"Shalom Gefiltefish!" was the salutation that greeted us upon encountering the smiling face of Mr. B. To our credit, we didn't bat an eye. Hardened by two weeks of searching out Jews in the hamlets and backroads of Montana, in which we'd heard just about anything said to and about us, we simply smiled and took our seats.
Deuteronomy 7:12--11:25 Week of August 13-19 
Moses continues his 37-day address to the Children of Israel, recounting their experiences of the last forty years and instructing their future as a people settled in their homeland...
If galut is a time of estrangement between G-d and Israel--asks the Lubavitcher Rebbe--why were the two keruvim embracing at the time of the Temple’s destruction? Wouldn’t the destruction of the Holy Temple mark a nadir in our relationship with the Almighty? What greater paradox can there be: the Divine Groom is destroying His marital home, allowing His nuptial chamber to be violated and His bride to be carried off by strangers, while the barometer of their marriage indicates the ultimate in intimacy and union!
A few minutes passed in silence. The host became a little uncomfortable. A refined cosmopolitan man, he would never presume to confront his distinguished guest about why he had come. Excusing himself, he walked to a position where the Rebbe couldn’t see him, and frantically signaled to the Rebbe's attendant, "Why on earth did the Rabbi come here?" But the shamosh didn't know either. Perplexed, the bank manager resumed his seat. He looked at the Rebbe. The Rebbe looked at him. More silence. What was going on?
Alienation is a distinguishing mark of our age. When man is prised off the surface of the world by his technical mastery of natural forces; when this succeeds to self-consciousness and reflection; and this gives way in turn to loneliness and despair of innocence regained, then, in parallel, we can trace a widening gap between man and G-d, from the Thou of revelation, to the He of the Halachah, to the It of the philosophers, and to the hidden and unreachable G-d of the crisis theologians, who begin, in His absence, to turn to other consolations.
What is the place of alienation and loneliness in the Jewish analysis of the emotions? Of course, there is no single analysis, but we can detect two recurring tendencies of thought: the one in line with Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik's "The Lonely Man of Faith", the other, which I wish to present here, deriving from the famous chapter 32 of the Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. To state this contrast is not to formulate an opposition; simply to open another gate.
The G-d with whom I am present is the One who asks me to embrace not only the fact of my illness, but every ugly moment of it. It is the G-d that asks me to find Him as the needle is placed in my arm to deliver my four-hour dose of chemo. It is the G-d that asks me not to forget Him when I have become so weak that I can no longer fight against my fear of death and abandoning my children too soon. It is the G-d that asks me to open my heart in love to every thing around me, even though I may face losing it all earlier than I thought. You see, this is what I’m after. I’m very greedy, and I'm concerned about the growth of my soul during these times. Yes, I want to physically heal; but I want also to allow the expansion of my soul to where there is no longer fear of the future, no dissection of life into this or that, where I am so in touch with G-d and His omniscient presence that I can encounter each dimension of life with grace and a full, easy breath. |
 In Ecuador, South American land of jungles and rain forests, volcanoes and Inca ruins, being on the Earth's equator means Shabbat candle lighting takes place at 6:20 PM all year round... 
THE REBBE: 50 YEARS PREVIOUS ISSUE | |||||||||||