Hi Kids,
I hope this finds you all well and happy. The excitement is building for Pesach being less than three weeks away and we can be together again at least for the chag IY"H. I know for myself, having long-distance relationships with my children and grand-children, seems insufficient to say the least. However, Hashem has good reasons for these things and B"H H-E gives us these occassional opportunities to renew and invigorate our kesher. In the meantime we make the best of it with the phone and these divrei Torah.
The Torah, near the end of Vayakhel, tells us that the "kiyor" the washing station in the Mishkan, was made not of regular copper but out of the copper mirrors donated by the women of Israel. These were the mirrors they used in Egypt to help make themselves attractive to their husbands who toiled all day as slaves. Despite their wretched conditions, the women were determined to insure the continuity of the Jewish people. Hashem valued this donation over all others. The commentary "Rekanati" explains that the mirrors were put to good use because the Kohen had to see the person who was bringing the sacrifice and could somehow discern exactly what kind of teshuvah they required ( I just read today that according to Kabala, there is a spiritual force that radiates from the face of a person, based on his actions ). If a woman would be bringing the sacrifice, to preserve the tznius of the situation, instead of looking directly at her, he would be able to see her briefly through the mirror. The question remains - why use the washing-station for this purpose ? This R' Vallach story will explain.
The "Toldos Yaakov Yosef" (1705 - 1784) was a great Torah giant at the time that the Baal Shem Tov was introducing his new movement of Chasidus to the world. R' Yaakov Yosef remained skeptical of this new philosophy and was a staunch opponent. Being a person who would never hide from investigating the truth, and having heard so many wondrous and wonderful things about the Baal Shem Tov, he decided to travel to Mezhibozh and debate the issues with the Baal Shem himself, confident that the truth would lead him in the right direction. After arrival and introductions, they immediately plunged into the deepest of discussions. For hours they went back and forth, from topic to topic. R' Yaakov Yosef was convinced point by point, by the arguments of the Baal Shem. Suddenly, in the middle of a heated debate, there was a knock on the window. A gruff voice called out, " Srulche, ( A knickname for 'Yisrael' - the Baal Shem's name ) do you have any old junk that you want to sell or need to have fixed ?" It was Igor the gentile 'junk-man' looking for work. The Baal Shem called back to him, "No thanks, I have gotten rid of all my junk and have nothing that needs repair." Igor though, was persistent," Srulche, check again - I'm sure you will find something !" At that point, the Baal Shem excused himself from his guest, went into the back room and brought out a somewhat mangled pot. " Here Igor, I have something that needs repair," the rabbi called out. They quickly negotiated that Igor would fix the pot for X amount and the Baal Shem returned to his guest. R' Yaakov Yosef had an annoyed-looking smile on his face and did not hesitate to say what was on his mind. " Rebbe ", he asked, " We are here in the middle of an extremely important conversation about the loftiest of subjects on the deepest levels - why did you allow us to be interrupted by this 'junkman' - couldn't you simply tell him to come back tomorrow ?" The Baal Shem tried to explain. " When Igor came, I too was cognizant of the high level of our conversation. But I asked myself - why did he come and why did he come right now - the correct way to phrase the question though is why was he sent to me right now. I then listened to Igor's words again in my mind and heard the real meaning - Srulche, while you sit there and convince your guest of the truth of your cause and you are feeling so right, are you sure you have discarded all your bad middos and repaired all your good ones ? I answered him that I was sure that I had done so, but he persisted and I realized that before continuing our discussion, I had better make sure. So I excused myself and went to check. I did find something in need of repair and my ego was cut down a notch seeing this as a sign that indeed I was not perfect. Thus Hashem sent Igor just then to temper my ego and go on with our talk that much more objectively."
R' Yaakov Yosef nodded and smiled. They continued for a few more hours and by then R' Yaakov Yosef had done ' a 180' and became a staunch chasid of the Baal Shem Tov. He was putting on his coat to depart and said to the Baal Shem," Rebbe you have thoroughly won every argument and I am now your student. There is one thing however that I cannot accept - the idea that petty occurances such as a junkman knocking looking for business, are actually messages from Hashem, is going too far - I just can't believe that those things are meaningful." The Rebbe smiled and replied, " Don't tell me you can't accept it, be honest and admit that you refuse to accept it because accepting it forces you to look differently at everything that happens to you. It makes you responsible to raise your awareness so much more !" R' Yaakov Yosef insisted that truly he didn't feel it was correct and not because he did not want to accept it. They said their goodbyes and R' Yaakov Yosef stepped out into the slushy, muddy wintery street of Mezhibozh as the Baal Shem closed his door.
He had barely started walking when he heard someone yelling, " Hey you, Jew, come over here and help me pick up my wagon ! " A gentile wagon-driver couldn't navigate his wagon through the muddy street - the wheels had gotten stuck in the mud and the wagon had tipped over. R' Yaakov Yosef looked at the scene and called back, " I can't help you, I'm too weak." The desperate driver snidely called back," C'mon, don't tell me you can't - at least be honest and tell me that you don't want to! " R' Yaakov Yosef, embarrassed, was also thunderstruck by the 'coincidence' of the gentile's statement. He rushed over and together they were able to get the wagon upright. Exhausted and muddied, he marched right back to the house of the Baal Shem Tov and knocked. When the Rebbe came to the door, R' Yaakov Yosef admitted, " Rebbe, I have just been shown that you were correct on this point too." ( He became an absolute chasid of the Baal Shem and in fact wrote the first book of chasidus entitled " Toldos Yaakov Yosef" ).
The washing-station in the Mishkan was where the Kohen cleansed himself before performing the sacrificial rituals. It is significant that during his cleansing process he would look at the Jew who was bringing the sacrifice, but through a mirror - because he would ask himself - why this Jew now and why am I designated to 'service' him - perhaps it is because I should see in myself, the same flaws I see in him. In this way the Kohen was able in a very personal way, to relate to the Jew he was appointed to help.
We shouldn't go crazy thinking about everything happenning around us - it could end up to be self-destructive. At the very least though, the lesson from all of this is that Hashem is very interested in every detail of our lives because H-E loves us and wants us to live life to the maximum of our capabilities. H-E does send us road-signs in many different forms. May we all be zocheh to be aware of them and to have the courage and strength to act on them. Have a wonderful Shabbos everyone.
Important Numbers
