Have No Tunnel Fear

The entire world—all of life—is a very, very narrow bridge, Rebbe Nachman teaches (Likutey Moharan II, Lesson #48). And, he says, the main thing is to not get frightened.

A tunnel built by those who want to kill you is not a bridge. And apparently, those built by Hamas frighten many, many people. I would like to make a humble suggestion that may help remove, or at least ease, the fear for some us.

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh (of inner.org fame) has what he calls, a “Divine space” meditation. Our bodies are, obviously, located in space. There are six directions: in front of us and behind us; right and left; above and below. Each direction relates to one of the six constant mitzvahs, i.e., the mitzvahs a person can do any time, any place.

The six mitzvahs are:

To believe in God’s existence
To believe that there is no god, power or force independent of God
To believe in God’s Oneness and Uniqueness
To love God
To fear God
To not stray after one’s heart or eyes

Rabbi Ginsburgh relates each mitzvah to a direction and to a pasuk (verse) of the Torah. For our purpose, we will relate just the two that are immediately relevant.

To believe in God’s existence is the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am the Lord your God (Exodus 20:2). Think of this mitzvah as being above you, “over your head,” as you sit, stand, walk or ride. I encourage people to think of this as being the Ultimate Iron Dome.

The second of the Ten Commandments—and what inspired this piece—is the mitzvah to believe that there is no god other than God Himself, “You will have no other gods before Me” (ibid. V.3). This mitzvah is “below,” it is the bedrock of our security. It is the ground we walk on.

Where we stand, where we stride, no force can touch us. We Jews have nothing to fear as long we are rock-certain that no one and nothing can do us harm, unless God wills it.

Don’t be afraid of tunnels or those that build them, who think they can hide their evil deeds from God. “Blessed are You, Hashem, Who protects His people Yisrael, forever.”

Worth the Trade

“I threw it all away.” Ruth of Moab

Now, she didn’t really say that, but she could’ve. She was a princess, beautiful and wealthy. She could have had pleasure and power had she stayed in her native land, instead of migrating to the Land of Israel. But she saw something in her late Jewish husband, or in her mother-in-law, Naomi, or in both. When Naomi set out to return home to the Land of Israel and tried hard to dissuade Ruth from joining her, Ruth refused. “Wherever you go, I will go.” Even to poverty, even to risk my life because I don’t yet know everything about being Jewish and may commit a sin. It’s worth all that—and more—to be Jewish.

Ruth never regretted her choice and was never bitter about it. She was such a kind and loving person that anything she looked at became blessed.

So what happened because this woman threw it all away and became Jewish? We ended up with King David and his Tehillim (Psalms). And we will end with tikkun haolam when Mashiach comes, swiftly and soon, in our lifetime. Amen.

Closing the Door on an Era

I went to a funeral today (41st day of the Omer 5773 [6 May ’13]). The mother of good friends, really good friends. The deceased, Rose Stark, was a personal acquaintance of Dr. Mengele. She was a Holocaust survivor before it was popular to be one.

Rose lived with her daughter and son-in-law, MeeMee and Nachman here, in Jerusalem. (No, they are not Breslovers.) Allow me to digress. I feel sorry for my children’s generation, and for those just a little bit older. They rarely, if ever, met a European Jew, a pre-War-II Jew. Thank God, I grew up knowing a fair number of such Jews, many who had survived WWII, and some the camps. (My father, RIP, survived the war by being in the Russian Army and Siberia.) Those Jews, even the irreligious ones, were in many ways more Jewish than even chareidi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews of today. Their whole being and essence exuded Jewishness and screamed, “I am Jewish!” (And no, it wasn’t the garlic and herring for breakfast that did it.)

Anyway. Rose was special, as one would expect a Holocaust survivor to be. But she was special as one might not expect a Holocaust survivor to be. She wasn’t bitter. She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t neurotic and she didn’t try to shield her children from life, from goyim, from Judaism or from God.

She was an authentic person, a Jew who believed in God even when she couldn’t find Him in Auschwitz (nor later, when she repatriated to Sweden.) She was a person with dignity who brought her love for Jews and Jewishness to the fore. She resolved any questions she had in private, and those of other people with gentle humor.

She did not give up after her first husband and first baby were murdered. She did not stop looking toward a better future, did not stop counting her blessings. The blessings kept coming and so did the better future. She turned out to be more of a warrior than any of the leaders of the Third Reich.

To me, what made her a success was her appreciation for what she had, her realization of how precious Jewish life is, simply by virtue of its existing.

A few months ago, Rose’s son-in-law Nachman mentioned to me a theory he has. The success, status and comfort of the Jewish people climbed steadily after World War II, but has declined lately. This, he says, is because the Holocaust survivors are dying. It has been in their merit they we have enjoyed what we have these last 65–70 years. I don’t know if he’s right, but it’s certainly something to think about.

Auf simchas. May we celebrate together joyous news. Amen.

Saving Money

Q. I wanted to know what the frum [i.e., ultra-Orthodox] world and the Breslov world thinks about putting away money in savings/401K plans.

I remember reading in Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom (aka Sichot HaRan) #247, that the more money one has, the further his wealth is from him, with money in the bank being among the furthest away. I thought, money in an “untouchable” bank would be considered even more removed. What do followers of Rebbe Nachman take as an approach to long-term savings and the like?

Good question.

Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom #247 is part of Rabbeinu zal’s overall message to diminish one’s money-lust. That is, somewhere along the line, most folk start to develop an idea like, “The more money I have, the stronger/worthier/real I am. Therefore, the pursuit of wealth is a worthwhile endeavor and goal.” That’s a big mistake and a waste of life. (Rebbe Nachman does say a person should work for his livelihood, but in service of God [e.g., to give charity], not in service of self or other people.)

If you look at the entire passage there, you’ll see that Rebbe Nachman is contrasting acquiring wealth with acquiring Torah. The more material wealth one has, the less direct his connection with it. On the contrary, the more Torah wisdom (not mere knowledge) one acquires, the more it is an actual part of him.

401Ks etc. are a [a] a matter of trust (how much a person trusts in God) and [b] how does the world work in our day and age. For most of us, our level of trust is such that we work for a living. A retirement fund is, to a degree, “working for your old age,” a future paycheck. Since this is a normal way of doing things for people with a normal degree of trust, it’s alright. It’s also smart.

By the way: Trust in God includes, “God gave me seikhel (intelligence). That means He wants me to use it. Having money for my old age, when I can no longer work, seems to be a good idea.”

Hoped this helped.

148 West

NEVER EVER DESPAIR!

Tag Archives: trust in God

Have No Tunnel Fear

Worth the Trade

Closing the Door on an Era

Saving Money