{"id":19842,"date":"2023-08-25T06:11:06","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T05:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/?p=19842"},"modified":"2023-08-25T06:11:06","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T05:11:06","slug":"where-hashem-really-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/where-hashem-really-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"WHERE HASHEM REALLY LIVES"},"content":{"rendered":"

Print-friendly version<\/a><\/h4>\n

Footsteps of our Fathers – Avos 1.3<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

WHERE HASHEM REALLY LIVES<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ask a small child what he loves the most.\u00a0 Some will tell you ice cream; others will say sweets.\u00a0 There will be the more discerning types who will say Tatty or Bubby, but upon further investigation, one will find that the love of Tatty and Bubby is predicated on their ability to give ice cream and sweets.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a normal fact of life that little children see things in very limited terms. Their world is very small, and, generally speaking, it is a world that revolves around them.\u00a0 Everyone and everything is there to serve them and provide for their needs and whims.\u00a0 As we get older, we hopefully mature, realising that the sun doesn\u2019t rise and fall for us alone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same with our belief in Hashem.\u00a0 Ask a youngster where Hashem lives, and he\u2019ll tell you that Hashem \u201clives on the roof of my house.\u201d\u00a0 When he\u2019s a little older, the same child will explain that in fact Hashem lives in the sky.\u00a0 Then our prototypical youngster will be able to explain that Hashem abides in Heaven, and so on, until, as he gradually matures, he realises that Hashem is everywhere (not just in the song but in fact).<\/p>\n

Antignos, leader of Socho, tells us in the third mishna of the first chapter of Avos, \u201cBe not like servants who serve the master for the sake of receiving reward.\u00a0 Rather, be like servants who serve the master not for the sake of receiving reward.\u00a0 And the fear of Heaven shall be upon you.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The mishna tells us not to act as if we were servants who do things just for material recompense.\u00a0 Rather, we are children of Hashem, and as such we are meant to mature and become aware that doing Hashem\u2019s Will is in and of itself the greatest gift.\u00a0 As the Ruzhiner Rebbe, zy\u201da, was wont to say, \u201cOne should not boast about serving Hashem.\u00a0 Does the hand boast when it carries out the will of the heart?\u201d<\/p>\n

When we are immature, we need to feel that Hashem will reward our positive actions. But with time, we are meant to aspire to greater levels of understanding.\u00a0 Slowly we should become altruistic, realising that being able to do Hashem\u2019s Will is the true glory.<\/p>\n

Let us try to understand this better. Ahava is the Hebrew word for \u201clove\u201d.\u00a0 Its root is hav, give.\u00a0 Loving is giving, not waiting for rewards.\u00a0 Any other sort of relationship would be built on self-indulgence, a sense of \u201cwhat\u2019s in it for me.\u201d\u00a0 Such a situation leads to cracks in the foundation of the relationship and can fall apart given life\u2019s stresses and strains.<\/p>\n

Hashem gives to us totally \u2013 we can\u2019t even begin to fathom such totality.\u00a0 The mishna describes how our actions should be motivated \u2013 giving of our love without any aspect of selfish gain.<\/p>\n

This ahavas Hashem is no easy level to obtain.\u00a0 It takes time to push away the many barriers our egos set up.\u00a0 Chassidim tell how the Baal Shem Tov was once collecting desperately needed funds for a Mikva.\u00a0 At one point, he promised a wealthy fellow his own share in the World to Come if he would only supply the needed money.\u00a0 The man acquiesced to the deal but insisted on a signed agreement before handing over the donation.<\/p>\n

After the transaction was completed, the talmidim asked their Rebbe how he could forfeit his share in the World to Come after working so hard for it his whole lifetime.\u00a0 The Baal Shem Tov answered at several levels.\u00a0 Most importantly, he explained that he had never sought to fulfill mitzvos for the sake of a place in the World to Come.\u00a0 He had always striven to do mitzvos for the sake of the mitzvos themselves.<\/p>\n

Having understood that our mishna speaks of following Hashem\u2019s Will out of love, it then takes what seems to be a strange turn: \u201cAnd the fear of Heaven shall be upon you.\u201d\u00a0 Are we supposed to do mitzvos out of love or out of fear?<\/p>\n

Some explain that this means that one who does everything for the sake of Hashem through love of Hashem carries with him a sense of awe, and that spiritual charisma inspires others.\u00a0 The Sfas Emes tells us that in fact this final sentence expands the levels in which one can serve Hashem altruistically.\u00a0 The mishna calls on us not only to love Hashem without expecting any material reward, but even fear of Hashem should be, not because one fears punishment, but because he is aware of the total awesomeness of Hashem\u2019s Presence.<\/p>\n

There is another, very moving way of reading these last words.\u00a0 \u201cAnd Heaven will be anxious [concerned] for you.\u201d\u00a0 A mother is concerned for her child, and Hashem is concerned for us.\u00a0 The love we give is strengthened with the knowledge of Heaven\u2019s love for us, concern and anxiousness for our well-being.<\/p>\n

