Weekly Message

LIFE IN THE FUTURE

When did you last experience the presence of G-d?

G-d, of course, is everywhere, for He is the essence of every reality. Technically, then, we are always in the presence of G-d. The very first section of the Shulchan Aruch (code of Torah law) instructs us to sustain an awareness of the divine immanence at all times. But knowledge and awareness is one thing, and experience is quite another. G-d is everywhere, but He has cloaked his presence in a great variety of garments and guises; instead of G-d, we experience nature, history, society, the economy and an assortment of similar "forces" Rare is the individual who perceives the divine presence with the tactility of a personal encounter. The most spiritual of men labor for a lifetime to experience a single moment of true intimacy with G-d.

But there will come a time, we are told, when "your Master will no longer be cloaked and your eyes shall perceive your Master" [1] A time when "The glory of G-d will be revealed and all flesh will see that the mouth of G-d has spoken," [2] "for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea" [3] Thus the prophets describe the age of Moshiach, the eternal Shabbat that is the culmination of the "work week" that is our present world. Every G-dly act we do today uncovers another fold in the curtain of creation, until the day that the curtain will part entirely and we shall behold the face of G-d.

TWO PRECEDENTS

What will life be like in such a world? We have several precedents for uninhibited encounter with the Divine. The revelation at Sinai was one such experience. "G-d descended upon Mount Sinai [4], and we "saw the G-d of Israel"'; as Moses describes it, "Face to face, G-d spoke to you upon the mountain [6] The result, says the Talmud, was that "with each divine utterance, their souls flew from their bodies" [7] After hearing but two of the Ten Commandments directly from G-d, the Jewish people begged Moses to serve as their intermediary in transmitting the divine word, for "if we continue to hear the voice of G-d, we shall die" [8]

The revelation at Sinai was a point in time that portended the messianic reality. By the same token, there was also a point in space that, for many centuries, was an island of divine immanence in a spiritually reticent world. This was the "Holy of Holies," the innermost chamber of the Sanctuary.

Following the revelation at Sinai, G-d commanded that the people of Israel should "make for Me a Sanctuary, and I shall dwell amongst them" [9] After Sinai, the curtain had been redrawn and G-d resumed His interaction with us from behind the veils and shrouds of "the natural reality"; but a pocket of manifest divinity was to remain. A portable Sanctuary (the Mishkan or "Tabernacle") was constructed in the desert to accompany the children of Israel in their forty-year journey from Sinai to Canaan. After crossing the Jordan with Joshua, it was set up in various places in the Holy Land, until it found permanent form in the Sanctuary (the Beit Hamikdash, also referred to as the "Holy Temple") constructed by King Solomon on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. With the exception of a 70-year hiatus during the Babylonian Exile, the Beit Hamikdash served as the seat of G-d's manifest presence in the physical world until the onset of our present galut nineteen hundred years ago. [10]

All of the Beit Hamikdash was "holy"-that is, a place of heightened divine presence. But no part of it was as holy as the Kodesh HaKodashim, the "Holy of Holies" Here G-d was present in the most unequivocal and absolute manner; here one came face to face with the very being of G-d, as opposed to the various divine "attributes" that manifested themselves in the various domains and components of the Beit Hamikdash.

Only one man could enter the Holy of Holies: the Kohen Gadol ("High Priest"). And even the Kohen Gadol was warned "not to enter at any time into the holy, inside of the curtain... lest he die" [11] Only once a year on Yom Kippur-and only after intense preparation and by following the intricate procedures outlined by the Torah, [12] was the holiest human being on earth able to enter the Holy of Holies. If he failed to perform these rituals exactly as prescribed, or if he was unworthy of his station, [13] he would not survive so intense an encounter with the divine essence, and his lifeless body would have to be dragged out of the chamber by means of a long cord attached to his leg for that very eventuality. [14]

THE SECRETED CHILD

If we are to look to the precedents of Sinai and the "Holy of Holies" as our models for unadulterated experience of the Divine, this would imply that the era of Moshiach will spell the end of life as we know it. It would mean that we will exist in the transcendent state of those who experienced the revelation at Sinai; that our lives will be a perpetual "Yom Kippur" of the ultimate sort-the Yom Kippur of the Kohen Gadol in the sacred moments he spent "inside the curtain" that separated the Holy of Holies from the merely "holy" portion of the Beit HaMikdash.

