Page 3 - The Jewish Voice - July '22

The Jewish Voice, Page 3

From the rabbis

If You’re Not Living stopping at hotels along the way. It would be absurd for the make each moment more effective. The secret is to view
mother to ask them to unpack all their suitcases at every
what you’re doing at this moment as the only thing in the
This Moment, single stop. Yet this is what the Jews did on their odyssey world! Not the past or the future, just this moment.
through the desert. Why?

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak illustrated this lifestyle through
You’re Not Really Living In a 1952 letter sent to young Russian refugees who one of the great rabbis of 13th-century Spain, Rabbi
were temporarily staying in Brunoy, France, the Rebbe Shlomo ben Adras, also known as the Rashba. In addition
By Rabbi Dovid Vigler extracted the most magnificent pearl of wisdom that shows to being the local rabbi and head of the yeshiva, he was
Would you recognize the pathway to peace and happiness in our lives. These also a renowned physician. He taught no fewer than
true beauty if you bumped boys had been displaced by the war and were making their three lectures each day and wrote thousands of letters
into it in the street? way to Israel and the USA through Poland and France. on Torah and medicine that are still studied as classic
This question was the They were staying at the yeshiva but struggled to focus Jewish literature. Yet despite his heavy responsibilities
subject of a fascinating their minds due to the great shlep they were in the midst and obligations, he managed to make the time each day
social experiment of. for a two-hour stroll!
conducted on April 10, The Rebbe explained that the Torah tells us that each If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you
2007, in Washington, DC. time the Jews camped in the desert, they would do so “by down. Yesterday had its turn; it’s time to give today a shot.
Joshua Bell is one of the the instruction of G-d.” It was their conviction that G-d My grandfather, Menachem Mendel Neovitz, was
world’s most sought-after desired them to be at that particular place for that duration. born in Szyget, Transylvania. He somehow managed to
violinists who commands Instead of worrying about tomorrow, they joyously survive the horrors of Auschwitz, where he lost his wife
astronomical admission fees in the most famous theatres unpacked without recriminations or regrets. and two daughters. After the war, he found the strength
of the world. On this date, he played incognito with his This episode inspires us to be fully present without to remarry and start over again, building a magnificent
multimillion-dollar Stradivarius outside a bustling Metro regretting the past or worrying about the future. Realize family. I always wondered where he found the strength to
stop. The question was whether anyone would notice? Out that wherever you are, now is precisely where G-d wants rebuild after the destruction he had experienced. I found
of 1,097 people, just seven people stopped to listen! you to be! Nothing is by chance. What we planned for my answer soon after he passed away in our home in 1999
Though the figures might seem flabbergasting, they’re ourselves isn’t always what life has planned for us. on a handwritten note tucked between the pages of a book
hardly surprising. We spend our lives in a cycle of Worrying doesn’t take away tomorrow’s troubles — it only he studied daily. In his own handwriting, in Hebrew:
perpetual waiting. People wait all week for Friday, all year takes away today’s peace. If you don’t leave your past in העבר אין
for summer, and all their lives for happiness. the past, it will destroy your future. Live for what today העתיד עדיין
Kids wait for college acceptances, then wait to graduate. has to offer, not for what yesterday has taken away. וההווה כהרף עין
They wait for a job and then they wait to retire. At 18 we On Tuesday, January 27, 1970, a large group of ?אם כן דאגה מניין
can’t focus because we are trying to make money; at 20 European Chasidim (disciples) had come to visit the Rebbe Here’s how I translate it:
we can’t be present because we’re shooting for success. in New York. As they prepared to leave for JFK airport The past has already passed,
At 30 we’re focused on buying a home so we can establish to catch their flight back home, the Rebbe held a special the future is but a forecast
ourselves; at 40 we’re looking to gain power, and at 50, farbrengen (gathering) to bid them farewell. The Rebbe and the present moment happens so fast,
we’re looking for influence. The cycle goes on until we spoke at great length and the guests became increasingly then why be downcast?
wake up one day and wonder where all the time has gone. anxious, glancing nervously at their watches. The Rebbe If my grandfather could do this after the Holocaust,
In our daily routine, we are running from one thing to the noticed their tension and proceeded to tell them a story I figure we can do the same. As long as we view each
next, never quite stopping to smell the roses. that served to inspire them on their way home: moment as sanctioned by G-d, it’s all we really need to
England’s only Jewish Prime Minister, Benjamin In Communist Russia, the KGB was obsessed with focus on. We can’t always choose the music that life plays
Disraeli, put it somewhat differently: “As a rule, man is snuffing out any vestige of religion. They sentenced for us but we can choose how we dance to it. Stop waiting
a fool. When it’s hot, he wants it cool; when it’s cool, he Jewish leaders and teachers to life in prison, harsh labor for Friday, for summer, for someone to fall in love with
wants it hot. Always wanting what is not.” We’re never in the frozen Siberian wastelands, or even death. Rabbi you, for life. Happiness is achieved when you stop waiting
satisfied with what we have, always looking over our Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Chabad Rebbe and for it and make the most of the moment you are in now.
shoulder or into the next stage, refusing to find peace in the father-in-law of the Rebbe, was their prime target. At one A fantastic way to help us be present is making the
present reality. The introduction of smartphones has only point, as Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak was just minutes prior to choice to observe the Shabbos each Friday night to
exacerbated our distractions and inability to be present. embarking on a dangerous mission, the Rebbe noticed him nightfall on Saturday. Before this sacred time, we turn
Beyond a history book, the Torah is our guide to life. sitting serenely at his desk in Leningrad, deeply engrossed off our phones, laptops, and televisions, and simply focus
In the Torah we learn about the extraordinary fashion in in his own meditations. on our family, friends, and faith. Someone once asked me
which the Jewish People traveled through the desert on “I couldn’t understand how someone could be so calm how, in our modern times, I could possibly switch off for
their way to the Promised Land. They were carrying some under such anxiety. I asked my father-in-law how he was a full 24 hours. “How can you not?” was my reply.
heavy equipment with them — the portable Temple, known able to concentrate whilst staying so calm?” said the A Shabbos well spent brings a week of content. May
as the Mishkan. Every time they stopped, they would go Rebbe. He explained to me that this is the manifestation of we all stop to hear the music that surrounds us!
to the great effort of erecting the Temple at the center of what he called success with one’s time. We cannot lengthen Rabbi Dovid Vigler is spiritual leader at Chabad of Palm
the camp, whether they would stay for a month, a year, or the years of our life, but we can be mindful to ensure the Beach Gardens and host of the Jewish Schmooze Radio Show.
a single day. Imagine a family traveling on a long journey, life in our years. We cannot extend our days, but we can Email him at rabbi@jewishgardens.com.

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