By the Grace of G-d Dear Friend, The Israeli division of CTeen, Chabad’s international teen network (we have a CTeen chapter in Bangkok too) was visiting Thailand this week. I was invited to speak to them. The attention span these days is not long. I wanted to say something short that would be meaningful to them and leave them with a practical takeaway. The following story that happened to me more than two decades ago popped into my mind. It was in my early years of providing kosher supervision to local factories through our Thai Kashrut Services organization. The ingredients at a certain factory I had visited were not up to kosher standard. I explained to the factory management that I was unable to provide kosher certification due to the problematic ingredients. The factory owners asked to come and visit me at my office. An envelope was put on the table, with a noticeable amount of cash in it. They explained that they had come to talk about seeing how to ‘organize’ the kosher certificate. Ostensibly they were asking about what ingredients they needed to change. However the cash filled envelope indicated what they really had in mind. They wanted to influence me to certify something kosher even though it wasn’t. I was shocked. I had never experienced ‘bribery’ in its raw form before. As part of my childhood education I had heard the story of the imprisonment and ultimate release of Rabbi Yosef Yitschak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of Chabad. Even after the communist revolution, the Rebbe continued to actively promote Jewish observance. This enraged the religion-hating communists. One morning, while the Rebbe was observing yahrzeit after his father, three members of the secret police rushed into his synagogue, guns in hand, to arrest him. Calmly he finished his prayers and then followed them. Facing a council of armed and determined men, the Rebbe once again reaffirmed that he would, under no threat of compulsion, give up his religious activities. When one of the agents pointed a gun at him, saying, “This little toy has made many a man change his mind,” the Rebbe calmly replied: “Your little toy can intimidate only a man who has many gods (passions) and but one world (this world). Because I have only one G-d and two worlds, I am not impressed by your little toy.” (While he was subsequently arrested and faced with the death penalty, a few weeks later the Rebbe was miraculously released and allowed to emigrate to the free world. Click here for more details about his heroic struggle). These words of Rabbi Yosef Yitschak Schneersohn, as he faced the loaded gun of a communist officer flashed before my eyes. I looked at the envelope and felt disgusted rather than tempted. Let’s face it, money is a temptation. A big sum of money is a big temptation. But ultimately, when one recognizes that there is but one G-d and that this world is only a temporary sojourn, while the soul lives for eternity, money loses (some of) its compelling allure. I thank G-d for having been born to parent who taught me these values. The heroes they told me about were spiritual giants. Stories like this about Tzadikim (plural of Tzadik) who lived in the same physical world as we do, yet were attuned to a higher spiritual reality serve as a beacon of light and inspiration to us. Hopefully my sharing with the teenagers about the strength that this story gave me to not be tempted by a unethical bribe, will give them a point of reference when they are faced with moral temptation. We need to tell more stories like these. We need to glorify those who do what is right, notwithstanding whether it is popular. When our heroes are not the powerful and the famous, rather the ethical and the benevolent, our society will become a more refined and inspired one. Later in the week I had the privilege to speak to the kids of Camp Gan Israel when they came to visit the Chabad House Synagogue. Much younger kids. I told them the above story of the Rebbe. Are they too young to absorb the message? I don’t think so. I heard the story when I was their age. It had an effect on me till today. And please G-d will continue to inspire me. If we inspire the young kids, they will inspire their kids. Their kids will inspire their kids. Mashiach will be here way before….. AM YISRAEL CHAI
ב"ה