By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
The hot topics dominating the news headlines this week are not necessarily ones that I can or wish to comment on.
Coronavirus? It’s a medical issue and I am not a professional in the field of physical healing.
USA politics? I stay away from that topic as far as possible.
The focus of my week was actually neither of those topics. My head was occupied with a more existentially significant item. One that reverberates and will continue to do so with ever increasing intensity.
It was the day and a half I spent at the resting place of the Rebbe marking the seventy-year anniversary of the Rebbe’s leadership of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
A long journey!
Worth it?
Yes, for sure.
In focusing on the Rebbe’s leadership and impact, especially from the perspective of seventy years I was inspired and motivated.
What started in a small room with a group of not more than several hundred, when the Rebbe reluctantly accepted to lead Chabad has evolved into an ‘army of goodness and kindness’ that man the thousands of Chabad outposts around the world.
The theme of the anniversary was not about accomplishment as much as it was about using the inspiration as a springboard to greater and more impactful growth.
In the speech that I was privileged to give at the central anniversary celebration I used the following analogy.
When someone makes their first million, do they stop to rest?
No. On the contrary. A businessman who makes his first million says ‘now I can really start doing business’!
When he gets to ten million, he doesn’t stop either. For then he can start doing REALLY SERIOUS business. And so it goes, onwards and upwards.
This is the way we have look at spiritual achievements as well. As being steppingstones and catalysts for leaping to even greater, loftier and grandiose goals.
The consensus of the thousands who attended the celebration was very clear. The clarion call issuing forth from the gathering is that ‘now it is time to reach for even higher and more ambitious goals’.
To transform the entire world into one of goodness and kindness. To spread Torah and Mitzvahs to every nook and cranny of the world.
Most importantly to deputize and inspire every single Jew in the world to view themselves as a ‘lamplighter’. A full partner in the process of changing the world for the good. To think not just about their own morality and holiness but to share that wealth and inspiration with their friends as well. Each and every one of us can be a teacher and a guide to someone who knows even less than them.
Click here for seven lessons from the Rebbe’s inaugural mission statement.
But I cannot remain totally silent on the topic of the virus. For I have received email enquiries from various people around the world regarding the coronavirus. People who had plans to visit Thailand wanted to know my opinion. Should they cancel their Thailand travel plans or not?
What shall I say?
I am not a doctor.
My suggestion is that one should ask the experts of their country. The USA currently doesn’t seem to have any travel advisory alert pertaining to Thailand.
We all form opinions from things we read and feelings we have. From everything I can gather, the common flu is a greater enemy and poses a more realistic threat than its newer recently born cousin.
That doesn’t mean to say that the coronavirus should be of no concern to us. It just raises the question whether the extreme disruption of lives and economies is really warranted.
Why is everyone so anxious about this virus vs the more common flu?
Psychologists say that unknown dangers cause more fear and anxiety than familiar ones. This would be the simplest explanation as to why the very same people who engage in unhealthy lifestyle habits that are known to be dangerous, will take overreactive precautions to dangers that are more obscure.
If you look for optimistic news you will notice the reports that the fatalities from the coronavirus were mostly from people suffering from medical preconditions. This would mean that for most people life could have continued as usual if not for the panicky response by governments and airline carriers.
If you search for grim and dire analyses, I am sure it can be found as well.
Google has something for everyone from the OCD to the negligently happy-go-lucky-everything-goes kind of person. You can usually back up any theory with a thorough enough search.
Thank G-d I am happy to go along with the optimistic outlook and pray that Hashem indeed blesses to have a positive outcome.
Ultimately it is G-d operating the world. He brings viruses into being. He also directs which ones will become ‘popular’ and wreak havoc on the economies and social life of entire countries and billions of people. Not necessarily through huge numbers getting sick G-d forbid but simply from the shockwaves of the kneejerk reactions.
I pray to the Almighty that He heal the sick and cause the virus to go away. May people be able to resume their lives, productively and healthily.
Should people still come to Thailand?
It depends on your personal level of angst.
What sense would it make to come to ‘holiday’ in a place and then be nervous all day about getting ill? It wouldn’t be much of a holiday.
If you are not bothered by these fears? Then there is an angle for you to still come. Whatever motivated you to come to Thailand in the first place is probably still here.
This is not a medical statement I am making. It’s a psychological one.
Now I would like to find a spiritual lesson to be gleaned from this topic. For one of the first axioms of Chasidic teaching is that we must learn a lesson from the happenings in the world around us. Nothing is by chance.
The lesson that strikes me when seeing the huge attention given to face masks, is the importance of keeping certain things out of our bodies.
People are wearing mask to keep droplets from someone who is infected from entering their nostrils or mouths.
If we want to keep viruses out our bodies, how much more so should we try to keep negative and foreign thoughts and impulses from our minds and hearts.
The following story teaches this quite poignantly.
