Inner Dimensions Story Comment Seasons of The

a project of www.Chabad.org Beshalach 5764 (2004)

Cuttings The three loves -- love of G-d, love of Trees don't talk, but they have a great deal to Torah and love of one's fellow -- are one. say. And one of the most amazing things a tree One cannot differentiate between them, Comment says is about survival for they are of a single essence... And ...... by Shlomo Yaffe since they are of a single essence, each one embodies all three... Women of the Inner Bible Eve, Sarah, Rachel, Miriam, Batsheva... From (The Lubavitcher the outside, the women of the Bible appear to Rebbe) Inner play only a supportive role in a drama dominated by men; from the inside emerges a very dif- Dimensions ferent story...... by Tzvi Freeman “To the Point of Self-Sacrifice” The guard was stupefied: few were the cabinet- level ministers granted such a privilege, and Childish Delight Story here stood a young chassid with a beard, sidelocks, chassidic garb and a Yiddish accent, at a time when to even reside in Petersburg was for- The child delights in the simple bidden to Jews things of life. Sometimes that delight could lead in the wrong direction. But ...... Told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe the delight in itself is good. Man and Tree: A Tu B’shvat Anthology We need to embrace and nurture the The Human Tree... The Seven Kinds... delight while weaning it from those Branches... The Leaf... A Tree's New Year Seasons of things unwholesome. Resolutions... Fruit for thought for Tu B'Shevat the Soul (the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat), the "New Year for Trees" Day of Two Rebbes In 1951, the Torah-observant Jew living in Seasons of America was the object of contempt and derision by eve many of his own brethren. The most he the Soul could reasonably hope for was to persist in his own beliefs and try to pass them on to his children... Beshalach Exodus 13:17-17:16 In Beshalach the sea splits, manna rains down more daily thoughts & Parsha from heaven, water is extracted from a rock and quotes available online war is waged on Amalek. But all this happens all the time inside our souls...

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Comment Cuttings by Shlomo Yaffe

As we approach Tu B’Shvat (the 15th of the month of Shevat on the Jewish calendar) which is designated as the "New Year for Trees" it's time to listen to what the trees have to say to us.

(Trees don't talk but have a great deal to say, in contrast to candidates for political office who talk a great deal and have very little to say.)

One of the most amazing things a tree tells is about survival. Even if a terrible storm or vicious beast will tear apart a where they resettled, making those communities far greater fruit tree and smash it utterly, as long as one twig remains, than they ever were before. we can plant it on its own, or graft it onto another far less fruitful tree. This cutting will flourish as a tree bearing We, who have merited being healthy, whole "trees" all our beautiful fruit -- fruit of the same flavor the original tree lives, must ask ourselves: How much more is asked of us, had; or alternatively, it will greatly enrich and increase the who have not suffered! Let us challenge ourselves to carry productivity of the tree into which it was grafted. on the work of this most shattered yet most fruitful generation. Recently, on a particularly frigid Friday night, one of the people who braved the elements to attend Shabbat Eve serv- May our deeds serve as a good answer. ices at our synagogue was a Holocaust survivor who after- wards said the following to me: "Rabbi, I don’t know how I ever survived dozens of days colder than this during the Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe is the spiritual leader of Congregation Agudas Holocaust. We had to stand motionless outside for more Achim of West Hartford, Connecticut than two hours in nothing but a thin pair of pajamas. As the years go by I see my survival more and more as a miracle."

Hearing these words as I was about to go warmly bundled up into the cutting cold evoked the unspeakable pain and suffering of the Holocaust, and my own inability to ever truly grasp it, in a very poignant way.

But something else came to me: These words came from a man who came to this country after the Shoah and, notwith- standing everything he had endured, raised a beautiful family, and is very active in our Synagogue and Jewish communal life. This experience of unstinting contribution to Judaism and the Jewish community is the rule, rather than the exception, among the Holocaust survivors that I have met. They may have come here as scattered and broken twigs, but these cuttings have flourished and borne fruit in all areas of religious and communal endeavor throughout the Israeli, American and European Jewish communities

As long as the drama of this universe remains incomplete, the Inner Dimensions Shechina is silent, she does not sing. We see the world She vitalizes, but we do not hear her voice within it. In all peo- Women of the Inner ple’s minds, She plays a secondary role — for her husband conquers and subdues, while she, they say, only provides life Bible and nurture. Such is the mindset of an immature world. by Tzvi Freeman There is a time-yet-to-come, when the secret of the Inner Light will be revealed. Then the Mother of Life will sing loud without bound.

There is an outer Bible — a story of men and women, of wars 2) Sarah and wonders. And there is an inner Bible, according to ancient traditions, in which each word uncovers fathomless “Whatever Sarah tells you,” G-d told Abraham, “listen to wisdom, beauty and light. her.” (Genesis 21:12)

From the outside, the women of the Bible appear to play only The first to heal the wound that Eve had made was Sarah. She a supportive role in a drama dominated by men. descended to the lair of the snake, to the palace of Pharaoh. She resisted his lure and rose back up. While living within, From the inside emerges a story of men manipulated by she remained bonded to Above. potent women and nurtured with feminine values. A story that reveals the inner quality of womanhood that transcends the It was Abraham who empowered Sarah to do so. Yet Abraham minds of men. himself was not capable of such a thing. This is the role of a man — to activate the power that lies dormant in a woman. This is the secret of the words of Solomon’s wisdom, “A Without a woman, a man has no bond with the Shechina. woman of valor is the crown of her husband.” As a crown is Without a man, the woman cannot be the Shechina. Once above the head and beyond it, so the inner light of woman- there is a man, the woman becomes everything. hood is of an essence-quality, of a place the mind cannot touch. Sarah is the embodiment of the cosmic power of purification and healing of souls. What Chava confused and stirred 1) Chava (Eve) together, Sarah sifts and refines; where Chava entered in darkness, Sarah switches on the light. Her work continues “Then Adam called his wife Chava, for she was the mother of through each generation: As the soul of Abraham draws souls all life.” (Genesis 3:20) in and holds them close to the Infinite Light, the soul of Sarah She was the other side of the image of G-d. For G-d is not just discerns the stains that must be cleaned and the dross that a boundless light, beyond all things. G-d is something that is must be rejected. When any soul or spark of light is healed here now, within all things, giving them life, being whatever and returned to its source, you will know that Sarah’s touch they are being. In her source above, she is “the Shechina” — was there. the Divine Presence That Dwells Within. 3) Rebecca This is what drove the earthly Chavah to eat the fruit: this “Drink…and I will also draw water for your camels to yearning to be within, to experience the taste of life, to be drink.” (Genesis 24:17-18) immersed in it. With this she transgressed — she carried herself from the realm of the Divine into a world where all that With these words, Rebecca betrothed herself to Isaac and rose is real is the here and now, where there is no vantage point to become mother of two great nations. Not for her act of giv- from which to discern good from evil, no light to discern the ing, alone, but for her eagerness, because she chased after any fruit from its husk. And she took with herself the Shechina opportunity to do good, seeking it out with joy and delight, and she imprisoned Her as well, so that havoc ensued with all her soul and being. throughout the cosmos. And she implanted this within us as our inheritance. We only But the desire behind her transgression was the holy yen of need awaken it and we will find the Rebecca within. the Shechina to permeate all. And in the end, she will suc- ceed, and life within will also be G-dly. There are few stories as detailed in the Bible as the telling of the union of Rebecca and Isaac — it is told and retold three

