Rebbe's Message Re-Packaged

 

I listened to Rabbi Yitzchak Sorotzkin's address at the Aguda Convention and it was quite astonishing.  His two main points were: 1) we cannot be satisfied with our personal growth, it needs to bother us that Yidden out there are not aware of Torah and mitzvos, we need to follow Avrohom Avinu and reach out, Avrohom was loved by Hashem because he increased kvod shomayim in the world, he did not just look out for himself, when we know how many children don't know what a Gemara is how can we be complacent? Did we do everything we could to get them to recognize there is a G-d and bring them closer to Him? and 2) the chilul Hashem in the world should bother us, we should be asking for the Geula wholeheartedly and if we did, it would come already.

 

If not for the Litvishe world's jargon and way of putting things, I would have thought he was a representative of Chabad, conveying the Lubavitcher Rebbe's message!

 

 

And Another Moshiach Fantasy

 

Another Moshiach fantasy I have (see here for the first one) is that all Jews will have a glowing yud on their foreheads and all Amalekites will have a black ayin.  Lots of people with that yud will be surprised, sad to say, since so many Jews do not know they are Jews.  This could be because they were never told and had no reason to think so, because they were raised by non-Jews, because they did not know that having a Jewish maternal great-grandmother, grandmother, mother makes them Jewish.

 

A smaller group of people, those who thought they were Jewish but aren't, and who won't have a yud, will be surprised too.

 

The precedent for my Moshiach fantasy is Bereishis 4:15 where Hashem engraves a letter of His name on Kayin's forehead.  But I think this idea came to me from the Lights video here that I first saw 23 years ago on Chanuka.  It tells the Chanuka story and uses flying, golden letters of the alef-beis to represent Torah-true Judaism and Greek letters that drop with a clang to represent the Hellenist philosophy.

 

Identity, who we are, who we belong to.  That's the first step.  Once we know who we are, then we find out what we need to do.

Mistakes Abound

One of my Yemos Ha'Moshiach fantasies is that all incorrect information will disappear out of books.  All the stories told about various tzaddikim and gedolim will have only the correct names and the details will be accurate.  I assume there will be large swathes of empty white space in many books.

I am reminded of this because of a story I read in Torah Tavlin, a very nice series of books with divrei Torah and stories.  The story is one I knew previously and I know it as it is told accurately.  In this book however, the author has one main character dying instead of being away on a trip, and another character being the grandson when he was actually the son.  This is in addition to embellishing the story with a description that is probably not true and which is certainly not part of the original story.  The core point of the story remains though.

It sure does make me wonder about the other stories in the book! It's like when I read descriptions about Jewish life written by non-Jews or Jews who are not knowledgeable and I see inaccuracies and outright errors.  I would think they would have fact checkers who would verify things like Jewish law.  Makes me wonder about the accuracy of information I read on subjects that I'm not that familiar with.  It does not inspire confidence!

Not Just Yearning for Moshiach

In Ami magazine, Rabbi Yoel Gold of LA wrote about his grandmother who recently passed away.  She was a woman who said the entire Tehillim every day and she greatly anticipated the coming of Moshiach:

"Not in the vaguely hopeful way many of us do.  No, she waited for Moshiach with the anticipation and purity of a young child waiting to be picked up by Mommy at the end of the a school day.  When we grandchildren called her in the morning, the conversation would inevitably begin with, 'By the end of today, we may all be in Yerushalayim!' If we called in the evening, she would sigh, 'Oy, Moshiach didn't come today. When is he finally going to arrive?'"

When his grandparents became engaged in 1947, his grandfather gave her a beautiful gold bracelet. It appeared in the engagement pictures but never again, because she never wore it.

When asked why she didn't wear it, she didn't respond, which made them wonder whether it had gotten lost or stolen.

After she died, her house was cleared out and one of his sisters found an embroidered bag with the bracelet inside in a box.  There was a note which said: Parshas Chayei Sara 5772 (the week she was diagnosed with her illness), I received this bracelet from my chasan when we got engaged and it means very much to me.  Because it is so precious, I decided to set it aside to donate to the Beis Ha'Mikdash when it is rebuilt, may it be soon.

