Oh, how he loved his trumpet. He was the happiest llama in the world.
But one day he got sick of his trumpet. So he broke it.
No more trumpet. No more happy llama...
(Based on a true story. Sort of.)
--------------------
Inspiration: So amazing. So powerful. So transforming. So ... fleeting.
We all experience it. And we all lose it.
A Llama, a Trumpet, Inspiration and Lots of Other Words…
Once there was a llama. He had a trumpet. And he played his trumpet every day.
Oh, how he loved his trumpet. He was the happiest llama in the world.
But one day he got sick of his trumpet. So he broke it.
No more trumpet. No more happy llama…
(Based on a true story. Sort of.)
——————–
Inspiration: So amazing. So powerful. So transforming. So … fleeting.
We all experience it. And we all lose it.
For the time you had it, you were so content; everything felt so right. From the moment you lost it, everything towards which you were so driven became such a drag.
Whatever it was – a job, an undertaking, a mitzvah, a prayer. You enjoyed every minute of every part of it. It was great.
But then those feelings – as feelings tend to do – faded away.
And now it all seems so empty. None of it really excites you anymore. Nothing can spark that enthusiasm.
Problem is, in our daily routines and obligations we don’t have much of a choice to simply drop those things. The show must go on – whether we’re excited about it or not.
So now what?
Once upon a time, the prophet Elisha told an impoverished widow with nothing in her possession but a simple small cruse of oil:
Find empty vessels and pour everything you’ve got into them. Then watch them overflow with an endless supply of the purest of that which you possess.
Sometimes, we run out of all the fire and passion that has been so effectively vitalizing all the actions of our lives. In the motivation field, we’re plain broke.
But who says empty actions don’t have any value?
The truth is, they have a lot more than you think.
You see, emotions and feelings are nice. And they’re great for getting things done. But as wonderful as they may be, there will always be a downside – they remain YOUR feelings and YOUR emotions – with all of the shortcomings that come with them.
They’ll only take you so far. And they’ll only last for so long. And then once they’re gone – so are you and your ambitions.
But sometimes we have to put all that aside, and take things for what they are; we must learn to separate and distinguish between the acts themselves, and everything else that tags along with them.
The true value of something isn’t determined by our feelings towards it; because subjective values will always remain … subjective: subject to OUR moods and OUR situations.
Our reliance on emotions won’t allow us to move beyond our current state and condition – because it’s coming from where we are NOW.
In order to get where we NEED TO BE, it’s sometimes necessary to isolate our actions from our particular feelings and inhibitions. (Or what is referred to in Chassidic literature as “Kabbalas Ol”.)
But that doesn’t mean they need to be lifeless acts. There’s something more we can add: Our selves. The essence of who we are; that part of us that drives us to do the right thing, regardless of the restrictions of our meddling emotions, because it’s simply who we are, and what we have to do.
The prophet is telling us: Don’t minimize the value and significance of an empty vessel, of an action devoid of subjective feelings. On the contrary – you now have the capacity to fill it with that which you must, without having to worry about any obstructing contents.
What have we left to pour in? Our oil. Our soul. Our desire to dip into the essence of who we are, and into the infinite potential of who we can and need to be; and to, of course, gain an appreciation for the thus far lifeless acts of a dormant spirit.
Up until now we had no reason to look beyond the surface. But these obstacles push us to probe farther and dig deeper into our selves, past all the complex layers of mind and emotion. And now what we’re left with is nothing but the essential core of our very beings.
When we take that and invest it within that which we know to be true, we allow our soul to find ultimate expression in the pureness of our actions.
In doing so we will end up with more profit than we could ever have imagined, and find within ourselves a never ending fountain of inspiration.
Insist on operating solely according to emotion and you’ll never be able to reach to the essence of who you really are; begin each undertaking with the pristine aspirations of the very core of your being, and what will follow will be an unsurpassed satisfaction and contentness in your journey of self-discovery, and the awakening of a passionate appreciation for the tasks you surrender yourself to.
Pure acts of pure soul. Acts with no screens, no barriers, no concealments … no limits.
Don’t break the trumpet. Rather, clear your mind of all the monotonous, superficial predefined compositions, and let break though a brand new uninhibited song from the essence of your soul.
You’ve never heard anything quite as beautiful.
Poor llama. Lucky you.
PLEASE NOTE: NO LLAMAS WERE HARMED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS ARTICLE.
Elazar Kohen – Lazakoh@yahoo.com
heychai
So great to see another article from you ! Truly a talented writer ! Thanks for inspiring us again in your unique way.
The Gr8 Chazzan In Jerusalem
A Genious An Absolute Torah Scholar Amongst Us!
A Fan
Elazar (if you read these comments) :
I read your article 2 weeks ago on Parshas Noach. I didn’t leave a comment then, but my thoughts were that this is a creative writer with great talent, but I was slightly disappointed in the particular manner you chose to express some ideas (for various reasons).