Joseph, they feared their father would not believe them. So Inner Dimensions Serah, the daughter of Asher, took her harp and stood outside Jacob’s tent. She composed a ballad about Joseph and his Women of the Inner Bible travels, concluding each with the chorus, “…and Joseph still lives.” continued “Yes!” her grandfather finally exclaimed, “Joseph still lives!” times. For in this tale lies the birth of our people and our pur- And then his sons were able to speak with him. pose. In it lies the inner secret for which all the cosmos was created: the fusion of opposites, the paradox and beauty of For this, Jacob blessed Serach with life. She was still alive to life. For this, we are here — to unite heaven and earth. And show Moses where the tomb of Joseph lay. She was still alive in the union of Man and Woman is found all these. as a wise woman who saved the city of Abel in the times of King David. And she still lives, for she was one of the few to And who is the matchmaker in this cosmic drama? It is the enter Paradise alive. simple servant of Abraham, who speaks to the Master of the universe from the sincerity of his heart, who is obsessed with If the Shechina is a diamond and each woman is a different his mission and delights in its every step. It is each and any facet, then Serah is the spark of hope that glistens in each one one of us. and emanates from deep inside. The spark that never became detached, that remains above and beyond even while the 4) Rachel & Leah Shechina that contains it sinks below. A resilient spark that all the rivers of exile cannot wash away and oceans of tears can- A voice is heard on high, not extinguish. Serah lives, she lives in Paradise, and so wailing, bitterly crying. Paradise lives within us. Rachel weeps for her children 6) Miriam She refuses to be consoled For they are gone. His sister stood from afar, to know what would become of him. (Exodus 2:4) “Restrain your voice from weeping,” G-d tells her. “Hold back your eyes from their tears. A young girl stands amidst the reeds that embrace the river’s bank, still and quiet, watching from afar. She is the guardian “For your work has its reward and your children shall of the promise, of all her people have yearned for, and she return.” will not allow that promise to leave her sight. (Jeremiah 31:14) Her name is Miriam and Miriam means bitter, for it is a bit- Rachel is the embodiment of the Shechina as She descends to terness that drives her, all the bitterness born of her people’s care for Her children, even to travel their journey of exile harsh lot. Only her vision can assuage that burning pain, and with them. And so she ensures they will return. she alone sustains its pulse. It is a powerful vision, one that will transform the bitter to sweet, the darkness of exile to the Her sister, Leah is also our mother, the Shechina. Yet she is great light of freedom. the transcendent, concealed world; those hidden things of the Divine Mind too deep for men to fathom. She is the Sphere In her merit, we were redeemed from slavery. And in the of Royalty as She rises above to receive in silent meditation. merit of women of faith today, the entire world will be redeemed of its darkness. Rachel is the world of revealed words and deeds. She held beauty that Jacob could perceive and desire. But Leah was 7) Deborah too lofty, too far beyond all things, and so Jacob could not “They ceased living in unwalled towns in Israel, they ceased attach himself to her in the same way. until I, Deborah, arose; I arose as a mother in Israel.” Yet it is from Leah that almost all of the Jewish nation (Judges 5:7) descends. In the peaceful shade of an ancient date palm in the hills of 5) Serah Ephraim, there you would find a wise woman, a prophetess to whom all of Israel streamed for counsel, for guidance and for When Jacob’s sons returned home with their news about

She summoned Barak, a mighty warrior, and instructed him to wage battle against the oppressors of her people. But Barak insisted he would not go unless Deborah go with him, and for that she scorned him.

For Deborah did not see greatness in emulating the qualities of manhood — in fighting and winning and conquering — A woman of secrets, of mystery, cloaking her true identity but as a mother in Israel, as a giver of life, nurturing her peo- within many garbs — until her time arrived. A woman like ple with kindness and with faith. the morning star — at that impossible place where the night becomes so dark it has nothing left but to reveal the dawn. 8) Ruth One who dared set foot in the innermost chamber of evil, rais- “Where you go, I will go. Where you dwell, I will dwell. Your ing Haman its prince to the pinnacle of glory — only that he people are my people and your G-d is my G-d.” (Ruth 1:16) should manufacture his own demise.

She is the paradigm of those ancient souls that discover they When she ripped away her mask and her inner light burst are lost and yearn to return home. They must fight an uphill forth, the façade of chance and coincidence and palace journey, fraught with sacrifice and challenge along twisted intrigue opened like a curtain to reveal wonders and miracles and even bizarre paths, but only because the package is so on their back stage. In this way, Esther contains the final precious and its delivery so vital. redemption, for she married miracle with mundane, she discovered unbounded light within a cloud of darkness. In this case, it was a spark of pure holiness lost since Abraham, destined to surface as Ruth’s great-grandson, Last Word David, redeemer of Israel. And, many millennia later, as the final redeemer. Of the most lofty, enlightened souls, many had wives greater than themselves and daughters greater than their sons. So it 9) Batsheva was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So it was with Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir. So it was with many great masters of There are souls that travel a velvet highway through life, find- the Kabbalah. ing their mate and homing in on their destiny as per a neat, cosmic script. This is because these great men, in their personal lives, were already tasting of the World to Come. In that time, the quali- Others travel a maze of obscure passages, knocking their ty of womanhood will loom over man. heads against the walls in repeated false resolutions, occasionally striking open another secret passage to the unknown.

According to the ancient wisdom, this is the only way that the By Tzvi Freeman; [email protected] see most lofty of souls can be squeezed into our tightly-bound http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=3009 for bio, info and more world, where the forces of darkness hold such sway. And so articles by this author as well as to order his book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth". it was that from the union of Batsheva and David, a union wrought through scandal and disgrace, a son, Solomon, was born, to build the Temple, a portal for the Infinite Light in Jerusalem.

10) Esther

“So I will go to the king, contrary to protocol. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

Story “To the Point of Self-SSacrifice” stand for, and I have decided to help you." Told by the Lubavichter Rebbe When Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak presented the pass at the interior ministry, the guard on duty was stupefied: few were the cabinet-level ministers granted such a privilege, and here stands a young chassid, complete with beard, sidelocks, chassidic garb and Yiddish accent, at a time when to even reside in Petersburg was forbidden to Jews. But the pass was in order, so he waved him through. It was during Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's younger years, when the Czarist regime still ruled the Russian Empire. A new Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak entered the building and proceeded decree against the Jewish community was in the works, to look for Stalinin's office. Those whom he asked for aimed at forcing changes in the structure of the rabbinate directions could only stare at the strange apparition confi- and Jewish education. Rabbi Sholom DovBer (the fifth dently striding the corridors of the interior ministry. Soon Lubavitcher Rebbe) dispatched his son, Rabbi Yosef he located the minister's office at the far end of a com- Yitzchak, to the Russian capital of Petersburg to prevent the manding hallway on the fourth floor of the building. decree from being enacted. When Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak asked how long he was to stay in Petersburg, his father As Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak walked toward the office, the replied, "to the point of self-sacrifice." door opened and Stalinin himself walked out and closed the door behind him. The rebbe's son and the interior minister Upon his arrival in Petersburg, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak passed within a few feet of each other. Rabbi Yosef learned that the decree had already reached the desk of Yitzchak made straight for the office, opened the door, and Stalinin, the interior minister of Russia and arguably the walked in. most powerful man in the Russian Empire. The ruling Czar's intelligence (or lack thereof) made him a virtual rub- After a quick search, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak located the doc- ber stamp for whichever minister the prevailing political uments pertaining to the decree in Stalinin's desk. On the climate favored; at the that particular time, His Highness desk sat two ink stamps, bearing the words 'APPROVED' was led by the nose by Interior Minister Stalinin, a heart- or 'REJECTED' above the minister's signature and seal. less tyrant and rabid antisemite who was personally respon- Quickly, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak stamped the proposed sible for many of the devastating pogroms which were decree 'REJECTED' and inserted the papers into a pile of "arranged" for the Jews of Russia in those years. vetoed documents which sat in a tray on the desk. He then left the room, closed the door behind him, and walked out Living in Petersburg was an elderly scholar, a former of the building. teacher and mentor of the interior minister. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak succeeded in befriending this man, who was greatly impressed by the scope and depth of the young Translated by Yanki Tauber in Once Upon A Chassid (Kehot 1994) chassid's knowledge. For many an evening the two would sit and talk in the old man's study.

One day, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak told his new friend the purpose of his stay in Petersburg and pleaded with him to assist him in reaching the interior minister. The old scholar replied: "To speak with him would be useless. The man has a cruel and malicious heart, and I have already severed all contact with this vile creature many years ago. But there is one thing I can do for you. Because of my status as Stalinin's mentor, I have been granted a permanent entry pass into the offices of the interior ministry. I need not explain to you the consequences, for both of us, if you are found out. But I have come to respect you and what you

Seasons of the soul A Tu Bshvat Anthology compiled by Yanki Tauber Contents

Tu B’shvat: What and How from The Book of Our Heritage Tu B'Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar (this year, Shabbat, February 7, 2004), is the day that marks the beginning of a "New Year for Trees." This is the season in Branches which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel by Tzvi Freeman emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. A Tree's New Year Resolution by Shlomo Yaffe Legally, the "New Year for Trees" relates to the various tithes that must be separated from produce grown in the Holy Land. These tithes differ from year to year in the Cuttings seven-year Shemittah cycle; the point at which a budding by Shlomo Yaffe fruit is considered to belong to the next year of the cycle is the 15th of Shevat. How a Stupid Little Ruler Saved My Life by Jay Litvin We mark the day of Tu B'Shevat by eating fruit, particularly from the "Seven Kinds" that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: wheat, barley, The Human Tree grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. On this day we based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe remember that "Man is a tree of the field" (Deuteronomy 20:19) and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our The Seven Kinds botanical analogue. based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

A sampling of these lessons, based on the teachings of the Chassidic Masters, are presented in these pages. The Leaf from the memoirs of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, For the complete Tu B’shvat anthology, go to: Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson http://www.chabad.org/holidays/default.asp?AID=3264 We Are Trees a meditation by Tzvi Freeman Wheat and Dates a meditation by Tzvi Freeman

Seasons of the soul Branches by Tzvi Freeman

Some folks think of people much as we think of cars on a highway: Each with its own origin and destination, relating to one other only to negotiate lane changes and left-hand turns. For cars, closeness is danger, loneliness is freedom.

