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The Path of Light


Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson

When He made the world, He made two ways to repair each thing: With harshness or with compassion. With a slap or with a caress. With darkness or with light.

And He looked at the light and saw that it was good. Darkness and harsh words may be necessary. But He never called them good.

Even if you could correct another person with harsh words, the One Above receives no pleasure from it. When He sees his creatures heal one another with caring and with kindness, that is when He shines His smile upon us.
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Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson   More articles...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. To order Rabbi Freeman’s book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.

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Reader Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: Dec 5, 2010
Wow! This is good!
This really puts it ALL in a nutshell!
Posted By Anonymous, santa maria

Posted: Dec 5, 2010
I loved this one. Many thanks for always healing our souls. B.H.
Posted By Anonymous, quebec, canada

Posted: Dec 5, 2010
Sentinel?
It's beautiful and could be used in most situations in life. But what about prophets who were appointed as sentinels? When one has a harsh Truth placed on his tongue isn't he obligated to say it as it comes to him without sweetening?
Posted By Miriam Esther, Watertown, MA

Posted: Dec 5, 2010
To Carmen
Consider the calloused heel.

One man, frustrated, attacks the callous. He rubs so vigorously that it becomes red and raw. For a time, it seems soft once more. But lo and behold, when he returns to examine it again in a week, it is tougher and ever deeper.

The other man instead approaches his calloused heel with patience and loving care. he gently buffs the callous away, and encourages it to stay soft by caring for it. A week later, this man's heel is still soft, and needs little buffing.

While buffing is done in both cases, notice the difference. True lasting change only came when harshness was tempered with care, and the good nurtured. So too are the minds and hearts of our fellow man.
Posted By Savannah Logsdon-Breakstone, Utica, PA

Posted: June 9, 2009
The Path of Light
Thanks for that insight. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope. "Life is a test" as Rebbetzin Jungreis says, perhaps this test is mine, never to give up in the line of attack. I suppose I need to continue to pray for my family. Perhaps, I ignited the flicker of faith within her. What I don't see with the naked eye is the spiritual attack, and how through her cursing me, and scapegoating me,that good can actually come out of it. Once again, thank you! I will never give up my faith though, through the adversity.
Posted By Anonymous, Accord, NY

Posted: June 7, 2009
To Anonymous in Accord, NY
Your sister's reaction shows that she's a real chasid inside. Where there's a reaction, there's life.
Posted By Tzvi Freeman, Thornhill, Ontario

Posted: June 6, 2009
Baruch Hashem and Baruch Tzvi
Dear Tzvi,

Your words heal our home and south our souls... Thank you for your wisdom and courage to change this world - you certainly have changed ours.

May Hashem bless you greatly,
Posted By David Austreng, yacolt, wa/usa

Posted: June 5, 2009
How do you respond to a sister who is born Jewish who curses at you when you say Baruch Hashem? Who claims Chabad is a cult. Who claims I must be a rabbi's wife since I spent a weekend at Gateways? I know harsh words are not good but it takes a saint and a lot of prayer not to retort with the same animosity! All I was doing by saying Baruch Hashem, was thank-you G-d I was not stricken with tongue cancer, since I had been waiting for biopsy results since May 19th! And her answer was "Don't give me that Jewish sh..t! Borderline harassment, do you think? Perhaps, demonic! There is so much evil in this world I thank G-d I am protected by him and his holy words of the Torah!
Posted By Anonymous, Accord, NY

Posted: June 5, 2009
The Path of Light
Well spoken and oh, so true. Nowadays the darkness and harshness is called tough love. We, as parents, don't prefer that path, but at times it is necessary. The joy comes from the learning and love that follows.
Posted By Gina, (Dina Nacham'ia, Houston, TX

Posted: June 4, 2009
Hard skins.
When the skin is too hard,it is impossible to reach the core only with compassion and without harshness.Impossible.
Posted By Carmen



 


Light: an Anthology
"It Should Become Light"
The Path of Light
Two Lights
Sunglasses of the Soul
Returning Light
Illumination
Deliberate Light
Pre-Dawn
The Flame
The Lamplighter
A Long Pole
Good and Evil
Rules
The Inexistence of the Universe
Colors
Nothingness as a Force
Light Speaks
As I Sit in Darkness
The Vanishing Flame
A Long Day for Morgenstern
Kharkov, 1995
Shades of Light
Windows
Getting Past the Mind
Two Birds of Paradise
The Lunar Files
Tohu Wars

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