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By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon

The month of Kislev is the month of revelation of Chassidus, with 19 Kislev being the “Rosh Hashana of Chassidus”. There are so many Chassidishe Yomim Tovim in Kislev and there was even a year that the Rebbe instructed Chassidim to have a Farbrengen every night of Kislev! This is in addition to the directive of the Rebbe to learn daily in the month of Kislev from the Torah of all of our holy Rabbeim.

As we Boruch Hashem have an abundance of Chassidus, from all of our holy Rabbeim, we could sometimes forget what we are supposed to take out from the Maamrim that we learn. This is especially true for those of us that were born and raised with Chassidus, as it just becomes another thing that we learn and do. I would like to share two stories that really taught me the true perspective and life-lesson that should be taken from learning Chassidus:

1. In one of my previous articles, I mentioned that although I went to United Lubavitcher Yeshiva, I had a non-Lubavitch classmate. His family, which had a family connection to Lubavitch, joined the Yeshiva because the Rashag accepted the children even though the parents could not afford to pay. The children were all very bright and some even became full Chassidei Chabad.

The family had many challenges (divorce, multiple early deaths, etc) and my classmate left our Yeshiva after Yeshiva Ketana to find himself and to form his own path and identity. He went to University and became a Doctor. Over the years, I had heard that he was fully religious – modern orthodox – but was still single.

After I moved to Cincinnati, I decided to reach out to him to see how he was doing. It was 20 Cheshvan – birthday of the Rebbe Rashab who was the founder of Tomchei Temimim – and I wanted to touch base with an old Tamim, because “once a Tamim-always a Tamim”. I got his cell number and I called him. He was shocked to hear from me, and he told me that he had recently got engaged and was planning his upcoming wedding. We continued talking and I encouraged him to have the NIggun of the “Daled Bavos” played by the Chuppa and he agreed.

I then encouraged him to at least learn the wedding Maamer before the wedding and he absolutely refused! I asked him why not and his answer made me realize that he actually understands the message of a Maamer more than me. He said: “I simply can’t learn Chassidus. When you learn Chassidus, you leave with the understanding that the world is bright and is truly on its way to perfection. My life has been dark and very broken and I can’t get myself to learn Chassidus again.” His reason to refuse to learn Chassidus made me realize what Chassidus is truly about and why it is so important to learn.

2. I learned for four years in Yeshivas Lubavitch Toronto under the guidance of Rabbi Akiva Wagner A”H. The winter Zman would usually finish a week into the month of Nissan (he also had Yahrtzeit on 4 Nissan and he and his brothers were able to have minyanim). One year, a Chassidishe Yungerman (not Lubavitch) came at the beginning of Nissan and spent his day learning in our Beis Midrash and this repeated itself for a few days.

At some point, I went over to him and introduced myself and asked him who he is and why he decided to come learn in our Yeshiva. He told me that he is married to a girl from Toronto and is studying in a Chassidishe Kollel in Eretz Yisroel. When the zman finished his Kollel, he came with his family to his in-laws for Yom Tov. While he was in Toronto, he wanted to learn in a Chassidishe Beis Midrash, so he came to our Yeshiva.

I asked him what his impressions of our Yeshiva was, and his answer stays with me until today. He said: I do not judge a Yeshiva by how the students are learning the last week of the Zman. In all Yeshivos, the Bochurim are winding down and ready to go home. Although, he added, I was hoping that a Yeshiva where bochurim learn Chassidus for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and half at night would be different from a regular Yeshiva. Unfortunately, I did not see a big difference.”

His words stung at heart, because I knew how right he was. Our holy Rabbeim did not sacrifice themselves to reveal and give over Chassidus, so that we would just be “regular” and like everyone else. We are taught a different worldview (like the first story) and our behaviour must be different as well (like the second story).

“Gutt Yom Tov, l’shana tova b’limud ha’Chassidus v’darkei ha’Chassidus teichaseivu v’seichaseimu”

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Rabbi Gershon Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well-sought-after speaker and lecturer. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the above by sending me a R’ Avtzon email: [email protected]

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