Not Peasant Years: Kabbala Of Self-Sacrifice
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton – one of ten Chabad Chassidim to enter Beirut Lebanon during the ‘Peace in Galilee’ war, to bring cheer to the soldiers – relates the following incident:
As we set out, that chilly morning, to engage the soldiers in the Mitzvah of Tefillin, I happened upon a line of about ten open jeeps with their motors running. The soldiers bulky bulletproof vests, metal helmets and heavy arms, suggested that they were heading out on some sort of combat foray.
I approached the first jeep and asked the two men if they would like to put on Tefillin. One of them immediately agreed, but when I tuned to face the driver, I was in for an unpleasant surprise. He kept looking straight ahead without reacting to my question.
As I stood there waiting for a reply; he turned to me and said. (Loose translation) “Get away from me you parasite religious scum. If you don’t get out of my face I’ll tear you to pieces! NOW GET OUT OF HERE! I hate you vermin!”
I understood that to mean no. I tried to force a smile, thinking of something to say, when suddenly the driver of the next jeep called out to me in a desperate tone.
“Rebbe, Rebbe, come here I want to put on Tefillin.” Happy to get away, I turned and began to walk toward him. I was still quite a distance from him when he yelled out nervously: “Tell me Rebbe, If… if I put on Tefillin will G-d protect me?”
It was obvious that he was very worried. Yesterday he was likely sitting in his hardware store selling tools, when he was called up for reserve duty, and here he is about to enter the front lines.
“G-d will protect you regardless of what you do,” I assured him, “For you are his beloved child. But if G-d protects you unconditionally, why not do the same for Him, and put on Tefillin?”
It seems that the soldier in the first Jeep, the one that cursed me out, had overheard the conversation and had second thoughts, because as I was removing the Tefillin from the soldier, he yelled out: “Hey Rabbi! Come over here!” I turned around to see him rolling up his sleeve like he wanted to don the Tefillin.
I took a few steps forward and called out as I was walking: “What happened?”
“What do you care,” he replied, “I want to put on too.”
I gave him a look and an Israeli hand motion as to say, “Are you for real?”
“Listen my friend,” he said: To put on Tefillin in order to go to heaven or for some high religious purpose, that’s not for me. But to put on Tefillin for no reason…THAT I can do!”
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Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi wished to bless Rabbi Yekutiel Lefler with riches, but the Chassid declined, explaining that the preoccupations of wealth would infringe upon his study of Torah and his service of the Almighty.
So the Rebbe offered to bless him with long life. Said Rabbi Yekutiel: “But not with a peasant’s years, not with the years of those ‘who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear’; not with a life in which one sees not G-dliness and one hears not G-dliness.”
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“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience!”
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Back In the day when modern travel was still a dream, people would depend on a horse drawn carriage as their means of transportation. Such travel consisted of a horse, a coachman and, of course, a passenger – often an important dignitary or nobleman. Yet each of these components had their own divergent perception of the journey.
To the horse it was about oats. The horse knew that upon arrival it would receive a hearty bowl of feed. The impending reward was enough to motivate it to keep running from point A to point B all day long – day in and day out. In the eyes of the coachman – a simple person who was often a bit uncouth – it was not much different. He could hardly wait to reach the impending destination and receive his wages so he could be off to the local tavern for a good drink of aqua vitae and a healthy bite to go along.
As for the dignitary inside the coach, the purpose was understood in an entirely different light. To him the true objective for the voyage was the important business that needed to be attended. “Just because the horse thinks it’s all about ‘Oats,’” goes an old Chassidic adage, “Does it in any way diminish the true intent of the journey?”
In other words: Just because for the horse the entire journey is about a bowl of feed, or for the coachman the motivation is a good steak and glass of vodka, does that change the actual purpose behind the voyage?
The moral is simple enough. Life is a journey from point A to point B. Like the horse, some people understand the voyage in terms of what amounts to a bowl of oats, or its human equivalent. Others are like the coachman; they live for more sophisticated monetary pleasures, i.e., opera and the fine arts, etc. Still, observes the adage, does the immature perception of life’s purpose negate the reality of a deeper meaning?
Man’s need to transcend his restrained and limited self; to reach beyond the scope of his own humble intellect and animal-self, is what Judaism refers to as “Self Sacrifice.” It is the intention behind the animal sacrifices, the fundamental service discussed in the book of Vayikra including our Parsha, Tzav.
Yet one may wonder why it is so important for man to reach beyond the self. What is so wrong with our own intellect? Isn’t it after all our highest human faculty even if it is not perfect? Is it not the best tool we have and essentially who we are?
Moreover, can we really be sure that our so called ‘Self transcendence’ is truly a virtuous endeavor an – elevation beyond our finite self – and not the complete opposite – a plunge ‘Below’ intellect and reason?
