The Struggle of a Chosid is also Our Struggle
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
In the book 'Shadar' that was published about my father, one comes to realize what is the struggles of a chosid,.His struggle was all about making sure that nothing would stand in the way of his neshama fulfilling it’s purpose in this world.
Some people have a mental block when they hear stories about the Rebbe. When they hear a story they sometimes think; the Rebbe is very holy and I am not holy. They think to themselves; I don’t see how hearing the story relates to my life and who I am. As a matter of fact the Rebbe himself told Abba Pliskin to tell stories of Chassidim not the Rabbeim at his fabrengens.
Nowadays people have expanded this mental block to include Chassidim. I have heard responses like; that Chosid had high standards, what does that have to do with me? I know who I am and I’m not even close to him.
Rabbi Rosenbloom from Pittsburgh at a fabrengen in Shul spoke about how the Rebbe in the early 1950’s spoke in Sichos and pushed for removing all English curriculums from the yeshivos. The Rebbe was unambiguous about the need for the yeshivos to have limudei Kodesh for the entire day. Rabbi Rosenbloom went on to tell how one Chosid asked another; are you ready to have no English education for your children? He replied if that’s what the Rebbe said, then yes. The Chosid then berated him; who do you think you are, Reb Zalmen Zezmer, or Reb Binyomin Kletzker? How can you not give your children English? Are you on the level of the Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe? The other Chosid answered; I may not be on their level, I may not share their emotion or ever reach where they did in their avodah, but are you telling me that I shouldn’t even have it in mind? (Meaning: Shouldn’t we at least try to do our best on our level?)
I know that I’m not my father. I don’t have his strengths or struggles. But, at least I know and appreciate what a Chosid is and should be. Even in Los Angeles my father fought for limudei Kodesh. Because that chinuch that was focused on limudei Kodesh being a Chosid is real and it’s not foreign to what we learned and what we heard.
There is a pasuk in the Haftarah for parshas Tzav (Yirmiyahu 7:28) that says: “Avda emunah v’nichrisa m’pihem, Out of their mouth faithfulness has disappeared, yea rooted out!” By a Chassishe Fabrengen I heard as explanation of this pasuk: (paraphrased) “Do you know how we lost our emunah? It’s because we stopped talking about it.” Once we stopped talking about it, we lost it.
I recall once in the middle of a Sicha (15th of Shevat 5739-1979) the Rebbe made an analogy of our experience in galus to a game of hide and seek. The message was that as long as we continue to search, Hashem is relevant and real in our lives. When the search is given up and we accept the galus and settle in, then we don’t feel that Hashem is with us in our lives. The Rebbe was sobbing and saying how hard it is to search. When we look at the previous generation as a goner, and we don’t look toward them and their struggles for inspiration and guidance then we are lost. It creates a hole in our lives without realistic hope for further progress, inspiration and aspiration to go higher.
Therefore we all need stories of Chassidim to speak about, think about and act upon as a regular staple of our spiritual diet. When we dwell on their lives, what they knew and how they lived, we grow and progress.
This is also why we gain so much by the confluence of the many elements of our Chassidishe culture. Fabrengens, stories, nigunim, davening and hisbonenus all conspire as one in our lives and the lives of our communities to provide the ‘lachluchis’, the warmth, the inspiration and the glue that keeps it all together. When we go in the ways, not just the learning of Chassidim, when we are absorbed in it not just checking it off on a list, even we in our generation will aspire for something higher and achieve something better. Then we too stand a chance to achieve the purpose of our neshamos in this world, not the purpose of a different generation, our purpose, the revelation of Moshiach now!
A Good Shabbos