Chabad-Lubavitch is baruch Hashem functional, impressive, and influential. Those who want can see and share its beauty with others. But those who want to see shortcomings will see and peddle only that information.
By Rabbi Mordechai Lipskier – The Beis Medrash
A shliach of the Slonimer Rebbe once visited the Rebbe Rashab. When the Rebbe Rashab asked him to repeat Torah from his Rebbe he gave over the following:
In the beginning of parshas Va’eira it says, “Hashem spoke to Moshe and said to him, ‘I am Hashem. I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov.’” Rashi quotes the word וארא, I appeared, and writes: “To the Avos.”
What does Rashi mean to add? Doesn’t the passuk clearly state that Hashem appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov?
A root word of אבות is אבה which means “to want.”
Rashi’s message is that Hashem didn’t appear only to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov but rather to האבות, anyone who wants. Thus, the passuk reads: וארא, I show myself, אל האבות, to those who want Me.
The Rebbe Rashab enjoyed the vort very much, called in his son and successor, the Rebbe Rayatz, and asked the Slonimer shliach to repeat the vort. When he finished, the Rebbe Rashab turned to his son and said, “You see! Hashem appears only to those who want Him!”
There is always goodness and holiness available to us, if we only want to see it.
Today, the world is overloaded with information. If someone just wants, they can know about anything and anyone. The question is only: What are our interests, and where do we turn for our information?
The objective, Torahdige truth about what’s going on in Eretz Yisroel is available. But only to those who want. Those who want to retain their own version of the truth cannot be shown the real truth.
Chabad-Lubavitch is baruch Hashem a very functional, impressive, and influential sect. Those who want can see it and also share the beauty of Chabad with others. But those who want to see only the shortcomings—and which group of humans doesn’t have shortcomings—will see those and peddle only that information.
We have the power to direct the conversations at our Shabbos table and in our shuls.
וארא, we can be shown goodness, holiness and beauty. Let’s choose to want it.
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Thank you Rabbi Lipskier for clarifying & revealing the good