Saturday, November 29, 2008

Does anyone have G-d's phone number?

Everyone has a different way of dealing with pain. Some people start to cry, others make inappropriate jokes, and still others heed the call of Meir Kahane and buy themselves a .22. And then you've got Lubavitchers, who decide that the only thing there is to do is to move away from the dubious comforts of Crown Heights and go to the wilds of Mumbai, India, there to attempt to fill the shoes of a couple of heroes. And you know what? Whoever that couple is, I think they'll do a pretty good job.

Moving right along...hold on a 'sec-it's impossible to move right along. And yet, that's what we have to do. We have, to paraphrase Lipa, pick ourselves up and move on. Because there's nowhere else to go.
All right, have I said anything different than anyone else? And yet at some point we'll all move on in our daily lives, and that will be that. Tomorrow morning I get on a train and go back to learning smicha in Motown. We'll bs a little, about this and that, and we'll learn, and do chitas, take naps, check this very blog for comments, all the ten and one things people who live normal lives do.
In today's speech Rabbi Ezagui told over the famous story of the Rebbe's pseudo-explanation of the Holocaust, the pseudo-explanation that got that female member of the Knesset all ruled up, because she thought the Rebbe was saying that the holy people who were murdered were like sick limbs on a body that had been chopped off by G-d. Obviously, that's not what the Rebbe meant. So us normal people get to rationalize whatever it is we don't understand by blaming it all on someone else, and moving on.
Oy, I fear that this post could easily turn into an existentialist diatribe against whatever it is existentialist fight against. But really, I'm not like that. I'm just a regular nice guy trying to figure out when it would be okay to move on in life. Every Lubavitch blogger out there, and many who aren't, are blogging about this whole story right now. And a whole lot of them are doing writing much more elegantly than I ever could. Over at chabad.org Naftali Silverberg brings down what the Rebbe said after Mrs. Lapine was murdered. It's been how many years since then? How many Jews have been killed since then? What the heck is up with this G-d exactly?

16 comments:

e said...

Of course, it's forty two.

Anonymous said...

G-d's phone has been out of service since '94.

Just like a guy said...

e: I tried dialing that, but nothing happened.

SZB: As the old song goes..."Always look on the bright side of life."

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have G-d's phone number?
Yes, you do.
1-800 Torah.
1-800 Tefillah
1-800 Tzedaka.

Aye, we can't comprehend His message, that is our issue...

SZB - Good one!

Cheerio said...

perfectly capturing how i feel. moving on too easily hurts too much, but not moving on is impossible. i'm not someone who can maintain anger at anyone, especially not G-d. but i can whine forever. so - why, G-d, why?

Just like a guy said...

Oh, you can whine forever? That sounds pretty miserable.

Cheerio said...

just ask my roommates - it definitely is.

Just like a guy said...

And now that I know that, what do I do?

Cheerio said...

do you feel obligated to do something?

Just like a guy said...

Of course, I'm the real shliach, I have a mission from god to help people! Or at least to pretend.

Cheerio said...

so you feel motivated to help my roommates? generous indeed.

Just like a guy said...

Ain't I?

Cheerio said...

i'll make sure to let thm know how much you care.

Just like a guy said...

Hey, please do. And remember, financial aid is always welcome. And doesn't one of them owe me cookies or something?

e said...

TRS, interesting, you went from helping cheerio's roommates to getting helped?

Just like a guy said...

When I see any help from them we can talk.