People are not cars. Cars are dead. People live. Living when you've found peace within yourself can you help us beings need one another, nurture one another, share des- find peace for the entire world. tinies and reach them together. When you're alive, closeness is warmth, loneliness is suffocating. Every Jew is a brother or sister of a great family of many thousands of years. Where a Jew walks, there walk sages People belong to families. Families make up communities. and martyrs, heroes and heroines, legends and miracles, all Communities make up the many colorful peoples of the the way back to Abraham and Sarah, the first two Jews who world. And all those peoples make up a single, magnificent challenged the whole world with their ideals. There walk body with a single soul called humankind. the tears, the blood and the chutzpah of millennia, the lega- cy of those who lived, yearned and died for a World To Some chop this body into six billion fragments and roll it Come, a world the way it was meant to be. back into a single mush. They want each person to do his or her own thing and relate equally to every other individual Their destiny is our destiny. In us they are fulfilled. In all of on the planet. They don't see the point of distinct peoples. us and every one of us, and all of us together. For we are all They feel such distinctions just get in the way. one.

But we are like leaves extending from twigs branching out When one Jew does an act of kindness, all our hands extend from larger twigs on branches of larger branches until we with his or hers. If one Jew should fall, all of us stumble. If reach the trunk and roots of us all. Each of us has our place one suffers, we all feel pain. When one rejoices, we are all on this tree of life, each its source of nurture -- and on this uplifted. In our oneness we will find our destiny and our the tree relies for its very survival. destiny is to be one. For we are a single body, breathing with a single set of lungs, pulsating with a single heart, None of us walks alone. Each carries the experiences of drawing from a single well of consciousness. ancestors wherever he or she roams, along with their trou- bles, their traumas, their victories, their hopes and their We are one. Let it be with love. aspirations. Our thoughts grow out from their thoughts, our destiny shaped by their goals. At the highest peak we ever get to, there they are, holding our hand, pushing us upward, By Tzvi Freeman; [email protected] see providing the shoulders on which to stand. And we share http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=3009 for bio, info and more those shoulders, that consciousness, that heritage with all articles by this author as well as to order his book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth". the brothers and sisters of our people.

That's why your own people are so important: If you want to find peace with any other person in the world, you've got to start with your own brothers and sisters. Until then, you haven't yet found peace within your own self. And only

The Leaf A Tree’s New Year Resolution From the writings and talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak by shlomo Yaffee Schneerson of Lubavitch

It was the summer of 1896, and father and myself were Tu B'Shevat -- the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat -- is strolling in the fields of Balivka, a hamlet near Lubavitch. known as the "New Year for Trees." Naturally this would be The grain was near to ripening, and the wheat and grass a time for trees to engage in soul-searching -- the same way swayed gently in the breeze. people do on Rosh Hashanah. Here is a tree's New Year Checklist: Said father to me: "See G-dliness! Every movement of each stalk and grass was included in G-d's Primordial Did I shelter the seedlings that live in my shade -- so they Thought of Creation, in G-d's all-embracing vision of histo- will grow up to be a next generation like myself? ry, and is guided by Divine providence toward a G-dly purpose." Did I grow towards the sun as a tree should, reaching up Walking, we entered the forest. Engrossed in what I had higher and higher towards that which I can never grasp, but heard, excited by the gentleness and seriousness of father's which nurtures me all the same the more I strive towards it? words, I absentmindedly tore a leaf off a passing tree. Holding it a while in my hands, I continued my thoughtful Did I make sure my roots remain firmly planted in the soil pacing, occasionally tearing small pieces of leaf and casting that nurtures them, and did I drop my leaves there in the fall them to the winds. to give back life to that which sustains me?

"The Holy Ari," said father to me, "says that not only is Did I ensure that my fruits were sweet and nourished all that every leaf on a tree a creation invested with Divine life, cre- came to enjoy them? Did everyone walk away from me ated for a specific purpose within G-d's intent in creation, with a smile? but also that within each and every leaf there is a spark of a soul that has descended to earth to find its correction and Did I bend gently in the wind, accepting what G-d sends but fulfillment. never breaking or giving up hope? "The Talmud," father continued, "rules that 'a man is always responsible for his actions, whether awake or Did I grow in strength and wisdom with each new ring this asleep.' The difference between wakefulness and sleep is in year? the inner faculties of man, his intellect and emotions. The external faculties function equally well in sleep, only the Come to think of it, not a bad checklist for us humans inner faculties are confused. So dreams present us with con- either! tradictory truths. A waking man sees the real world, a sleep- ing man does not. This is the deeper significance of wakefulness and sleep: when one is awake one sees Divinity; Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe is the spiritual leader of Congregation Agudas Achim of West Hartford, Connecticut when asleep, one does not. "Nevertheless, our sages maintain that man is always responsible for his actions, whether awake or asleep. Only this moment we have spoken of Divine providence, and, unthinkingly, you tore off a leaf, played with it in your hands, twisting, squashing and tearing it to pieces, throwing it in all directions. "How can one be so callous towards a creation of G-d? This leaf was created by the Almighty towards a specific purpose and is imbued with a Divine life-force. It has a body and it has its life. In what way is the 'I' of this leaf infe- rior to yours?"

How a Stupid Little Ruler given as much clarity as this tree about the purpose of my life. I told G-d that just like I was sitting here appreciating this tree, Saved My Life I too wanted to be appreciated and I wanted that appreciation expressed to me in clear, simple terms. by Jay Litvin

What does it mean to be indispensable? I think (if I remember correctly) that most of all I just want- For most of my life I've asked myself that question. Maybe ed to know why G-d put me here, so that I could get on with not in those words exactly. But I've always had this feeling that doing whatever I was supposed to be doing to fulfill my pur- there was some purpose to my life uniquely destined for me pose in life. and me alone. There was no revelation that day. At some point I tired of I can remember as a young man in my early twenties sitting my dialogue, stood up, brushed off my pants, and continued on under a tree, my back propped against the trunk, gazing out at my confused way. a forest. I was in Woodstock, New York during what some call ------the "Woodstock years". Days of pondering life and destiny. Of feeling free and unfettered. Of infinite possibilities. Years went by. Lots of searching and seeking and, yes, more dialogues with the One Above. I was young, single and without children. Money was inconsequential. Either it was easy to acquire or it didn't matter Within these years I came close to Torah, discovered the much. teachings of the Chassidic masters and certainly felt closer to having discovered my purpose than ever before. But, to tell And there I was, sitting under this tree, wondering what "it" you the truth, I still didn't have that kind of crystal clear clari- was all about. Wondering why G-d put me on this earth any- ty of purpose that I had hoped for that day under the tree. way. Wondering what I was supposed to do with myself. Actually it wasn't until one day, during the months I was I wasn't a religious person then. Not in any formal way, any- undergoing chemotherapy, that I had the moment of clarity I way. But, I was a spiritual being. Even in childhood I was a was looking for. And believe me, during those chemo months closet believer in a secular household. But still, compared to I wanted this clarity just about as much as I've ever wanted now, I can't say that I was religious, though I was definitely anything in my life. It was vitally important during those days interested in communing with a universe that transcended my of weakness and fear to reach some understanding of what my puny little self. purpose was on this earth, what I was sent here to accomplish, And in that moment, the creature of G-d's creation that the turf of my indispensability. offered itself for my contemplation was this tree under which I First, let me tell you that I'm now nearly fifty-eight years was sitting, the one whose trunk now supported my back. So, I old. I have a bunch of kids. And money is neither easy to come sat there thinking about this tree and I began to envy it. I envied by nor inconsequential. Life has changed a lot since those its lack of confusion. I envied it for not having an identity cri- under-the-tree-Woodstock-days. And I love every inch of sis. every change. This tree seemed to know exactly what it was about. And its Among my seven children is my little eight-year-old purpose seemed not only clear, but also beneficial to the world Dovie. He's the youngest. My oldest boy just got married. around it, including me, the one whose back was being supported by its trunk, whose head was being shaded by its leaves, The other morning little Dovie was having a crisis. He and whose body was enjoying the cool black earth and green couldn't find a little ruler he uses to do his geometry. He was grass that had been sheltered from the blistering sun by its leafy searching all over the house for it; he was late for school; he canopy. was crying because he was having a test that day and if he did- n't bring this little ruler not only would he fail the test, he And so I did what any young man in my position would do: wouldn't even be able to take it. He was facing what in his life I began a conversation with G-d. I was not a stranger to these would be considerable embarrassment and humiliation. conversations. I didn't have them on a daily basis like I do now, but I had them regularly and they were always quite moving I was about to leave for an appointment and was running and profound. late because of spending all this time helping Dovie look for his little ruler. But, he was frantic and I just couldn't leave him. And in my conversation I did what I often do when I talk to G-d: I complained. I asked him why He would give this tree a When finally in defeat and tears we decided that the ruler life of purpose and leave me in the dark. I requested that I be was a lost cause, I looked down at his sad little face and decid-

