Good Things Require Tenacity - Vayetze, 9-10 Kislev, 5786

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Doing good is often not easy.  You would think that if you are doing the right thing, following Hashem’s will and fulfilling the Torah and observing the Mitzvot, everything should be really smooth.  How much more so when doing something that brings tremendous benefit to humankind!  Well, life is not that way.  Often doing the right thing is very challenging, requires tremendous tenacity and courage, and can even be downright dangerous.


This was true of Noach, the person who just about singlehandedly saved the entire world.  Yet the Torah alludes to the fact that he was groaning and coughing up blood from the weight of the work of keeping the animals in the Ark fed.  Avraham brought monotheism to the world, and he had to face Nimrof throwing him into a fiery furnace, surviving miraculously.  In this week’s Parsha, Vayetze, we find that the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, Yaakov, the one who established the eternal Jewish dynasty, had to escape his brother Esav who wanted to kill him.  Then he had to contend with the swindler Lavan, who actually also tried to kill him and his entire family.  He slaved day and night for 20 years while establishing the great nation of Israel.


Many of the great sages of Israel who took monumental steps on behalf of our people faced persecution, exile and even death when doing their holy and vital work.  The same is true of the beginnings of the Chassidic movement, and specifically Chabad.  The first Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, known as the Alter Rebbe, was arrested on a capital offence because of a false accusation of treason.  This originated from a fellow Jew who decided he didn’t like Chassidism.  We will celebrate the festival of his redemption in a couple of weeks, on the 19th and 20th of Kislev, a global Chassidic holiday known as the “Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus.


His son, Rabbi Dovber, known as the Mitteler Rebbe, was also arrested based on a false accusation by a fellow Jew, as he worked to rebuild the Chassidic community. His father had had to flee Napoleon, and passed away far away from home.  Rabbi Dovber had to put the pieces back together.  He  pulled the community together and helped overcome all the opposition, opened a whole new level of understanding of Chassidus,,and had an impact of Judaism felt to this day.   Yet once again, someone didn’t like the Rebbe’s behavior and decided the right thing to do was to level a false claim against him to the government.  See the details of the story here.  We will celebrate the day of his redemption this Sunday on the tenth of Kislev, and mark the day of his birth and the day of his passing on Shabbat, the ninth of the month.


A great spiritual energy permeates the world on the birthday and passing of a Tzadik, especially the leader of his generation.  The day the miracle of redemption happened is also a great day of joy and holiness to all those who are in any way connected to the Tzadik, and if you are reading this you have a connection.  We tap into that energy by marking the days with studying the Tzadik’s teachings, gathering at “farbrengens” to discuss his life and legacy, studying Mishna and giving Tzedakah.


There is also an important lesson for each of us to learn from all of the above.  No, doing the right thing is not always easy.  The fact that there are obstacles to a positive or holy venture does not mean it is not right.  In fact, sometimes the most significant and important work is the most difficult.  This is because the way Hashem set the world up, there is darkness and evil, and it is our job to break through this with the light of goodness and holiness.  Since Hashem wants the transformation of the world to be done by humans with our own faculties and our own power, He does not make it miraculously easy for us.  Then it would not be a human endeavor and would not transform nature, just overwhelm it.


Of course it is important that we ensure that what we are doing is in fact, bringing the light of Torah and consistent with Hashem’s will as defined by Halacha (Torah law), but if that is the case, we should not be deterred by challenges.  Perhaps the reason it is so difficult is that it is a very important new spiritual light that we are bringing to the world, and the darkness of the world naturally opposes it.


While Hashem does not openly change nature for us to do our work, He certainly helps and gives support, and once we do our part naturally, then we tap into a great spiritual power that is above nature.  The outcome can then actually be nothing short of miraculous.  Please join us this Shabbat for kiddush as we celebrate the special Shabbat of the ninth of Kislev.

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