|
Weekly Chasidic Story #900 (s5775-23 / 4 Adar 5775) The Pioneer Chasidic Artist, Part 2 The Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged Chenoch "Feter Hendel" Lieberman to attend the exhibition, but to lodge in a different, nearby hotel. Connection: Weekly Readings--"l'kvod u'l'tiferet"-"For honor and for beauty" (Ex. ch. 28:2)
The Pioneer Chasidic Artist, Part 2The Lubavitcher Rebbe used to encourage the pioneering Chasidic artist Chenoch
"Feter Hendel" Lieberman to participate in exhibitions. Once,
in a face-to-face meeting, the Rebbe told him, "Each person on this earth
is allotted a task. You have a talent... use it. Use it to encourage Jews to
return to their Judaism. True, in the old days, painting was not considered
an acceptable way to achieve this aim. Today it is. It is your way." R. Hendel did as the Rebbe asked. He rented a room in the hotel and brought with him enough kosher provisions to last for the duration of the exhibition. His paintings proved to be very popular among the exhibition viewers. His appearance, especially, attracted attention: A Jewish rabbi of the old generation, with side locks and a saintly look.
During his spare time, R. Hendel sat in his hotel room studying Torah, so as not to waste a minute. One day, while in his hotel room, he heard a knock at the door. A stranger, who turned out to be another artist exhibiting at the exhibition, stood there and asked for a few minutes of his time. R. Hendel ushered him in, and the man asked to borrow his tallit and tefillin. R. Hendel was surprised at the request, as the man did not look Jewish, but he complied happily. The man thanked R. Hendel and returned to his hotel room. A while later, R. Hendel passed the man's room and heard sounds of sobbing. He was sure that the man was overcome with emotion and crying to G-d from the depths of his heart. An hour later, the man returned the tefillin. R. Hendel noticed that the man's eyes were red and his face showed signs of deep emotion, but he pretended not to be aware of the change. The man came several more times over the next few days, asking to borrow R. Hendel's tefillin. His curiosity aroused, R. Hendel engaged the man in a personal conversation. The man conceded to R. Hendel that in his youth he had been a yeshiva student. Later, he became influenced by the communist ideology and left Judaism completely. When he arrived in the hotel for the art exhibition, he passed by R. Hendel's room and heard his prayers, so full of longing and beautiful melodies. The experience brought back memories of his youth, when he had learned in yeshiva and prayed with tallit and tefillin. He remembered his Chassidic parents who had observed all the commandments stringently. The home had been filled with such light and warmth; the Shabbat and holidays were the highlights of their lives. He could not contain his feelings any longer, and decided to borrow the tefillin from R. Hendel. Now his longing for his childhood faith grew within him, and he could not let a day pass without prayer. R. Hendel was deeply moved by the story. He now understood the scope of the Rebbe's vision. This must be the reason why the Rebbe asked him to participate in the exhibition and to stay in that hotel. The Rebbe, with his special spiritual sensitivity, had foreseen that this Jew would be there, and assigned R. Hendel the task of re-igniting his Jewish soul. R. Hendel's presence in the hotel caused the man to remember his past and return to his Creator. At the close of the exhibition, the two men parted and R. Hendel returned to Crown Heights. He wrote a report to the Rebbe about all that had happened at the exhibition, and how a Jewish artist had been inspired to return to Judaism. Not long afterward, R. Hendel was dumbfounded to read in a newspaper that the
Jewish artist had passed away. The Rebbe had sent him on a mission to help this
man return to G-d completely in his final days! Biographical notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive the Story by e-mail every Wednesday--sign up here! A 48 page soft-covered booklet containing eleven of his most popular stories may be ordered on our store site.
FLASH! "Saturday Night, Full Moon" by the first of 3 books by Yerachmiel Tilles, the Ascent storyteller, featuring 33 of his best stories, is now
available for purchase--through ASCENT-in-Safed
or the publishers
|
|
Chenoch
"Feter Hendel" Lieberman (1900-13 Adar B 1976), a loyal Lubavitcher
chasid, will always be remembered as the pioneering chasidic artist, the first
of his kind to fuse creative expression and chassidic lifestyle. His paintings
hang today in the New York Metropolitan Museum of art, London's Tate Gallery,
museums in Paris, and many other places throughout the world. A few samples
of his work may be found on the site of the Chai Art Gallery. (See also: last
week's story)
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe [11 Nissan
5662 - 3 Tammuz 5754 (April 1902 - June 1994 C.E.)], became the seventh Rebbe
of the Chabad dynasty after his father-in-law's passing on 10 Shvat 5710 (1950
C.E.). 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.