Merkaz Anash, Beis Hamedrash L’shluchim and COLlive.com present The Chassidic Perspective with Rabbi Yoel Kahn, a weekly short webcast on topics that are timely and relevant.
Rabbi Kahn, often referred to as “Reb Yoel,” is the most preeminent authority on Chabad-chassidic teachings and was the chief reviewer and transcriber of the discourses of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Rabbi Kahn is also the lead editor of Sefer Ha’erechim, a multi-volume encyclopedia of abstruse chassidic and mystical concepts and the head Mashpia at the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY.
This webcast is delivered in Yiddish and a transcription in English, prepared by Rabbi Shraga Dovid Homnick, appears below or can be printed in a PDF format.
VIDEO:
he story of Avraham, as told in the Written Torah, begins when he is already 75. The Torah completely omits everything about the prior events of his life, and not for lack of relevant information, since the Midrash tells of how he heroically spent many years in prison and was thrown into a fire for his efforts in spreading awareness of Hashem.
There is an oblique mention of “Ur Kasdim” (the aforementioned fire) towards the end of parshas Noach, but only in reference to Haran’s death, leaving Rashi with the task of filling in the missing details. Why would the Torah resist recording anything of Avraham’s earlier accomplishments? The Rebbe explains that the Torah isn’t here to tell us about Avraham the man, but about Avraham the first Jew, and that story only begins when he is 75.
Not Just a Better Human
It is well-known that our planet is divided into four classes: Inanimate things, plants, animals and people, with Jews as an additional, fifth class. An animal isn’t simply a larger plant, but in a category of its own; all a plant does is grow, while only an animal can be said to possess the emotional experience which typifies being alive. People similarly aren’t just smarter animals, but are exponentially advanced, with intelligence of an entirely different kind. It is in this vein that a similar and even greater qualitative gap exists between mankind and Jews.
It’s true that wise and pious gentiles can connect with Hashem, since, after all, there are undisputed proofs which objectively lead one to conclude that Hashem created and runs the world. Yet all of this is fundamentally removed from what it means to be a Jew.
To Understand or to See?
One can be present in a house and be fully confident that this structure is the work of a competent builder, and although he’s never met him, the house stands as perpetual evidence of his existence. Hashem created Jews, however, and gave them something everyone else is lacking: A G-dly soul which doesn’t merely understand G-d, but experiences G-d. It relates to Hashem not on the basis of proofs, but because He is plainly revealed to it.
A proof by definition is a means of concluding that something is true without ever witnessing it, and would therefore become superfluous were we to actually see it. This is why the intellectual exercise of detecting the hidden hand of a house’s builder pales in comparison to actually meeting him in person. The world may regard faith as a weakness, symptomatic of a fool who insists on that which he cannot prove, but Jewish emuna actually trumps logical arguments, electing to directly experience things themselves.
Idealism is Self Serving
In view of this, what does serving Hashem and becoming close with Him really mean? Lech Lecha teaches us: There could be an idealist who concludes that Hashem created and sustains the world, and therefore sacrifices his life for this idea, but in truth this is all self-serving! As an idealist, he is beholden to his own conclusions, and is therefore in essence worshipping himself!
When Avraham was thrown into the fire, he acted as an intellectual who stood up for what he regarded as true, not as a Jew, and, conversely, when this finally did lead to Hashem’s revelation, it wasn’t on his own merits.
The Midrash says: Avraham wondered, ‘Could there be a world without a Master?’ He contemplated this until Hashem appeared and said ‘I am the Master.’ His own personal exploration was only paving the way for Hashem to appear and make Himself properly known. Only after Hashem revealed Himself and spoke with Avraham can we begin to speak of ‘the first Jew,’ and it was then that Hashem said: “Lech Lecha.”
Forget Your Conviction
Chasidic seforim explain this pasuk as instructions for every Jew including Avraham: “Leave your land (artzecha)” – your own wants (ratzon), “your homeland” – your habits, “your father’s home” – your intellect (kabbalistically referred to as ‘the father’), “and go where I’ll show you.” Hashem thus told Avraham to abandon his wants, habits and intellect, the very ones which he had devoted to Hashem, and to spread G-dliness not out of personal desire and conviction, but because Hashem said so, and it is only then that he became a Jew.
The Midrash points out that Hashem continued and said “I will make you into a great nation,” not ‘I will turn you,’ because Hashem then introduced an entirely new creature, the Jewish nation, not merely advanced humans, but an entity of an utterly different kind. The Jewish people could only come into existence once the path had been cleared of personal sentiments and desires, and only then does the story of Avraham Avinu, the first Jew, begin.
For further learning see לקוטי שיחות חלק כ”ה לך לך א’.
Keep it coming plse!
to this each week.
Please continue to make this available to us, so needed and appreciated.
Why is it that it sounds totally revolutionary even today?
Because it is!
I am blessed to WATCH and experience you Reb Yoel. Biz 120 good, happy, healthy years.