Dear Friends,
“So, you came to get some Chizuk (strengthening) at the Rebbe’s?” my friend Avi asked me/stated last Friday.
“One comes here in order to get reprimanded,” I answered. A Chassid who comes to his Rebbe knows that this is a place – and also a moment – of truth, and truth has its demands! “O.K.,” said Avi. “I get reprimanded all year round in my community. I come here to get strengthened.”
Truth, by the way, always brings up the dilemma: Should one go to the Rebbe and be strengthened, or should one stay in the place of Shlichut and help yet another person?
This dilemma troubles my friends, the Shluchim. Some came to New York for the Shabbat of the 3rd of Tammuz, in honor of its being 21 years since the Rebbe’s passing, to recharge themselves and get strengthened, while some of them remained at their posts in order to continue to give of themselves there.
It is interesting that it was on the Shabbat of Parashat Chukat that the Rebbe stressed the importance of maintaining a balance:
Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded to leave some of the ashes of the Parah Adumah (Red Heifer, which purifies those who are spiritually impure) “for safekeeping for your generations.” The Rebbe sees this as conveying a deep message of the importance of balance:
When a person thinks to put everything into helping others and nothing else, the “safekeeping” tells him: “Look, if you don’t take care of yourself as well, you will be in need of the ashes of the Parah Adumah.” In other words, a person who does not care for himself might come to a situation of spiritual impurity.
So it is with everything else as well. It is important to help others, it is a mitzvah to support another person; but sometimes you must also stop, regain strength and recharge yourself in order to maintain your balance, because only that way can you continue to give.
Shabbat Shalom,
Zalmen Wishedski