A chassid once came to Rabbi DovBer, the 'Maggid' of Mezeritch. "Rebbe," he said, "there is something I do not comprehend. When the Almighty commands us to do something or forbids a certain act, I understand. No matter how difficult it may be, no matter how my strongly heart craves the forbidden course, I can do what G-d desires or refrain from doing what is against His will. After all, man has free choice and by force of will he can decide on a course of action and stick to it, no matter what. The same is true with speech. Though somewhat more difficult to control, I accept that it is within my power to decide which words will leave my mouth and which will not.
"But what I fail to understand are those precepts which govern matters of the heart; for example, when the Torah forbids us to even entertain a thought that is destructive and wrong. What is one to do when such thoughts enter his mind of their own accord? Can a person control his thoughts?"
Instead of answering the chassid's question, Rabbi DovBer dispatched him to the hamlet of Zhitomir. "Go visit my disciple, Rabbi Zev" he said. "Only he can answer your question."
The trip was made in the dead of winter. For weeks the chassid made his way along the roads which wound their way through the snow-laden forests of White Russia.
Midnight had long come and gone when the weary traveller arrived at Rabbi Zev's doorstep. Much to his pleasant surprise, the windows of the scholar's study where alight. Indeed, Rabbi Zev's was the only lighted window in the village. Through a chink in the shutters the visitor could see Rabbi Zev bent over his books.
But his knock brought no response. He waited awhile, then tried once more, harder. Still, he was completely ignored. The cold was beginning to infiltrate his bones. As the night wore on, the scene which unfolded was as incredible as it was true: the visitor, with nowhere else to turn, kept pounding upon the frozen planks of Rabbi Zev's door; the rabbi, a scant few steps away, continued to study by his fireside, seemingly oblivious to the pleas which echoed through the sub-zero night.
It was almost morning when Rabbi Zev rose from his seat, opened the door, and warmly greeted his visitor. He sat him by the fire, prepared for him a hot glass of tea, and asked after the health of their Rebbe. He then led his guest - still speechless with cold and incredulity - to the best room in the house to rest his weary bones.
The warm welcome did not abate the next morning, nor the one after. Rabbi Zev was the most solicitous of hosts, attending to the needs of his guest in a most exemplary manner. The visitor, too, was a model guest, considerate and respectful of the elder scholar. If any misgivings about the midnight 'welcome' accorded him still lingered in his heart, he kept them to himself.
After enjoying the superb hospitality of Rabbi Zev for several days, the visitor had sufficiently recovered from his journey and apprehension to put forth his query. "The purpose of my visit," he said to his host one evening, "is to ask you a question. Actually, our Rebbe sent me to you, saying that only you could answer me to my satisfaction."
The visitor proceeded to outline his problem as he had expressed it earlier to the Maggid. When he had finished, Reb Zev said: "Tell me, my friend, is a man any less a master of his own self than he is of his home?
"You see, I gave you my answer on the very night you arrived. In in my home, I am the boss. Whomever I wish to admit - I allow in; whomever I do not wish to admit - I do not."
How dangerous the coronavirus is I don’t know.
The dangers of letting all kinds of bad influences into our consciousness, I do know.
Perversion, immorality and many other forms of psychologically unhealthy influences are to be found all around us and certainly on the world wide web. These disturbing and even sinister forces are insidious. They burrow their way into one’s inner psyche. Once they penetrate the consciousness, they cause a great danger. They can be fatal in the spiritual sense. They rob people of meaningful relationships. They engender addiction.
It’s not just an isolated problem. It is an epidemic. Perhaps a pandemic.
The Torah says ‘don’t get led astray after our hearts and eyes’.
The way these negative things enter is through our eyes. The eyes see and the heart desires and sometimes even lusts.
A mask may not block everything out, neither does a filter on your computer.
But at least it’s a start. It makes you aware that you need to have control over what enters your being. It may be difficult or close to impossible to keep everything out, but you have to do your bit by making an effort.
Being aware is critical. By being aware you wash your hands more often. By being aware that you need to make an effort to protect the sanctity of your heart and mind you make sure not to get lured into visiting the wrong destinations in the virtual world of the web or falling into other social ills.
May Hashem bless us all to be healthy, free of flu’s viruses and other forms of unhealthiness and may we merit the liberation from our modern day Egypt. Then we will once more sing a song, even more powerful than the song described in this weeks Parsha at the splitting of the Reed Sea.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
PS because of the virus and the fear surrounding it, we encourage you to visit the shul if you are healthy. If you are a ‘mask-wearer’ it will be perfectly acceptable to pray with a mask under the circumstances. Also, if someone doesn’t want to shake your hand to say Shabbat Shalom, accept it with understanding. Lastly, if G-d forbid you are not feeling well, please take the needed precautions. If coming to Synagogue causes you to be really anxious, remember that G-d hears our prayers from anywhere and everywhere. If you need wine and Shabbat food please let me know.