Weekly Story: Matan Torah
by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon
This week I am posting some of my notes on the Frierdiker Rebbe, as it relates to Matan Torah, they are taken from the notes I have jotted down as I research his life for his two volume biography.
One of the takkanos the Rebbe instituted was that we bring our children to hear the Aseres Hadibrois, on Shavuos. However, as Chassidus explains there are two parts to every mitzvah and thing, the goof (body) and the neshoma (soul), or as it is explained to mean, the action and the spirit. Here is a tangible way to gauge the spirit we should implant in our children.
When the Frierdiker Rebbe was almost six years old, on Erev Shavuuos his melamed [Reb Yekisiel] took the boys to a shul and instructed them to come there tomorrow morning to receive the Torah.
Yosef Yitzchok was excited and woke up early in the morning and prepared himself to go to the shul. His mother told him to eat something before he leaves the house. However, he refused saying that he doesn’t want to eat anything before receiving the Torah. So strong was his desire.
In a letter to Rabbi Havlin who was fundraising in America, going from city to city, the Frierdiker Rebbe writes the importance of inspiring another Jew to participate in a shiur, even if it is a one-time event.
He continues, while someone may think, what is the accomplishment of a single class and then the person will probably revert to his regular schedule and conduct, the Frierdiker Rebbe writes it is not so. Just as a person who faints, and is revived, it is not a temporary solution, but once he is revived he returns to his original and complete strength, so too, a Jew who began to falter and you revive him, he can return to his original state as a Jew is supposed to be.
In another letter he writes, comparing the study of Torah to everyday life events, he points out, just as a merchant wants to publicize that he has merchandise for sale, and this way he might attract a customer that he wasn’t aware of, and therefore doesn’t hide his wares in his house, but tries to obtain a store place on a prominent street, so too, while it is praiseworthy for everyone who has a set time to learn, but if you would learn in a public place, it may influence others to also learn, or to join your study group.
In regards to last weeks’ post, I received feedback, thank you.
Some say the parable of the tailor was originally said by the Vilna Goan or the Dubna Maggid.
Furthermore, it was brought to my attention that this is connected to a story in the Gemora (aggaditah, Taanis 25A)).
There it is related that Reb Elozer ben Pudis was extremely poor and suffered his entire life. Once he wasn’t feeling well and the doctor took out some blood (as was the custom in those days). He became so weak from that, that he had to eat something. The only food that was in his house was a piece of garlic, so he ate it.
However, that caused him to faint and sometime later the chachomim came to visit him. They were shocked, as they noticed, he was crying and laughing at the same time, and his face was illuminated.
They asked him to explain, what is happening, and he said I was having a conversation with Hashem. I asked him, why do I have to suffer so, and He replied, that is the way I set the world in motion. To change it, I would have to redo everything from the beginning….
It is on that gemorah that they gave this parable.
Other commentaries explain it as follows: The entire world is part of Hashem’s plan. Therefore one incident happens which leads up to or causes another incident. Furthermore people are reincarnations of previous generations, and have to rectify what that person missed out or didn’t accomplish. Therefore Hashem informed him, you are a continuation of a certain sequence and therefore, if I change your mission, I would have to go back and change the situation of the person you are a gilgul of etc.
This demonstrates how each action of ours has a ripple effect upon the entire world.
Your comments and feedback are always appreciated.
May we all receive the Torah b’simcha U’b’pnimiyous.
An Addendum to the Biography of the Rebbe Rashab
I wrote that in 5657 (1897) on the 16th of Elul, during the sheva brochos of his son, the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab announced that he is going to establish a Yeshiva. What I missed to write was that as a response to the maskilim opening a school and the Zionist movement captivating the youth, the Rebbe Rashab established a yeshiva of 15 or 16 boys in Lubavitch, similar to the Yeshiva that the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek had, that the boys learn on their own. (See Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe, vol. 2, pp. 107-108).
Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. he can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmai.com
