“Only our bodies were sent into exile and subjugated to alien rule; our souls were not given over into captivity and foreign rule.”
This was the message shared by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (my namesake) as he boarded the train. The Rebbe had been arrested a few weeks prior by the Yevsektsiya, the Jewish division of the GPU (the predecessor of the KGB in Soviet Russia). He had been arrested and tortured for the “crime” of strengthening Jewish observance in communist Russia. (Today, the 13th of Tammuz, marks the day that he was finally released).
Although his life was still in danger, and his audience included many communist guards and spies, he communicated this message of encouragement to all who had gathered to greet him and wish him well.
In simple words the message is: We are free to live as we wish as Jews and need not be influenced by those around us.
Then, the intimidation was very real and tangible - you could be imprisoned or killed for the slightest supposed infraction. Today it’s less of a threat and more of a silent intimidation.
And in truth, it’s mostly self imposed.
There is no reason to be unsure of ourselves when it comes to Jewish observance, there is no reason to be uncomfortable with keeping kosher or shabbat. On the contrary, in America today people with deeply held convictions and standards are respected, and even envied.
But this is all about external barriers. We can overcome them and we should, but they do take some effort. The bigger concern is the blinders we place upon ourselves. We refuse to allow ourselves to get excited about something “holy” - does the word itself make you uncomfortable?
“Our souls were not given over into captivity and foreign rule.”
If we choose to “open our eyes” and allow ourselves to “see,” there are amazing things happening in each of our lives on a daily basis. I encourage you to allow yourself to get excited about them - recognize the great miracles in your daily life and celebrate them!
But nature has a way of covering things up - if we’d see a dead body come to life we may recognize a miracle, but we’re so used to seeing living people continue to live that we take it for granted.
Occasionally though, G-d pulls away the curtain a little and allows us a glimpse of the true reality. G-d occasionally shows us miracles to help us perceive the true nature of this world. And if we choose, we can literally see the miracles taking place.
But we have to choose to see.
Case in point - the events of the past week in Israel. We look at the news and we notice the terrible situation - and don’t get me wrong, it is not good. However, if we choose to tune in, we can see the amazing miracles taking place. Here are but a few:
1) First and foremost: Despite being attacked by hundreds of deadly rockets, over 500 just in the last three days, as of this writing there have been minimal casualties. (Please pray for Mordechai Chai ben Bracha Yehudit who was injured in an attack).
Contrary to the way this is portrayed in the media, these rockets are extremely powerful and deadly (click here to see video of a rocket landing in Sderot). By way of comparison, just this morning it was reported that pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine fired a Grad missile (similar to the rockets used by the Hamas terrorists) at a Ukrainian army base killing up to 30 soldiers.
2) The other day a missile landed a few feet from an apartment building; a few feet over and the building, with all the people inside, could have been destroyed.
3) Yesterday a missile scored a direct hit on a gas station in Ashdod. There were lots of people in line to fill up and there was a gas tanker refueling the station. Miraculously, the rocket didn’t hit any people and the gas lines and the tanker did not explode - there was only property damage and no casualties (three people were lightly injured).
And there are many, many more!
“Our souls were not given over into captivity and foreign rule.”
Allow your soul to get excited by these miracles. A miracle is G-d’s way of raising us up to have a higher spiritual appreciation. In fact, the Hebrew words for miracle (נס - ness), means to raise up.
Allow yourself to be raised up.
And then, do something about it. G-d is reaching out to us, respond by reaching out to Him. Do an extra mitzvah. Today, stop by Chabad to put on tefillin or study some Torah online. Tonight, turn Friday night into shabbat by lighting shabbat candles and tomorrow join us for the Shabbat morning services beginning at 9:30 with Torah study and continuing from 10-11:30 with tefillah).
Allow your soul to express itself, you’ll be truly happy that you did.
May we have peace in Israel and in the entire world!