Weekly Story: Erev Shabbos Mevorchim Chodesh Mar-Cheshvan

Erev Shabbos Mevorchim Chodesh Mar-Cheshvan, Parshas Bereishis 5787

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

Our custom is that on Simchas Torah, and  Shabbos Bereishis and for the next few weeks we announce ויעקב הלך לדרכו – which means “And Yaakov  began going on his journey. “

The reason we announce it is to stress, that while the month of Tishrei is coming to an end and the multitude of yomim tovim have concluded, nevertheless, they have infused us with so much vitality that we have packed suitcases and trunks of inspiration (be it from celebrating the yomim tovim, the stories we heard, thoughts we enjoyed, or an experienced we had). And during the forthcoming months when we our being occupied with our day to day life, we periodically take out from those suitcases some tidbits of inspiration in order to revitalize our chayus and zest in our serving Hashem.

Therefore, this week I am continuing posting thoughts and aspects which I heard at farbrengens during Simchas Beis Hasho’eiva. 

As always, your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated and welcome.

I will begin with a clarification / correction on what I wrote last week.

I noted that the pomp of Simchas Bejs Hashoeiva began in middle of the second Beis Hamikdash. That does not mean that there was no celebration in the first Beis Hamikdash. The possuk explicitly states that you are to draw the water with rejoicing, so that means that they rejoiced every year the beis hamikdash existed. 

Rather I meant to bring out that the sages brought the rejoicing to new levels. For example, women were only obligated to come to the Beis Hamikdash during the year of Hakhel, now around two hundred years after the second Beis Hamikdash was built, after the tziddukim gained momentum and power, a place was prepared for the women every year. Additionally, other changes as well were made to publicize and enhance the celebrations. 

These enhancements were done to show that we are proud and actually celebrate the fact that we are connected and one with the sages and opposes the viewpoint and philosophy of the tziddukim.

On the concept that I wanted to bring out, that the lesson we can and in my belief we should take from this is, that we should demonstrate our pride in being chassidei Chabad and being connected to the Rebbe and all of the Rebbeim. I heard it expressed by an individual during hakofos in his unique way.

On Simchas Torah day I was in shul and as expected it was a happy atmosphere.

One person was talking to a friend of his whom I am acquainted with and as I came over to wish them guht Yom Tov, he said, Rabbi Avtzon, tell him he should happy that he is a Lubavitcher and connected to the Rebbe.

He is definitely happy and proud about that, I replied.

Yes, I know that, the young man said. But his happiness is that his father was smart enough to become a Lubavitcher and be a chossid of the Rebbe. But that is still not true happiness. True happiness is by those of us that we chose on our own to be the Rebbe’s a chossid, and many of us did it after Gimmel Tammuz.

In essence he was trying to say, that your happiness has to be so powerful, that even if by living the life of a chossid, is not easy or comfortable, you are happy to have those challenges and choose to conduct yourself the way the Rebbe guides us. He grew up in a frum home, but he wanted to grow in his Yiddishkeit, and when he began learning the Rebbe’s sichos and maamorim, he found what he was searching for. He changed his minhagim and proudly tells his children how happy and proud he and their mother is, of that decision. 

I want his happiness to resemble that happiness of personally finding a treasure!!

Now we will relate another point I heard on Simchas Torah, this one was from Rabbi Nissan sheyichye Mangel. 

He said once when he entered the Rebbe’s room for a yechidus, the Rebbe said to him, Nissan why aren’t you b”simcha?

I was quite surprised at the Rebbe’s question, as at that time things were very good for me, and there was nothing bothering me, so I personally thought that I was b’simcha. But being that the Rebbe said I wasn’t, evidently the ease and tranquility that I felt mentally, did not affect the way I conducted myself physically or portray emotionally. So I replied, Rebbe it is because of the Meitzer haguroin (the constrictiveness of the throat).

The Rebbe replied,  “Voo meitzer hagoron, voo meitzer hagoren [Personally, I think the Rebbe was saying, I don’t know how you can attribute it to the constrction that the throat can create and prevent the understood concept come down into the heart and develop into emotions.]  Ess darhf zein an hisboninus – that must be deep contemplation first. The Rebbe then said, if one wants to be b’simcha you should learn chapters twenty-six to (until) thirty-two in Likkutei Amarim Tanya [where it discusses various approaches on how to arouse inner happiness in yourself].

A Taste of Chassidus

להבין הטעם – to understand the reason why Man was created differently than all other creations? Torah Ohr (Bereishis), p. 3D 

In this maamar the Alter Rebbe explains why Hashem created man in a different manner than the way He created everything else. By every other creation the possuk says (ויאמר אלקים) – [and Hashem said] let there be [whatever was going to be created that day]. However, when it came to creating mankind, it says Hashem first gathered the dirt and formed an image of a human being and then Hashem blew into him a spirit of life. 

In other words, not only was man the only creation that was not created through an utterance of Hashem, but furthermore, everything else was created as a living, viable entity all vegetation, trees, animals Birds fish Etc were created originally as a living entity, but man was created by being formed into a statue (a golem) and then only after Hashem blew into him a spirit of life did he become alive.

The Alter Rebbe explains, as it is known there are four levels in the prymiad of life: inanimate objects (such as sand, rocks and metal), vegetation, living creations (such as animals, birds, reptiles, and fish), and humans.

While the quality that living creations have over vegetation is that they have a life or better said: a desire to survive, and therefore they hide and hunt, nevertheless, their development is quite similar to the growth of every vegetation. It grows according to its maturation. 

In other words, being that growth and animal life are closely related, therefore not only could vegetation be created as a live being, but an animal and all other living creations were also created alive. However, man who has the additional quality of being able to understand etc., that is too far above from the level of vegetation and cannot be initially created as a living thing, it had to be in an inanimate state 

If that is so, that creates the question, how can the Neshoma be infused into a body that is made from dirt (the inanimated, which is even lower than vegetation, which you just said is too distant from the level of man, and why was man made from dirt.

But the explanation is, Hashem created mankind to elevate every part of creation. If humans weren’t originally connected to dirt, they wouldn’t have the ability to elevate any inanimate aspect of the world. But now that we come from the dirt, we do have that ability. 

This is also the reason our body and soul weren’t fused together by a verbal instruction of Hashem, as they are two far apart. However, when our soul is blown into us, one who blows, blows from their essence, so nothing is difficult when it comes from or is being accomplished by Atzmus.

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