Comment | Inner Dimensions | Story | Seasons of the Soul | A Day of Two Rebbes | Parshah | Week at Glance 10 www. Seasons of the Soul Chabad.org How a Stupid Little Ruler Do you see, G-d, how much my children need me? And how they will need me for many years to come? Saved My Life Can you see, dear G-d, that I am the only Dad my children continued have and that this is, without a doubt, the one area of my life where I am clearly and with certainty irreplaceable and indis- ed to drive him to school. He wouldn't have his ruler, but at pensable? least he wouldn't be so late. Hopefully, I had enough time to And as I continued this conversation, attempting to con- drive him and still catch the train and get to my appointment. vince G-d of my absolute indispensability, requesting that on We scurried down the stairs together, him still sniffling the merits of this indispensability He cure my disease, I had about what was going to happen at school, me rushing and the feeling that this stupid little ruler was keeping me alive. hoping I wouldn't miss my train, but mainly feeling really bad ------for my sad little boy. From that day forward a new awareness and a new prayer We quickly got into the car, buckled our seat belts, and just entered my life. I began to notice dozens of indispensable as I was about to reverse the car from the parking space I moments every day. And as I became aware of these stopped. I had this moment. I looked at my son, took a deep moments, I would attach to them the same prayer: Please G- breath and knew then and there that I was not going to make d, can't you see how much my children need me? How impor- my train. I wasn't even going to try to make my train. Instead tant it is to keep me alive? Heal me. I was going to drive straight to the closest store and buy him This prayer would emerge whenever my children and I the little ruler he needed. And then I was going to take him to would share a smile or a goodbye kiss, when we sat and talked school, park the car, go inside, and talk to his teacher so he together about their life or problems at school; when I would wouldn't get in trouble for being late. tuck them in bed or cuddle with my boys under my tallit dur- It was a crystal clear moment. And once the decision was ing birchat kohanim; when we would sing at the Shabbat table made I carried through these actions without doubt nor hesita- or light Chanukah candles or when I would go to their school tion. and talk to the principal. When I told my son of my decision, he smiled, squinted his These were moments that had occurred hundreds of times little eyes in a sort of botched attempt at a wink, sat a bit before -- lots of then containing inconsequential things like straighter in his seat, and looked out the window at a world lost little rulers and misplaced bobby pins, bruised feelings, that had just gotten quite a bit brighter. moments of disappointment, a math problem solved. Only However, shortly after buying the ruler, talking to the prin- now they were crucial moments, each accompanied by prayer. cipal, leaving my son, and calling on my cell phone to post- Now they were escorted by an awareness of the absolute deci- pone my appointment, doubts began to attack my certainty. sive role they were playing in my children's lives and in mine. Driving back home I began to berate myself for my choice. They were moments, I believed, that were keeping me alive. How could I blow off an appointment just to buy my kid this In these prayers, though short and silent and barely dis- stupid ruler he needed for his stupid weekly math test? cernible, I desperately try to convince G-d of my indispens- By the time I pulled back into the parking lot in front of my ability. Like a lawyer I plead my case, beseeching the house, I was in turmoil and just sat there for a while. And sud- Almighty with the full intensity of my love for my children denly, from out of nowhere, I began to smile. And then my that in His mercy he allow me to fulfill my purpose for many, smile turned into a laugh. And then my laugh became a glow many more years. that emanated from my heart up to my head. For, you see, I have become like a tree. And just as that I realized that I was, in fact, quite proud of myself for the tree once supported my back as I leaned against it so do I now choice I had made. support my children as they lean against me. Just as the leaves shaded me from the bright, blistering sun, so do I provide pro- And I did in this moment what any father in my position tection and comfort to them in the midst of a world that some- would do: I began a conversation with G-d. times threatens to burn their sensitive skins. And just as the And I asked Him: Who needed me more at that moment? tree's canopy allowed the earth to retain sufficient moisture to To whom was my presence and attention the most crucial? nurture the green grass beneath it, so do I nurture my children Who else would've gone and bought my son that ruler? Who with the physical, emotional, and spiritual food they need for would have even cared? proper growth. My Woodstock prayer has been fulfilled.

Comment | Inner Dimensions | Story | Seasons of the Soul | A Day of Two Rebbes | Parshah | Week at Glance 11 www.Chabad.org Seasons of the soul The Human Tree understanding, from which branch out our feelings, motivations and deeds. And while the body of the tree also provides some of Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher its spiritual nurture, the bulk of our spiritual sustenance derives Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson from its roots, from our faith in and commitment to our Creator. A soul might grow a majestic trunk, numerous and wide- spreading branches, beautiful leaves and lush fruit. But these For man is a tree of the field must be equaled, indeed surpassed, by its roots. Above the surface, there might be much wisdom, profundity of feeling, abun- (Deuteronomy 20:19) dant experience, copious achievement and many disciples; but "Man is a tree of the field," and the Jewish calendar reserves if these are not grounded and vitalized by an even greater faith one day each year -- the New Year for Trees on the 15th of and commitment, it is a tree without foundation, a tree doomed Shevat -- for us to contemplate our affinity with our botanical to collapse under its own weight. analogue and what it can teach us about our own lives. On the other hand, a life might be blessed with only sparse The tree's primary components are: the roots, which anchor knowledge, meager feeling and experience, scant achievement it to the ground and supply it with water and other nutrients; the and little fruit. But if its roots are extensive and deep, it is a trunk, branches and leaves which comprise its body; and the healthy tree: a tree fully in possession of what it does have; a fruit, which contains the seeds by which the tree reproduces tree with the capacity to recover from the setbacks of life; a tree itself. with the potential to eventually grow and develop into a loftier, more beautiful and fruitful tree. The spiritual life of man also includes roots, a body, and fruit. The roots represent faith, our source of nurture and perseverance. The trunk, branches and leaves are the body of our Fruit and Seed spiritual lives -- our intellectual, emotional and practical The tree desires to reproduce, to spread its seeds far and achievements. The fruit is our power of spiritual procreation -- wide so that they take root in diverse and distant places. But the the power to influence others, to plant a seed in a fellow human tree's reach is limited to the extent of its own branches. It must being and see it sprout, grow and bear fruit. therefore seek out other, more mobile couriers to transport its seeds. Roots and Body So the tree produces fruit, in which its seeds are enveloped The roots are the least glamorous of the tree's parts, and the by tasty, colorful, sweet-smelling fibers and juices. The seeds most crucial. Buried underground, virtually invisible, they pos- themselves would not rouse the interest of animals and men; but sess neither the majesty of the tree's body, the colorfulness of its with their attractive packaging, they have no shortage of cus- leaves nor the tastiness of its fruit. But without roots, a tree can- tomers who, after consuming the external fruit, deposit the not survive. seeds in those diverse and distant places where the tree wants to plant its seeds. Furthermore, the roots must keep pace with the body: if the trunk and leaves of a tree grow and spread without a propor- When we communicate with others, we employ many tional increase in its roots, the tree will collapse under its own devices to make our message attractive. We buttress it with weight. On the other hand, a profusion of roots makes for a intellectual sophistication, steep it in emotional sauce, dress it healthier, stronger tree, even if it has a meager trunk and few in colorful words and images. But we should bear in mind that branches, leaves and fruit. And if the roots are sound, the tree this is only the packaging--the fruit that contains the seed. The will rejuvenate itself if its body is damaged or its branches cut seed itself is essentially tasteless--the only way that we can off. truly impact others is by conveying our own simple faith in what we are telling them, our own simple commitment to what Faith is the least glamorous of our spiritual faculties. we are espousing. Characterized by a simple conviction and commitment to one's Source, it lacks the sophistication of the intellect, the vivid If the seed is there, our message will take root in their minds color of the emotions, or the sense of satisfaction that comes and hearts, and our own vision will be grafted into theirs. But if from deed. And faith is buried underground, its true extent con- there is no seed, there will be no progeny to our effort, howev- cealed from others and even from ourselves. er tasty our fruit might be. Yet our faith, our supra-rational commitment to G-d, is the Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Yanki Tauber, [email protected] foundation of our entire tree. From it stems the trunk of our