However, there is also another precedent for living in the presence of G-done that offers a completely different model for life in the era of Moshiach. This is the case of Yehoash, the ninth king of the Davidic dynasty, related in the eleventh chapter of the second book of Kings. Upon the death of Yehoashs father, Achazayahu, the wicked Ataliah massacred the entire royal family and seized the throne. Yehoash, a year- old infant at the time, was saved by his aunt, Yehosheva, and her husband, the Kohen Gadol Yehoyada, who hid him and his nursemaid in the Holy of Holies for six years. [15] When the child was seven years old, Yehoyada took him from his hiding place, crowned him king, and restored the sovereignty of Judah to its rightful heir.

For six years, a child and his nurse lived in the Holy of Holies: there she fed him, there they slept, there she changed his diapers. There they lived, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, in the unveiled presence of G-d.

They were there to save the life of the sole surviving heir to the throne of David; indeed, the entire Torah [16] is set aside to save a life. This is how this incident can be understood on the most basic level-as a radical act sanctioned by extraordinary circumstances.

On a deeper level, however, the story of the woman and child who lived for six years in the Holy of Holies reflects a deeper truth: that each and every one of us is, in essence, a Kohen Gado1 [17] that, in essence, a Kohen Gadol can enter into the Holy of Holies at all times, -not only on Yom Kippur"; that the experience of the divine presence is not a once-a-year "ritual',' but embraces the totality of life; that it is the pre-messianic circumstances- circumstances that limit the ultimate experience of G-d to a particular person on a particular day and particular actions-that are abnormal, while living in the presence of G-d is the most natural thing in the world.

Moshiach will herald an age in which the "natural", the "everyday" and the "mundane" are no longer antitheses to G-dliness and spirituality, but their ultimate complement. A world in which G-d is revealed as the essence of life, and life's every surge and ebb is an encounter with the essence of G-d.

Based on an address by the Rebbe, Shabbat Acharei-Kedoshim, 5751

back to top

Tales for the Shabbos Table

This week's section begins the fourth book of the Torah.

It begins with G-d commanding Moses and Aaron to take the leaders of the twelve tribes and go count the Jews.  The rest of the section reports the results.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks a question on this.

Today also surveys and population counts are taken, but usually the ones chosen for this boring job are people who are out of work or have nothing better to do!

Why did G-d have to choose here the greatest men in Israel; leaders whose every instant was filled with Torah learning and making important and critical decisions, to waste their precious time counting people?

There also must be a lesson here relevant to the Holiday of Shavuot, coming up this next week, when we received the Torah.

To understand this, here is a story.

The fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber (1861-1920) was a very holy and learned person. He never had a free moment and was almost always occupied in prayer or learning and teaching Torah.

But once he stopped all this for over a day because of a dream.

The story is as follows. It was one Wednesday afternoon; the Rebbe was on a trip for his health in a hotel outside of Russia accompanied by his only son Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (who years later would be the next Rebbe).

Because the Rebbe slept very little, if at all, at nights it was his custom to sit on a couch and rest every day after lunch for a half hour or so.

But on this particular day he sat down but didn't get up. He went into some strange limbo state; not really asleep but also not at all awake, for well over his usual time.

His son, sensing something was wrong, did not dare to wake him but rather tried to arouse him with subtle noises; scuffling his feet and moving things around in the room but to no avail. Rather several hours later obviously moved by something he had seen in his sleep he came to on his own and asked, "Where am I? What day is it today? What section of the Torah are we in?"

That evening he took an unusually long time praying the evening prayer, singing the words slowly and quietly with great emotion and the next morning he asked his son if they had any money at hand.

The times were unusually hard and there was barely money in the house for food but his son took the hint, went to the local pawnbroker with his silver-topped cane and came home with twenty rubles…. a small fortune in those days.

His father took the money announced that he was going a few places and left the hotel room. He was gone for several hours and in that time delivery boys kept knocking on the door and bringing packages and parcels from various women's clothing stores.

All this was very strange in the eyes of his son but he supposed that the clothes were probably meant for his daughters, the Rebbe's granddaughters.

But they weren't.

Near evening his father returned and announced that they were checking out of the hotel. His son packed all the presents in his suitcase paid the bill and they made their way to the train station where his father told him to buy tickets to Pressburg without any explanation.

Of course his son did as told but his curiosity was growing.

Two hours later, when they arrived in Pressburg, his son suggested they order a carriage, being that the suitcase was heavy and also the driver would take them directly where they wanted to go, but his father shook his head no. He would rather they go by foot.

