the Torah of Moshiach Tzidkeinu) specifically with joy. The Rebbe even noted that through proper preparation for the Giving of the Torah, the Jewish people could merit the complete Geula in an instant.
On that occasion, the Rebbe shared a riddle from the book Ben HaMelech VeHaNazir (a rare occurrence): “What is something round that you hold in your hand and has a hole in the middle?” The wise man answered: “A ring or a millstone.” The Rebbe explained (with a touch of humor) that apparently the wise man had never actually seen a millstone, because if he had, he would have understood that it’s impossible to hold one in your hand! He had apparently only seen a millstone in a picture, and thought that just as you can hold a picture in your hand, you can hold the stone itself…
The lesson the Rebbe drew from this was simple and apt: when studying a certain Torah topic that is connected to worldly reality, one must know the actual reality and judge accordingly. One cannot ignore existing reality, “live in the clouds” (or in a fantasy), and then form opinions on Torah matters.
JOY IN THE FACE OF REAL CHALLENGES
Regarding the 24,000 students of Rabi Akiva who died between Pesach and Shavuos because “they did not treat each other with respect,” the Gemara states that “the world was desolate until Rabi Akiva came to our teachers in the South and taught them: Rabi Meir, Rabi Yehuda, Rabi Yosi, Rabi Shimon, and Rabi Elazar ben Shamua, and they are the ones who restored the Torah.”
A Jew prone to melancholy would interpret the Gemara’s words (as it were) as meaning the world was empty of Torah, desolate of divine service, with no hope at all; in short, a barren wilderness!
But when seen through the Rebbe’s lens, according to the true reality as reflected in Torah, the truth is entirely different. The Rebbe explained (Bamidbar 5742) that Rabi Akiva’s yeshiva in Bnei Brak had 24,000 students – and those are the ones who died during Sefira. But beyond the Bnei Brak yeshiva, Rabi Akiva (and other Tannaim) had many more yeshivas in many other cities, with many more students engaged in Torah.
[The Gemara still calls this situation a “desolate world” because one cannot compare what was to what remained – see there at length.]
The Rebbe’s positive outlook on the state of the world and the state of our generation – that the world is not so desolate, and exile is not the ultimate reality – along with his declaration that our generation is the generation of Geula and the heart of Israel is awake, is the guiding principle telling us that the Geula is closer than ever.
Later in the farbrengen, the Rebbe explained a difficult passage in the Zohar based on the teachings of his father, the Kabbalist Rabbi Levi Yitzchok. Here too, the Rebbe found it fitting to instill in us his positive worldview. The Rebbe explained that it is written in the sefarim that in our generation there are no amei ha’aretz (Torah ignoramuses) the way there were in the time of the Tannaim and Amoraim. Since we don’t have Torah scholars of the caliber of those in the time of the Shas, we must conclude that we also don’t have amei ha’aretz of that caliber, for it cannot be that there was such a tremendous decline only in one direction. This is like the well-known parable of the dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant: although he is a dwarf, since he stands on the shoulders of a giant, he is able to see farther than the giant himself.
So yes, perhaps we are “dwarfs,” but dwarfs who can see far into the distance, farther than all previous generations. And as is known: just as a person must know his own shortcomings, so too must he know his own strengths, in order to fully utilize them in practical service of G-d.
And as it applies to us: by adding to our preparations for receiving the Torah with joy and a glad heart, with clear knowledge that we (also) have virtues, we can immediately come to receive the Torah of Moshiach Tzidkeinu in the true and complete Geula!
TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY
We’ll end with a story about positive thinking even when the situation seems hopeless.
Once, an elderly Misnaged and an aged Chassid were traveling together on a train. The Chassid heard his neighbor the Misnaged sighing and groaning, and asked him to share what was troubling his peace of mind but the Misnaged refused and just kept sighing.
The Chassid kept urging him again and again until the Misnaged finally relented and told him:
“I have an only son, and tomorrow he must appear for an army examination. Who knows, he might be forced to enlist, G-d forbid…”
The Chassid heard this and burst out laughing:
Nonsense and foolishness! That’s a reason to worry?
Think about it! After the examination he might be found unfit for service and go free. If so, why worry?
But say you’re afraid he’ll be drafted, so what? There might not be a war, and you have nothing to worry about at all.
But say you’re afraid there will be a war; there’s a chance nothing bad will happen to your son.
But say he gets wounded in war, well, there are two possibilities: if he recovers, wonderful, you have no reason to groan. And if, G-d forbid, he doesn’t recover and dies, again, why worry? He’ll merit Gan Eden.
But what if, heaven forbid, he doesn’t merit Gan Eden? There’s no point in groaning about that. For that you need to talk to your son, because whether he enters Gan Eden or not is entirely in his hands…
The Geula is in our hands!
Good Shabbos!
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