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“When
It Comes To Faith, He’s Just Like My Bubbe!”
By
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Ginsberg
There
is a famous story told about an encounter between the Rebbe Melech
HaMoshiach shlita and a certain professor who was
considered a leading authority in several areas of science. This
professor was also a vocal advocate of the political far left.
The
professor had heard many stories about the Rebbe’s knowledge of
scientific matters from several colleagues who had met the Rebbe
in person and were extremely impressed. Time and again they had
urged him to go to the Rebbe and see for himself.
The
professor found it hard to believe that a Chassidic Rebbe could be
so open to what the modern world had to offer, but eventually he
made an appointment for a yechidus. He resolved that he
would speak to the Rebbe, but fully expected that the meeting
would fail to impress him.
Of
course, like so many before him, he left the yechidus
stunned by the experience. When the bachurim in 770 begged
him for details, he related the following:
“Before
I entered the Rebbe’s room I had resolved not to be impressed,
but as you can see, I have never been so excited. The Rebbe
impressed me in a way that no other person in the world has ever
done!
“The
Rebbe began the conversation by bringing up a certain scientific
topic for which I have a tremendous interest. In fact, I have
researched this topic for years, and am considered the number one
expert in the field. Only a handful of people have even the
slightest notion of what it involves. I was shocked to find that
the Rebbe was completely conversant on the subject, down to the
latest scientific discoveries. His comments not only impressed me
with their depth and scholarship but with their striking
simplicity and logic.
“From
that topic we moved on to another, and again I was struck by the
Rebbe’s breadth of knowledge. This happened time and time again,
no matter which subject we talked about.
“My
initial plan, that I would once and for all prove to my colleagues
that their estimation of the Rebbe was exaggerated, evaporated
completely. I felt like a dwarf in the presence of a giant. Here I
was, a world renowned professor, and I felt like a child –
discussing the very same topics about which I am supposed to be
the expert!”
The
professor paused for a moment, as if finding what he was about to
say difficult to articulate.
“But
I must tell you that your Rebbe does have one major shortcoming.
It was amazing! No matter which scientific topic was under
discussion, he was ‘progressive’ and enlightened. But the
minute the conversation turned to faith, I saw that he believes in
every single world and letter – just like my bubbe, a
simple old woman who doesn’t know anything!”
*
* *
In
connection with Chaf Av, the yom hilula of the Rebbe’s
saintly father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, o.b.m., I present
the following excerpt from a letter written to his son, the Rebbe
MH”M. (The complete letter is printed in Igros Levi Yitzchak;
the excerpt is on page 263.) In addition to expressing Rav Levi
Yitzchak’s unique blending of all aspects of Torah into a
comprehensive whole, it also emphasizes the concept of emuna in
every little “dot and crown” of our G-d-given Torah, whereby
each detail complements and perfects the others:
“In
short, do not imagine that the process of argument and debate as
engaged in by the Sages of the Mishna and Talmud and those who
followed…falls into the category of regular human intellectual
pursuit. No, it is not that at all… Rather, each of the Sages
perceived the Torah’s wisdom as it exists Above, according to
the source of his soul and his individual portion in Torah,
whether in halacha or Aggada.
“There
is absolutely no doubt that everything in both the Oral and
Written Torah, and in all the s’farim written by the chachomim
and tzaddikim, who studied Torah for its own
sake…everything was said by G-d Himself, in that particular and
exact wording.”
Our
Torah is described as “Torah t’mima,” a
complete and perfect entity that does not require any
“apologies” to make it palatable to the world. This is the
basis of all Yiddishkeit — that every single letter and
“crown” of the Torah is Divine. Indeed, it was this belief
that the early proponents of the German Enlightenment, who coined
the phrase, “Be a man in the street and a Jew in your tent,”
could simply not tolerate.
There
are many stories told about Shimon the Heretic of Zamot, who was
sent by the Maskilim to infiltrate religious circles and
ensnare unsuspecting Jewish souls. In his battle against “those
who experience hallucinations, the Chassidim of the Rebbe of
Liozna,” he advised that religious youth be given “a reading
list of books that ridicule the devout – those who believe in
angels, the evil eye, demons, and spirits – for the purpose of
uprooting the ignorance implanted in them by their totally
ignorant melamdim.”
When
the heretic met the Alter Rebbe in person, the Alter Rebbe asked
him how he interpreted the verse in Chumash, “And
Yitzchak trembled very much.” Certainly not according to
Rashi’s second explanation, the heretic replied, i.e., that
Yitzchak “saw Gehinom opening up before him.” “The
developing minds of children should not be subjected to Aggadic
tales, especially frightening ones about Gehinom and the
like,” Shimon insisted. At that, the Alter Rebbe declared that
he had fallen into a heresy of such magnitude that no one had ever
emerged from it.