Seasons of the Soul A Day of Two Rebbes compiled by Yanki Tauber Contents

"Yud Shevat" -- the 10th day of the Hebrew month of From the letters, diaries and talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Shevat (this year, Monday, February 2, 2004) -- is a most of Lubavitch: significant date on the Chassidic calendar. It is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the passing) of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950). It is also A Rebbe’s Education the day when, in 1951, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch with a historic maamar (dis- A Boy and a Calf course) and address at a farbrengen (chassidic gathering) marking the first anniversary of his predecessor's passing. "The The Point of Self Sacrifice"

To mark the occasion, we've assembled a collection of stories and diary entries chronicling the amazing life of Rabbi Monotheism Yosef Yitzchak, whose battle for the physical and spiritual life of the Jewish people pitted him against the Czarist regime in the first two decades of the 20th century, Stalin's The Rebbe's Prison Diary henchmen in the '20 and '30, the Nazi Holocaust, and the spiritual apathy of the "New World." Shevat 10, 1951: We've also included links to an anthology and a website presenting the life, times and teachings of our generation's Rebbe, who built upon the foundations laid by his prede- Love According to the Rebbe cessor and made "Chabad-Lubavitch" the force for Jewish renaissance it is today. About the Rebbe: For the complete Yud Shvat anthology, go to: http://www.chabad.org/magazine/article.asp?AID=108303 54 Years, 54 Ideas

www.theRebbe.org

Story

A Boy and a Calf I love to catch those moments on an afternoon preced- From the diary of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak ing Shabbat or a festival when Reb Dovid would head home Schneerson of Lubavitch from the bathhouse, his face aflame and the edge of his white shirt peeking out, his four sons surrounding and running after him. Another hour would find him humming a tune as walked with his four sons to the large synagogue At the age of eleven, the young Yosef Yitzchak began to where he prays. keep a diary in which he wrote faithfully for his entire life------time, often for several hours a day. He recorded his person- My parents were away for a time. I was staying at the al experiences as well as the wealth of Chassidic wisdom home of my grandmother, the Rebbetzin Rivkah. My ched- and lore which he absorbed while growing up in the White er studies were held in the home of Reb Yeshayahu Kamtier Russian town of Lubavitch, in the home of his father, the on Shileveh Street. Rebbe, and surrounded by the great chassidim of the time. The following excerpt was written when he was twelve At the time, the Lubavitch police force consisted of a years old and recounts an event which took place one year pristov, an uradnik, and three diesatniks, with another five earlier. diesatniks added on market days to help keep the peace. Following the guidance and instructions of my father, I And this is what happened: devoted my entire fortune - which at the time amounted to It was two o'clock in the afternoon of a day in Av 5651 some thirty rubles, received in reward for reviewing mish- (August or September, 1891), a market day. I was walking nayot (talmudic passages) by heart - to establish a free loan home from cheder for lunch together with my friend fund. I provide interest-free loans in small sums of three to Shimon, the son of Reb Shmuel the copywriter. The market five rubles to market people and to peddlers who made their square is jammed; also Shileveh Street on which we walk is rounds in the villages with bundles of flax, pelts, chickens, filled with carts, horses and peasants. eggs, onions and the like. We met Reb Dovid the butcher carrying a calf on his On the advice of my teacher Rabbi Nissan I keep shoulders, a small lamb in his arms, and a basket of chick- accounts. The days before and after the market day are my ens hanging in front of him. Noticing me, his face - black as business days, in which I distribute and collect the loans. an African's - lit up, and white teeth peeking out, he said: "I Among the "regulars" who frequently make use of my hope to G-d that I'll earn well today..." fund is Reb Dovid the butcher, nicknamed "Buckteeth Before he finished speaking, the police uradnik sudden- Dovid." Reb Dovid is a man of fifty, heading a family of ly sprang up beside him and struck him a blow across the eight souls, a frightful pauper who earns a living from the face. Blood ran down his nose. Seeing this, I yelled at the toil of his hands. No work in the world is too difficult for uradnik, "Drunk! Despicable one!" and I shoved him hard. him - be it in the scorching heat of summer, in a winter snowstorm, or in the rainy season - as long as he earns a few ------kopecks for his toil. Never does he complain about his mis- The uradnik cast upon me the libel that I had ripped off erable state and poverty. the brass badge sewn on his chest and interfered with the A simple man is he, this Reb Dovid: if he studied at carrying out of his duty, and instructed one of the diesatniks cheder during his childhood, he has already forgotten his to take me to the police station. Before I had a chance to learning. Aside from the prayers - including those of the utter a sound, a half-drunk peasant grabbed me with a festivals and the High Holy Days - the Psalms, the Passover coarse and powerful hand by my clothing and neck. haggadah and the Ethics of the Fathers, he doesn't know much. But he is a wholesome and honest man, and every day - save those that he works in the next village - he is The commotion in the market was at its peak, and with among the first ten men to make up the Psalm reciting soci- great difficulty we proceeded, pressed together, through the ety and the vatikin quorum to recite the morning prayers at crowd of people, carts, horses and other livestock. Because the crack of dawn.

Story before I could finish the thought I decided that no, I should A Boy and a Calf not say aneinu, nor al chait; in fact, I should not even say tachnun (the confession of sins recited in the daily prayers continued but omitted on festive occasions); on the contrary, the day on which the Almighty granted me the privilege to be imprisoned for defending the honor of a Jew should be a festival for me. With a feeling of joy I prayed the amidah with proper concentration, to the best of my knowledge and understanding. of the heaven-splitting sounds of the market, no one paid attention to me and my escort. After the minchah prayer, as I was reviewing the mishnayot of the order of Zero'im, I heard the sound of grunting We passed the market square, passed Chachlukeh Street, and flailing limbs, accompanied by a lengthy struggle. My and arrived at the station courtyard. The guard opened the knees were knocking together in fright, but I remembered gate and my escort handed me over to the officer on duty that my friend Shimon had been showing me the box of with notification that I have been arrested for the aforemen- matches he had bought for his brother Leib, and that in the tioned crimes. great confusion of what happened it had remained with me. The officer on duty received me with a wrathful face, I lit a match and saw a bound calf with a muzzle on his glared at me with contempt, awarded me a slap across the mouth lying in a corner, and my fear was calmed. face, grabbed me by the lobe of my ear, and led me to one ------of the cells. He opened the doors of a dark room, pushed me in, and locked it behind me. I finished reviewing the order of Zero'im, and proceeded with the order of Mo'ed. Before I could finish Mo'ed, I ------heard the sound of steps approaching the room of my And I, a terrible fear descended upon me. I also felt very imprisonment. Soon the door opened and I saw the officer hungry. But after a moment the thought flashed through my on duty. mind: why, I, too - just like my holy grandfathers - am sit- "Please forgive me," said the officer, "I did not know ting in prison! So I must occupy myself with words of that you are the nephew of Razoh." (All the townspeople, Torah. As I was already fluent in two volumes of also the non-Jews, called my uncle "Razoh", short for Rabbi Mishnayot, Zero'im and Mo'ed, I began to review them by Zalman Aharon.) "Now his honor the pristov has arrived heart. and has commanded to release you... Please, have mercy on Suddenly, I heard the sound of a drawn-out grunt; my me and do not tell them that I hit you and pulled you by the imagination ran wild and I trembled in terror. I strained to ear, I didn't do it in malice - only out of habit - why, no focus my thoughts on the words which I was reciting by blood ran from your nose, and none of your teeth fell out, rote and moved away from the corner from which the grunt so what's so terrible...?" and sounds of flailing came. I concentrated on reviewing of When we entered the pristov's room, Reb Dovid the mishnayot. butcher - bruised and beaten - already stood there together ------with the policeman who hit him, and the witnesses Reb Yoel the tin man and Shaul the wagon driver. To this day I remember the thoughts which ran through my mind at the time concerning the afternoon prayer of The police officer argued that the calf which Reb Dovid minchah. had been carrying was the calf which Reb Meir the butcher had purchased from his, the officer's, brother, and was Since I was sitting in the dark and did not know the hour, stolen from Reb Meir by Reb Dovid. This was why his I hurried to pray minchah. I said the ketoret and ashrei; hands had struck the face of the thief. "And this youth," he upon reaching the amidah I hesitated as to which version of said, indicating me "insulted me and ripped my badge." the prayer I should recite. Should I include aneinu, since I was in a state of distress, and say the confession of al chait The witnesses testified that Reb Dovid the Butcher had (most of which I knew by heart) in repentance, or not? But purchased the calf he was carrying.

