Friday, November 28, 2008

Kol Hayotze

Last night I posted a quote from the Gemara about the soldiers in Dovid's army, who would write a get, a divorce document, to their wives before going off to war, in order to prevent their wives from becoming agunos in case they failed to return. The Rebbe Rashab writes that this also applies to Bochurim, who have to divorce themselves from this physical world in order to succeed in their spiritual battle.
We also find this concept by Shluchim; they give up their physical comforts in order to go out and help Jews. There is a famous saying in Lubavitch, "Po Nikbaru", "here you'll be buried", meaning that once a person goes out, whether to Yeshiva or to Shlichus, they have to give up their previous lives, and realize that where they're going, and what they're doing, is the end. They have to give it all up, not leave anything behind.
Still, no one ever thinks that this will all be literal.

Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife were young Shluchim; heck just a few years older than me. And they accomplished a lot. You know, I didn't know them personally. That doesn't matter. They were doing the Rebbe's work, in a very difficult place to do the Rebbe's work. And now they're gone. They went out to fight in the war of Dovid, in the war of the King. And now they're not coming back. And yes, you can tell me a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo about heaven; yes, I believe in all that, but it's not enough. It isn't a comfort to believe in the resurrection, because there should be no need for a resurrection.

And where do we go from here? Obviously, the only thing to do is to surge on ahead. The Rebbe constantly stressed that the only response to terrorism is not to give up. If you give up, they won.
So yeah, more Chabad houses, more Shluchim, more deeds of goodness and kindness. It may sound trite, but it's true.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haven't read something so "L'inyan" from you in a while.
Nice post.

Anonymous said...

I don't get it. It says live press conference from Museum, on Shmais, but it ain't there. Strange.

Just like a guy said...

The conference was. And now it is no more. You should be able to see a recording of it on foxnews.com

Anonymous said...

"They went out to fight in the war of Dovid, in the war of the King. And now they're not coming back. And yes, you can tell me a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo about heaven; yes, I believe in all that, but it's not enough."

QFT.

Leo de Toot said...

Dear Mr. R.S.
Having read a great deal of material on this sad topic, including some really bizarre websites which blame the victims, your comments are one of the most touching and meaningful. Hopefully you should never have to comment on similar events again. Thanks for the insights,
Leo de T.