Dear
Friends,
In
the late l9th century, a new movement was started among the yeshivos
of Eastern Europe, and it was known as "The Musar Movement."
One of the meanings of the Hebrew word "Musar" is ethics,
and this movement encouraged Jews of all ages to put more emphasis on
studying Torah teachings related to ethical behavior and the
development of good character traits.
One
of the great sages of the Musar movement was Rav Nosson Zvi Finkel
who was known as "the Alter of Slobodka". A central Torah
principle underlying all of his teachings was that all human beings
are precious, be they Jews or Gentiles, for they were created in the
image of God. Through his words and deeds, he showed honor and love
to them all. The book "Sparks of Mussar" by Rabbi Chaim
Ephraim Zaitchik ( Feldheim Pub. ), has a fascinating chapter about
the Alter of Slobodka which contains beautiful teachings and stories.
The following excerpt is one of my favorites:
"Whenever
a guest left his house, R' Nosson Tzvi escorted him outside.
When
he was in a German spa, he used to accompany the trains leaving the
place in order to fulfill the mitzva of escort. Once a caravan of
gypsies passed by, and he accompanied them, too."
Two
of my high school Rebbes were students of Rav Yitzchak Hutner, who
was a disciple of the Alter; thus, through my teachers, I feel a
personal link with this great sage of musar. He has been a source of
inspiration to me, and I believe the following story is in the spirit
of his teachings:
When
I was about fifteen years old, I and a small group of friends took
the subway one Saturday night to Manhattan . Sitting across from us
on the subway car was a black man lying down in a drunken stupor. He
was muttering to himself incoherently, and my friends found the whole
scene to be hilarious. This bothered me in some way, and I told my
friends that I was going to demonstrate to them that this man -
though drunk and incoherent - was a human being created in God's
image. I crossed over and stood next to him, and I then began to sing
the opening verses of a Black spiritual that I had learned from
attending with my father several meetings of the Black civil rights
organization known as the N.A.A.C.P. To the amazement of my friends,
the man started to sing with me, and his face began to glow. When I
returned to my seat, they were no longer laughing. They looked at me
with wonder and respect, and I saw that they got the message.
I
would like to conclude this letter with an excerpt from the book
"Generation to Generation - Personal Recollections of a
Chassidic Legacy" by Rabbi Abraham Twerski - a noted Chassidic
teacher who is also a noted psychiatrist. In the second chapter of
the book, Rabbi Twerski describes how his father - a Chassidic Rebbe
- taught him to believe in the essential goodness within each human
soul, and how this teaching influenced his own life:
"Many
years later, my psychiatric practice led me in the direction of
rehabilitating persons who had fallen victim to alcoholism and drug
addiction. Thank God, this effort has been very rewarding, as I have
been privileged to witness thousands of virtually miraculous
successes in treatment.
I
am often asked how one can have the patience to persist in pursuing
recovery for a person who has had repeated relapses and whose
persistent failure to recover must surely be frustrating to the point
of utter despair.
The
answer is that the word 'despair' was rendered alien to my
vocabulary. Despair is the absolute abandonment of hope, and Father
taught that the Divine spark is in every human; whereas its glow may
be diminished almost to the point of distinction, it is never
completely extinguished."
As
we light the lamps of Chanukah,
let us also remember that it is written: "A lamp of God is the
human soul " (Proverbs 20:27).
Shalom,
and a Good
Chanukah,
Yosef
Ben Shlomo Hakohen
This
article is dedicated to the memory of my father, Shlomo Ben Avraham
Hakohen, who passed away on the eighth day of Chanukah, 5759.
Hazon
- Our Universal Vision
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