Story recounted to him the entire incident of "Buckteeth Dovid " A Boy and a Calf and praised my strength of mind. Thanks to me, he said to father, Dovid's innocence and the policeman's guilt had continued been established, and the calf had been returned to Meir. My father said to me: "You did well to protect the dignity of an honest Jew. And if for that you suffered for a few hours, so what?" "Now it has also been demonstrated to you," father con- While they were still speaking, Mr. Mordechai tinued, "how good it is that you are fluent in mishnayot by Silverbeard - the servant of my uncle Razoh - entered and heart. Were it not for this knowledge, in what way were you handed a note to the pristov. Upon reading it, the police any better than - l'havdil - the calf of Meir the butcher, who chief said to Silverbeard: "You can take him, he is free of also sat in prison? But because you knew the mishnayot and any punishment." you reviewed them there, the hours of imprisonment passed ------with words of Torah and prayer, in which lie the advantage of man over beast." All my friends were waiting for me outside the station house. We walked together - I didn't want to ride in the Father's words remain engraved on my mind and heart: coach which was sent from our home - and I told them all Love and esteem every honest Jew, be he rich or poor in that happened to me. Torah. Protect the dignity of every Jew even if danger is involved. And always prepare "provisions for the way" - by When Mr. Silverbeard heard my story about the calf in learning by heart - in case of any mishap, so that no time the prison cell, he rushed to find Meir the butcher. Meir will be wasted without study of Torah. rushed to the station, where he found the pristov still pre- siding over the case of the police officer versus Reb Dovid, My father gave me ten rubles to add to my fund that I and said to the pristov: "I was told that a bound and muz- may increase my loan-granting activities. zled calf is lying in the jail of the police station." The pristov, who was in a bad temper - he had been forced to leave his company and his card game - stood up in a rage and went to investigate, followed by the station man- ager and the court clerk. Also Meir, Dovid and the witnesses trailed after them, to see if it is true about the calf in the jail cell. How amazed they all were to discover that it is indeed as Meir says, and that here indeed lies the calf which Meir had bought from the brother of the beating policeman. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the policeman and his brother had conspired to first sell the calf to Meir and then steal it from him. For a week the policeman sat in jail, after which he was brought to trial. Another wrongdoing of his was discovered and he was dismissed from his post. My friends later told me that five hours had gone by until the pristov was found in the company of Mr. Azmidov and Dr. Yermakov, engaged in their card game at the doc- tor's home. ------When my father returned from his trip my uncle Razoh

In the summer of 1920 I was summoned to the Tcheka - the name GPU was not yet in use at the time - of Rostov-on- My three guards sat behind me, left, right, and center. the-Don. The summons was carried out by the Judaism-hat- ing "Jewish section" of the communist party, the infamous One of those seated at the head of the table addressed me: Yevsektzia. "We are the members of the Party's Committee to Investigate Religions, now occupied in investigating the The summons was typical to the manner of the Tcheka. I Jewish religion. We have various questions. We have had not yet concluded the morning prayers (I was leading already summoned Rabbi Berman and Rabbi Goldenberg - the prayers myself, for it was within the year of mourning we asked what we asked and they answered what they after my holy father's passing) when the three emissaries answered. Now we have summoned Rabbi Schneerson to from the court of death entered the room - dressed in their resolve certain issues pertaining to Kabbalah and uniforms of red and black, rifles in hand, their belts filled Chassidism." with bullets and hung with a pair of revolvers and another pair of Cossack knives, with helmets of brass and their All this was said in the Russian language. faces aflame. They approached me and said: "You are summoned to immediately accompany us to the offices of the I answered in Yiddish: "I have already made it clear on the Tcheka." two former occasions on which I was summoned to the Tcheka that I will not budge from my principles. There is Two of the messengers were from the Yevsektzia and the yet to be born and never will there be born, the man or third a non-Jew. The two Jews wished to strip me of my tal- demon who will move me in the slightest degree from my lit and tefillin on the spot. When I told them that I must first principles..." finish my prayers - we were at the Monday supplement Vehu Rachum - and the study of mishnayot which follows, Before I finished my words I was interrupted by a "com- they let loose a barrage of curses and yelled at me to remove mittee member" seated on the right side of the table. He lift- my tallit and tefillin immediately. (Incidentally, one of them ed the revolver which lay on the table - in addition to the was a refugee from the city of Shavel who had come to me arms which they all wore on their belts, a revolver lay on for assistance. I had arranged a position for him at a ciga- the table before each of the assembled - and pointed it at rette business and later I had loaned him money to establish me, saying: "This toy does away with 'principles.' Fear of it a business of his own. For the next three years - up until the has opened many a mouth. Also the dumb have become revolution - he earned a respectable living.) Were it not for talkative before it." the intervention of their non-Jewish colleague, they would have forcefully interrupted my prayers. "You are utterly mistaken," I replied. "This toy impresses only the cowardly atheist, who has but a single world and When I finished reciting the final kaddish which follows the many gods (ein velt un asach getter) - every hedonist has his study of mishnayot, I removed my tallit and tefillin and many gods. But as for us, who have but a single G-d and went along with my armed guardians. One walked on my believe in two worlds, the toy which you are brandishing right, a second on my left, and a third behind me - in the not only fails to frighten, it makes no impression whatsoev- manner that those accused of treason against the regime are er." led.

When we arrived at the courtyard of death, they led me to a From the diary of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn; translation/adaptation by Yanki Tauber large chamber in which some fifteen persons sat along both sides of a long table. At the head of the table sat another two, and I was seated opposite them at the foot of the table.

insights Love According to the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

What if someone said to you, "I love you, but I don't like your children?" You'd probably say: "You may think that you love me, but you don't really. You don't care for what I care most deeply about. Obviously, you don't know anything about me, and you don't know what love is, either!" The Torah commands us to "Love your fellow as yourself." The Torah also tells us to "Love the L-rd your G-d." This prompted the disciples of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) to ask their master: "Which is the greater virtue, love of G-d or love of one's fellow?" Rabbi Schneur Zalman replied: The two are one and the same. He then explained: G-d loves every one of His chil- Chabad Rebbe had spoken of it seven generations earlier. dren. So ultimately, love of one's fellow is a greater show of Much had transpired in the interim: the "enlightenment" love for G-d than simply loving G-d. Because true love movement, which alienated many young Jews from their means that you love what your loved one loves. heritage; World War I, which displaced much of European Rabbi Schneur Zalman was the founder of the Chabad Jewry (in 1915, the town of Lubavitch was destroyed and the branch of Chassidism, and his teachings on the love of G-d fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe fled to the interior of Russia); and man form an integral part of the philosophy and ethos of Communism's war on Judaism (in 1927, the sixth Chabad. Following Rabbi Schneur Zalman's passing in 1812, Lubavitcher Rebbe was arrested for his efforts to preserve his son and successor, Rabbi DovBer, settled in the town of Jewish faith and practice throughout the Soviet empire, and Lubavitch which served as the movement's headquarters for sentenced to death; international pressure achieved his the next 102 years. Was it by coincidence or design that release and emigration from Russia); and the holocaust, Rabbi DovBer chose a place whose name means "Town of which terminated 1000 years of flourishing Jewish life in Love"? Lubavitchers (as Chabad Chassidim are also known) Europe. will simply answer that there's no such thing as "coinci- The destruction of European Jewry was a fresh memory dence", for even the seemingly minor events of our lives are to those present that winter evening in 1951 when the Rebbe guided by divine providence and are replete with signifi- assumed the mantle of leadership. Now they were in cance. America, physically safe, but the spiritual future seemed ------bleak. The "melting pot" ethos of the New World did not encourage the cultivation of a Jewish identity and the obser- On the 10th of Shevat, 5711 (January 17, 1951), a group vance of a Jewish way of life. of Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidim gathered at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York. The occasion was the first In Rabbi Schneur Zalman's day, it was universally anniversary of the passing of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef accepted that a Torah way of life was the actualization of the Yitzchak Schneersohn, and the official acceptance of the bond between a Jew and his/her Father in Heaven. In 1951, leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch by Rabbi Menachem the small minority of Torah-observant Jews in America were Mendel Schneerson, who from that evening on would be an object of contempt and derision by many of their own known as the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply, "the brethren. The most they could reasonably hope for was to Rebbe". persist in there own beliefs and try to pass them on to their children. That evening, the Rebbe also spoke about love -- about the interrelation between love of G-d and love of one's fel- So it was not as simple as, "I love you, but I don't like low. But the issue had become more complex since the first your children." The feelings of the typical Torah-committed

love of Torah and a love of his fellow, you must tell him that insights his love of G-d is incomplete. And if you see a person who has only a love for his fellow, you must strive to bring him Love According to the Rebbe to a love of Torah and a love of G-d -- that his love toward continued his fellows should not only be expressed in providing bread for the hungry and water for the thirsty, but also to bring them close to Torah and to G-d.

