"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok" - JewishThailand.com

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

You are a treasure trove.

There is a wealth of opportunity within you.

The world will be a better place when you unleash your potential.

Don’t look around to see who I am speaking to. I am speaking to you, the one reading this message.

What are you waiting for?

Why are you sitting on this cache of precious commodities and withholding them from your loved ones, your community and by extension the entire world?

Can you imagine being in a place surrounded by starving and needy people, feeling helpless about not being able to help them. You knew that there was food in the kitchen, but you couldn’t share it with the needy because the kitchen was locked.

While you feel bad about the starving people, you don’t feel personally responsible. You know that it was beyond your control. After all, the kitchen was locked, and you had no way of getting in.

Imagine if you realized afterwards that you had the key to the kitchen in your pocket but forgot about it?

You would feel devastated and remorseful for your forgetfulness.

Still in all, at least you can blame your forgetfulness for the blunder. You were not intentionally negligent and insensitive to the needs of others.

There is an even more pitiful and awful scenario that is possible.

That you saw the starving people, you knew the food was in the kitchen, you were quite aware that you possessed the key to the kitchen, but you couldn’t energize yourself to get up off your couch and open the kitchen to help those in need.

(I am not talking about inactivity caused by clinical depression or other forms of mental illness.

My heartfelt prayers to those who battle this kind of imbalance. May Hashem give them the strength, perseverance and healing that is needed. We need to be mindful and spread awareness about the excruciating challenge of mental illness.

Most importantly, the stigma and shame need to be stripped away. True compassion needs to be applied. We all ought to partner in helping shoulder the often-overwhelming financial burden that treating mental illness incurs.

Back to my article which refers to moods and energy that are a product of motivation and proper self-care which we must try to get better at).

How would you look at yourself in the mirror knowing that because you couldn’t drum up enough motivation or energy in yourself, you allowed people to suffer needlessly.

Is that excusable?

Imagine having a dream like that. It would be a nightmare that you would be happy to wake up from and discover that it was not for real.

Let me reveal to you that perhaps I am not depicting a scene that is so far from reality.

The Rebbe quoted the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching:

It is written, "For you (the people of Israel) shall be a desirable land, says G d" (Malachi 3:12). Just as the greatest explorers will never uncover the limits of the great and valuable resources which the Almighty has placed within the earth, neither will anyone ever discover the limits of the great treasures which lie buried within a Jew - G d's "desirable land."

My dear friend,

This means to say that you and I have potential within us that is waiting to be revealed.

There is more, perhaps much more, that we can bring to the table.

This is the reality, says the Rebbe. Alluded to in the words of Malachi the prophet. Not wishful thinking or imagination.

So why are we not realizing our potential?

Why are we squandering the incredible wealth and opportunity that we have been entrusted with?

I believe that there are two reasons.

Firstly, Ba’al Shemtov’s analogy clearly refers to the positive qualities and potentials as being ‘hidden under the ground. This means we need to uncover it. Even dig for it, if it is not near the surface.

For some, the treasure remains buried.

We may not have heard from someone else that they believe in us, and they identify great potential within us. Our potential may be buried to the point that we are not consciously aware of it and it remains undeveloped.

It starts from early childhood.

Someone shared the following story about his childhood. He was raised by his Jewish parents who intentionally left Jewish observance out of their household. He grew up knowing one word in Yiddish.

‘Vildeh Chayess’.

This means literally ‘wild beasts’. The mother would sometimes tell her kids to calm down and not run wildly around like ‘vildeh chayess’. It’s a Yiddish term that she obviously grew up with.

How ironic and sad that the one Yiddish word that made it through the blackout curtains covering over the children’s Jewish identity was this disparaging term.

In the Yiddish vernacular there are so many uplifting words that parents refer to their children by.

‘Mayn Tzadikel/Malach’el’ ‘My saintly/angelic one’. ‘Tatteleh, Mamelleh, Buballeh’ ‘small father, small mother, small grandmother’. ‘Shayne punim’ ‘beautiful-face’ and many other endearing terms. They all have one thing in common. They refer to the child as someone special, beloved and a gift.