I believe that with this article you have begun to unveil the truly amazing writing talent that you possess. (Though some of ur little "schtik" last time really was amusing, and I had hoped there would hav been a little more in this article).
Please keep continue writing and ispiring. You have amazing gifts – use them to their fullest.
In appreciation,
A Fan
on a high
Wow, where have you been all these years? Where can we get more of you. Your writings put one on a high with a great feeling, that I started looking at things differently right after I read your article. Who are you anyway?
Where can we find your writings? A talent that you are blessed with. Thank you for sharing.
The trumpet has sounded....
Eloquent. Never veered from the point.
An inspiration? Too soon to tell.
To pursue a state of emptiness is not a vacuous act, but the first step in drawing down the bountiful blessings, that propel ones success, in every measure. Raishis Ha’Avoidah V’Ikra V’Shorsha.
A call for action? Indeed.
May you be blessed!!!!!
Save Chassidus!
It would have been a wonderful psychology essay… Except that you for some reason decided it was connected to the haftoirah and "what is referred to in Chassidic literature as “Kabbalas Ol”."
Please don’t decide and make others believe that your horrible distortion of inyanim in chassidus are the way you say it is.
Go back and learn the maamar. It speaks of nefesh elokis/behamis, etzem/nekudas haneshoma, ahava/yirah (only according to one version).
You managed to so badly water down the maamer and invent and put in your own ideas to fit what the rebbe is saying.
Furthermore, to say that what you are writing is the idea of kabbalas ol, is so absurd it makes me want to cry.
Kabalas ol is "accepting the yoke" – doing things because hashem told you so, period. Dont try and pretend its a whole fluffy idea of appreciating your inner being or whatever you tried saying.
This is terrible. Please stop writing. Lubavitch was a lot better off without you.
Secret Admirer
I would like to compliment you on the well written and informative article.
You impress me by your ability to accept the criticism you recieved on your previous article and incorporated those suggestions into this one and the result is spectacular!
The best evidence of your success would be the lack of negative verbal diarhea in the comments which was spewed upon you by the friendly people of Crown Heights last time you entertained us with your verbose and slightly offbeat sense of humour.
As the great writer – Albert Camus once said "Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal."
I humbly remain,
Secret Admirer
My only comment on "Save Chassidus" is that some people would tremendously benefit the human race by removing themselves from it.
Its because of pathetic, moronic and stuck-up imbeciles like you that bochurim are intimidated and afraid to digest and incorporate chassidus into their own thoughts and eventually words
which (by the way) was the entire point of Chabad Chassidus, that we should take what we learn and make it a part of our lives.
However its never too late to make amends, as ~ Robert Louis Stevenson once said "The saints are the sinners who keep on trying."
As always I will remain,
ziggyyy
Great article..very flatulent:)
Mr. Supid
Am I stupid?
To me this article seems incoherent. Why are so many of you raving?
Is this a bad case of the king is naked?
Hooked
Techie, thanx for this article.
Please keep this high content stuff coming.
Thank you Rabbi.
Chanie
wow elazar
truly amazing! your words of wisdom truly inspired me. don’t listen to those stupid creatures that critisize you. your chavrusas that you had/have in yeshiva or smicha etc. are the luckiest people out there especially those that you learn chasidus with.
have a great shabbos
Thank You
"Save" Chassidus:
Do you have any idea what the author did in this essay?!
As a bochur in yeshiva, who has been in the "system" for years, I have learnt the maamorim, sat through the farbrengens, listened to countless mashpi’im and hanhalos try to push the ideas of kabbalas ol, telling us how we have to listen to hanhala because that’s just the way it is, and that everyone else knows better than we do…
Many many bochurim absolutely RESENT these ideas. I have friends who have left yeshiva precisely because of these things.
Forget "saving" chassidus – how do you expect chassidus to survive PERIOD if the way it’s being force fed is making the bochrim – the future – choke?!
This is the first time in my life I have ever heard Kabbalas ol presented so beautifully, in a way to INSPIRE bochrim to live according to these ideals.
So you continue trying to "save" chassidus as it begins dying around you. But at least we’ll have people such as this author rebuilding your ruin one "terrible" article at a time.
Thank you crownheights.info for posting this. You are doing an incredible service for us all.
Roberto
sure sure wonderful!! spleneded idea!!!
Save Ahavas Yisroel
To "Save Chassidus!"
Your comment in response to Elazar’s column was so disturbing, uncalled for and ill-conceived that I feel compelled to post a response of my own.
You bring the writer to task for presumptuously claiming to write in the name of Chassidus, but nowhere is arrogant and ignorant presumptiveness (and frankly, misnagdishe style anger) more evident than in your line "Lubavitch was a lot better off without you." Who, outside of Lakewood and Williamsburg, talks like that (while claiming to be a champion of Chassidus – no less)??!!! And who exactly made you an authority on Lubavitch’s standing to be able to issue a horrible, hateful and misguided declaration like that?