The same thing was written in her will.  Nobody was to wear the bracelet.  She had put it aside for the Beis Ha'Mikdash.

Such a special woman.  I'd love to know more about her like where she was born, her family, her Jewish education.

So I hesitate to express my reservations. I feel bad for her husband. He gave her a gift and he wanted to see her wear it and enjoy it.  I wish her desire to donate to the Beis Ha'Mikdash was expressed differently.

Tzipisa L'Yeshua

Rabbi Dovid Kaplan tells a great story in his Shabbos Table Impact about someone he knows who told him that he was leaving the Kosel when a non-Jewish woman approached him.  She asked, "Are you a rabbi?"

When he said he is, she asked, "I was wondering whether there are going to be any sacrifices here today."

Now before you hear what he answered, what would you have answered? Just, "Uh, no?"

What he said was, "Well, as of now, no, but there may be some later in the day."

I love it.

I Glow, You Glow

Hashem instructed Gavriel to write in ink the letter tav on the foreheads of the righteous so that the divinely appointed forces of destruction should not touch them.

The foreheads of the wicked people, however, were to be marked with the same letter written in blood, so that they would fall victim to the forces of destruction.

This Gemara, plus the Chanuka animated video called "Lights," probably explain where my Moshiach fantasy comes from.

When Moshiach comes, I'm hoping all Jews will have a glowing, golden letter yud on their foreheads while Amalekim will have a black ayin.  Considering the numerous Jews raised as Christians in Poland or in countries south of the border, who are unaware of their Jewishness, there are going to be a lot of surprised people with gold yuds on their foreheads.

You know that good feeling you have when you notice a fellow Jew when you're someplace not that Jewish like the subway or when you travel somewhere? And how sometimes you look at someone and wonder, is he/she Jewish?

Well, with glowing yuds, you need not wonder any longer!

Yearning for Galus

Compare this quote:

"In the next world, it will be umol'a ha'aretz de'ah, the world will be full of wisdom of understanding, but it'll be too late. Then people will look back and say, "Oh, for the good old days when there was darkness in the world," when it was a test and a trial and it was difficult. That's why it says (Koheles 12:1), u'zechor es Borecho, remember your Creator ... v'hegiu shanim, before the time comes, asher tomar ein li bahem chefetz, when I don't have any desire to live.

The Gemara says, when are those days when you say there is no use in living? Ailu Yemos haMoshiach, because then it'll all be over, there won’t be any struggle. The struggle is right now, that's why it pays to live right now. The darkness is what makes life worthwhile."

to this quote:

“When Moshiach will come, speedily in our days amen, all will yearn for the days of galus.  Then we will truly feel distress at our having neglected working at avoda; then will we indeed feel the deep pain caused by our lack of avoda. These days of exile are the days of avoda, to prepare ourselves for the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our time, amen.”

***
Is there a difference in the message or are they saying the same thing? Perhaps I see it as different messages because I know who articulated each message.  One was a Litvishe rav and the other, a Chassidic Rebbe.

In the first case, he is expressing the idea that we will rue the day that we did not take advantage of galus as a time to gain credit for Olam Haba.  There will no longer be free choice as we know it, so reward and punishment in the next world will no longer be factors to contend with, and what a loss that will be.

In the second case, he is expressing a feeling of inadequacy.  Like showing up for a test and realizing that you studied the wrong material.  Or being in the midst of a trip when you realize that you forgot to pack some essential items.  That feeling of being unprepared.  Of wishing one had taken better care in advance.

Do you think the quotes express the same idea?

Can't Wait!

An analogy R' Frand gave many years ago made quite an impression on me, since I still remember it! His lecture was about Moshiach and he said that when Americans were held hostage in Lebanon, one of the wives said that every night she was so disappointed that her husband had not been released.  And every morning she anticipated her husband being released that day.  She was that sure it was going to happen.

