Hello to one and all. I hope that everyone had a good week.
Yidishkeit isn't black and white! It's all of the colors of the rainbow and then some!!! Since Hashem is infinite and covers every area of the spiritual spectrum from top to bottom, Rav Noson teaches that we therefore must connect and experience Him on both extremes of the spectrum in order to better understand Him. In every thing and every living being there is a spectrum ranging from on end of eternity to the end of days. The holy Torah is what gives us the instructions on how to connect to that spectrum and use it to get closer to Hashem. Which brings us to the mitzvahs!! In every mitzva there is a spectrum, and its all up to us to access it on whatever level we may be on or even better yet, on whatever level we desire, we yearn for. Once we see start trying to think in these terms we enter "an incredible wonderland...(When Earth and Heaven Kiss by Reb Ozer Bergman) “ Avraham Avinu, our second father (after Hashem, of course!!) went against the entire world until he found the door to this “mitzvah wonderland”. That door was the mitzvas, and he was just all about doing mitzvahs. Kiruv rechokim, shalom bayis, pidyon shvuim, bikur cholim, hachnosos orchim, chesed, etc.... “Olam chesed yibane” Hashem built the world for chesed. Avraham was the epitome of chesed in order to get as close to Hashem as possible and to teach us how to achieve that as well throughout all of the generations. And now back to the spectrum. Every mitzvah can be done on all different levels ranging from just yearning for the mitzvah, to doing the mitzvah with every kavanah, to just doing the mitzvah without feeling. It all counts and Hashem’s there to help us all along the way. On the way to give the son that he had waited so long for, back to Hashem the posuk tells us “Vayisa Avraham es einav vayar es hamakom merachok. / On the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and perceived the place from afar.” Avraham and Yitzchak where at that time, down in the valley, far from Hashem (the top of the mountain was where the Beis Hamikdash was and would be in the future). About Yitzchak Rashi tells us that he was 37 years old at the time of this incident, yet in this story he is referred to as a "na'ar", a young boy. A "na'ar" is someone who has an under-developed mind and refers to people who are not wise enough to develop an attachment to G-d. So they start going up and Yitchak sees the wood, the knife, and asks his father “Ayeh haseh laolah” Where is the lamb to offer up? Without getting into detail now we’ll just introduce “Ayeh” one of Reb Nachmans biggest teachings. On the simplest level its just asking Hashem “Where are You? I want out! I want you to show me the door to the “mitzvah wonderland!!” Hachnosos orchim, and bikur cholim are mitzvahs that we can take from Avraham Avinu and put into our every day lives. We unfortunately know many sick people, if we all took it upon ourselves to do this mitzvah a bit more often, we can change the world. Hachnosos orchim we can also do in some way or another every day (On the simplest level, its making someone feel at home no matter where you are!) But Shabbos is also a prime time for hachnosos orchim, from simply giving a stranger your seat at shul, to what we learned from Avraham Avinu of having an actuall guest room in our homes. If we would just start yearning for Hashem, Ayeh!!!! and for his mitvahs we could really come closer to Hashem, bring Mashiach and give Avraham Avinu the best nachas that he could get by being “A light unto all nations!!!” A gut Shabbos,
Peace and Joy,
Etan
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