Hopefully we had parents who built our positivity by calling us uplifting names. Let us not judge them if they were not as sensitive to this as they could have been. It is our duty to be mindful about this and spread awareness about the empowerment we need to give our children.

If you are at the stage of raising children, or you have grandchildren, make sure to speak in a way that identifies the special qualities in your children/grandchildren.

Tell your loved one how special they are and how much potential you see in them. In a real loving and empowering way.

I don’t mean false fawning of someone to endear yourself to them to get a favor from them.

I am talking about identifying the deeper abilities within people around you. Positive reinforcement when it is genuine and well-intentioned is a game changer. It brings out the latent positivity that is hidden beneath the surface.

If no one else has told it to you, you now have heard it directly from G-d via the prophet Malachi with the analogy deciphered by the Ba’al Shem Tov and transmitted by the Rebbe to our generation on social media (see this video of the Rebbe).

The second hurdle is getting off our couches, buckling down and getting to work in implementing our missions. Lethargy and lack of motivation may be a greater challenge than one realizes.

Tanya teaches that when two people wrestle, it is not the stronger one who will win. It is the more agile and motivated one.

Imagine this scenario. Two people are vying for the same job. Both are endowed with the needed skill sets. One is more talented. The other one has noticeably more positive energy. Which applicant do you think will get the job?

Yep, you are right. The more enthusiastic and positive one will likely get the coveted position.

Getting yourself in the right frame of mind is not just an added perk.

It can make or break your success.

I know people who are so gifted and capable, yet they are stymied by their lack of motivation.

By contrast, I know super successful people who show up with zeal, determination and positivity while being significantly less talented than their counterparts.

The gift of the teachings of Chabad Chasidism – whose founding two hundred plus years ago we celebrate today the 19th of Kislev - is contemporary and more relevant than ever.

Chasidut teaches and emphasizes the critical importance of always being joyous and upbeat with ‘simcha’.

So is the central teaching about Divine Providence.

You see, there is another excuse that would keep us from making efforts to unleash our inner gifts.

The classic excuses.

‘I am not in the right place, or this is not the right time’. ‘If I was there’…, ‘if it was yesterday or tomorrow…’ then I would do it, but I am here. It is now. If only …. was different, then I would do …. ‘.

Wistful and wishful thinking is a distraction and not in sync with true ‘mindfulness’ and being ‘present’.

One of the most central tenets of Chasidic thought it the Ba’al Shem Tov’s teaching of Hashgacha Pratit.

Detailed Divine Providence.

Even a leaf that blows in the wind is micro-managed by the Almighty Himself.

The place I am in. The time that I am in. The kind of person I am with the unique skill set, advantages, disadvantages, strength and weaknesses.

They are all designed and planned by G-d.

The bases are loaded to use baseball language.

You are up to bat.

Recognize that Hashem looks at you like a ‘big leagues’ player. He is expectantly awaiting your effort. Only you can do your job. You are irreplaceable.

Don’t self-deprecate and minimize your abilities. Dig deep and uncover your potential.

Keep yourself in the positive zone of energy, joy and enthusiasm.

Do this by studying the uplifting texts of Torah especially as illuminated by Chabad Chasidism. Make sure your body is well calibrated by eating nutritiously and taking care of your body as the gift it is from G-d.

This Friday and Shabbat, we commemorate the Alter Rebbe’s redemption from Czarist prison. In the Divine scheme of things there are special energies available to get ‘redeemed’, ‘unstuck’ and freed from constraints, both external and internal.

Utilize the timely special opportunity.

Take advantage of the special redemptive powers that are available.

Take a moment to reflect on what you know deep down you could and should do.

Dare to believe that you too have a treasure and can do even more than that.

Be bold enough to disregard and dispel the voices that tell you to give up before you try.

Be open to the special blessings of this celebration of redemption and take the next step or even better, the next leap in shining your inner light outward, so that it creates a ripple effect of light and positivity.

This will tip the scales and bring Mashiach now.

Happy 19th of Kislev.

Shabbat Shalom

And an early CHANUKA SAMEACH for this coming Wednesday night.

PS Click here for four incredible stories about Hidden Treasure