What is My Test? - 12 Tammuz 5786

“The world is not a jungle.  It is Hashem’s beautiful garden.”  “We each have a mission on Earth. To make it a home for Hashem.  Anything that stands in the way of that mission can only be a test, because the entire purpose of Creation is for that mission to be fulfilled.”  “Hashem does not expect more from a person than they can handle.  If you have a test, it means you have the strength to overcome it.”

These are (paraphrased) some of the teachings of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson.  He taught and inspired us to strengthen the deep faith in Hashem that is ingrained in our soul, in the face of the many obstacles that come our way.  The world around us is not conducive to Torah observance, and many of us face real hardships that make it difficult to keep faithful to the Torah lifestyle.

And then he was tested.  He was the one Jewish leader in the Soviet Union who refused to bow to the vicious, murderous Communists, who in the name of equality and the “utopia” of Socialism butchered, exiled and tortured tens of thousands of Jews.  The Yevsektzia, the “Jewish Section,” were dedicated to uproot Judaism by any means possible.

The Rebbe sent emissaries around the Soviet Union, running underground schools, synagogues, Mikvahs and more, encouraging Jews to continue educating their children and keep the flame of Torah alive.  Many of those were sent to Siberia or murdered.  I remember the Rebbe crying at a Farbrengen when he said that the most difficult thing for a Rebbe is to send his Chassidim into harm's way, knowing that they were sacrificing their lives for Torah.  But they volunteered, and kept going, filling the place of the victims.

Then the previous Rebbe himself faced the ultimate test.  In the middle of the night the Yevsektzia showed up at his house and arrested him.  He was sentenced to death.  In that atmosphere at that time, a death sentence was carried out swiftly with no chance of salvation.  The sentence was commuted to exile in Kostrama in Siberia for ten years.  The sentence was then changed to five, then three years.  Ten days after he arrived in Kostrama he was notified that he was free to leave.  

The magnitude of this miracle is hard to describe.  The Communist butchers knew that the Rebbe was the power behind the movement that stood in their way.  This was why they felt they needed to get rid of him.  They were all powerful and could do whatever they wanted.  Yet not only was he released after the death sentence, but there are stories that show that his captors were terrified that if they did not immediately release him they would be punished.  In other words, the evil itself turned around and made sure that he went to freedom.  I encourage you to read about this fascinating, miraculous story here.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is how the Rebbe responded to his arrest.  He decided that since Hashem runs the world, and anything standing in the way of our observance of Torah and fulfillment of our mission is a test, that he would not allow his captors any control over him.  He would treat them as if they had no importance at all.  Inside one of the most brutal prisons, he refused to succumb to fear or intimidation.  There are many remarkable examples of this in his account of his harrowing experience.  I want to just mention one story that I think shows this point.

It was Shabbat.  The Rebbe had his Tallit over his head and was praying.  All prisoners needed to be photographed, and a photographer came to take his picture.  He was told to stand up for the picture, but he just waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. This happened twice. It is shocking to imagine this, but in this place where the most important thing was to break the spirit of the prisoners and force them to comply with the rules, the photographer and whoever was with him left.  Later, after he had finished praying and his Tallit was around his shoulders and off his head, they came again.  He explained to them that it was Shabbat, and he could not be photographed on Shabbat, and they left.

The Rebbe was a remarkable Tzaddik, a leader of the caliber of Moshe, whose entire being was his soul.  He saw the reality of the world as Hashem’s Creation, and saw Divine Providence in everything.  He looked behind the veil of nature and recognized the evil as a test.  

Can we aspire to reach such heights?  Well, maybe not on that level.  But we can certainly learn from the Rebbe and gain perspective on how to incorporate this in our lives.

The challenges to the Rebbe, his work and his very life, were powerful and painful.  He dealt with them by looking deeper and recognizing Hashem’s hand in everything.  The test itself, he said, doesn’t have any redeeming qualities.  Its only purpose is to interfere with our mission.  This is in order to get us in touch with our deep core of faith, the essence of our soul that is one with Hashem.  When that part of our soul, known as “Yechida”, is revealed, nothing can get in the way of our connection with Hashem.  This is the ultimate purpose for the test, and in reality is part of our purpose on earth.  To reveal the hidden source of everything, to reach beyond nature and bring above nature into nature.

When the Rebbe revealed this fact, that the nature of the world is just a cover and the true control of the world is Hashem, the test was removed.  (This idea of tests and how to deal with them is a huge subject in Chassidic mysticism.  Let me know if you would like to receive recordings of a lecture series I gave on the subject.)  We are not on the Rebbe’s level, but we can use this understanding to help us overcome our own tests.  To stand strong in the face of whatever challenges come our way, and to find that inner faith that reveals our essential bond with Hashem.  This itself helps alleviate the challenge and remove the test.

This Shabbat, the 12th day of Tammuz, we celebrate the great miracle of the Rebbe’s release from prison and exile.  It is considered a major holiday on the Chassidic calendar, and its effects are felt around the world to this day.  A day to celebrate and get together to discuss the previous Rebbe's ongoing legacy, its impact on us, and how to incorporate the lessons into our daily lives.