Although it didn't make sense nevertheless he knew his father was never wrong and they began walking.

On the way a young man, obviously a yeshiva student, passed them, obviously in a hurry to somewhere, and the Rebbe asked him for directions to a certain hotel.

"I'm sorry, please ask someone else… I have no time!" He answered as he continued walking.

But the Rebbe stopped him saying, "Is that any way to treat strangers? Is that the how you fulfill the commandment of accepting guests?"

The young man, realizing he was wrong stopped, apologized and explained exactly how to get to the hotel. And he added that the owner of that hotel just passed away yesterday afternoon (exactly when the Rebbe had his dream) and his family was in the hotel for the 'seven' (Shiva) day mourning period.

The Rebbe thanked him, he and his son continued to the hotel and sure enough a woman and three older girls were sitting and weeping in a corner of the front room with several comforters around them.

The bellboy showed them to a room and the Rebbe, rather than lying down to rest a bit after the journey, told his son to put the suitcase in the room and come with him for a stroll.

They made their way to a local Yeshiva where some hundred young men were sitting and learning and the Rebbe went from table to table asking them questions about the Tractate they were learning.

One of the pupils really made a good impression and the Rebbe praised him highly. Then he saw the young man they had met earlier on the street and spoke with him for a few minutes as well, and finally they returned to their hotel.

All this was a great mystery to the Rebbe's son; it seemed that all the events of the last two days had no real connection to one another but he hesitated to ask for an explanation.

But shortly everything became clear.

The Rebbe entered the hotel, approached the woman and her daughters, sat down and said a few consoling and comforting words. Then, motioning toward her daughters asked the widow why they were not married.

The woman moaned, almost began to cry and then said she was having no luck in finding fitting matches for them and now that her husband passed away it would be impossible; she hadn't enough money to buy even clothes for their weddings.

At this point the Rebbe told his son to go to up their room and bring down the packages.

Moments later when he returned the Rebbe gave them to the woman and said,"Here are dresses and clothes for your daughters. And regarding a proper husband I have two excellent candidates" and suggested the two young men he had spoken to earlier; the one he praised highly and the one they had first met on the street.

That very night they met and the next day both decided to marry!

Years later the Rebbe's son happened to be in Pressburg and happened to meet the youngest daughter. She thanked G-d that she was now happily married and that her two sisters were doing wonderfully with the husbands that his father arraigned! One was the Rabbi of a large city and the other the head of a Yeshiva.

(The name of their father, incidentally was Rabbi Avrham Bick author of the book 'Bikuray Aviv' on the Torah)

That is why G-d wanted the leaders to count the Jews. Because a true Jewish leader, like the Rebbe in our story, is similar to G-d: he cares for each of His creations individually….. especially for each and every Jew.

And that is our lesson for Shavuot.

When G-d gave the Torah He 'came DOWN' (Exodus 19:20) on Mt. Sinai and spoke to EACH Jew individually! [The first of the Ten Commandments is "I am YOUR (in the singular) G-d who took YOU (in the singular) out of Egypt.]

So also the Torah enables us and DEMANDS us to both learn as much a possible and also come down to those who know less than we do.

That is why Rabbi Akiva, the greatest of all Torah scholars, when asked, 'what is the essence of the Torah?' answered: "Love your fellow as yourself"!

As the Talmud (Ktuvot 103b) tells us of Rabbi Chiah and Rabbi Chanina who were the greatest Talmudic scholars of their time (some 1800 years ago).

When Torah-learning became weak in Israel Rabbi Chanina had the ability to restore it by drawing new pupils through his sharp erudition and logic.

But Rabbi Chiah had a more down-to-earth approach. He actually hunted deer, stripped their hides, made them into parchments and on each parchment wrote a different book of the written and oral Torah.

Then he gathered a large group of children, gave each one a different parchment and taught each one to understand his book and teach it to all the others thus producing tens of new Torah teachers in Israel.

The Talmud concludes. "Superior is the way of Rabbi Chiah!"

This is the way of Chassidut, the message of the Baal Shem Tov; to come DOWN and worry for the other more than for one's self.

And it is this force that has filled the world with Chabad Houses and will bring Moshiach NOW!

Then we will again feel the real G-dliness in the Torah even more than we did on Mount Sinai!!

Happy Shavuot with Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton 
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel 

www.ohrtmimim.org/torah

Tales for the Shabbos Table

This week we again begin the adventures of Moses and the Jewish people after they left Egypt. Being that it is the Shabbat directly before the holiday of Shavuot it must have a message that will help us experience the full meaning of this wonderful Holiday when we received the Torah.

