When I look into the Mirror, do I see a Chosid?
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
This Shabbos falls out after Chaf Daled Teves and before Yud Shevat. Therefore it’s a good time for each one of us to think about what being a Lubavitcher Chosid means to us on a personal level.
For those of us who were fortunate enough to be by the Rebbe, and went to the fabrengens, yechidus and dollars may think that all they need to do is recollect those times and relive the past. Aside from the fact that this leaves those who were not by the Rebbe with a question about what they should do, also, the Previous Rebbe says (Sicha 5700) that this is a time for cheshbon, not just recollections. Each one of us needs to take personal stock; in what way am I a chosid? How is being a chosid expressed in my every day living? For this we are all equals, its not just for those who were by the Rebbe, it’s the same for all of us.
Certainly we need to learn a lot of Chassidus and be connected through the learning. We can also sit with our eyes closed and picture how the Rebbe wants a chosid to look today. He wants a chosid that learns chassidus and educates his children in the ways of the Rabbeim. A chosid should have an untrimmed beard even if it’s difficult and maintain a kashrus standard on the highest level. Certainly there should not be any improper books in the home and the girls should be tznuis. We should all be mehader in mitzvos and have set times for Torah study. We should care for others, even those we do not know, etc.
Once we have drawn that picture in our minds we can compare it to our personal situation. How do I fit into that picture? Am I trying? Would the Rebbe approve? It’s about so much more than the hat and the kapote, it’s about our pnimius and where we stand while we stand in front of the Rebbe.
There’s a story about a boy who was convinced he was a rooster. His father asked a professor to help him get some sechel into his son to undo his false notion that he was a rooster. The professor showed up to the coop for observation, presenting himself as a fellow rooster. When lunchtime rolled around, the boy began to thrash around with the other roosters in the seed that was thrown out. The professor took out a sandwich. The boy called him out. He said if you’re a real rooster you need to eat seed. The professor replied; c’mon we’re in the 21st Century, we’re modern roosters, we don’t have to eat seed anymore. We can be 100 percent rooster while eating sandwiches! The boy looked at him with curiosity and said; maybe.
This same interaction occurred throughout the day. When it came time to sleep, the boy sat down with his feet tucked under himself with his head underneath his arm. The professor rolled out a sleeping bag and went to sleep. The boy woke him up. He said if you’re a real rooster you need to sleep like a rooster. The professor replied; c’mon we’re in the 21st Century, we’re modern roosters, we don’t have to sleep like that anymore. We can be 100 percent rooster with a sleeping bag! The boy looked at him with curiosity and said; maybe.
At dawn all the roosters began to crow, all of them aside the professor who woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back; the boy could not bear the professors behavior any longer. He said, look, if you’re not eating, or sleeping, or getting up like a rooster, then you’re simply not a rooster! So too with our life as Chassidim, if we talk about being a chosid but we don’t walk our talk we need to ask, where do we fit in?
Just like the Jews in Mitzrayim were in their galus so long they were unable to hear Moshe’s announcement that the time of their redemption had arrived, so too people say that they cannot live in the proper image of a chosid today. Each and every one of us needs to realize that, in truth, we have the power to break out of any difficulty. The Rebbe put within us this ability and it’s our responsibility to find it. If we seek we will find that we have been given the power to break through in all matters. Hashem appeared to the Avos, Vayera el Avraham, Yitzchak v’Yaakov and revealed to us Himself through Torah and Moshe Rabbenu. We were given the match, it’s up to you; do you want to light it?