In
a letter to his fellow Maskilim describing the Chassidim,
Shimon wrote that even the simplest woman would wash her hands
three times and dry them with a towel before uttering a word from
the Rebbe. Realizing that pure and simple faith was the “secret
weapon” of the Chassidim, he devised various strategies to
uproot it; “otherwise,” he wrote, “all our efforts will be
in vain.”
*
* *
Throughout
the generations, our Rebbeim have fought valiantly against
changing the traditional method of Jewish education even a
hairsbreadth, insisting on the old-style melamed with his
lessons in phonics as a way of instilling an awareness and
appreciation for the holiness of the Hebrew letters. “Miracle
stories” have also always formed an integral part of a
traditional Jewish chinuch.
The
Rebbe Rayatz’s memoirs, like his reshimos and sichos
kodesh, are replete with stories about tzaddikim and
their “mofsim,” and yes, with spirits and demons, too.
The reason is that such stories inspire the Jewish heart with
faith that transcends the human intellect, and convey an awareness
of holiness that no one need defend.
For
when all is said and done, the “antidote” to all the illnesses
of our present era, and indeed, the basic principle of Chassidus,
is simple faith. For it is the only foundation upon which the
entire edifice of Yiddishkeit can stand without toppling.
The
following is a free translation of the Rebbe Rayatz’s “Kol
Korei” dated 16 Sivan 5701 (1941), which I believe is
particularly timely:
To
those who oppose and fight us! (“Answer a fool according to his
folly”):
In
reaction to our call and warning of “l’alter l’Geula”
(“immediately to the Redemption”), you have responded with the
ridiculous yet terrible rejoinder that such is the stuff of
missionaries!
What
has happened to you? Where is your knowledge of Jewish concepts?
What is it that you believe in? Indeed, you are making a dire and
foolish mistake. How can you ascribe one of the most fundamental
beliefs in Judaism, the belief in the coming of Moshiach, to the
nations of the world, just because they mention it (in their own
way) in their preaching? Would you also surrender Shabbos, taharas
ha’mishpacha, t’fillin, and tzitzis if the
Christian missionaries began advocating them, too?
Do
you really not know that the belief in the coming of Moshiach is
one of the fundamentals of our holy Torah, the foundation of all
[the writings of] our Prophets and Sages?
Do
you truly wish to influence the masses of Jews to stop believing
in Moshiach’s coming, as you are doing, by telling them that it
is “treif” – just because the missionaries talk about
a “Christian Messiah?”
Will
you ever be able to redeem yourselves and do teshuva for
such a terrible sin? Making the belief in Moshiach loathsome to
the masses of Jews, based on a stupid and fictitious argument?
Nadav
and Avihu, the two sons of Aharon HaKohen, offered a “strange
fire” upon the altar of Israel and were burned for it. They
received the greatest punishment, G-d forbid, because they
introduced a strange fire to a place where only a G-dly, holy fire
should have been. About this, the Torah warns us, “I will
sanctify Myself in them that come near to Me.” For such a grave
transgression there is no forgiveness, even for holy people like
Nadav and Avihu, the two sons of Aharon.
In
your quest to defile the holy fire of belief in the Redeemer’s
coming you are now doing the same thing, to our great misfortune,
by introducing your own “strange fire.” Do you really want to
bring upon yourselves the same terrible punishment, the burning of
the soul and the demise of the body, G-d forbid?
Do
you not believe that Moshiach will come, our Jewish Moshiach, the
one foretold of by our Prophets in the Tanach and by our
Sages in the holy Gemara?
To
those who oppose us, I respond in the words of the wisest of all
men, “Answer a fool according to his folly”: 1) You must
obviously be hoping that our words will be revealed as fraudulent
and that Moshiach will not come in the near future, just to
prove that you alone are the wise and religious ones, and
in order to retain your control over the Jewish people. But aside
from the fact that you will be sorely disappointed, you should
even now be ashamed of yourselves for opposing our Kol Korei.
No intelligent person will ever believe that you pray to the
Creator to send Moshiach, and you have already demonstrated your
dishonor and shame by opposing those who recognize the truth
better than you!
2)
By disseminating the false, criminal, and ridiculous idea
that to inform Jews of the imminent coming of Moshiach is “the
stuff of missionaries,” very soon you will be forced to include
on the list of “missionaries” (G-d forbid) the true and final
Herald of the Redemption, Eliyahu HaNavi, who will imminently be
confirming our Kol Korei. No doubt you will neglect to ask
him how he knows [about the Redemption], just as you neglected to
ask us, and he will certainly not approach you before he has
approached the rest of the Jewish people.