But it is hard to see the connection; the Torah is practical, relevant, and alive while this week's section seems to be the exact opposite.

It contains no practical commandments, lists details of a head count taken over 3,300 years ago and contains no real action.

In order to understand this here is a story.

The late Seventeen hundreds were difficult times for Orthodox Judaism; they were fighting a loosing battle with the 'enlightenment' movement. Myriads of Jews were being lured away from the solemn, black-on-white world of Torah to the colorful, fresh and vibrantly new world of art, philosophy and unrestrained fun found in France and Germany.

Then one of the outstanding Torah figures of all time; Rabbi Eliahu of Vilna (the Vilna Gaon) decided it was time to take action.

He together with several elders of the community chose ten (in another version I read 'tens') of his most brilliant and mature pupils to infiltrate the universities and salons of Berlin, absorb the new ideas
there and then use them to strengthen Judaism and defeat this insidious force once and for all.

It was a daring and a dangerous move but they were certain that the power of G-d's holy Torah would assure their success.

But they seriously underestimated the enemy and in the end all of them, save two, became so enamored of the free spirit they found there that they gradually dropped all their defenses and actually abandoned Judaism completely.

The exceptions were Rabbi Pinchas (who wrote a book called Sefer HaBrit) and Rabbi Moshe Mizlish who became a devoted Chassid of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Chabad (incidentally the enlightenment movement had very little success among the Chassidim).

Nothing is known of the fate of the others, except for one. His name was Rabbi Shlomo Faigen.

The experience in Berlin awakened in him to leave Judaism as well, but something told him to give it one more try. After all he was an accomplished Talmudic scholar and had a bright future before him in the Orthodox world.

So he lived in a sort of limbo between the two worlds.

Rab Shlomo made a living buying from Leipzig Germany and selling elswhere. And eventually in his travels he gravitated to the Rebbe of Chabad in Liozne. Here, unlike the cold academic atmosphere of Vilna, the spirit was warm and alive.

The Rebbe gave deep and intimate discourses to his followers and the Chassidim, besides being awesome scholars and G-d fearing Jews also would occasionally make a 'farbringen'; sit together, drink vodka, sing Chassidic 'nigunim' and speak of the love of G-d, the Torah and every Jew.

He felt his soul opening to a new world of joy and meaning, finally he had the power necessary to withstand his urges. In fact one day the Rebbe even called him to his office and gave him a mission.

"Shlomo, you used to be a businessman, right? Well, on your way to Leipzig please stop in the city of Karlin and visit the great Rabbi Shlomo there for me."

Sure enough a week later Rab Shlomo suddenly had an urge to make a business trip to replenish his funds. He packed his bags, got the Rebbe's blessing and on the way he stopped in to see the Karliner Rebbe.

He arrived at the Karliner's Synagogue, told one of the Chassidim there of the Chabad Rebbe's orders and was given a chair in the hall near the
Rebbe's door and opened a book of Psalms and began to read.

Suddenly the strangest thing happened.

>From within the Rebbe's room he heard pacing. Chairs were being pushed aside and things fell to the ground. Someone in there was pacing back and forth in frenzy. Suddenly the door opened, it was the Rebbe himself his eyes almost bolting out of their sockets. He stared deeply at the young man shook his head slowly up and down and said,

"Maybe after all G-d does exist?"

He stared another few seconds, abruptly pulled his head back and slammed the door behind him and the same thing happened again. The furious pacing back and forth like a madman, again the door burst open, the Rebbe again stared wildly at the visitor and quietly repeated:

"Perhaps it's true?" Perhaps there really is G-d?"

As if it wasn't enough, the scene repeated itself yet a third time,

"Maybe after all G-d exists?"

The young man didn't really understand what was going on but he realized that he couldn't take much more of this. He stood up, brushed himself off and left, completely forgetting the incident.

One evening a few weeks later, after Shlomo returned, the Rebbe was explaining to his pupils some mystical aspects of washing one's hands before eating when he noticed a strange scoffing smile on young Shlomo's lips and he commented

"He has a worm eating at his soul".

A few days later Shlomo abruptly left both the Rebbe and Judaism.

Years passed. Rebbe Shneur Zalman passed away while fleeing the advancing armies of Napoleon and was buried in the town of Haditch while Shlomo changed his religion and rose in the political spectrum until he was chosen to be a high Minister in the Czar's government with massive headquarters in St. Petersburg.

