By the Grace of G-d
PRE-ARTICLE Dear Friend, You may have expected me to address the Coronavirus in my column. I would, if I thought I could wrap my mind around it. However, this topic is still unfolding, and I am at a bit of a loss of what to write. I hope it will turn out to be nipped in the bud by Almighty G-d. Both by blessing the massive efforts of the Health authorities and by bringing a much-needed miracle to our region. One thing is clear. The world is frightened of China right now. No one is traveling there. Borders are closed. Some have even cancelled all Asia travel. Ouch. My colleagues in China have built Jewish infrastructure that is dependent on business and leisure travelers for funding. They are facing a crisis and have united to try and raise emergency funds so that their communities do not collapse G-d forbid during this period of uncertainty caused by this fast spreading virus. I feel for them very strongly and want to help them as much as possible. Please accept my plea as I urge you to help them weather this situation. Click here to donate to keeping Judaism in China alive as it weathers this humongous challenge. RYK Dear Friend, Last week I highlighted one kind of reaction that Holocaust survivors had, which was to hide their Jewishness from their post war children. I only learned about those stories later in life as I started to counsel people as a rabbi. The reaction I am more familiar with, is what I witnessed during my childhood in Melbourne, Australia. The burning desire that many survivors had, to rebuild the Jewish people and community. Every new Jewish child born was an act of defiance and victory. The building of Jewish schools, shuls and mikvahs and kosher food availability that define and facilitate Jewish communal life, were top priority. There was an urgency to these efforts. So much was lost during the Holocaust. There was no time to waste in the rebuilding efforts. There was so much to do with relatively so few people to do it. Nobody could possibly feel that they were redundant, not needed. It was an ‘all hands on the deck’ kind of situation. This carried on for a few generations. The survivors themselves obviously had a great drive. They knew what had been lost. The children raised by survivors were infused with their parents’ sense of urgency. They too felt the supreme importance of galvanizing to the cause of rebuilding. The children of those children (my generation) still has a remnant of that feeling gained by osmosis from their parents’ sense of purpose. We are now one generation later. The generation of our children. My children’s generation are children of children of children of survivors. The chance that they have interacted meaningfully with an actual Holocaust survivor is slim. Anyone who was twenty years old in 1945 is now 95 years old. The direct link between our current generation and those who remember what was before the destruction and what we lost, is almost over. Seventy-five years later you would be hard pressed to convince people that we need to RE-build. In a sense, it has been rebuilt. True, it does not bring back what was lost. What once was, is no longer. It is different. But it is a super impressive edifice that has been built. As you look around at the Jewish world you cannot help but be inspired. Jewish life is flourishing thank G-d. In Israel as well as in countries around the world. (Even China has a dozen or so burgeoning Jewish communities. Click here to help them during the Coronavirus crisis). Yeshivas, Synagogues, mikvahs, community centers, kosher eateries and many other religious and cultural institutions are thriving. This constitutes a certain challenge. The challenge becomes motivation. The motivation that came along with emerging from the painful smoldering coals with an insatiable urgency for rebuilding a flourishing Jewish life, is no longer. The challenge for our generation has become maintaining a feeling of relevance during these times of relative calm and plenty. There is no burning urge to rebuild as everything has been rebuilt. What now? There is nothing more demoralizing than not having a purpose to life. It is no secret that many of our generation struggle with the meaning of life. Some people question their role in life. It seems to them that as an individual they are not really needed, the community is so large as it is. Is one less decent human really going to make a difference in the universe? Is one less observant Jew really going to make it or break it for the Jewish People? Life has its share of challenges. It is difficult to get up and tackle them when you don’t feel that your contribution is important. Motivation is thus a key component to living life. Without motivation one falls into listlessness and depression. Let me ask the question out loud. The question that many are scared to voice. Am I redundant? Let me answer that question in an emphatic tone of voice: NO WAY! G-D NEEDS YOU!!! and ME!!! and each and every person on this planet. G-d Almighty Himself has created each of us. He waits expectantly for us to fulfil our individual roles. Now more than ever, we need to be reminded that not only is our presence here on earth not a burden to humanity, on the