רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן הָיָה בְּעַצְמוֹ הַקּוֹרֵא בַּתּוֹרָה. פַּעַם אַחַת לֹא הָיָה בְּלִיאָזנאָ שַׁבָּת פָּרָשַׁת תָּבֹא, וְשָׁמַע אַדְמוּ"ר הָאֶמְצָעִי — וְהוּא עוֹדֶנּוּ נַעַר קוֹדֶם הַבַּר מִצְוָה — הַקְּרִיאָה מֵאַחֵר. הָעָגְמַת נֶפֶשׁ מֵהַקְּלָלוֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹכֵחָה הֱבִיאַתּוּ לִכְאֵב לֵב, עַד שֶׁבְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים נִסְתַּפֵּק רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן אִם יוּכַל לְהִתְעַנּוֹת. כְּשֶׁשָּׁאֲלוּ אֶת אַדְמוּ"ר הָאֶמְצָעִי הֲרֵי בְּכָל שָׁנָה קוֹרִים פָּרָשָׁה זוֹ, עָנָה: כְּשֶׁאַבָּא קוֹרֵא "העֶרט זִיךְ נִיט קֵיין קְלָלוֹת".

The Alter Rebbe himself served as the Torah reader. Once he was not in Liozna for Shabbos Parshas [Ki] Savo,and the Mitteler Rebbe — at that time a boy before bar-mitzvah — heard the Torah Reading from another person. He experienced such distress upon hearing the curses in the tocheichah1 that on Yom Kippur,2 the Alter Rebbe was unsure whether [his son] would be able to fast.

When the Mitteler Rebbe was asked [to explain the severity of his response], for after all, this same passage is read every year, he replied: “When my father reads it, they do not sound like curses.”3

Delving Deeply

When a person suffers misfortune, yet understands that it comes from G‑d, he will not be overcome by it. There are some who advise confronting the agony, frustration, and anger that accompanies suffering by taking G‑d out of the picture. In that way, He is not to blame for our anguish.

Chassidus, by contrast, emphasizes how important it is to keep G‑d in the picture. True, we may not understand why good people must suffer, but neither must an infinite G‑d make sense to our finite mortal minds!

Whether we understand or not, when we realize that He is involved we can transcend the pain — because when our Father reads, they do not sound like curses.4