He talked about the guys who walk around fundraising for their yeshivos, and most people don’t even think for a second that after a day of fundraising (often far away from their homes), these people are tired, hot (or cold), probably had nothing to eat since the morning. Very few people will think about offering them a meal or a glass of cold juice (or a cup of hot tea).
So, the author remembered how one time he was staying at somebody’s house, and a fundraiser came by. The owner wrote him a check and then saw that his hands were chapped from cold. He brought him out a pair of new leather gloves and said: “Please take these; I have many more.”
Now, in the whole book there is little talk about Hashem specifically. There is a chapter devoted to hashgacha protis (because of the nature of the book), and in that context, Hashem is mentioned: “G-d is in control [of the subject discussed]; He knows what He is doing.” But no more.
Fine.
But after reading that story with the gloves, I thought about how my non-religious relatives talk about hypocrisy in Jewish communities, and how back in the days of my great-grandparents, doing chessed meant helping a person in need.
I also thought about how my rabbi once mentioned that one possible danger of learning Chassidus is that you become focused on the big picture. You think about dira b’tachtoinim, gilui ha’Etzem, spherois ad ein ketz lifnei ha’tzimtzum, yechoilois vs. koichois of Eibeshter, and you forget that when you put a coin into tzedaka box, not only are you uniting the finite with the infinite, but you are also simply helping another Jew.
For the Rebbe these things were one. But a simple person (like me) can lose sight of the one while focusing on the other.
* * *
A little later, the author told the following story (in a praising manner).A man once came to the head of a certain yeshiva (back in the early days) asking what shidduch reference to give for a bochur, whom this Rosh Yeshiva supposedly knew. The rabbi answered: “At what stage is the shidduch? If it is after the engagement, say that he is an illui [a prodigy]. If it is before the engagement, but somewhat advanced, say he is a beinoni [an average student]. If the shidduch hasn’t started yet, say I don’t know the guy.”
I guess I just found the dichotomy amusing. There is a saying in Russia: “You can’t drink away your professionalism”. Meaning, if you’re good at something, you’ll be good at it even drunk. Maybe the same goes for snagkeit.
3 comments:
ok but isnt that what chassidus teaches? that we must focus on the physical, dira betachtonim, etc etc etc. you seem to be saying that ppl who learnchassidus forget that. But that is like saying that people who learn statistics forget basic math. Everything must go hand in hand.
no, we are not the jesus ppl, and we dont go around preaching how everyone is good, we accept everyone, bla bla bla. we have way more worth than that. and g-d forbid should we forget to give tzedaka just cuz we are busy learning torah, cuz then you learned nothing at all.
we must INTERNALIZE. that is the main thing.
i still dont get what this has to do with snags though.
I wasn't talking about what Chassidus teaches; I was talking about tendency to think about G-d and about spiritual and forget about helpin b'gashmius.
I know someone who was living in a Chassidish community and needed help. First, she needed help finding a job. A Chabad shliach promised her, but did not deliver. But some people from non-frum Jewish organization helped her.
Then she needed a loan. Same story. Then she moved to a new area and got sick (the big one) and got into a hospital. Chabad shluchim davened for her refuah sheleima. A Conservative rabbi gave her a loan of money while she couldn't work. And then a MO guy who runs local MO gemacht gave her another loan. BH things are better for her now.
This is a Russian lady who grew up in the Soviet Union and is used to the idea of a rabbi being not educator but a community leader. She is a also used to an idea of a Chabad shliach as the same (because that's what Chabad shluchim in Russia are). So, now she knows: if you need to learn Tanya, you go to Chabad. If you need to pay for hospital bills, you go to MO. I can't blame her. I can't blame the shluchim either, I guess. Maybe there was miscommunication. Maybe it's not really part of their job description.
What my post had to do with snags was that I when I normally read snag books, I am disturbed how the books are about Yiddishkeit and not about Hashem. And here I was reading this book which was the same (it only mentioned G-d in passing, as in "G-d knows what he is doing when you're looking for shidduch") — but, it talked about the idea of chessed in very real terms. And I realized that in Lubavitch books that I read, I see that when you help out another Jew, you achieve achdus in the name of M"A in Atzilus. I don't see, however, the idea of giving him a glass of cold juice on a hot day. Of course, mature people know what's what, but I suddenly remembered the story of that woman...
Of course, then I read the story about the Rosh Yeshiva and the bochur, and it made me laugh. Despite all the middos, snags can't help being snags.
For the most part, this is me being a devil's advocate. In real life, I say the same thing you said: there is no such thing as ethics stam azoy and religion. Ethics comes from religion, and when you help out another person because you understand that it brings unity between G-d and the world, that's a better reason than your compassion.
Maybe...
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