Weekly Story: Celebrating Yud-Aleph Nissan

by Rabbi Sholom Avtzon

As Anash and Jews world-wide are preparing and contemplating about Yud Aleph Nissan, the Rebbe’s 123^rd birthday, so we begin saying chapter 124 in Tehillim that day, I am noting one of the primary thoughts which I will be saying at a farbrengen.

As always, your comments and feedback are most appreciated and welcomed, meaning I try to respond.

The Tzemach Tzedek’s oldest son, HaRav Boruch Sholom had a special relationship with his grandfather the Alter Rebbe. When the Alter Rebbe fled from Liadi, in order that he won’t be under the domain of Napoleon even for a moment, he instructed that Boruch Sholom (who was then only nine years old) should travel in his carriage and not together with his siblings. 

Before then, the Alter Rebbe taught him not only how to lain the Torah and haftarah’s, but also the trup (Cantilation) for Tehillim as well. 

Years later, after the Alter Rebbe’s histalkus, Reb Boruch Sholom decided to fast many days during the month of Elul.

On Chai Elul of 5605 (1845) his father the Tzemach Tzedek said to him, in the heavens there is going to be a tremendous celebration today. It is 100 years since the neshoma of my grandfather the Rebbe came down to this world and they are rejoicing in the tremendous accomplishments it achieved. Hearing this, HaRav Boruch Sholom realized that Chai Elul is not only a day to commemorate but indeed one that a person should celebrate. He therefore was matir neder (annulled his vow (as he had fasted more than three consecutive times on this day)) and chose to fast on a different day instead.

That Chai Elul he joined his father in celebrating the birthday of the Alter Rebbe.

So now when it comes when it comes to this Wednesday, when we and Jews all over the world will be celebrating Yud-Aleph Nissan, the 123^rd birthday of the Rebbe, some may ask what is the meaning of this celebration? Yes, I understand that the above story demonstrates that even in the Heavens there is a grand celebration going on, but what does it accomplish, or what is its purpose?

 Obviously, those that have this question are of the opinion that after the histalkus of a neshoma, there is nothing more that the neshoma can accomplish; it accomplished what it accomplished, and its time is over.

However, those of us who grew up in Lubavitch and attended the Rebbe’s farbrengens know that in addition to the regular farbrengens, the Rebbe farbrenged on Chof Cheshvan, the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab, Beis Iyar, the birthday of the Rebbe Maharash and Erev Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. So we see that it is a day to celebrate

But while we are celebrating this momentous occasion, the question as noted above is, what is the message we are taking from it?!

Obviously, the answer will be we are celebrating the numerous and in fact the unparalleled accomplishments of the Rebbe. 

However, the questioner remains firm and says, please  speak in specific terms, what accomplishments are we actually discussing or what accomplishment comes to mind? 

In simple terms, we are being asked, how is the the Rebbe’s life and accomplishments affecting each one of us individually?

This brings me back to issur chag (the day after the Yom tov of) Succos, 5738 (1977). The custom is that the day after Yom tov there is a kinus Torah in 770. That year being that it was right after the Rebbe suffered his heart attack, it was decided that everyone should speak about what the Rebbe accomplishes and therefore in that honor, we are beseeching Hashem, that He should grant the Rebbe a complete and speedy healing. 

Speaker after speaker talked about how with the Rebbe’s brocha they were able to turn an entire community, city and even a country closer to Hashem. 

Then Rabbi Sholom Posner of Pittsburgh spoke, he said, while all those that spoke before me said wonderful points, I think that it should be phrased differently. The question is not where would World Jewry be without the Rebbe, the question is where would I personally be without the Rebbe?! 

Reb Sholom was a veteran chossid and shliach, who was sent by the Frierdiker Rebbe around 35 years earlier to help the Yeshiva in Pittsburgh, and he succeeded. Yet he was stating publicly that who knows where I personally would be in my connection with Hashem without the guidance of the Rebbe?! 

This is something we all should contemplate on until Yud Aleph Nissan, it is not enough to think on how the Rebbe helps Jews from all backgrounds all over the world, but we must also focus on how is the Rebbe impacting our own life on a daily basis, making sure that each one of us become closer to Hashem.

We all see how the Rebbe affected and inspired Jews who we met on mivtzoyim, and I am positive that each member of Anash, has quite a few success stories, that he or she can point to and be proud of the impact they had on other Jews; how they changed the projection of their life completely and are shining examples to others, how one can and should serve Hashem.

So, let that same impact, impact us to also elevate ourselves to a higher level, to a new and clearer appreciation of what and how a Jew and especially a chossid should conduct ourselves. In fact, it can be a pivotal turning point in our life, that we can say, it is my “birthday.”

A Taste of Chasidus           Chocham Mah Hu Omer 5730 

The Torah tells us that there are four types of children, the wise, the wicked, the simpleton, and the one who does not know how to ask. Each one asks according to their level and subsequently the answer given to each one is different than the one given to the other. 

