11. “If someone teaches Torah to the son of his friend, the Torah regards him as if he had fathered that son.”2 This statement prompts us to stop and consider the meaning of the comparison between educating a child and giving birth to a child. On the one hand, the term “as if” sets limits on the similarity; on the other hand, just as a physical childbirth needs Heaven’s mercies, so too does a spiritual childbirth need Heaven’s mercies.
2. The above teaching remains valid even when the son does not conduct his life as he ought to do. Even then, the power of the teacher remains, albeit in a latent state – just as on the physical plane, even if a son does not resemble his father, it could well be that the resemblance will eventually surface in his son, or grandson, or later. This is due to the element of infinity3 involved. (This, by the way, explains why all Jews are termed “the seed of Avraham.”4) And just as on the physical plane the effect of the father remains potent, so too on the spiritual plane, the input of the teacher leaves its imprint until the end of all generations. In former times it used to take place in the form of an os; nowadays it takes place in the form of a mofes.5
3. Just as fathers have responsibilities towards their sons, so too, sons have responsibilities towards their fathers.6
Those chassidim who saw my father have the power of a teacher, and as to those who did not see my father, they receive his influence by virtue of the power of a person who dispatches an agent.7 In such a case, however, teachings can be transmitted superficially, so that instead of receiving a summary that encapsulates the full extent of a subject, the student ends up receiving merely the summary of a summary.
4. Today’s distinctive avodah is the challenge of revealing the truth – being fazed by no one, to the extent that one relates to obstacles as if non-existent,8 taking no one into account, and following one’s own path.
It is written, Echad hayah Avraham – “Avraham was one alone.”9 Even if there is only one [chassid who meets the above demands], or even if there are only five, or ten, that too is fine – so long as the truth will be clearly heard. As was said recently,10 “the buds can be seen in the land”11 – there are already (Thank G‑d!) temimim with whom one can speak [at the same spiritually sensitive level as with their predecessors]. However, hard work lies ahead; although not for a long time, the work will be hard. So far, we have hit the path of life – for there are three terms: derech, orach, and nesiv [here meaning: highway, road, and path].12 Derech means the king’s road, a public thoroughfare. Here in America we have only just arrived at the path of life.
5. Here in America, the temimim are lacking orderly avodah in all three areas – in the avodah of tefillah, in the dedicated study of nigleh, and in the refinement of character.13 All of this should be undertaken with unwavering determination, in all the three senses of the term eisan shebaneshamah that are discussed in Chassidus,14 namely: powerful, old, and tough. What needs to surface again today is the powerful, old-time toughness.
6. Among the chassidim of my grandfather, the Rebbe Maharash, there were ordinary householders who did not have the scholarly depth of maskilim, nor were they ovdim whose davenen lasted seven hours. They were simply chassidishe baalei-batim who were permeated and inwardly disciplined with the spiritual lifestyle of Chassidus and with its practical application. Though they were further removed from a deep comprehension of Chassidus than today’s so-called born chassidim, they had a lively sensitivity to a chassidisher story or a chassidisher mode of conduct.
7. When I was a cheder-pupil of R. Nissan in 5652 (1892),15 a chassidisher villager16 by the name of R. Elye Abeler17 shared an old recollection. He related that once, at yechidus, my grandfather, the Rebbe Maharash, told him that while he was peddling his wares among the gentile villagers, he should think holy thoughts – about the meaning of words in the davenen, or about a pasuk from the Chumash.
At the time R. Elye asked, “But how can a person think holy thoughts while he is busy doing business?”
The Rebbe Maharash answered: “If a person can have alien thoughts while saying Shemoneh Esreh, he can think holy thoughts while he is out on the street…”
From that time on, R. Elye recalled, he never had alien thoughts while he was davenen, and did have holy thoughts while he was out on the street.
8. The following teaching, which had been heard from the Baal Shem Tov, was passed down to the Alter Rebbe:
It is written, “I hold Havayah before me constantly.”18 This means that the Divine Name Havayah ought to be like one’s friend. Now, when one greets a friend with Shalom, his right hand is opposite his friend’s left hand. And this is how the Divine Name Havayah ought to impact one’s own “left side.”19 [One’s “right side” gives no cause for concern,] because the same verse concludes with an assurance: מִימִינִי בַּל אֶמּוֹט כִּי– “for He is [constantly] at my right side, so that I will not falter.”
The source of this teaching, which had been handed down to the Baal Shem Tov, was R. Eliyahu Baal Shem.20
9. While we were strolling one day in 5679 (1919), my father said that the concluding assurance in the above teaching applies only to tzaddikim of stature, in whom the “right side”21 has been utterly refined. For people at large, however, observing the principle that “I hold Havayah before me constantly” is needed in order to ensure that “He [will be constantly] at my right side, so that I will not falter.”
My father went on to say: “While I was davenen, an additional insight settled comfortably in my mind. The above-quoted words מִימִינִי בַּל אֶמּוֹט can also be understood as a request: ‘Let me not falter from my uprightness.’ The fact is that every chassidisher yungerman wants to conduct himself as he ought to do. That aspiration comes from his right side. However, his natural soul22 persuades him to follow his own reason, that is, as his nature leads him to act. This conflict demands that “I hold Havayah before me constantly,” for the Divine Name Havayah transcends nature, and ensures that he should not slip from his level of uprightness.
10. Chassidim ought to recognize the strengths that we have, from my father and from all the Rebbeim. If people recognized this, their davenen would find expression at quite a different level, and so too the way they study Torah, and the way they sleep.
We must recognize the strengths that we have – and may the One Above grant success to everyone’s efforts.