As fate would have it, the Czar decided to build a new cross-country highway that the Chassidim discovered was to run through the very resting place of the Rebbe. What could they do? To move the Rebbe was out the question. To change the Czar's mind was also unthinkable. Their only chance was to appeal to the Minister of Transportation.

But to their dismay they revealed that the Minister of Transportation was none other than …. Shlomo (now Stephan) the apostate! It was one in a million that he would help them …… but he was the only straw to clutch at.

Rabbi Moshe Valinker, who had befriended Shlomo in the old days, was chosen and several days later he was sitting in the ornate waiting room outside the Minister's office.

His name was called. He was escorted into the Minister's office. The minister was sitting at his desk elegantly dressed, clean shaven with a well groomed mustache. "What do you want?"

He said officially. Rav Moshe leaned forward and told the story of the Rebbe's passing and the problem of the proposed road.

"Aha!" Said the Minister. "Yes, I understand. You want me to divert the road, do you? Well, there is something I want from you as well."

He rang a small bell on his desk, a secretary entered with a serving tray covered with a silver cover. Rab Moshe was afraid that the Minister would ask him to eat not-kosher food. But the Minister waited for the secretary to leave, opened the cover and revealed a bottle of vodka, two cups and two small plates of herring and pickles.

He looked at Rab Moshe warmly and said. "The words I heard at the home of the Karliner Rebbe 'Maybe there is a G-d after all' echo in my head constatnly and when I hear them I long for the days I spent by your Rebbe. Please, do me a favor. Let us make a Farbringin like in the old days."

He then took out a large map, obviously that of the new road, erased the line that went through Haditch and moved it so it went around the town. Then poured two cups and said, "Nu, Rab Moshe, make a le'chiam."

This answers our question. This week's section is relating the essential importance and uniqueness of not only the Jewish people as a whole (G-d took them from Egypt, personally gave them His Torah and sustained them in the desert etc.) but of each and every Jew individually. And that is the reason for giving each and every Jew a number.

And all these numbers are written in the Torah to tell us that the worth of every Jew is eternal just as the Torah is eternal.

Therefore there are no commandments here, because this connection of the Jews to HaShem is so essential that it does not depend on even the observance of the commandments (that is why even the worst sinners can erase all their sins through Tshuva) and this is what the Minister in our story felt deep in his heart and what was echoing in his head constantly.

But on the other hand the purpose of the Jews is to fix the world (even the Desert) and reveal G-d's presence (because in truth G-d creates the world constantly) through the Torah.

And each Jew counts. As the Rambam writes; each Jew even the most simple can actually change the entire world and tip the scale to bring...

Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

Tales for the Shabbos Table

This week's section contains no commandments; it deals mostly with the results of G-d's request to Moses to count the Jews that left Egypt.

At first glance this is not understood. Certainly G-d knew how many Jews there were. What was the purpose of Moshe counting them? Why didn't G-d just reveal to him all the figures and save a lot of time?

Even more, what do we care how many Jews were in each tribe over 3,300 years ago? Why was this so important to be part of G-d's Torah?

Here is a story to help us understand.

The Jews were really in trouble, big trouble. The Rabbi of the town was away, outside of Poland, and no one knew what to do.

It seems that an apostate Jew called Father Steffen had convinced the local Baron that his Jewish serfs were really the blasphemous messengers
of the Devil. Now the Jews had five days to find someone to debate this troublemaker or be evicted from the kingdom with only the clothes on their backs.

For the Jews, such public contests were like walking a tightrope over fire. One wrong word against the Gospels would be interpreted as apostasy, so it was as dangerous to win as it was to lose.

Their only chance was to prove that Judaism, although a valid religion for the Jews, is no threat to the Church. And only their Rabbi had the experience and wisdom to do that.

They sent urgent letters to him but no one really believed that he would even receive them in time, much less show up for the debate. They had no choice but to pray, fast and wait for a miracle.

Needless to say the Synagogue was packed every day, the Jews were saying Psalms (T'hillim) weeping and pouring their hearts out to G-d, but four days had already passed and things looked very bad. Suddenly one of the congregants stood up, pounded several times on the table, and yelled out "I'll go! I'll talk to that priest!"

Everyone stopped reading and looked up but when they saw who was talking they just went back to their Psalms and shook their heads in pity. It was poor Yitzchak the water carrier, the biggest simpleton in town. He barely knew how to read. "Yizchak, just keep praying." someone said sadly.

