A favorite story of the Rebbe, central to his activist view of life:
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first rebbe of the Lubavitch dynasty, led
the services for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. He stood wrapped in
his prayer shawl, profoundly entranced in the cleaving of the soul to its
source. Every word of prayer he uttered was fire. His melody and fervor carried
the entire community off to the highest and the deepest journey of the spirit.
And then he stopped. He turned, cast off his prayer shawl and left the
synagogue. With a bewildered congregation chasing behind, he walked briskly to
the outskirts of town, to a small dark house from where was heard the cry of a
newborn infant. The rabbi entered the house, chopped some wood and lit a fire in
the oven, boiled some soup and cared for the mother and child that lay helpless
in bed.
Then he returned to the synagogue and to the ecstasy of his prayer.
The Rebbe added:
Note that the rabbi removed his prayer shawl. To help someone, you must leave
your world, no matter how serene, to enter the place where that person lives.
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