contrary, me, you and everyone in existence it is absolutely vital to the unimpeded functioning of the universe. Stated simply, if he didn’t need us, we wouldn’t be here. Now that, is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Can there be anything more energizing and uplifting upon awakening in the morning than the realization that G-d is waiting for you to wake up and serve Him? Who has time to philosophize about mediate about the purpose of life? Turns out, that many people do have the luxury of available time. The luxury to think, to ruminate and even fall into a ‘negative-thoughts’ self-induced mild depression. (in cases of clinical depression G-d forbid a doctor must be consulted). In the olden days there was not much free time. Living life was like being on a fast-paced treadmill that didn’t let you stop for too long. Today, we have loads of leisure time. Kids don’t go to work in their father’s pushcart at tender ages. Doing laundry requires a push of a button not a trip to the river with sticks to pound out the dirt from the clothing. Our nutritional levels are better. Thank G-d our overall good health allows us to live longer. We have much more time to think. About what life is about. Why we live. what difference does my individual presence on earth make to anyone. This makes it critical not to brush off this question. We need to really address the core truth of what we are needed for. It’s a challenge to live in such a privileged generation. It is also a great gift. Materially we are blessed, that is without doubt. Our challenge is being motivated. Have no fear. In this field too we are blessed. We are a privileged generation that has the time and energy to be able to focus on the real existential reason for life. To create an awareness of G-d in ourselves, in our environment and thus in the world at large. G-d is the ultimate Energy Source, infinitely greater than infinite, the only true ‘I’, the omnipotent, omniscient existence, immanent everywhere and for eternity. G-d is truly beyond description. Nothing can be more meaningful or more inspirational than the opportunity to connect to G-d. And you and I are absolutely vital for this mission. The proof that we are irreplaceable? We are here! That is the simplest and truest proof. A good home-manager doesn’t have unnecessary clutter in their home. G-d certainly doesn’t keep ‘extras’ or ‘spare parts’ in his world. If you and I are here, it’s a sign that He needs us. When you know G-d is waiting for YOU, you cannot and dare not feel irrelevant. That would be irreverent to G-d himself. That would not be humility*, it would be a sheer mistake. For G-d knew who you are, with all your shortfalls, and yet waits for you to fulfil your part in His symphony. The Rebbe, who took the reins of the Chabad movement seventy years ago (this week on Wednesday February will be the 70th anniversary), spoke to the immediate generation of survivors. Yet he also spoke to our generation. I personally was blessed to spend many years drinking from his fountain of wisdom during my Yeshiva-study years. The Rebbe taught this above concept, as one of the central themes of his leadership. His message remains unwavering and applies equally to both generations. How so? On the one hand, the urgency of rebuilding in 1950 when he began to lead Chabad was palpable and pressing. Not so seventy years later. Today many grapple with finding meaning for life. How could one message address both extremes? The Rebbe, from the very beginning of his leadership, addressed the core of who we are and why we are. The essence of who we are and what our mission is has never changed since the Torah was given. Nay, since the world was created. Its about creating a ‘dwelling for G-d in the world below’ When you are needed by G-d to create a dwelling for Him, you have a purpose to live. The purpose motivates you to consciously give forth your best efforts when things are calm and serene (and in a way it may be a challenge to feel motivated) just as you instinctively and naturally do, when you have just experienced the worst destruction in history. It’s a message that resounds with equal relevance in 1950 as in 2020. Nay with more relevance in 2020 because in the here and now we can make a difference for tomorrow. When the ultimate goal is creating a permanent ‘dwelling fo G-d in the world below’, living life in this world becomes like a delightful stroll in the Garden of Paradise. When you are inspired, life can be joyfully enjoyable. Those efforts, to create a comfortable space for G-d here in this world, are ongoing. The fulfillment and success of these efforts will only be realized by the coming of Mashiach. We are almost there. It is up to us to add in the things that make G-d apparent. More acts of goodness and kindness. To sum it up simply: Ask know what G-d can do for me, ask what I can do for G-d. With that rule of thumb we will get the job done. Once and for all. May Mashiach come NOW! Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yosef Kantor *(The Rebbe gave a watershed teaching in 1960 that deals with this, for an audio class in English on this teaching click here (starting at 29:20)
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