By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
Let us put on the special glasses of the sages of the Talmud.
The way they looked at Hashem’s benevolence in rewarding people for honoring Him, becomes a powerful case for blessing and reward from G-d for each and every one of us.
Perfect for sharing just before Yom Kippur. The holiest day of the year when we stand before Hashem to have the blessings of the coming year signed and sealed.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 96a ) tells the story of the powerful Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnezzar.
He started off as a secretary and scribe for a previous Babylonian monarch.
How did he become the most powerful king of his time (around 2600 years ago)?
Once, when Nebuchadnezzar was absent from work, another one of the royal scribes drafted a letter to be sent to the king of Yehudah, Chizkiyahu. The letter began: “Greetings to King Hizkiyahu! Greetings to the city of Jerusalem! Greetings to the great God!”
When Nebuchadnezzar returned to work and discovered how the letter was written, he objected, saying “you call Him ‘the great G-d,’ and then you mention Him last?!”
Nebuchadnezzar insisted that the letter be redone, writing:
“Greetings to the great God! Greetings to the city of Jerusalem! Greetings to King Hizkiyahu!”
The problem was that the messenger had already been dispatched to Jerusalem with the first version of the letter in his hand.
Nebuchadnezzar ran out to call the messenger back and redo the letter, running three steps to catch the messenger.
The Talmud credits this behavior, the running of three steps for G-d’s honor, for his subsequent ascension to power.
Let us wrap our minds around this for a minute.
The kingdom of Babylon was the prevailing ‘super-power’ of the time.
Nebuchadnezzar ascended to power, his son followed him in the monarchy as did his grandson.
Three generations of kingship of the most powerful monarchy of the civilized world.
He received that as a reward for a mere three steps that he walked in honor of G-d.
Literally a triple dose of absolute royalty for three steps.
The Alter Rebbe R’ Shneur Zalman made the following observation.
‘There is no Jew who has not honored Hashem to this (almost effortless) level. This means that every Jew is deserving of all the good in the world’.
(This is one of the reasons that we take three respectful steps backwards after concluding the Amidah prayer. Click here for more).
I find this perspective a very important one to have in our toolkit.
Too easily we can fall into the trap of ‘justifying’ bad things that happen to other people. ‘They are sinful’ we may say. Thus ‘they deserve it’ some may even add.
We ought to keep that kind of judgmentalism to be used solely on ourselves (and even that must be kept to a minimum).
When something doesn’t go for us the way I wanted it to go, we ought to recognize that hardship as being a ‘wake-up call’ from Above.
It is probably intended to give us a push in the right direction. To get better and ascend in the ladder of connection to Hashem by studying Torah and doing Mitzvahs.
However when it comes to the way we view others, we must use the yardstick outlined above.
That they are deserving of Hashem's benevolence.
Recognize that all the people around you have certainly gone three steps for Hashem. According to the above Talmudic logic they are all deserving of wonderful things.
On a personal note: every single Jew I know and have ever known, have all shown respect for Hashem at least as much as the three steps that Nebuchadnezzar took.
This moves me and inspires me to beseech Hashem for blessings, kindness, light and joy to everyone I know, to you and all of Am Yisrael.
May the world be blessed with the coming of Mashiach NOW.
Chatima Ugmar Chatima Tova
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef & Nechama Kantor