The wise child asks, what are the testimonials, the decrees and the Commandments that Hashem, our G-d has commanded you? The possuk continues, we are to reply to him, that Hashem gave us these decrees in order that we should fear Hashem. My father-in-Law, the Rebbe asks a few questions on this statement. The first question is, being that the Torah calls this child, a wise one, obviously the child understands the difference between these three types of Mitzvos that Hashem gave us, so what exactly is the child trying to understand, he knows what each one is. 

Furthermore, what is the answer that we give him, that we were servants in Mitzrayim and Hashem took us out from there in order that we fulfill these decrees to fear Him, and the Haggadah concludes we tell him that at the end of the seder, one is to eat the Afikomen. Again, the wise child already knows that we were slaves and Hashem freed us, and he also knows that Hashem gave us the Mitzvah of Pesach, as well as how we are to conduct ourselves at the seder. So exactly what is our answer clarifying to the child which resolves his question if he knew all of these points already? 

Additionally, when a person is freed from being enslaved or imprisoned, it is natural for the person to feel a debt of gratitude to the entity that saved them. However, we have to understand that the extent of the obligation that the person feels is limited.

 In other words, a person would give everything they own in order to be freed from lifelong imprisonment or enslavement. But not necessarily would they be willing to put their life in danger in order to be freed. So here too, we were slaves in Mitzryim, Hashem Freed us so we feel a death of gratitude to Hashem. But that dept of gratitude is a logical response, so it is only going to go as far as the logic takes it. 

Therefore, when we are speaking about the Commandments of Mishpatim, which logic dictates that we should fulfill, we will obey Hashem’s commandment. Similarly, even the Commandments that are called testimonials, being that logic understands them so our logic will tell us to fulfill those Commandments as well. However, when we are being told or obligated to follow and fulfill decrees that are beyond our intellect, that is not something that every intellect will tell us that it was worthwhile being released from prison to do and fulfill something that you have no understanding of.  And to some it may seem as  if you are now someone else’s prisoner? So why does the possuk just mention that we are going now to fulfill His decrees and not the other two types of Commandments. 

One final question is. isn’t it greater and better to fulfill a mitzvah out of love than out of fear, so why in this possuk does it say Hashem took us out in order that we fear Him? Shouldn’t it be stated; to fulfill His decrees in order that we should love Him! 

Based on the first few questions, it is clear that the wise child is not merely asking why are there different types of mitzvahs. The wise question is much deeper than that. 

The child is asking, why are we fulfilling the Mitzvos differently than our forefathers fulfilled them? Our forefathers were as close to Hashem as a human being can come, as Chassidus expresses it, that our forefathers were Chariots to Hashem, meaning that they had no other desire but to fulfill Hashems will and desire. 

In general, the way they fulfilled Mitzvos was in the spiritual realm as the Zohar states, that when Yaakov placed the peeled branches in the trough of water, he was contemplating on the spiritual aspects that are connected to the Mitzvah of tefillin. But nowadays if a person contemplates the entire day on the spiritual Concepts and insights of tefillin, but does not actually put them on, that person did not fulfill the Mitzvah of tefillin. On the other hand, if the person put on tefillin, yet, for whatever reason he did not think about its spiritual significance, as long as he put on tefillin he fulfilled the mitzvah (perhaps not in the best way, but nevertheless, he did fulfill it). 

Furthermore, we note that it is not just any revelation of G-dliness that a person is bringing down by fulfilling that mitzvah, he is bringing down Hashem’s essence into this physical world. So the wise child is asking, how does a physical act bring down the highest spiritual Revelation possible? 

We respond and clarify to the wise child that after Hashem gave us the Torah by Mount Sinai, the only way to bring down Hashem’s Glory into the physical world is by fulfilling any and every mitzvah in its physical form, not by concentrating on its spiritual concepts. 

However, that in itself is also not enough to bring down the highest level of revelation – Hashem;s essence. Hashem wants that we go beyond ourselves, and only when we serve Hashem by fulfilling the Mitzvos that intellect does not guide us to do so,  only then are we are connecting ourselves to Hashem’s essence. Otherwise we are only connecting ourselves to the level that a person intellect can comprehend which by its very definition means a limited level, and not His essence. 

So when we say to the wise child, we were servants, we are really saying that we have to continue to serve Hashem as a servant, with obedience and self-nullification. Self- nullification is expressed when someone does something out of fear of the Commanders awesomeness and greatness and not out of love which is an expression that I desire to become closer to that entity. Because when a person says I desire, that itself demonstrates that it is in my best interest because I still consider myself an entity, however, when a person obeys through self-nullification they are stating, I am no longer an entity. If I am no longer an entity, so then I am completely humbled and God’s glory and essence can then rest in this world.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeiim and their chassidim. He is available to farbreng in your community and can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com