The Forecast for this Winter is Joy, Inspiration, and Action that Illuminates our Surroundings!
By Rabbi Raichik
This month of Kislev is a month
filled with many special days. We have Rosh Chodesh Kislev the day the Rebbe left 770 after the heart attack; Tes and Yud Kislev, the birthday, yahrzeit and day of liberation of the Mittler Rebbe; Yud Daled Kislev the Anniversary of the Rebbe and Rebbitzin; Yud Tes Kislev the Rosh Hashana of Toras HaChassidus and day of liberation the Alter Rebbe; and Chanukah. During the month of Kislev we connect with Chassidus and the inner light of the Torah.
The primary focus and innovation of the Baal Shem Tov is the inspiration and insight the Baal Shem Tov provided everyone to serve Hashem with joy.
This joy is notwithstanding the fact that one may feel embittered and brokenhearted with regard their own spiritual condition and various shortcomings in their service of Hashem. At times we may ask ourselves how a person so far from proper service of Hashem and with so many faults can expect to be so close and bound with Hashem that it infuses every moment with unrestricted joy and enthusiasm?
The teachings of Chassidus stress that although we know our faults, because afterall we are not blind, nor should we be, nevertheless we realize that we have a soul which is a part of Hashem. The love of Hashem is the love of a father to a child. It something that has no limits, is unconditional, and remains true and constant in all situations (including our own situation). So too our love for Hashem is like that of a child to a father, which is also unconditional and unrestricted. We love Hashem not just because he provides us with what we need, but because we desire and we aspire for a deep and abiding bond and connection with Hashem to the point that we realize and recognize that we and Hashem are one essence.
Therefore we do not feel restricted or limited in our joy because of our personal circumstances because our connection overrides all of that. Hashem doesn't just love us only because we study His Torah do His mitzvos and help others. He loves us because we are his children and that we are one.
The Baal Shem Tov revealed this love and how it exists by every single Jew and most specifically the simple Jew. The Baal Shem Tov’s focus on the simple Jew because it is where the simple and sincere love for Hashem is the most obvious and pronounced.
Joy is automatic; when we reflect on what it means to be a Jew, a Jew is automatically happy. A Jew is not only happy when he or she studies the Torah or has an opportunity to do a mitzvah or some helpful deed, he's happy every moment of life, for every breath. What is the reason for this Joy? It is or no other reason than he or she a Jew, and a Jew is connected and bonded with Hashem.
One can also apply this positive approach of joy to the service of teshuva. Although the path of teshuva begins when one becomes aware of a fault or inconsistency in one’s behavior (a necessary knowledge when we go off course), nevertheless the process is completely positive and joyful. The reason it is joyful is because it's infused with an awareness that Hashem is looking forward to our return home to Him, where we will be openly one with Hashem in all aspects of our lives. Because of this awareness (that we get through learning Chassidus) we approach teshuva with joy from the very beginning. Chassidus gives us the ability to see and live with an open bond and living connection with Hashem as we serve Hashem and do teshuva.
In the back of the recently published book about my father, “Shadar”, there is a letter from the Rebbe to my father about not fasting. The Rebbe spoke to my father many times about not fasting. The Rebbe would encourage him instead to eat, be healthy, and serve hashem with joy. In this letter he quotes the Alter Rebbe in the fourth chapter of Igeres HaTeshuva where the Alter Rebbe says that today we do not fast and instead redeem fasts with tzedaka, (and serve Hashem with health and with joy).
Nowadays there is a special challenge with our youth. They legitimately seek excitement and vitality in their Judaism. Our mission is to bring to our youth the kind of excitement and vitality that the Rebbe teaches is necessary to be a happy and productive Jew. The true excitement for Judaism comes from the joy that we described above of being a Jew. Nowadays we now live in an age of spiritual darkness which is in certain respects even more dark than it was the in the generations of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe. The way we dispel darkness is by increasing true and lasting joy. Joy cuts through the darkness.
Through learning Chassidus and by partaking in all the special days in the month of Kislev, by attending fabrengens, lighting the Chanukah menorah and doing mivtzoyim we illuminate our love our connection and our bond with Hashem. Chassidim are always happy because the happiness they feel comes from our everlasting and constant bond with our father, Hashem, that becomes revealed through following in the ways of Chassidus, the Torah and mitzvos.
May everyone have an illuminating inspiring and joyous Yud Tes Kislev and Chanukah.
A Good Shabbos