The wording of the 12th Principle of Faith (Ani Maamin) is, "I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and even though he may be delayed, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come."

In the 15th bracha of the Shmone Esrei, we say, "... for we hope for Your salvation all day long ..."

How many of us say the bedtime Shema, get into bed, and think - I can't believe it! Moshiach didn't come today! I'm sure he'll come tomorrow!

How many of us get up in the morning and think, "Today is the day! Moshiach is coming!

Let's walk (feel) the talk!

Here Today, There Tomorrow

The Baal Shem Tov taught: everything we see or hear is a lesson to us in our service of Hashem.  What lesson is there in the miraculous extrication of the miners from their living grave?

I was reading a brief Holocaust account in which a woman, incarcerated in a concentration camp, describes the day she was liberated.  She writes: the day began as every other day.

The day began with the same misery she had been experiencing for the longest time.  Cold, hunger, terror.  It had been that way the month before, the week before, the day before, and that day too.  And then ... and then the Allied forces entered the camp and they were liberated.

As I read this I thought - that's how the Geula will happen.  It will start as a day like any other day.  Like yesterday, last week, last month, last year.  But then Moshiach will come.  Just like that.  Yeshuas Hashem k'heref ayin - the salvation of Hashem is like the blink of an eye.

Message from Lakewood Mashgiach: Prepare to Greet Moshiach!

For those who didn't get to read it or hear about it - There was a crowd estimated at 8000 people at a Hachnosas Sefer Torah in Lakewood which included nearly all the talmidim and members of the community. At the seudas mitzva, the mashgiach, Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon publicly thanked Hashem for the great progress his wife made since her heart attack in the summer and then went on to say:

"One evening, when my rebbetzin was in the hospital, I dozed off as I sat by her bedside.  I am not one who dreams or remembers dreams but I had the most vivid vision of the rosh yeshiva (and founder of the Lakewood yeshiva), Rabbi Aharon Kotler.  He looked exactly as he did when I saw him when I was a bochur in Gateshead" (R' Salomon saw R' Kotler one time when he said a shiur in Gateshead).

"He looked right at me and pointed his finger towards me, 'You ... if you accept upon yourself to remain in Lakewood as mashgiach until Moshiach's arrival, then your rebbetzin will be cured and together with her you will welcome Moshiach.'"

Then Rabbi Salomon said, "Rabosai! He said until Moshiach comes, and I am not a young man anymore.  Let's be prepared!"

Chinuch for Doing Mitzvos

I found it interesting to read that Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, mashgiach in Lakewood, says that if a parent speaks to children about the advantages and rewards of doing mitzvos, rather than the joy of living with mitzvos, this is not a good idea (I found it interesting because so often you hear that the goal is Olam Haba).

He says that if you tell children, "Do this mitzva because if you do it, you will get a reward" or if the parent says excitedly that he himself is doing a mitzva in order to get Olam Haba, this is not good chinuch.

He explains that this only teaches children to do a mitzva because it is worth your while.  The child might think that for his parents, Olam Haba is wonderful, but he has other ideas about what makes something worthwhile.  He can think: Let my parents go after the reward that interests them and I will go after the reward that interests me.  He will have learned that mitzvos are done for the rewards and he can apply his own standards of rewards.

If, however, the child sees the joy that a parent has when doing a mitzva, if that joy is the foundation of the home in which he grows up, then, says R' Salomon, he will inevitably be affected by the spirit and the mood and the atmosphere and he himself will feel that joy when he does the mitzvos.  This kind of chinuch will reach him no matter what he thinks constitutes a worthwhile reward.

***
What about being mechanech children to do mitzvos to bring Moshiach, to "make a brick for the Beis Ha'Mikdash?" Is that something that can motivate children and is it good chinuch?

If it's done as a "formula," something said by rote, then you shouldn't count on it motivating them.  But if you are able to convey to children, whether aged 3 or 6 or 10, how Moshiach's coming is something they personally want and it's immediate and real, then yes, it's good chinuch.