Weekly Story: Don’t Be Fooled

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

This past week there were many interesting farbrengens in honor of Beis Iyar, and I listened to some of them. One of them was by Rabbi Akiva Wagner, may he speedily have a complete refuah, (and it can be heard on Youtube).

I decided to rewrite a few of the interesting points that he mentioned, and obviously listening to it in its entirety, will be a much more rewarding experience. One should understand that he was addressing students (or former students) and in a spirit of farbrengen it was to inspire each person, to continuously elevate themselves.

I thought that many of the readers would enjoy participating in a genuine farbrengen. It is not a word for word transcription, rather I collected a few points he mentioned and intertwined them for this article. Your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated. I thank those melamdim/melamdos who responded to the article I posted this week in honor of Beis Iyar.

Our minhag is to learn mesechta Sota between Pesach and Shavuos. One of the reasons for this is to make sure that we don’t allow ourselves to be fooled or to fool ourselves. As our sages say, no one errs in sin, unless a spirit of folly overcomes them. So let us examine three levels of folly, or as it is expressed in the Hebrew word as Shtus, or shotah.

There was a prince who became demented. He woke up one morning and stated that he is a chicken and is going to conduct himself as a chicken. No longer is he going to sit by the table and eat with utensils, he will be sitting on the floor and will peck up his food from the floor. The king and queen were aghast; their precious son had a nervous breakdown and called in the royal physicians. However, all their efforts of medication and therapy were to no avail. The prince remained convinced that he is a chicken.

The king announced that whoever can heal the prince would be royally rewarded, and many people came, but they all failed.

One day a legendary psychiatrist arrived and informed the king that he figured a way to heal the prince, and he would like to begin at dinner time. The king was thrilled, he truly believed this time it would be successful.
A place was set for him at the table, but to the king’s surprise, the psychiatrist also crawled under the table and sat next to the prince.

The prince asked him, why are you under the table?

I am a chicken, was the replied.

Were you always a chicken, the prince inquired?

No, I just realized it lately that I am truly a chicken and I want to join you.

The prince was thrilled at having some company, as it was becoming boring being all alone.

The servants began serving the meal and they threw crumbs under the table.

The prince began pecking and crowing as he picked up morsels of food. But then he noticed that the new chicken took out a sandwich and began eating it.

Chickens don’t eat sandwiches, he protested.

I am a sophisticated chicken replied the psychiatrist. Yes chickens used to peck but some of us became sophisticated. Humans used to live in caves, and the more sophisticated ones now live in fancy mansions. Over the generations things evolve.

The prince heard this and it made a little sense, so he allowed the new chicken to remain with him.

When night time came the prince laid down on the floor to go to sleep, but the new chicken took out a cot and laid down on it.

Once again the prince protested that this is not how a chicken conducts itself and the new chicken gave his rehearsed response. Many animals sleep on the ground, but when they are by humans, they have mats etc., to sit and sleep on.

The prince knew that this was true from observing the pets on the palace grounds so he accepted the answer.

The next morning, the prince awoke at sunrise and began crowing in the early morning. Shortly afterwards the alarm awoke the new chicken. So once again the prince protested that that is not the ways of a chicken to awake from an alarm clock. A chicken awakes with the first ray of sunshine and crows as loudly as it can!

The new chicken began his talk, but this time the prince loudly protested. You don’t eat like a chicken! You don’t sleep like a chicken! And you don’t wake up like a chicken! YOU ARE NOT A CHICKEN!!!

So if one doesn’t conduct their day as a chossid [learning, davening, or bentching properly after he eats etc.], and doesn’t go to sleep as a chossid [saying krias shema properly, sleeping with a talis koton] and wake up as a chossid [saying modeh ani and washing negel vasser by the bed], obviously that person would not claim that I am a chossid. No one would fool themselves into believing this is the proper way of a chossid.

But then comes another level.