Mr. "Save Chassidus": Asking the writers’ mechila for such invective might be in order. Indeed, while you’re into recommending Chassidic literature for others to read, your own review of Perek Lev in Tanya, as well as a few maamorim on Ahavas Yisroel, (not to mention a session or two on anger management)might do you some good.
As to the substance of your opposition to Elazar’s article:
1) The fact that the "maamer" you’re referring to speaks about other issues in addition to the point the writer focuses on does not – in my opinion – constitute a distortion or dilution of the maamer’s message. As you may know, the Rebbe was a great advocate and supporter of the "Thought for the Week" publications which basically gleaned a single point from a lengthy and complex sicha – focused on it, extrapolated on it and brought it forth in a cogent, practical and relevant message for the masses. These were printed and distributed en masse on "Mivtzoim" outreach expeditions and were very effective in making vital concepts of Chassidus palatable to the unlettered. (Yes, Horav Kagan, z’l, did take some poetic licence in his writings [as do all of the gifted and eloquent writers in Lubavitch today, e.g. Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, etc.]and his efforts were lauded and blessed as assets to "spreading forth the wellsprings of Chassidus to the outside". The Rebbe, who extended great effort to put together the Talks and Tales in those early years, was all for any kosher form or method of bringing a message of Chassidus to the masses. This is what I perceived as the writer’s very commendable motivation in posting his piece.
2) As I understand it, the writer simply makes the point that even when one’s emotions are not aroused or invested in a given spiritual endeavor, one can nonetheless pursue the action without fear of it being deemed an empty or meaningless activity. On the contrary, one can take satisfaction in knowing that in performing it with discipline, devoid of emotion, it is in fact coming from the deepest of all places; one’s essence. Granted, I did not study the maamer you claim his point distorted (nor did I see anywhere in his column where he claimed to be conveying the content of any particular maamer) still I do see great value, wisdom and truth in the point he brought out. I think that had you truly paid attention to what you read before dismissing it as it as a "fluffy idea of appreciating your inner being or whatever you tried saying", you would have appreciated that his article was in fact a call for, as you put it: Kabalas ol is "accepting the yoke" – doing things because hashem told you so… The only difference is that he said it with wit, intelligence, depth and sensitivity. In other words, he wrote like a Lubavitcher Chosid. Something I hope you will aspire to in your next comment.
If Chassidus needs any saving, I suspect it won’t come at the pen of one who mocks and vilifes an admirable attempt to teach it – with profundity and creativity.
To Elazar: You’re getting better and better. Stay on track and keep those wellsprings bubbling forth. Yasher Koach!
an enthusiastic aficionado
I loved, appreciated, treasured, and plain simply cherished this article. It was fun, enjoyable, and easy to read, from beginning to end. So from the bottom of my heart, I send out my sincerest thanks. Keep up the good work, and I hope to see your articles again in the near future.
And as for Mr. Save chassidus, stop criticizing other people’s hard and meaningful work. If you want to make lubavitch and the world a better place, just take a look in the mirror and start there.
Great!
Wow, Great article! Very well written and inspiring. Not exactly sure where the llama came in, but it was humorous nonetheless. Keep up the good work.
Yasher koach
Absolutely amazing interpretation of the maamer. Whoever would have thought the lesson of such a complex discourse could be so practical!
DaMe
Informative..Precise..Direct..Clear.. – A way to “live with the times” in a way that people can relate to in TODAYS’ time. What a road map! Keep ’em coming!
MG- ur friend whos now in -Animal City-
You have really dissapointed me.You made complete garbage out of that Lama!I don’t know if you know this, but animals have feelings to.And you know how I feel about animals.I hate you.Next time, be a little sensitive, alright?
A Reader, A Fan
I know this araticle is a week old, but I was just browsing the parsha section of this website, and as I was scrolling down the page, something jumped out at me (aside from the interesting name…) – as opposed to the usual 0-5, this article had 20 comments! Interesting. But I kept scrolling. Then I saw another article (It seems like you’ve only written 2? are there more?) with 46!!! By the same author! So I decided to read it. And then I read this one.
The numbers make sense! Your style (which changed significantly from the first to second – at least humor-wise) is brilliant. The deep concepts you take and bring across so simplisticly… And the way you write make’s one feel like they’re having a conversation with their friend (VERY much so in the first one – it made me feel like I actually knew the author on some level).
I know I’m rambling on a bit long, and I highly doubt anyone will be reading the comments on a week old parsha essay, but I just needed to write this…
You are a brilliant writer that is truly ENJOYABLE to read. I don’t know if ur goign to be putting one up this week, or if you will just be doing every oter week, but whatever the case, PLEASE keep writing. The other authors featured on this website write articles that are nice and all, but there is somehting truly special about yours.
Keep up the amazing work.
And I know these comments are read by either webby or techie or whoever – so I am asking you: Please continue to feature this author, and even encourage him to write more often. It makes for a beautiful enhancement to this website.
tanyafarindavinin
keep it up way to go