From the Anash.org Inbox: For the past year, Chassidim have been spending up to ten minutes every day dedicated to the Rebbe, by saying Kapitel 119. On Wednesday, as we start a new, shorter Kapital, let’s find a way to fill that vacuum.
By M.B. for Anash.org
This week, Jews worldwide will cease saying Kapitel 119 of Tehilim after a year of saying it daily.
During the few years preceding its inspection, Chassidim murmured to one another in awe, excitement and perhaps dread. People proposed different “solutions” to this “problem” – perhaps finish it each week (as it states in Tanya), split it up between people, or just say the first Pussok of each letter. The ideas were more zany then the next.
But some people saw it in a different light. Some people saw it as an opportunity to give up a portion of their time each day to the Rebbe. (Be it by saying his or his wife’s Kapitul.)
Entering the cold waters with caution, Chassidim found a certain tranquility in this daily ritual. What perhaps used to be rattled off whole wrapping Tefilin or making lunch for the kids, was now set aside, 10 minutes of the day, sitting quietly with a Tehilim. Just you and the Rebbe.
No one Kapitul of the Rebbe is better then the other. It’s content is not what we are reading it for. Yet nobody can say there isn’t something distinct about 119. With this unique phenomenon soon coming to an end, it will be sorely missed.
On 12 Nissan this year, you might sit down after Davening, open up your Tehilim to Kapitul 120 and upon its completion think: “now what?” There will suddenly be this great void. The time we dedicated to the Rebbe each day now empty.
Perhaps we can all fill this vacuum. By setting aside these few minutes that used to be designated for Kapitul 119 to something else close to the Rebbe’s heart. Perhaps to take Rambam more seriously. Invest that time to encourage someone that wouldn’t usually to put on Tefilin. Or simply vow to say the now shorter Kapitul with the same love and dedication as the old one.
This year use Yud Alef Nissan as a day make your connection to the Rebbe stronger – and not the opposite.
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