3)
You assume that your battle will bring you the reputation
of being wise and practical religious leaders, but your illogical
conduct has already established you as the opposite. You cannot
really hope for Moshiach to come soon, as it will make you look
like fools. And as for your piety, there is really nothing to say,
as you failed to take this into consideration before waging
battle. The words of the Prophet are being fulfilled, “Many
shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be
refined,” and people’s true faces will be revealed. By
characterizing our call as “the stuff of missionaries,” you
have very clearly demonstrated your lack of scholarship, fear of
G-d, and basic intelligence.
4)
Although you present yourselves as the spiritual leaders of
the Jewish people, your words are designed to achieve the exact
opposite: Very soon you will be forced to give an accounting, and
bring upon yourselves the very greatest punishment, G-d forbid, if
you do not immediately take back your sinful words and admit that
you have made a terrible mistake. It is very clear that you must
be the first ones to repent in full teshuva, more than any
other members of the Jewish people.
To
those who believe, and to those who still have doubt!
I
now address myself to you!
To
those of you who believe in our Kol Korei, and to those who
have doubts because of some supposedly religious Jews who are
attempting to cool off your enthusiasm, we say:
There
is no need to rebuke you or to use harsh words, for this is not
our way; we have only done so against our will, directed against
those who are deathly apathetic and those who oppose us.
But
to you we say heartily, as one brother to another, words that are
motivated only by Ahavas Yisroel: The hour has come!
Now
that the long-awaited and auspicious time has arrived that G-d is
about to redeem us from the exile, we must cease being “Galus
Jews,” with our own [petty] wants and needs. Rather, we must now
be “Geula Jews,” in order to merit the immediate
Redemption!
Join
our “Machne Israel,” which is not in competition with any
other movement or in conflict with the wishes of any individual!
Help us increase our numbers and do the work that is crucial at
present on behalf of the entire Jewish people!
Gravity
is the call of the hour!
Jews
and brothers, be serious! Desist from small-mindedness and all
petty individual ambitions. An entirely new age is upon us, a time
of emergency, in which all individual ambitions will not see
fruition.
We
are not trying to appropriate anyone else’s boundaries. We are
not attempting to disturb anyone or impinge on anyone’s honor.
All we want to do is awaken you and bring you merit, and make sure
that you and others are aware of what is happening.
We
could no longer sit with our hands folded, watching what was
happening and remain silent. We realized that we had no choice but
to be the impetus for setting the Jewish world on the right track.
We have pointed you in the right direction; from now on, it is
yours! We have established HaKriya VeHaKedusha for this
very purpose. We have initiated the creation of Machne Israel; let
it be your work as well! Come, help us with genuine dedication to
the cause, for the sake of the entire Jewish people! Help us
conquer the final frontier, with G-d’s help. Help us remain
strong and bring about miracles, for all other positions are
pointless! From now on, all other strongholds will dissolve and
crumble. We warn you that we speak the truth. It is for your own
benefit that you believe us now, before you see it for yourselves.
It will be your own tragedy, G-d forbid, if you wait too long for
our words to be proven, and fail to perceive the truth in time.
Gravity
is the call of the hour! Pettiness has always been foolish; now it
is actually life-threatening.
“Immediate
Redemption” is not an illusion or a religious wish. Not now –
it is the call of the hour!
The
Redemption is on “the other side of the wall,” and it is fast
approaching with rapid steps. Mighty fortresses will dissolve into
fragments, nations and peoples will turn upside-down overnight.
The entire world will be shocked, “but the word of our G-d shall
stand” – G-d’s word, as transmitted through our Prophets, is
going to be fulfilled in our own generation!
Would
that we all merit to remain alive with the rest of this
generation, and achieve perfection with the chosen portion of
humanity! As Jews, we can only attain this through complete and
aggressive teshuva, with serious faith in G-d’s word and
by anticipating the Righteous Redeemer. In this manner we will be
worthy of greeting him.
Have
faith, be grateful and you will merit salvation and consolation!
Believe in and obey our call, and G-d willing, you will be saved
from the birth pangs of the Redemption! Believe, and you will be
worthy of seeing the Geula!
“L’alter
l’Geula!” is the cry that you must now convey to your
children. Tell them that G-d has remembered His suffering people,
and He is about to redeem them from the exile and its troubles.
And tell them that the dreadful agony of the Jews, wherever they
may be, is G-dfinal warning to His children that they return to
Him in teshuva, and go back to being Jews who are dedicated
to the Torah.
“L’alter
l’Geula!” is our blessing to Klal Yisroel, and our
wish that all our Jewish brothers share in the merit, Amen!
***
Yechi
Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach l’olam va’ed! |
