| A Message from the Kalever Rebbe | |
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 | Simchas Beis Hashoeva with the Rebbe Shlita, 5711 |
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| During one of my trips to Caracas, Venezuela, I asked an elderly man if he observed Shabbos. | |
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| The man proudly answered, that he kept all of the laws of Shabbos, and he was even careful not to discuss mundane matters, which was a lesson he had learned while he was young. However, he explained, he does work on Shabbos, since he needs to support his family. | |
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| This is an old excuse. Even people of faith have compromised on their Shabbos observance for the sake of their livelihood. | |
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| In order to reject this excuse, a person needs to strengthen their emunah, faith. A person needs to recognize that their life depends on Hashem's sustenance who created him solely for the sake of performing the mitzvos. A person's sustenance, their livelihood, is provided by Hashem, and our only obligation is to put in our effort to earn a living within the guidelines of Torah. | |
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| We need to always keep in mind what Chazal taught, that one's livelihood is "gathered" and determined on Rosh Hashanah (Beitzah 16a). On Rosh Hashanah the Heavenly Court allots a specific amount of income you will earn in the upcoming year. Of course, you must choose how you want to earn your living, however, regardless of how hard you work, you cannot earn even a penny more than what the Heavens have allotted for you. | |
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| The implication of this idea can be illustrated by an example of two people that are each allotted $100,000 in the upcoming year. One of these individuals works on Shabbos and the other does not. At the end of the year, they both earned $100,000. However, the person who worked on Shabbos would make less during the week, or lose money on a business transaction, through theft, or would spend more money on unexpected health expenses. The money that he earned on Shabbos would be lost and all that work would be for naught. | |
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| It is not enough for a person to observe Shabbos and the other mitzvos just for himself. But, his family must see him performing the mitzvos with simcha and joy. They will learn from his joy that a person does not suffer because of the mitzvos, and they will, therefore, follow his example and observe the mitzvos as well. | |
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| When the yidden first began establishing a community in America, Shabbos-observant yidden had to find a new job every week. When Friday came, they would explain to their employers that they were Shabbos-observant and, therefore, unable to work on Saturday. They would be given a "pink slip" immediately and let go from their jobs. | |
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| One of the leading rabbis at the time lived between two Jewish families. Both families did their utmost to observe all the mitzvos, especially Shabbos. And, the head of the household in each family would lose his job every Friday. | |
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| However, the children in both families grew up living vastly different lives. In one family, the children remained observant Jews. However, the children of the other family abandoned Torah and mitzvos and assimilated. | |
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| Curious, the rabbi tried to understand the reason for the children of one of those families being so different from the other family's children. He quickly realized that fathers had very different approaches to observing Shabbos and the mitzvos. | |
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| One father would join his family at the table. After he informed them that he had lost his job again, he was happy that he had the privilege to withstand the challenge of desecrating Shabbos. He would joyfully sing Shabbos Zemiros with his children. He taught them to have emunah and recognize that everyone is sustained by Hashem and no one is harmed by observing Shabbos or safeguarding the Torah and mitzvos. | |
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| The other father, however, would join his family and he looked despondent. His situation depressed him, and he brought that dark emotion of despair into his home. The entire meal he would be worried and complain that they would not have enough food the following week. He would say, "Oy! It is so difficult to be a yid! It is so difficult to observe Shabbos!" | |
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| When he said that word "Oy" it came from the depths of his heart; it was rooted in a real sense of loss. This "oy" shattered his children's emunah. His children learned that when you observe the mitzvos it is depressing and costly. They grew up thinking to themselves that they did not want to spend their lives losing everything for the sake of Torah and mitzvos. | |
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| This emunah displayed during Yetzias Mitzrayim: | |
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| When Hashem told Bnei Yisroel that He was going to redeem them from Mitzrayim and that they would receive the Torah, they knew that they would be heading into the desert; a barren wasteland where nothing grew, filled with snakes and scorpions, harsh winds, brutal heat during the day and freezing cold at night. | |
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| And, they left with joy and mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice. They believed in Hashem's Divine Providence and had faith that no one can be harmed when fulfilling the mitzvos. | |
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| Indeed, Hashem had them dwell in "Succos." He provided the Clouds of Glory that created individual dwelling spaces for each family where all their needs were miraculously met. | |
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| The primary reason that Hashem commanded us to leave our homes and dwell in our Succos, is for our children to ask questions and provide us the opportunity to teach them about the Clouds of Glory that accompanied Bnei Yisroel in the desert, leading to a conversation about emunah; a chance to discuss Hashem, His Divine Providence, and the reality that when a person observes Torah and mitzvos they will not be harmed or suffer damages. | |
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| You need to joyously celebrate Succos and set an example for your children. This will strengthen their emunah. This example will also help them accept the tradition that has been handed down throughout the generations and ensure that it will be accepted for generations to come. This will help them have the emunah in Hashem and His Divine Providence. They will grow up remembering that a yid never experiences a loss when observing Torah and mitzvos, and, more specifically, Shabbos observance, which is easy for someone to try and justify their desecration in exchange for protecting against a financial loss. | |
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| This idea is alluded to by the pasuk that discusses the mitzvah of Succos: | |
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| The Torah says (Vayikra 23:42-43), בסכת תשבו שבעת ימים - למען ידעו דרתיכם- For a seven day period you shall live in Succos... in order that your [ensuing] generations should know... | |
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| The first letters of the words "ב'סכת ת'שבו ש'בעת - For a seven [day] period you shall live in Succos" is an acronym for "שבת"- Shabbos. And the first letter of the words " ל'מען י'דעו ד'רתיכם- in order that your [ensuing] generations should know" spells " "ילד- child. | |
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| This implies that when you properly observe Succos, it will teach the children the emunah they need to properly observe Shabbos with joy. Succos reminds them of the lesson that no one will suffer loses by observing Shabbos. | |
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