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Weekly Chasidic Story #655 (s5770-40 / 3 Tammuz 5770) Takes Two to Deal The Lubavitcher Rebbe answered, "How do you know that you are closer to G-d than they? Maybe they are closer than you! Who can know what is inside the soul of a Jew?" Connection: 16th Yartzeit
Takes Two to Deal
One early Friday afternoon as I was leaving the men's mikveh in Los Angeles, a young man stopped me and asked me directions to a certain address. I knew the location--it wasn't too far away-so I explained to him clearly how to get there. Then, as I was about to get in my car, I decided I could do better. After all, there was plenty of time till Shabbat began, and I wasn't that busy. I quickly walked back and offer the young man to drive him, assuring him that it was not much out of my way. As we were driving, I asked him what he does. His reply was, "I bring people closer to G-d." I was surprised; he didn't look the type. I'm used to meeting Lubavitchers that do this, but this was a clean-shaven fellow with a wide necktie and the front brim of his hat rolled up. I asked him where he was from and he said that he was from Lakewood (the location of a famous non-chasidic yeshiva in New Jersey). I subsequently found out that the supervisor of the yeshiva had indeed sent a select group of 10-20 young men to various locations in New Jersey to work in "bringing Jews closer to G-d." I thought the expression amazing. Just that morning someone had brought to my attention a letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, written in response to someone who described his activities with those same words, "bringing people closer to G-d." The Rebbe's strong answer was, "How do you know that you are closer to G-d than they? Maybe they are closer than you! Who can know what is inside the soul of a Jew?" The Rebbe went on to advise him that if he would keep this in mind and approach each Jew humbly, he would probably have much greater success. I decided to share these thoughts with my passenger and see how he would react. He smiled. "You should know," he said, "most of the people I work with have addiction problems with gambling, drugs, or whatever. We try all sorts of ways to get through to them, including outings to various places, and so far the only activity that is consistently successful is when we take them to the Ohel (the burial site of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Queens, NY, not far from Kennedy and LaGuardia airports)! "Now I take large groups there on a regular basis. Usually we go first to a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, or something else entertaining, and then we go to the Ohel in Queens!" He asked if he could tell me a story. "At his point you can tell me anything!" I answered enthusiastically. "One of the fellows I took to the Ohel has a more prosaic background. In fact, he is quite an intelligent and ambitious young man, and a year ago was on the waiting list for one of the very best law schools in the country. He wrote to the Rebbe that if he would be accepted, which surely would lead to a good job afterwards, he promises to put on tefilin twice a week and pray with a minyan. "Subsequently he was accepted. But he never got around to the tefilin and minyan part. "During the second semester of his first year he received an unexpected phone call from his mother. He could tell right away from her voice that she seemed quite agitated. 'What happened, Ma? What's the matter?' he queried anxiously. "'Do you have some involvement with the Lubavitcher Rebbe? You never told me about it.' "'I don't know what you are talking about. Of course, I don't,' he replied, forgetting about or not taking seriously the letter he had deposited in Queens. "'Well, I never did either. But I'm calling to tell you that the Lubavitcher Rebbe has appeared to me in a dream several nights now. He keeps saying, "I kept my side of the agreement; why doesn't your son keep his?"' "Needless to say, from that day on he religiously put on tefilin and prayed in a minyan." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editor's P.S. Connection: 16th yahrzeit Biographical note:
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1994), became the seventh Rebbe of the Chabad dynasty after his father-in-law,
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, passed away in Brooklyn on 10 Shvat 1950.
He is widely acknowledged as the greatest Jewish leader of the second half of
the 20th century. Although a dominant scholar in both the revealed and hidden
aspects of Torah and fluent in many languages and scientific subjects, the Rebbe
is best known for his extraordinary love and concern for every Jew on the planet.
His emissaries around the globe dedicated to strengthening Judaism number in
the thousands. Hundreds of volumes of his teachings have been printed, as well
as dozens of English renditions.
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.