"NO NO!" he insisted. "I decided! I'm going. I'll argue against that Priest. And I'll win too!"

The seriousness of his voice made people look up again and before anyone could say anything he continued. "If I lose, just say that I'm crazy. In any case you have no one else. At least it will buy you some time till the Rabbi returns."

He spoke quickly and bumbled his words, but one thing he said made sense; they really had no other choice.

The next morning Yitzchak presented himself at the castle and that afternoon proclamations were hung in the town; the debate would take place tomorrow in the Baron's royal court.

The huge hall was arranged like a courtroom. In the front sat the Baron on a royal throne, before him the two contestants, and facing them several hundred seats. Only ten Jews, who were seated at the back, were allowed to attend. The rest of the seats were filled with the Baron's friends. They were pampered and bored and needed some unique entertainment. And this was exactly what they were looking for.

Yitzchak, sitting in his seat, looked decidedly out of place in his old clothes (albeit the best he had) amidst the crowd of fancily dressed royalty, but he did not look the least bit nervous. He read calmly from his book of Psalms occasionally looking up at the Baron, and waited for the contest to begin.

Suddenly the Baron cleared his throat and the crowd fell silent.

"We are gathered today at the request of Father Steffen", motioning graciously to the priest. "The Father claims that the Jews are really blasphemous devils and that their books, especially their Talmud, belittle our faith; very severe charges indeed."

The Baron paused waiting for his words to sink in. "If they are true, this Jew will be killed and his stubborn brothers will either accept our faith or be expelled from our kingdom.. immediately."

"And what if they are not true, your majesty?" Yitzchak's quiet voice interrupted.

The crowd broke into a buzz. A smirk passed over the face of the Baron as he turned to the Jew and again cleared his throat. "We shall see. We shall certainly see." He turned and smiled at the Priest. "I can only promise justice."

Yitzchak stood and bowing slightly said, "Your majesty, may I speak?" The Baron nodded slightly. "Because this Steffen is the challenger I think it's fair that I ask first." The Baron again nodded in consent and announced,

"Father Steffen, please stand and we will begin!"

The Priest stood and contemptuously scanned his puny opponent from head to toe thinking to himself, "This ridiculous fool is an obvious ignoramus and bluffer. Just look how he's dressed! Stupidity is written all over his face!" but his thoughts were interrupted. "Your majesty" the water carrier continued, "I want to show you that this man standing before us who calls himself a priest is really an ignoramus and a bluffer! A stupid troublemaker interested only in disturbing our.. that is your majesty's, peaceful kingdom. As we will soon see he does not even know the simple meaning of the most basic of Biblical passages!"

The priest was seething with rage. But Yitzchak turned to him looked at him calmly and asked in a loud clear voice.

"What is the meaning of the passage spoken by Jacob after seeing his vision of the ladder, "Anochi Lo Yadati"

The priest immediately answered sharply. "I did not know".

"I said, 'Anochi Lo Yadati'" Shouted Yitzchak taking one step closer and cupping his hand to his ear as though he hadn't heard the answer.

"And I answered; "I did not know", you fool!'" Yelled the priest.

"ANOCHI LO YADATI!!" Screamed Yitzchak, his nose only an inch from that of his adversary.

"I DID NOT KNOW!! YOU STUPID DEAF PIG!!" Screamed Steffen. "I DID NOT KNOW!!"

"You see! Your highness" Yitzchak turned to the Baron. "He admits he doesn't know!"

The Baron, who had no idea what was going on, jumped to his feet, livid with anger and screamed.

"Get him out of here! Off with his head!" and in an instant poor Steffen was dragged out of the room, yelling and protesting, to his bitter end.

When the noise died down the Baron turned to Yitzchak apologized for suspecting the Jews and promised to treat them more kindly in the future. Yitzchak in turn bowed graciously, thanked the Baron profusely and was escorted royally from the palace by Jews and gentiles alike.

When he arrived back home the rejoicing was unlimited. Every Jewish male packed into the synagogue amidst music and dancing and the wine flowed like water while the women danced and sang outside.

Finally Yitzchak was lifted onto a table, the crowd became silent and he timidly mumbled a few words of thanks to G-d.

But then someone yelled out from the crowd. "Hey Rab Yitzchak, where did you get the brilliant idea to pull such a trick?"

Someone else joined in: "How were you so sure it would work?"

