Rabbi's weekly Blog

Professor Avner Chai Shaki z”l was one of the people whom I enjoyed listening to. As a child, I would listen to every word of his speeches when he would come to Kfar Chabad, mesmerized by his pathos and by his throaty ayins and chets and rolling reishes.

I remember vividly how he told about being invited to the Rebbe in 1972. It was after he had stuck to the Torah principles and acted against the government of which he was a partner, as well as against his own party, the Mafdal (the National Religious Party), by voting for the amendment to the Law of Return, known as “Who Is a Jew.” His colleagues were very upset with him and he was forced out of the Mafdal, becoming a lone member of the Knesset in a party all his own.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe sent the lawyer Yechiel Gartner to him, with an invitation to come to Brooklyn. When he visited the Rebbe, the Rebbe supported him for having been strong enough to vote as his conscience dictated. Prof. Shaki told of this episode in his speech, given after he had gone back to being the head of the Mafdal and the Minister of Religions: “The Rebbe said to me, a true athlete takes a few steps backwards when he is about to leap forwards. Right now you are at the stage of having taken a few steps backwards.” And then the Rebbe added: “You had to resign from your position, but nevertheless you will return with great honor, and become a minister!”

The Torah describes a similar situation at the end of parashat Pekudei: “And the cloud covered Ohel Moed… and Moshe could not come to Ohel Moed.” The cloud of Hashem rested on Ohel Moed – the Mishkan, which was then the House of Hashem, so much so that Moshe Rabbeinu could not enter it, as he was used to do. This was a situation of Hashem’s hiding Himself from him. Moshe, who was accustomed to experiencing revelations of the Shechinah, suddenly couldn’t enter.

But a short time later, right at the beginning of parashat Vayikra, Hashem calls to Moshe, and, as Rashi says, it was a call of affection towards him. In other words, the period of hiding was over, and was replaced by revelation and favor.

Because this is how it works: before a revelation, and especially a revelation of affection and light, there is a hiding period. As the saying goes, “The darkest hour is before dawn.” But whoever knows to take the broad view and is patient will not become frightened by the moments of difficulties, darkness and hiding of the face. Because after the hiding comes the revelation, just like with the athlete.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski

I have this habit: when I land in an unfamiliar city, I try to avoid taking a taxi, preferring to use public transportation to reach my destination. There is something pleasant, interesting and even exciting in coming into contact with the local population, and viewing the people and their lives from close up. Plus, getting along on one’s own in a strange place is a nice challenge.

I did it few years ago in Milan. The Cadorna station in the center of town was not overfull. The people seemed calm; they weren’t rushing or running. Perhaps because it was a Sunday and perhaps because this was Italy, and in Italy, as anyone who has ever flown Alitalia knows, no one is in a rush.

Something special caught my eye. A number of parents of young children brought them to the large metro map posted on the station’s wall, and with notable patience explained to the boy or girl how the map is constructed, where they are, where they need to go, and which metro line they should take. As a father of children myself I liked this very much (in fact, I missed the train because I was so interested… but, Italy being Italy, there was time). I am assuming that these parents teach their children the relevant, important values for them, for life, and still, there they were, investing time and patience in teaching their children something so small and technical: how to find your way in the metro.

Why was I reminded of this? Because this week in the Parasha, in the summary of the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), it says, “And all wise-hearted among you will come and do everything that Hashem commanded.” And immediately after that the Torah lists all the implements that those wise-hearted artisans made. A special talent for craftsmanship was necessary in order to make the components of the Mishkan – from the Menorah, the Table and the Altar, to the wooden panels, including the ornate cloth covers of the Mishkan. One needed very talented artisans, described by the Torah as “wise-hearted.”

On Shabbat Parashat Vayakhel of 1977 (5737), in a Hitva’adut in front of a large group of Chassidim, the Rebbe focused on these Psukim and noted an extremely interesting and curious fact: among the components of the Mishkan that needed to be made by the wise-hearted were also the “pegs of the Mishkan and the pegs of the courtyard.” A tent peg is a very important thing – it is the peg that in the end tightens, strengthens and stabilizes the entire Mishkan. But the peg, in itself, doesn’t seem to be so complicated to make, and certainly there is no need for it to be made by a wise-hearted person. And yet, the Torah says specifically, that the pegs, too, should be made by the wise-hearted.

There is a great message here, said the Rebbe this week 39 years ago. When you educate a child, whether he is your child or a child handed over to you to teach in a school, you are invested with the task of building and forming that child’s personality: teaching him to tell good from bad, positive from negative; educating him regarding priorities in life and how to use the tools we have received from Hashem to best advantage, in order to correct the world around us. This is a great task, for which artisanship is obviously necessary. We need a “wise-hearted” to be involved in it. If the Torah demanded that the wise-hearted make the pegs as well, that is a message for us, that the education and the building of a child’s personality should not relate only to big and lofty values and ideals, but also to the simple, technical details, like pegs. For in the end, that simple peg is what upholds that entire structure.

May we be successful…

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski

One of the most wonderful things encountered by anyone who studies the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s teachings is that gradually, as one studies and deepens one’s understanding of what he is saying, a person’s way of thinking changes; the viewpoint becomes completely altered. Anyone who looks at the Rebbe and his Chassidim and their doings will say immediately: The Rebbe is a revolutionary. But only someone who has actually learned his teachings will understand how deep and fundamental this revolution is, down to the smallest detail.

I call it “holism”. The Rebbe’s outlook on the world consists of a holistic approach; an approach that encompasses everything, connects everything precisely, without ignoring anything or rounding off any corners.

Usually this unique way of thinking is not written down as part of an article devoted to faith, or a talk about life in general. Rather, these matters are brought forth as clear, simple basic assumptions as the Rebbe discusses his Torah ideas. As I mentioned in the opening above, as one learns, one’s actual thinking changes. When I studied the Rebbe’s talk for Parashat Ki Tisa (Likutei Sichot 21, 3) I came upon, among other things, such a “basic assumption.”

The Rebbe analyzes the sin of the Golden Calf and the pardon that Mosh Rabbeinu requests from the Creator. First, the Rebbe wonders: How can there be a reality of sin at all? Why should a person sin? On the basis of his understanding of this point, he explains the pardon that Moshe seeks and the advice that Hashem gives him as to how to achieve it. The analysis starts out with the first assumption that we say every morning: “He Who renews in His goodness every day, always, the Creation Work.” And he asks: A Jew who knows and believes that the Creator renews and rejuvenates the world every minute, how could he possibly act against Hashem’s will – Hashem, who is keeping him alive right now and the next minute as well? A person might say that he has obstacles and things that hold him back – in other words, the world and the reality around me prevent me from serving Hashem! But that can’t be – and here we encounter that point of unique thinking that I’ve mentioned – “for, being a believer, the son of a believer, he knows for sure that even those things that are interfering with his life, they too were created ex nihilo, and so it would not be right to describe them as being truly created as contradictions to the will of Hashem! How could they really be obstacles to Yiddishkeit, to the Creator’s will, when they themselves were created right this minute by Hashem Himself?”

(The answer to this question about sin is “forgetfulness”. While sinning, Jews simply forget Hashem, Who is keeping them alive.)

This is the right moment to stop, look around, reassess our situation, examine our “obstacles and things that hold us back”, those things that interfere with our ability to do what should be done – and to think. To look into the Rebbe’s words and to ask ourselves: How could this really interfere – when it has been created this minute by Hashem?

With such a way of thinking, we will be able to cope much better with everything that is happening around us.

The New Age people will say it’s positive thinking.

The Chabadniks will explain that it’s actually redemptional thinking.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski