All these posts to prove that the emunah in the Rebbe is important, that Avodas HaTefillah is “still” just as important as ever, that the Rebbe is “still” with us just as much as before Gimmel Tammuz ... this is all ekeldik, nauseating. It’s like needing to prove that G–d exists, or that the Torah is from Hashem, or that Eretz Yisroel belongs to the Jewish people. Feh. Hashem is real. His Torah is real. Eretz Yisroel is His eternal gift to us. On the contrary, He is the true reality, and our existence is fake. To have to prove these things ... is feels like a concession to the darkness. It’s like having to prove that one is not an illegitimate child. It can be proven, but the act of doing so is repulsive and degrading.
The same goes for Avodas HaTefillah and emunah in the Rebbe. To non-Chassidim I have no complaints; they can’t be expected to know these things. But for Chassidim ... These are things that ought to permeate the internal life of a Chossid to the point that ... that is who he is. That’s what his life is about. You don’t need to explain something if you’re living it.
But what can I do? We live in such an intense spiritual darkness that it needs to be spelt out that these things are important, and they need to be explained and made available, because otherwise many people simply won’t know, and might well not be motivated to make it their business to know. This is the light that people need, and many don’t even know that they need it, and how much they need it, so we have to explain and prove.
Disclosure: I’m not claiming to be perfect in these areas in terms of fulfilling them in every respect in practice; I’m not by far. It’s just that I’ve reached the point where I don’t have any conflicts about whether these are things I should be pursuing, and so I pursue them, more or less. In other words, they are the foundation on which to build, the axioms. What’s distressing for me is that we have to prove ideas that should be axiomatic. May Hashem have mercy on us, and send us Moshiach to show us NOW the emes Havayeh l’olom, when all ignorance and doubts will vanish.
I only hope that I did not provide any inspiration for this post...
ReplyDeleteThe Tzemach Tzedek once delivered a scathing critique of a certain behaviour. Afterwards, a number of his disciples approached him, each one complaining that the Rebbe had publicly embarrassed him, seeing as how his scathing rebuke had obviously been directed at him. Replied Rabbi Menachem Mendel, "Did I mean each of you? Yes, in a way, I did. You see, I am a like a hatmaker. The hatmaker fashions a hat and places it in his store window. People come in and try the hat on, until eventually someone finds that it suits his head perfectly. Whom did the hatmaker have in mind when he made this hat? Why, he made it precisely for the very customer who finds that it fits him! So, whoever feels that my words apply to him - for him, in fact, my criticism was meant."
ReplyDeleteTrue enough, but still....
ReplyDelete