And inevitably someone commented, "I don't think he's as simple as he makes out."

The room suddenly fell silent, "Ahh!" Yizchak answered "You are right! It was really some miracle! A great miracle! Thank G-d!! Thank G-d!!
And I'll tell you how it happened.

"You see, when everyone was praying a few days ago I felt really bad. I wanted to do something. I mean, everyone else was saying T'hillim and I can hardly read. Anyway, for some reason I pulled this book of Genesis from the shelf, you know the one with the Yiddish translation, and opened it and suddenly something caught my eye. I saw there in the Yiddish the words: "Ich Hot nisht ge'vust" Which means 'I didn't know'. So I looked up to the text to see what words it was referring to, and there was that sentence from Yaakov and the ladder.

"Wow!" I thought to myself, "if this genius that translated the entire Torah into Yiddish says that HE doesn't know the meaning of this
sentence....then FOR SURE that devil Steffen doesn't know it." So that's why I was so sure!!"

That is why G-d wanted Moshe to count the Jewish people and why the numbers were so important.

True the Jews are called G-d's chosen people and even the sons of G-d, but all this is spiritual and potential, and has no effect on the physical world.

In order to bring this potential into actuality, G-d told Moses, G-d's SERVANT (Deut. 34:5) to count the Jewish people and prepare them to be servants.

When Moses, the Shepard of the Jewish people, whose purpose was to strengthen the Jews (like a shepherd feeds his flock), counted them it strengthened their potential and brought it into the world.

And this was a preparation to the receiving of the Torah.

The purpose of the Torah was (and is) not just to assure the Jews of a heavenly reward but most importantly, to make them into SERVANTS (see Exodus 3:12) and do the work G-d created the world for (See Gen. 2:15).

Namely, to transform the physical world into a 'dwelling for G-d' sort of like a huge Holy Temple, revealing the ONEness of G-d. (as will be finally revealed by the Moshiach, see the end of Rambam's Mishna Torah)

But the first step was to be counted; every Jew became another "one", with the ability to reveal "G-d is One" in the world.

And that is where our hero the water carrier, the simplest of the simple of Jews, got his courage and ability to transform the evil decree to a blessing. And that is why that counting that Moses did back then is important to each of us today.

G-d willing, through following the directions of the Moses of our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, may we soon see the transformation of the world to a holy, peaceful Heaven on earth, revealing the ONEness of G-d with the arrival of....
Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad Israel

Torah Online Site: http://www.ohrtmimim.org/torah

Tales for the Shabbos Table

This week's section is the preparation for the giving of the Torah.
"Bamidbar" means "in the desert".

G-d could have given the Torah anywhere; He could have given it to the Jews in Egypt before they left, or in Israel after they arrived. He could even have given it to Moses privately, but He didn't... He gave it in the desert.

One reason is that He wanted the people to depend totally on Moses.

The desert is desolate and dangerous; there is neither food nor protection.
In Moses merit there miraculously appeared food, water, and even clouds that protected them from all sides (Talmud, Taanit 9a).

But in addition to all these, the desert made the people realize that Moses provided something even more essential to Judaism as this story will explain:

It was a beautiful cool summer day in the Ukraine. Huge open fields glistened in the sunlight of a clear blue sky. Through the sound of birds chirping and the gentle wind in the grasses, Yankela's insane singing could be heard faintly in the distance.

Yankela was a Chassid of the Tzemach Tzedek (third Lubavitcher Rebbe 1789-1866) and he made a living selling seeds to the farmers.

Once a year he loaded up some fifty wagons with choice seeds, and brought them to the farmers to plant their wheat crop.

It wasn't easy work. He had to store the seeds and protect them from moisture and rodents and the like for an entire year.

Then at exactly the right time he had to load up the wagons and make a five-day journey to the farms.

A few days early and the seeds would rot because the farmers had nowhere to store them, a bit too late and they wouldn't get planted before the first rain. The slightest mistake could spell disaster for the entire year's wheat crop...and for him as well; the farmers were not exactly Jew-friendly.
His best customer, the Baron, was renowned for his homicidal temper.

Yet despite all this, every year when Yankela arrived with the seeds, the farmers would make a great holiday replete with music, dancing, vodka and cakes. At the end of it, they would divide up their seeds and return to their farms.

But this year tragedy struck.

It was in the middle of the last day of his journey that it happened.
Yankela was sitting next to the driver on the first wagon when his faithful manager Steffen, came running up with bad news.