Finally, aren’t there inherent dangers in encouraging people to sacrifice their own rationale; to ignore what seems right and prudent according to their own logic? Have we not already witnessed the madness and cruelty that has been carried out in the name of ‘Holy causes’? Can man really be trusted to ignore his rational conscious for the sake of some ‘Higher calling,’ especially when it entails taking a knife to the neck of his own son, as in the story of our patriarch Avraham?”
Let us try and deal with first things first. It must be established at the very outset that man’s requirement to rise above his physical anatomy; his personal chemical composition or DNA, is not an issue of choice or luxury, it is rather part of his existential welfare and completion; a core need. Even from a purely intellectual standpoint man is compelled to reach beyond himself in order to find higher purpose. In absence of self transcendence life is shallow and arbitrary – an existence without rhyme or reason.
There is however a far more compelling factor, namely the reality of a Divine soul within man’s essential composition. Just as the hand is used to write, the feet to walk and the heart to feel, the soul is designed to transcend and thus demands it. Not unlike the body’s thirst for water, the soul of man is in need of higher definition and spirituality.
While the mind struggles to accept things that are beyond its capacity to internalize; while the mind demands that things fit into a logical picture, the soul already knows G-dliness, since it is essentially a fragment of the Divine being, it needs no proof of higher reality, it cannot in fact, be convinced otherwise.
What might seem foreign and illogical to the mind comes natural to the soul, hence the soul’s gravitation to higher reality. To say, “I believe,” is to say: “I feel my soul and it’s alive. “Non-belief is a sense of detachment, not only from G-d, but also from one’s own soul.
The pursuit of higher purpose is not merely an exercise of choice for those who are naturally inclined to ponder the deeper reality of things. It is rather a necessity for all humans who possess a living soul. This notion is portrayed in an analogy offered by the Lubavitcher Rebbe:
Fulfillment is clearly a subjective phenomenon which varies in accordance with the needs of each particular entity. A plant for example, derives its contentment through conditions that are most conducive to organic growth such as water, air and light. Plants have no need or desire for such things as mobility and the like.
To the animal however, the plant’s level of contentment and comfort is anything but satisfactory. An animal can never be satisfied with water and air alone while constrained to a distinct location. An animal requires the independence of mobility. Happiness in its eyes must contain the ability to roam freely from place to place. By the same token, what might be considered optimum conditions for the animal can be very restrictive to the human being.
This reminds me of a joke: Hyman recently had a full medical check-up. When he returned three weeks later to learn the results of the exhaustive lab tests, his doctor said he was doing ‘Fairly well’ for his age.
Hyman was obviously a little concerned with how that sounded, so he asks the doctor:
‘You think I’ll live to be eighty, doc?’
‘Well, do you smoke or drink asks the Doctor.
‘Oh no,’ Hyman replies, ‘I’ve never done any of that.’
The doctor then asks, ‘Do you eat grilled steaks or barbequed rib?’
Hyman responds, ‘No, I’ve heard that red meat is very unhealthy.’
‘Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf…’ asked the doctor.
‘Nope’ Hyman replies.’ I’m not into that kind of stuff.’
‘Are you promiscuous, do you gamble or drive fast cars?’
‘The answer is no to all the above,’ says Hyman somewhat proudly.
The doctor then looks at Hyman musingly and says, ‘Then why on earth would you want to live to be eighty?!’
Should man be granted all his material needs but be denied any form of intellectual nourishment, he would no doubt find the situation highly repressive (He may not want to live to be eighty). As an intellectual creature, fulfillment in man’s eyes must include the ability for intellectual stimulation and development.
The same is true, albeit less conspicuous, with man’s need for higher spiritual purpose. This is to say that all the non-spiritual matter in the world cannot satisfy the cravings of man’s soul. The higher spiritual dimension within man will only reach a measure of peace and comfort when its spiritual aspirations are nurtured.
In summary, an essential component of the human composition is his spiritual consciousness. This consciousness has its own set of needs. To ignore our spiritual dimension is no different than to ignore the bodily needs for food and water or to neglect the human necessity for intellectual stimulation. Man can never be truly complete should he ignore his higher soul essence.
The latter having been established, we can now turn to the question of trust. How can we be sure that the reach beyond our intellect and understanding is indeed a call of holiness; a leap “Above” our finite self and not the complete opposite; a descent “Beneath” reason?
The answer is that we can never be too sure, and hence must take extreme measures to avoid any pitfalls. The number one way to accomplish this is to follow a tried and proved tradition. One whose track record is that of a blessing to G-d and a blessing to man. All “New” systems, regardless of their claims, must be treated with suspicion.
Outside the scope of a tried and tested religious system, one must indeed be extremely cautious, especially in the event that the doctrine includes judgment and stringency. It is perhaps best that in such instances one consult with an objective party. It is for this reason that our sages assert: “Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend, Avos 1:6.”
May our acts of transcendence through proper self-sacrifice, bring about our spiritual and physical liberation with the coming of the righteous Moshiach BBA.
