Weekly Story: “America Iz Nisht Anderish!”

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

This Thursday, Tes Adar, is eighty years since the arrival of the Frierdiker Rebbe onto the shores of America, and when he made his epoch declaration that America is not different than Europe. Just as Judaism flourished in Europe, so too will Judaism flourish in America. I decided to share with you part of my weekly farbrengen in Rabbi Yitzchok Wolf’s Mesivta of Crown Heights.

I began by repeating the following thought I heard from Rabbi Nissim Mangel sheyiche.

Everyone knows that Jews were constantly on the move. After the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, they went to Bavel (nowadays Iran), Mitzrayim, (Egypt) and other countries in that area. There was a time that the center of Jews was in Spain, but the terrible Inquisition brought that era to an end. The Crusaders drove Jews out of France etc. So yes we went from one exile to another.

The question therefore becomes, why when we came to America, did the Frierdiker Rebbe have to make such a statement that America is not different than the countries we were living in previously. Each and every time the Jewish nation was uprooted from the country they lived for a long time they faced tremendous challenges of rebuilding communities in new places and often different situations. Then also, many Jews were disillusioned and needed to work extremely hard just to survive. Why then didn’t the leader of the generation make this declaration?!

Or to phrase the question a little differently, If the Frierdiker Rebbe had to inform us that America is not different, that means there is a possible reason to think that even according to the Torah, America is different, but the Rebbe informed us that that is wrong.

So why might an observant Jew think that America is different?

It states in the Zohar that the giving of the Torah was not on the bottom half of the Globe (Chatzi Kadur hatachdon) . If you place Eretz Yisroel on top of the globe (Chatzi kadur HuElyon), America is on the bottom half. So a person might think, that if the light of the Torah did not shine on America at the time of matan Toarh, so it is obviously different.

So the Frierdiker Rebbe stated and informed us, Yes, if you shine a light on a ball, its illumination reaches the half you shine it onto and not the other half. However, Torah is not limited to natural ways. And therefore the light of the Torah also shined onto the bottom half and even onto America, which then was known as the melting pot and everyone dropped their traditions and became Americanized.

Continuing the farbrengen with the students, I noted, the question is, what does this phrase mean to us.

We are living in the electronic age. Yes you boys are facing challenges that we as children, never had or dreamt about. Indeed we are living in different times.
Therefore there are those, who feel that we have to adapt to the times and structure our chinuch accordingly. To this the Frierdiker Rebbe stated America is not different! Yes the situation is different, there are new challenges, but the road to success is by being authentic of who we are. We are chassidie Chabad, and we follow the directives of the Rebbe and all of our Rebbeim. Our path is lit up with the light of Chassidus.

The Torah was not given to a certain situation, it is eternal and applies in all situations. Yes, we must know the challenges, but they cannot make us change our ways.
As we stand thirty days before Yud Aleph Nissan, let us resolve to strengthen our hiskashrus to the Rebbe, by learning his sichos, maamaorim and Igros.

By following his guidance, we are learning the ways of our Torah which is eternal, even in the electronic age etc., and we are guaranteed that we will succeed.

One of the stories I heard years ago was, as is known the Frierdiker Rebbe would send his students, many of them as bochurim, to open up day schools in various cities. In one city, one of the members of the community was envious of his success, and was beside himself for not trying to open a day school on his own. So towards the end of the year, he spoke to the parents that he will be opening a new school the following year.

Some of the parents made the switch and others remained. So now instead of one struggling school, there were two schools struggling not only for support, but also for students. However, the shliach did not wish to relay any bad news to the Rebbe, so although he wrote frequently and had a few yechidusin, he never mentioned it.
One time during a yechidus, the Rebbe asked him a direct question about this situation, and he had no choice but to answer. To his surprise, the Frierdiker Rebbe was jubilant. The Rebbe explained; there are more cities that need a school, than I can provide teachers etc. Now that this person made a school, even if his intentions were not proper, but there is a day school, where children can learn Torah. So in essence, he too, is doing our intention.

Merge your school with his and open up a school in the following city.

This weeks post is l’zechus my sister Chaya Rivka bas Cheyena, for a complete and swift refuah.

May everyone have a feilichein Purim

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and author of numerous books on our Rebbeim and their Chasidim. He is available to farbreng in your community, and will enthrall you with points of the Rebbe Rashab taken from his upcoming biography. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com