One of the greatest of the Kotzker chassidim, Reb Yechiel Gastinina, was once asked how he became a talmid of the Kotzker.\u00a0 He told the following story:<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon my marriage at a young age, my father-in-law presented me with two special gifts \u2013 a tallis and a pair of tefillin especially written for me.\u00a0 I was so moved by these gifts that I took it upon myself to watch over them with great care, never using them without great spiritual preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those days, I would sit in the beis medrash most of the day.\u00a0 I would get up before daybreak, go to shul and learn until the early minyan.\u00a0 After davening, I would sit down and put in several more hours of learning.\u00a0 By two in the afternoon I had already studied for at least eight hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne afternoon, a wild-looking Yid came rushing into the shul.\u00a0 I guessed he had some connection with Kotzk.\u00a0 The Yid walked straight over to me and said, \u2018Young man, loan me your tallis and tefillin.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t davened yet.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought to myself, Two in the afternoon and he hasn\u2019t davened yet. What kind of a chassid is this?\u00a0 I told him outright, \u2018I am a young fellow, yet I\u2019ve davened and learned some eight hours already.\u00a0 What were you doing that you didn\u2019t manage to daven yet?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Yungerman,\u2019 he answered, \u201cI\u2019m not asking for advice.\u00a0 Either you want to lend me your tallis or you don\u2019t.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I had no choice. If a Yid wants to borrow your tallis, what can you do? You lend it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith shaking hands and a beating heart, I handed the Yid my tallis \u2013 the one my shver had bought me.\u00a0 \u2018My tallis is very precious to me.\u00a0 I try my best to treat it with great sanctity.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fellow looked at me.\u00a0 \u2018Nu, nu, I\u2019ll find another one.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018No, please take it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cNeedless to say, I figured that at two o\u2019clock in the afternoon the fellow would at least daven with some zeal.\u00a0 But he put on the tallis and tefillin and slowly walked over to the open window.\u00a0 He stood there idly watching the marketplace, not saying a word.\u00a0 The fellow stood there for at least an hour.\u00a0 I was bursting.\u00a0 My holy tallis was being desecrated by this lazy fellow.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly he turned and ran up to the aron kodesh, throwing his face into the curtain.\u00a0 No more than four minutes had passed and the chassid was finished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was steaming.\u00a0 The Yid spends one hour in my tallis staring out the window, and then he holds his head in the curtain for four minutes?\u00a0 This is davening?<\/p>\n

\u201cI went over and quickly grabbed my tallis.\u00a0 The tallis was wet.\u00a0 I felt the ark curtains, and they were wet as well \u2013 wet with what was apparently the man\u2019s tears.\u00a0 I felt so ashamed.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Please forgive me, I didn\u2019t know you were praying this whole time. I thought you were just looking out the window.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Come,\u2019 said the Yid, \u2018let me show you something.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took me to the window and pointed to the square outside.\u00a0 There were ten Cossacks doing their basic training, marching up and down.\u00a0 \u2018Watch those Cossacks,\u2019 the Yid told me.\u00a0 \u2018As the officer commands them, \u201cLeft, right, left, right,\u201d so they do.\u00a0 Yungerman, what is a Cossack?\u00a0 He is nothing more than a village drunkard.\u00a0 And his officer is nothing more than an even bigger drunkard.\u00a0 Yet if the officer tells the soldiers to go right, the soldier goes right, no matter what.\u00a0 And if the general \u2013 an even greater drunkard \u2013 tells him to go to battle, off he will go, no questions asked.\u00a0 And if the czar of Russia tells him to go right, he would gladly die rather than go left.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t this so?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI nodded my head.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018So I thought to myself as I watched the Cossacks,\u2019 he continued,\u00a0 \u201cHow is it that I stood at Har Sinai, and I heard Hashem telling me to go right, but I am still going left?\u00a0 With this in my heart, I prayed.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chassid finished his explanation and noticed how I was clutching my wet tallis to my heart.\u00a0 \u2018Don\u2019t worry,\u2019 he assured me.\u00a0 \u2018Your tallis will dry by tomorrow morning.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that moment, I could not take it anymore.\u00a0 I broke down and cried.\u00a0 \u2018No, I don\u2019t want my tallis to be dry ever again.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Yid put his arms around me and said, \u2018Ah!\u00a0 You really want to daven.\u00a0 Then pack up fast and come with me to Kotzk.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Those Yidden knew about love and awe.\u00a0 If only we could possess such talleisim and feel for a moment a velvet paroches that is wet with loving tears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Print-friendly version Footsteps of our Fathers – Avos 1.3 WHERE HASHEM REALLY LIVES Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita Ask a small child what he loves the most.\u00a0 Some will tell…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,28,44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19846,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19842\/revisions\/19846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aishkodesh.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}