There was a melamed who eked out a living. However, it wasn’t easy. The parents of his precious students were farmers and they would only have money after the harvest season. So he went to the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek and requested a loan, saying he will repay it after the harvest season.

The Rebbe gave him a silver or golden ruble and said, remember to pay after the harvest season.

Yes, Rebbe I promise I will pay it then.

Being that this coin was extremely valuable, he went to the money changers in the market place to exchange it for smaller coins. Going to the first one he saw, he gave him the coin and received the change. However, to his shock, he noticed the Ruble coin was there also. So he began saying, by mistake you returned the …. However, the money exchanger, began shouting at him, don’t waste my time, there are other customers that have to be taken care of and shooed him away. This happened by a second money exchanger and a third.

The melamed now sees that he has three rubles in smaller denominations and still has the coin the Rebbe gave him. So the next morning he returns the coin to the Tzemach Tzedek.

The Rebbe asked him, why are returning it now?

The melamed replied because I have a lot more money than I had yesterday and I don’t need it anymore.

Shota, Shota, Shota, the Rebbe said as he accepted the coin.

Initially the melamed didn’t understand, why the Rebbe was upset at him. But then as it dawned on him, he broke out in a cry. The Rebbe wanted me to use it for the next few months and he was blessing me with an abundance of wealth, and I cut it short after receiving just three rubles.

Many reminiscence of the wonderful years they had in yeshiva. The learning, the farbrengening etc., those were the best years. However, now that I am Boruch Hashem married, with a family and in the business world, I don’t have time for that any more.

Why are you cutting your blessings short? You should realize that learning Chassidus daily or at least once a week is a blessing. Why cut it short? The Rebbeim gave it to you, and asked that you hold on to it forever, don’t return it.

Now here, some people may feel and fool themselves that he is still a chassidish yid. But others realize that you have to remain in the present. It is not sufficient that I was an excellent talmid, but I must continue my days as a chassidishe Yid.

Then comes the third level that can be a challenge.

The Rebbe Maharash was informed that a chosid refuses to give his wife a get. The Rebbe called him in and the chossid said, “Rebbe, I am ready to do anything and everything you say. Just this one thing I can’t do.”
The Rebbe Maharash said, “That means that I am not a yirei shomayim (a G-d fearing Jew). As our sages state that whoever is a yirei shomayim, his words are listened to. So I must repent.”

Saying that the Rebbe put down his head into his hands and began singing a niggun. A few minutes later, he raised his head and the chossid saw the Rebbe’s face red from tears. A fear gripped him and he said, Rebbe I will give her the divorce.

Yes, we may laugh at this chossid. Who would tell the Rebbe such a thing? But if we analyze it honestly, we may see that it does apply to us, even chassidishe talmidim in the yeshiva.

You may ask how?

So let us explore it.

You wake up in the morning and after modeh ani and negel vasser, you go to the mikva. Then you learn Chassidus and strive to understand what you are learning. That is followed by Shacharis and you daven to the best of your ability with thinking of the meaning of the words.

You learn the shiurim of Chitas and Rambam, not just read the words, you go on mivyzoyim. Yes you are truly a chassidishe bochur.

But then comes one little but. But you can’t detach yourself from your smartphone or computer when you come home. You have to know what is doing in Lubavitch, the Jewish world, worldwide. Or, you have some other trait that is hard for you to change. So you say, all in all I follow everything I am told to do, but nobody is perfect. The mashpia,Rosh yeshiva or maggid shiur are all wonderful people, but they too admit they are not perfect. So what is wrong if I hold on to this one thing?

On that comes the saying of the Rebbe Rashab, kol hayotzei limilchemes beis dovid, get kores…, those in the army of Dovid have to separate themselves from all things, not just the majority of them.
Is it easy?

No. But that is the power of Lchatchila ariber, to go beyond what we think, we are capable of and each and every one of us can climb higher and higher. We will give ourselves over to everything the Rebbe wants of us, and we will definitely be zoche the geulah ha’amitis speedily in our days.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com

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