"There’s been a mix-up, a terrible mix-up! Six wagons full of the best wheat are missing!! The Baron’s wheat! They must have been left behind!!"

Yankela was stunned. What would he do? To return home was impossible; it would mean loosing ten days. But to arrive without the Baron’s wheat might just cost him his life.

He got off his wagon, stopped the caravan, counted the wagons and began mumbling to himself. He counted again, and again, and again. He climbed back up to his seat, then jumped back down again talking to himself in a loud voice and making no sense. It was clear that he was really in distress.

In two hours he had to get six wagons of wheat, but how? From where? He was pacing back and forth, holding his head in his hands.

Suddenly Yankela froze...a strange half-smile crossed his lips.
He stood this way for a few minutes and them began tapping his foot, humming a jolly Chassidic song. It wasn't long before he was spinning around, clapping his hands, and singing insanely at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, drenched with sweat, he stopped, looked wildly around, leaped back on the wagon and shouted, "We're going to have SIMCHA!!" (Happiness).

"He's gone mad," thought Steffen to himself, "Poor Yankela is crackers!".

Two hours later when the farmers saw the wagons coming from a distance, they began clapping and singing to the lively tune of a fiddle like every year.

But this time it was different. As soon as Yankela was close enough he shouted, "HO HO!!" jumped from his wagon and ran toward the farmers. "Today is a happy day!! Today we are going to have SIMCHA!!"

He ran passed everyone into the tavern, bought thirty bottles of vodka, all sorts of spices and fruit juices and began pouring it all into a big pot the tavern owner brought him.

"NU?" he shouted as he took a cup and plunged it into his "punch". "Who is first? What about you Ivan?" He turned to one of the farmers.

"Pachimu Niet?" (Why not) he answered shrugging his shoulders with a smile as he took the cup and drank its contents. All eyes were on Ivan. Realizing he was the center of attention, he looked to the right, then to the left, waited a few more seconds, began to frown and then with a huge smile on his face said, "It’s GREAT!!"

The festivities continued into the night. The drunken farmers occasionally ran to the wagons, uncovered the wheat, took a deep inhale and began rejoicing anew!! The noise, music and laughter filled the tavern.

So no one noticed the drops of rain at midnight (that weren't supposed to come for another two weeks) falling on the open wagons.

When they all woke up late next morning they realized it was too late. The rain had ruined the entire shipment. No one even noticed that the Baron’s seeds had been forgotten.

Yankela tried to refuse payment but the farmers forced him to take at least half. After all, they uncovered the wheat. And from the Baron he took nothing.

As they were returning home, Steffen turned to Yankela in awe and said, "Master Yankela, that was a miracle! How did you know to make that punch and that the rains would come early?"

"It was no miracle of mine" He answered. "It was my Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek."

The last time I had a private audience with the Rebbe, he spoke to me about my service of G-d and some personal matters. After he had finished, just as
I was about to exit, he called to me and said;

"Yankela, remember, Happiness will free you!" (Ki B’Simcha Tai’Tzaioo).

"Up to a few days ago I never understood what he meant. But suddenly when you gave me that terrible news, the Rebbe’s face appeared to me saying those words again. That explains my Simcha!!"

This is what Moshe gave to the Jews in the desert; JOY.

It is this Joy that earlier enabled Abraham (our father) to pass all of G-d's tests, and is therefore the essence of Judaism. (Tanya, 4:21)

Without Joy, Judaism can become mere ritual, and the Torah is just one of many religious manuals. With it both, we are warm and alive.

The desolate desert brought the Jews to Humility, the main prerequisite for Joy. They realized that they, like the desert, have nothing of their own. (Egotists can never be truly happy, they always want more for themselves).

That is why Moshe was the most humble man on earth. (Bamidbar 12:3)

But the main source of Jewish Joy is through connection to Moshe and the Holiness of Moshe as it says by the splitting of Yam Suf: (Shemot 14:3, 15:1)

"(The Jews) believed in G-d and His servant Moshe...THEN THEY SANG."

That is why the Chassidim (followers of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov) were and are still known for their Joy; because they connected to the Besh't, the "Moshe" of their generation.

In this respect the great Tzadikim like the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and others are still very much alive, because those who are connected to them feel Joy and optimism in the Torah they learn.

And that is why one of the main descriptions of the days of the Moshiach is JOY; "Then will our mouths be filled with laughter" (T'hillim 126).

May we all receive the Torah this year with true joy,
together with Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad Israel

back to top