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Living Parsha a project of www.Chabad.org Noach 5764 (2003) Fans and Players The Hebrew word for ark, teivah, Story "How was the game?" asked the Rebbe. "By the also means "word". When G-d says sixth inning," the young fan confessed, "the (to Noah) "Come into the ark", He is Dodgers were losing nine-to-two. So we decid- also saying: Enter into the words of ed to leave" prayer and Torah study; there you will find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning and holiness amidst the Parenting Dignity raging floodwaters of life. Okay, so I yelled a little too loudly when I yelled at my daughter. Okay, so maybe she didn't (Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov) deserve as much of my anger as I let out. But, she did deserve some of it, didn't she? I mean, could I just let it pass? Not say anything? Who would she become, then? A Driving Lesson Trickle of Delight After 70, 80, maybe 120 years, the Living The clock on my dashboard showed 12:50 pm. soul ascends to a place above called My youngest son usually arrives home from school shortly after one o'clock, so I would Gan Eden, a place of ecstasy as great have ample time before he rushed through the as the soul can receive without dis- front door, and even some extra minutes to solving altogether. spare And what is that delight that is so overwhelming? No more than a trickle of light from the pleasure G-d received from the struggle of this Inner Mind and Emotion soul as it was below. Our subconscious "mind" finds its expression Dimensions in the way we think, and the subconscious "emotions" come into play in the way we speak Noach Genesis 6:-11:32 Parsha Noah makes an ark, G-d floods the earth, a dove brings an olive branch, Shem and Japeth drag a blanket, men build a tower and the first Jew is born For more information or to subscribe new material to one of our many insipiring added daily! periodicals log on to: This magazine contains sacred Torah www.Chabad.org material. Please do not discard. www.Chabad.org Story Fans and Players The Dodgers, replied the boy. by: Dovid Zaklikowski “Does your father have the same feeling for the Dodgers as you have?” No. “Does he take you out to games?” Well, every once in a while my father takes me to a game. We were at a game a month ago. “How was the game?” The last trolley of the evening rolled by on It was disappointing, the 13-year-old confessed. Kingston Avenue on a chilly winter night in 1955 as By the sixth inning, the Dodgers were losing nine- a jolly young Shimshon Stock ushered a close to-two, so we decided to leave. acquaintance and his soon-to-be-Bar-Mitzvahed son “Did the players also leave the game when you into the Lubavitch synagogue, around the corner at left?” 770 Eastern Parkway. Rabbi, the players can’t leave in the middle of the Inside “770”, soon to become famous as game! Lubavitch World Headquarters, was the study and “Why not?” asked the Rebbe. “Explain to me how office of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem this works.” Mendel Schneerson, who a few years earlier had accepted the leadership of this small Chassidic com- There are players and fans, the baseball fan munity still struggling to recover from the ravages of explained. The fans can leave when they like — Stalinism and the Holocaust. At the time, the Rebbe they’re not part of the game and the game could, and had only a handful of emissaries scattered across does, continue after they leave. But the players need Israel, America, Europe and North Africa; but he was to stay and try to win until the game is over. already relentlessly and tirelessly building a global “That is the lesson I want to teach you in network of communities soon to gain worldwide Judaism,” said the Rebbe with a smile. “You can be renown for its unconventional yet contemporary either a fan or a player. Be a player.” ways of reaching out to Jewish youth. Outside 770 father and son said goodbye to Shimshon, born and bred in the New World, was Shimshon, the three now sharing a new admiration very much the “American Boy”. Yet he had enjoyed to a pioneer in Jewish education. a close and special friendship with the Rebbe prior to the passing of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe — the Dovid Zaklikowski, [email protected] is on the editorial Rebbe’s father-in-law Rabbi Joseph Isaac staff of Chabad.org Schneersohn — which continued on after the Rebbe accepted the mantel of leadership. He now intro- duced his friend and his friend’s son to the Rebbe, who greeted them with his comforting and warm handshake, requesting them to please take a seat. The Rebbe briefly blessed the boy that he should grow to become a source of pride to the Jewish peo- ple and to his family. As they turned to leave, Rebbe surprised the three Americans with the question he addressed to the youngster: “Are you a baseball fan?” The Bar-Mitzvah boy replied that he was. The content on these pages is produced by Chabad.org, and is “Which team are you a fan of — the Yankees or copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org. If you the Dodgers?” enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, pro- vided that you comply with our copyright policy Story | Parenting | Living | Inner Dimensions | Parshah | Week at Glance 22 www.Chabad.org parenting Dignity If you had simply grimaced, she continued, it would have given her the message, taught her the les- by Jay Litvin son, and, yet, left your dignity in tact. Just grimaced?, I asked, disbelievingly. Just grimaced, she repeated. Chaya — all of them — are totally tuned in to you. You are their father. They love you and want you to be happy with them. When you’re not, they notice and it matters. If you believed this, you wouldn’t have to get angry. And if you didn’t get angry, you’d keep your dignity. And if Okay, so I yelled a little too loudly when I yelled you kept your dignity, you’d teach them how to keep at my daughter. Okay, so maybe she didn’t deserve theirs as well. as much of my anger as I let out. But, she did deserve some of it, didn’t she? I mean, after what Whoa! This was a lot to take in. Too much to take she did, could I just let it pass? Not say anything? in. And how did my wife get so wise? And where did Pretend it didn’t happen? she even find the courage to say all this to me, this husband not especially known for accepting criticism Who would she become, then? Should I just tol- in the lightest of ways, especially from his wife; this erate everything for the sake of not getting angry? person who often saw criticism when there wasn’t Okay, so it does make the house unpleasant and even any around. casts a pall over the evening after I yell and she Was there any around? walks off with that look on her face and goes to her room and closes her door. Well, I looked and I couldn’t find any. It felt close to criticism. It had some of the texture and smell of You’re right, it scares the other kids, who just sort criticism. But, there was something in the way she of look away and stay quiet for the rest of the was telling me all this that didn’t feel like criticism. evening, hoping I won’t get mad at them. But it did feel really important. Like something I And, yes, I was in a bad mood when I came home, should hear if I could just get my ego out of my ears. and, yes, that did have some bearing on the way I You mean to tell me that if I just grimace the kids responded. But, still, should I have just let it pass? I will get the message? mean, doesn’t Chaya need some discipline, some- time? Yes, she said, though you might also have to explain what you’re grimacing about. But you don’t Your dignity, my wife said. have to yell to do that. Your displeasure is loud What? What does my dignity have to do with enough. this? And when I yell? I asked. When you yell like that, you lose your dignity, she Painful, she said. Straight into their little hearts. said. The hearts that love you. My dignity? I questioned with exasperation. I Oh, my!! thought we were talking about her, about her behav- ior, her need to be taught right from wrong. But I don’t want to be so responsible with my behavior, I screeched. What about spontaneity, I You can do that with dignity, she said, again. pleaded. Can I ever be myself again? I cried out to When you lose your temper, you lose your dignity. the One Above. Okay, she got me. I sat down, ready to hear more. Of course, she replied. (My wife, not the One I took a deep breath and tried to stuff my defenses in Above.) Just don’t get so angry. You don’t need to, my pocket long enough to hear what she had to say.
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