Jew in 1951 probably went something like this: "G-d, I love When we will have the three loves together, we will You and I love Your children -- those who act towards You as achieve the Redemption. For just as this last Galut (exile) children towards their father. I'm not that excited about those was caused by a lack of brotherly love, so shall the final and who disavow their bond with You." They might have even felt immediate Redemption be achieved by love for one's fel- that their love of G-d was purer because it excluded those low. "rebellious" children. That evening, after delivering the maamar (discourse of Chassidic teaching) which in the Chabad tradition marks a In the five ensuing decades, the Rebbe's words became Rebbe's formal acceptance of his role, the Rebbe smiled and the mission statement of thousands of Chabad Houses and said: The Talmud says that "When you come to a city, do as outreach centers throughout the world. More significantly, its custom." Here in America it is customary to "make a state- they heralded a sea change in the way that Jews regarded ment"; I guess this means we should follow the local custom. their heritage, their G-d, and each other. It is no exaggera- tion to say that the "statement" issued that evening by a 48- So the Rebbe issued a "statement": year-old holocaust survivor changed the face of world The three loves -- love of G-d, love of Torah and love of Jewry. one's fellow -- are one. One cannot differentiate between them, for they are of a single essence... And since they are of a single essence, each one embodies all three. By Yanki Tauber, [email protected], based on the teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson The Rebbe went on to explain that the fact that "each one embodies all three" has a twofold implication. It means that unless all three loves are present, neither of them is complete. But it also means that where any one of the three exist, it will eventually bring about all three. A person who loves G-d, and is open to this love, will eventually come to love what G-d loves -- all His children. And his love will drive him to wish to bring G-d's children close to Torah -- because that's what G-d loves. One who loves the Torah, will eventually internalize the recognition that the Torah's purpose and raison d'etre is to lovingly bring together G-d and all His children. And one who truly loves a fellow Jew will inevitably come to love G-d, since love of one's fellow is, in essence, the love of G-d; and he will be driven to bring his fellow Jews close to Torah, which is the expression and actualization of their bond with G-d.

When there is love of G-d but not love of Torah and love of Israel, this means that the love of G-d is also lacking. On the other hand, when there is love of a fellow Jew, this will eventually bring also a love of Torah and a love of G-d...

So if you see a person who has a love of G-d but lacks a

Beshalach Exodus 13:17-17:16 Week of February1-7, 2004

Soon after allowing the Children of Israel to depart from Egypt, Pharaoh chases after them to force their return, and the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh's armies and the sea. G-d tells Moses to raise his staff over the water; the sea splits to allow the Israelites to pass through, and then closes over the pursuing Egyptians. Moses and the Children of Israel sing a song of praise and gratitude to G-d.

In the desert, the people suffer thirst and hunger and repeat- edly complain to Moses and Aaron. G-d miraculously sweetens the bitter waters of Marah, and later has Moses bring forth water from a rock by striking it with his staff; He causes manna to rain down from the heavens before dawn each morning, and quails to appear in the Israelite camp each evening.

The Children of Israel are instructed to gather a double portion of manna on Friday, as none will descend on Shabbat, the divinely decreed day of rest. Some disobey and go to gather manna on the seventh day, but find nothing. Aaron preserves a small quantity of manna in a jar, as a testimony for future generations.

In Rephidim, the people are attacked by the Amalekites, who are defeated by Moses' prayers and an army raised by Joshua.

entirety of creation: at the time of the creation of the world FROM THE CHASSIDIC MASTERS all the objects of nature were created on the condition that they obeyed the will of the righteous, even if it ran counter Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi to their normal physical laws. Furthermore, says the Baal Menachem M. Schneerson Shem Tov, if they did not do so, not only would they cease to exist -- it would be as if they had never been created. In other words, had the Red Sea not divided, it would not only The Anatomy of a Miracle never have water again, its entire previous existence would be obliterated. After describing how the Red Sea split to allow the Children of Israel to pass through its divided waters, the Hence the verse tells us that "the sea returned to its Torah relates: strength." In fulfilling of its agreement with G-d, it both assured its future continuity and at the same time ratified its And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea; and past existence. the sea returned to its strength at the turning of the morning... This point may be difficult for us to understand. For though we can imagine what it is for something to be obliterated, Noting that the Hebrew word l'eitano ("to its strength") is surely its past existence is an objective fact, which cannot comprised of the same letters as the word litna'o ("to its be retroactively removed? stipulation"), the Midrash says: The mental block we have in comprehending this possibili- On the third day of creation, when G-d made the dry ty is due to a two-fold secular conception to which our land emerge from the waters and caused the waters minds tenaciously cling: firstly, that objects have a real and to be gathered together into one place, forming from independent existence, and secondly, that our time-scheme them the sea, He stipulated with the sea that it should (in which we cannot reach back and change the past) is the split to allow the Israelites to pass through it on dry only possible one. Both conceptions are false in Judaism. In land and then overwhelm the Egyptians. Hence, the the first instance, objects only exist because G-d continual- verse can be interpreted to read: "And the sea ly creates them; in the second instance, time is a human returned to its stipulation." conception, one by which G-d is not bound (indeed, one which G-d created and so, obviously, can stand aside from). This is one difficulty, however, with this interpretation: the above verse refers not to the sea's fulfillment of the imper- It therefore follows that if G-d decides to "uncreate" some- ative to divide, but to its returning to its former state. Yet thing, it is retroactively divested of its entire (i.e., past as wasn't the most important part of the "stipulation" that sea well as future) being. should, contrary to its nature, divide its waters? "Returning to its strength" seem to be little more than a resumption of Hence, the term which the Midrash reads into the verse is its natural state. "stipulation." The closest analogy in human terms to the sea's state of existence (and that of the entire created reali- One of the commentaries on the Midrash suggests an expla- ty) is that of a conditional legal agreement. If the condition nation based on the Talmudic account of a similar miracle. is not fulfilled, it is not that the agreement suddenly termi- In the Talmud (Chulin 7a), Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair tells the nates, but rather that this establishes that the agreement River Ginnai to divide its waters; when it refuses, he says to never came into being in the first place. it: "If you do not do so, I will decree that no water shall flow in you for ever." If the same were true of the Red Sea, then The Strengthening of the Sea its returning to its former strength would be evidence of its having fulfilled its agreement with G-d. But why did G-d need to make an agreement with the sea, and why particularly at the moment when it was created? A Conditional World His power over His creations is unlimited; certainly, He could have divided the sea when He wanted, with or with- Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov extended this principle to the

