Taken from the water

Recently, I read a rather interesting story on CH.info. I won’t copy the whole story, but this part, quoting Rebbe Rashab himself, caught my attention in particular (the point of the post is not just to share the story, so keep reading):

[A] chossid has shared the following words of the Rebbe:

“I am frequently visited by Chassidim amongst whom are big merchants. They request my advice in matters of business something which neither I nor my fathers have been involved. Why then do they seek my counsel?” In answer to this question, the Rebbe explained that there are three types of Chassidim. “The simple type, who are also referred to as ‘fools’, so to speak, maintain quite innocently, that the Rebbe is the Rebbe! He has Ruach HaKodesh, he possesses prophecy; therefore, one must obviously follow his instruction; there is no room for ‘wise guy’ mentality.

“The Chassidim, who are not as ‘simple minded’ or self-effaced, do not accept my words as being completely beyond reason; they maintain that since the Rebbe is constantly involved in the study Torah, Chassidus and the service of G-d, his thought and intellect are naturally in tune with that of the Creator; therefore, his advice will certainly come to fruition.

“There is yet a third category who are more worldly or ‘wise’; their approach is of an even more logical nature: ‘The Rebbe,’ they argue, ‘comes in contact with people of all walks who share with him their life experience, he thus acquires knowledge in a vast spectrum of issues that no other person possesses. It is hence entirely logical to follow his advice.’”

The point is, of course, that the first category, the “fools”, is the one closest to the truth. It is also the level which is the most difficult for non-Chassidim to comprehend. I am not talking about just non-religious Jews. I am also talking about well known phenomenon of certain groups’ mistaken notion that a Rebbe is a Chassidic version of a Rosh Yeshiva or a college professor. After these people try their hardest, perhaps they can reach the second category, that of understanding that a person can purify his thoughts, his body, and his soul with learning of Torah and commitment to mitzvos (there is a story in which Rebbe Rashab answered a halachic question of the Brisker Rav by citing his intuition, explaining that he had trained his body from the childhood to follow Shulchan Aruch automatically).

But the most important level of understanding is that of the “fools”. That the Rebbe is not just a very learned and smart person. That he is not just a person who has reached high spiritual level through his toil in Torah and mitzvos. But that he is simply a holy Jew, a holy soul. He did not climb to the top of the mountain; he was born there.

It is so easy for us to imagine that there are geniuses, who are more intelligent than the rest of the population. For many people it is also easy to imagine that there may be aliens who have higher intellectual abilities than humans (at least that such a phenomenon is not hypothetically and logically impossible). But for some reason it is difficult to imagine that there may be souls, whose level of holiness is beyond ours and beyond our imagination and understanding.

One such soul was Moshe Rabbeinu. He was taken out of the water. Literally, when the Pharaoh’s daughter took him out. But also spiritually, when his soul was taken from the “water”, from the highest spiritual world. He was not someone who was born into this world and then climbed up to some “position”. Moshe Rabbeinu did not belong to this world. He was literally an alien, in spiritual terms. His soul descended into this world with a particular purpose: to transmit Torah to Jews.

And the same is the case with every Moshe Rabbeinu of every generation. He transmits Torah to Jews. He connects them to Hashem. He takes them out of their Mitzrayim toward their Har Sinai, toward the redemption.

All it takes is to be a “fool” for a second. To be simple-minded enough to understand the greatest treasure that Hashem gave us. Our Rebbe.