Where Are You? Told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZY"A Zatza"l
In 1798, Rav Schneur Zalman of Liadi was imprisoned on charges, put forth by the opponents of Chassidism, that his teachings undermined the imperial authority of the czar. For fifty-two days he was held in the Peter-Paul Fortress in Petersburg.
Among the Rav's interrogators was a government minister who possessed broad knowledge of the Bible and Jewish studies. On one occasion, he asked the Rebbe to explain the verse (Genesis 3:9), "And G‑d called out to the man and said to him: 'Where are you?'" Did G‑d not know where Adam was?
Rav Schneur Zalman presented the explanation offered by several of the commentaries: the question "Where are you?" was merely a "conversation opener" on the part of G‑d, who did not wish to unnerve Adam by immediately confronting him with his wrongdoing.
"What Rashi says, I know," said the minister. "I wish to hear how the Rebbe understands the verse."
"Do you believe that the Torah is eternal?" asked the Baal HaTanya. "Do you believe that its every word applies to every individual, under all conditions, at all times?"
"Yes," replied the minister.
Rav Schneur Zalman was extremely gratified to hear this. The czar's minister had affirmed a principle which lies at the basis of the teachings of the holy Ba'al Shem Tov, the very teachings and ideology for which he was standing trial!
"'Where are you?'" explained the Rav, "is G‑d's perpetual call to every man. Where are you in the world? What have you accomplished? You have been allotted a certain number of days, hours, and minutes in which to fulfill your mission in life. You have lived so many years and so many days,"—here Rav Schneur Zalman spelled out the exact age of the minister—"Where are you? What have you achieved?"
Told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe Zatza"l on 19 Kislev, 5718 (December 12, 1957), on the occasion of the 159th anniversary of Rabbi Schneur Zalman's release from prison.
R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
www.chassidusonline.com
chassidusonline@gmail.com
Phone: 972-2-992-1218 / Cell: 972-54-842-4725
VoIP: 516-320-6022 / eFax: 1-832-213-3135
join the mailing list here: http://groups.google.com/group/beermayimchaim
Noam Elimelech, Kedushas Levi, Pirkei Avos more!
Discuss Chassidus http://groups.google.com/group/torahchassidusdiscussion
Author Page https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003VH9D48
LinkedIn: http://il.linkedin.com/in/rabbitalmoshe
No comments:
Post a Comment