Comment | Inner Dimensions | Story | Seasons of the Soul | A Day of Two Rebbes | Parshah | Week at Glance 21 www.Chabad.org Miriam’s Song FROM THE CHASSIDIC MASTERS The womanly strain in the "Song at the Sea" continued out its "consent"! And Miriam the prophetess ... took the tambourine in her hand; and all the women followed her with tambourines The answer to that is to be found in the verse's use of the and dances. term "strength" (l'eitano) to allude to the sea's "stipulation" (litna'o). One might think that the fact that the sea's creation And Miriam called to them: Sing to G-d.... was "conditional" would mean that its existence is less real; in truth, however, the very opposite is the case: this is the Exodus 15:20-21 source of its true "strength" and viability. We don't sing when we are frightened, despairing, sleepy, or In his commentary on the first verse of Genesis, Rashi's after a heavy meal. We sing when we are pining after one interprets the phrase bereishit ("in the beginning") to imply whom we love, when we are yearning for better times, that the world was created "for the sake of Israel and the when we are celebrating an achievement or anticipating a Torah." This can be understood on two levels. In the more revelation. simplistic sense, this means that the entirety of creation exists to allow and enable the people of Israel to perform G- We don't sing when we are complacent. We sing when we d's will on earth. A deeper understanding is that through are striving for something, or when we have tasted joy and Israel's fulfillment of the divine purpose in creation, the are climbing it to the heavens. world itself is sanctified into becoming a "dwelling-place" for G-d and thus brought to its own fulfillment. Song is prayer, the endeavor to rise above the petty cares of life and cleave to one's source. Song is the quest for If the world would have been created as a something which redemption. must subsequently be "forced" to accommodate Israel's mission, its own "natural" existence would be finite and The Midrash enumerates ten preeminent songs in the histo- temporal, nothing more than a "background" or "setting" for ry of Israel--ten occasions on which our experience of -- even, at times, an obstacle to -- the unfolding of the redemption found expression in melody and verse. The first divine purpose. But by stipulating at the outset that physical nine were: the song sung on the night of the Exodus in objects should change their nature when it was necessary Egypt (Isaiah 30:29), the "Song at the Sea" (Exodus 15:1- for the sake of Israel's implementation of the Torah, G-d 21), the "Song at the Well" (Numbers 21:17-20), Moses' wrote this miraculous possibility into their very constitu- song upon his completion of writing the Torah tion. This means that when miracles occurred, this would (Deuteronomy 31-32), the song with which Joshua stopped not be an interruption of their natural existence, but its con- the sun (Joshua 10:12-13), Deborah's song (Judges 5), King tinuation and fulfillment. David's song (II Samuel 22), the song at the dedication of the Holy Temple (Psalms 30), and King Solomon's Song of This makes their existence of an entirely different order. Songs extolling the love between the Divine Groom and His They become not things which exist for a while and then bride Israel. pass away; but rather things whose destiny is (by the very nature of their creation) linked with the miraculous and The tenth song, says the Midrash, will be the shir chadash, eternal existence of Israel and their miraculous and eternal the "New Song" of the ultimate redemption: a redemption realization of the divine purpose. that is global and absolute; a redemption that will annihilate all suffering, ignorance, jealousy and hate from the face of the earth; a redemption of such proportions that the yearn- From Torah Studies (Kehot 1986), an adaptation of the Lubavitcher ing it evokes, and the joy it brings, require a new song--a Rebbe's talks by Britain's Chief Rabbi, Dr.Jonathan Sacks completely new musical vocabulary--to capture the voice of Creations ultimate striving.

FROM THE CHASSIDIC MASTERS continued For it was Miriam, with her deep well of feminine feeling, who truly experienced the bitterness of galut (exile and per- secution). And it was Miriam, with her woman's capacity for endurance, perseverance and hope, who stood lonely watch over the tender, fledging life in a basket at the edge Encore of a mammoth river; whose vigilance over what would become of him and his mission to bring redemption to her The most well known of the ten songs of redemption is people never faltered. Shirat HaYam, the "Song at the Sea" sung by Moses and the children of Israel upon their crossing of the Red Sea. We The image of the young woman standing watch in the recite this song every day in our morning prayers, and pub- thicket of rushes at the edge of the Nile, the hope of licly read it in the synagogue twice a year: on the seventh redemption persevering against the bitterness of galut in her day of Passover (the anniversary of the splitting of the sea heart, evokes the image of another watching matriarch-- and the song's composition), and on a mid-winter Shabbat Rachel. As the prophet Jeremiah describes it, it is Rachel in the course of the annual Torah-reading cycle--a Shabbat who, in her lonely grave on the road from Bethlehem to which is therefore distinguished with the name Shabbat Jerusalem, weeps over her children's suffering in galut. It is Shirah, "Shabbat of Song." she, more than the male patriarchs or leaders of Israel, who feels the depth of our pain; it is her intervention before G- The Song at the Sea praises G-d for His miraculous redemp- d, after theirs has failed, which brings the redemption. tion of Israel when He split the Red Sea for them and drowned the pursuing Egyptians in it, and expresses Israel's Miriam and her chorus brought to the Song at the Sea the desire that G-d lead them to their homeland and rest His intensity of feeling and depth of faith unique to womankind. presence amongst them in the Holy Temple. It concludes Their experience of the bitterness of galut had been far with a reference to the ultimate redemption, when "G-d will more intense than that of their menfolk, yet their faith had reign for all eternity." been stronger and more enduring. So their yearning for redemption had been that much more poignant, as was their Actually, there are two versions of the Song at the Sea--a joy over its realization and their striving towards its greater male version and a female version. After Moses and the fulfillment. children of Israel sang their song, "Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambourine in her hand; and all Today the women followed her with tambourines and dances. And Miriam called to them: 'Sing to G-d, for He is most exalted; The great Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria writes that the last horse and rider He cast in the sea...'" generation before the coming of Moshiach is the reincarna- tion of the generation of the Exodus. The men sang, and then the women. The men sang, and then the women sang, danced and tambourined. The men sang-- Today, as we stand at the threshold of the ultimate redemp- sang their joy over their deliverance, sang their yearning for tion, it is once again the woman whose song is the most a more perfect redemption--but something was lacking. poignant, whose tambourine is the most hopeful, whose Something that only a woman's song could complete. dance is the most joyous. Today, as then, the redemption will be realized in the merit of righteous women. Today, as Feeling and Faith then, the womans yearning for Moshiach--a yearning which runs deeper than that of the man, and inspires and uplifts it- Miriam, the elder sister of Moses and Aaron, presided over -forms the dominant strain in the melody of redemption. the female encore to the Song at the Sea. Miriam, who was named "Bitterness" because at the time of her birth the peo- Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Yanki ple of Israel entered the harshest phase of the Egyptian Tauber, [email protected] exile; Miriam, who when the infant Moses was placed in a basket at the banks of the Nile, "stood watch from afar, to see what would become of him" ( Exodus 2:4).

week at a glance T h u r s d a y Shevat 13 | Febrary 5 On This Date: Passing of Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah Schneersohn (1942)

S u n d a y Shevat 9 | February 1 Wife of the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer On This Date: "Moshiach's Torah Scroll" completed Schneersohn, and mother of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef (1970) Yitzchak, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah (1860-1942) lived through the upheavals of the first half of the 20th century. The writing of the "Sefer Torah for the Greeting of She fled the advancing front of World War I from Lubavitch Moshiach," initiated at the behest of the 6th Lubavitcher to Rostov, where her husband passed away in 1920 at age Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1942, was 59. In 1927, she witnessed the arrest of her son by Stalin's concluded 28 years later at a special gathering convened henchmen the night he was taken away and sentenced to by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on Friday afternoon, the 9th of death, G-d forbid, for his efforts to keep Judaism alive Shevat, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Rabbi Yosef throughout the Soviet empire. After Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's Yitzchak's passing. release, the family resettled in Latvia and later, Poland; in 1940, they survived the bombing of Warsaw, were rescued from Nazi-occupied city, and emigrated to the United States. Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah passed away in New M o n d a y Shevat 10 | February 2 York on the 13th of Shevat of 1942. On This Date: Passing of Rebbetzin Rivkah (1914)

Rebbetzin Rivkah Schneerson was born in Lubavitch in 1833; her maternal grandfather was Rabbi DovBer, the F r i d a y Shevat 14 | February 6 2nd Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch. In 1849 she married her first cousin, Rabbi Shmuel, who later became the fourth LIGHT SHABBAT CANDLES BEFORE SUNSET Lubavitcher Rebbe. For many years Rebbetzin Rivkah, www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp who survived her husband by 33 years, was the esteemed matriarch of Lubavitch, and Chassidim frequented her home to listen to her accounts of the early years of Lubavitch. She is the source of many of the stories record- S h a b b a t Shevat15 | February 7 ed in the talks, letters and memoirs of her grandson, Rabbi Torah reading: Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) Yosef Yitzchak (the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe). The Beth Haftarah: U'Devorah Ishah Neviah (the "Song of Rivkah network of girls' schools, founded by Rabbi Yosef Deborah," Judges 4) Yitzchak in the 1940's, are named after her. Laws & Customs: “New Year for Trees”; Shabbat of Song yahrtzeit of R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1950) The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitchak This week's Torah reading contains the “song at the Schneersohn, passed away on Shabbat morning, the 10th sea"”sung by the Children of Israel upon their deliverance of Shevat, of the year 5710 from creation (1950) from the Egyptians when the Red Sea split to allow them to pass and then drowned their pursuers; hence this Lubavitcher Rebbe formally assumes leadership Shabbat is designated as Shabbat Shirah, "Shabbat of (1951) song." Our sages tell us that the birds in the sky joined our At a gathering of Chassidim marking the first anniversary ancestors in their singing; for this reason it is customary to of the passing of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the late put out food for the birds for this Shabbat (to avoid the pos- Rebbe's son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel sibility of transgressing the laws of Shabbat, the food Schneerson, delivered a Chassidic discourse (maamar) should be put out before Shabbat). entitled Basi L'Gani ("I Came into My Garden"), signifying his formal acceptence of the leadership of the Chabad- Lubavitch movement.

Laws & Customs: “Yud Shevat” observances Chabad Chassidim observe the customs of the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the passing) of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), as established by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who succeeded him as Rebbe following his passing on the 10th of Shevat in 1950.