Our Light in a Dark Golus

[emes26770]

B”H
27 Nissan 5771
Shnas Bias Moshiach

If you’ve ever been in a dark room before, you’d know that not seeing is frightening. It is a sense of insecurity, not knowing what’s around you. Even if the things that are around are simple, or even if there aren’t any objects nearby, the fear is there—a strong, promising fear. You start to think, “Maybe it’s better that I just don’t move at all. It’s much better than ever tripping-- that’s too painful to deal with.” But how long could you stay in the dark without making a move? Wouldn’t you eventually just want to get out of such a situation? In Mitzrayim the macah of choshech was constant and the Egyptians were unable to adjust to the darkness, so they just didn’t move. The fear that it struck in them was just too unbearable. I guess the point is, when there is a thick darkness, when a person just can’t see, things are scary. But let’s say a candle was lit in the room. The first reaction would be probably to cover one’s eyes- the light appears too strong. After being in darkness for so long, we become extremely sensitive to even the slightest bit of light. But then, after a few moments, the room illuminates, and we see everything exactly how it is. The fear dispenses and we are set free of our imprisonment within the confines of worry and uncertainty. That’s the mashal, but what is the nimshal? We live in 5771, Shnas Bias Moshiach. It’s a time where I feel that we live in a darkness that is kofel u’mechufel, a doubled-over darkness of the golus night. Things are so complicated, Just doing what’s right is frightening, because it’s dark, and we’re scared. There are doubts about whether putting in all the effort to be a commited Yid is worth the effort put in. Maybe, says our fears, it’s better to just not try. Just give into the darkness, because you won’t see the light any time soon anyways. To be a chassidishe Yid nowadays takes bravery, because being a Chossid means being devoted to the emes. We don’t see Elokus and we don’t always see right away our avoidah paying off. We don’t see the Rebbe b’gashmiyus. On the other hand, we do see taavos and shtuseh olam hazeh. We do see the many opportunities for failure. We do see that we can choose the effortless path to taanug gashmi and we will enjoy it b’gashmiyus. So, why be a Chossid? It’s a great question, and the Rebbe asks it and explains the inyan. There is a mashal in the medrash of a king and two advisors. The common folk are discussing amongst themselves about the king and the advisors. One of them says, “I choose advisor number one.” The other says, “I choose advisor number two. And the other says, “I choose the king”. Ana Nesiv Malka. The medrash explains how the umos ha’olam choose the kochavim and mazalos, while the Yidden choose Hashem, and Hashem chooses the Yidden in return. So why do the Yidden make such a choice? If it’s because the mazalos don’t give hashpaah, that’s not true, because we see that a person can live a life of gashmiyus and prosper very well. If it’s because really, as of now we don’t see how much hashpaah we will get from choosing Hashem, but in the future we will have much more hashpaah serving the Abeshter, that too isn’t a good reason. Because it just proves that the Yidden are smarter in decision-making, or maybe even just more patient. Umos ha’olam choose lesser hashpaah now, while we choose more hashpaah later. So why do we choose Hashem and not the shtusim? Because 1. The chayus that comes from taavos, from inyonei olam hazeh is not emes. It’s maves. Dos iz nisht a kiyum Amisi. It’s not that the hashpaah given is emes’er hashpaah, just less than kedusha. It’s not real at all. It’s chitzoniyus and something that is gross. It comes like thrown over the back of the shoulder. 2. The hashpaah that comes from serving the Abeshter comes from the Abeshter. End of story. It’s not that there is more hashpaah in kedushah than kelipah. It’s the fact that it comes from the king. It comes from pnimiyus. The Rebbe continues to explain, that one’s service of Hashem has to be emes meaning that it doesn’t matter what will benefit the person himself at all. The ikkar is to serve Hashem, to give Him nachas and make a dirah b’tachtonim for Him. And this koach, the koach of Ana Nesiv Malka, is engrained within the essence of every Yid. Also, by the Alter Rebbe declaring to the Abeshter, “I don’t want your Gan Eden. I don’t want your Olam HaBah. I just want you alone.”---it gave extra koach to klal yisroel to feel the same way. So we choose to be Chassidim, even in these dark times of Golus. Why? Because we want to be mis’ached with the melech and give the Abeshter nachas. And the greatest nachas is or habah min hachoshech. So today, we live in 5771, Shnas Bias Moshiach. We see all the taavos olam hazeh, we see the opportunities to fail, we see that it takes tremendous effort to be a Yid, al achas kama v’kama a Chossid, to serve Hashem lifnim meshuras hadin. We see all this but nevertheless, each and every Yid proclaims, Ana Nesiv Malka. We choose the Abeshter. We choose Torah. We choose mitzvos. We choose the Rebbe. We choose life. We choose to do what’s right because it’s right. There is a Rambam at the end of Hilchos Teshuva that after explaining all about Gan Eden and Olam HaBah and it’s greatness and wonders, the Rambam says that doing Torah and mitzvos because of them this isn’t the way to serve Hashem, rather b’ahavah. This is his lashon in Perek Yud, Halacha Beis: “He who serves out of ahavah, is oseik in Torah and mitzvos and walks in the understandings of wisdom, Not because of anything in the world, not because of fear of bad-happenings, and not because of a good inheritance. Rather, he does emes because it is emes- And in the end good will come because of it. And this maalah is extremely great, and not every chacham can be zocheh to this. And this is the maalah of Avraham Avinu, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu called him Ohavo, because he didn’t serve Hashem except from love. And this is the maalah that HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded us about through Moshe as it says VeAhavta Es Hashem Elokecha. And when you love Hashem with a proper love, immediately you will do the mitzvos out of love.” Until here was the lashon. Just an interesting diyuk, I don’t know if it says so anywhere, maybe a sicha or farbrengen, it says that this was the maalah of Avraham Avinu. It’s brought in the sichos of the Friedeker Rebbe that the Baal Shem Tov is paralleled to Avraham, he is the Avraham of Chassidus. The Besht too renewed this ahavas Hashem within every Yid, the poshuter Yidden as well as the maskilim and lamdanim. Also the Rambam writes that this is what Hashem commaned through (al yedei) Moshe. Each of the Rebbeim is Moshe. Each Rebbe from the Besht and the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe until our Rebbe, demands emeser avoidah. Yes, we know that “v’ein kol chacham zocheh l’zeh”, but we’re Chassidim and we have siuah from the Rebbe to live this kind of avodas Hashem. So kol echad l’fum shiurah dileih, we all can take a little bit of this energy and koach into everything we do. And this is our light in the dark golus. Our hiskashrus to the Rebbe is our lamp when things are dark and scary. The Rebbe poshut takes each and every Yid and lights up the path to sincere avodas Hashem. So we are in golus, yes. But when a Yid makes the decision to follow the path of the Rebbe, the room illuminates and we can follow the instruction of the Rebbe to just open our eyes and see Moshiach. Anovim, higia zman geulaschem the Rebbe said. It’s just a matter of a few more moments of the dark golus until we will be zocheh to the or gadol of Moshiach. B’ezras Hashem Yisborach, the Abeshter should help that we should always have the koach to serve Him b’emes and be docheh the shtusim of olam hazeh, whatever they may be, and to walk in the way of the Rebbe, to be Chassidim. L’chaim, we should be zocheh to Moshiach’s coming right now, l’hayom sh’kulo shabbos umenucha lchayei olamim. Lchaim.

[noahidelaws]

L'chaim, that was beautiful! Chazak ve'ematz!