CAN YOU GO FORWARD?

Sarah was always late to work no matter how much she tried to be on time, or how many times her boss scolded her. She just could not wake up on time. Her boss said she would fire her if it did not stop. Sarah decided to seek the advice of her doctor. He prescribed her some medication and told her to take one pill before going to sleep. She did and she woke up before the alarm clock sounded and headed into work feeling well rested. Sarah told her boss about the doctor’s prescription and how well it worked.

Her boss said, “That is great, Sarah, but where were you yesterday?”

The Midrash tells us in this portion Beshalach that the Jewish people were divided into four camps.

“Speak to the children of Israel,” said G-d to Moses, “that they shall go forward.”

Like every story in Torah, it can be understood also on a psychological and emotional level.

When dealing with adversity in life there are four different approaches: 1. Escapists. 2. Conformists. 3. Fighters. 4. Passive Believers who want G-d to do the work and get them out of the mess.

What was the correct approach? “Move forward.”

And when they did, the sea parted before them.

When faced with challenge, with adversity, each of us encounter in life, instead of being paralyzed by doubt—forge ahead. Movement is the key to success. Moving forward will bring a breakthrough. How, we may not always know. But move—and things will open up.

Sixty four years ago in 1951, on the tenth of Shvat same Hebrew date as this coming Shabbat January 11, 2014 when the Lubavitcher Rebbe assumed leadership of Chabad, the Jewish world, still rattled from a Holocaust unparalleled in its brutality and scope, was also divided into four camps. Today, in 2014, we still encounter all four camps when facing our contemporary challenges individually and communally.

And then there was a fifth message, voiced by a Moses in our generation. It paraphrased the words G-d said through Moses 3300 years ago? “Speak to the children of Israel, that they shall go forward.” This approach ultimately blew a new spirit and gave direction to all segments of Jewry.

“Don’t escape reality, and not submit to it.” G-d is one in heaven and earth, and the Torah is the blueprint for real life and the real world.

Yehudah Avner, a veteran Israeli diplomat, served as an aid and adviser to four Israeli prime ministers (Golda Meir, Yitzchak Rabin, Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres) and as the ambassador to Ireland and to Australia. Once he visited the Rebbe and expressed his feelings that people idolize the Rebbe too much.

The Rebbe responded, with a smile "Let me tell you what I try to do. Imagine you're looking at a candle. What you are really seeing is a mere lump of wax with a thread down its middle. So when do the thread and wax become a candle? Or, in other words, when do they fulfill the purpose for which they were created? When you put a flame to the thread, then the candle becomes a candle."

"The wax is the body, and the wick the soul. Ignite the soul with the fire of Torah and a person will then fulfill the purpose for which he or she was created. And that is what I try to do – to ignite the soul of our people with the fire of Torah."

I rose and took my leave, pausing at the door to ask, "My candle – has the Rebbe lit it?"

"No," he said, clasping my hand. "I have given you the match. Only you can light your candle."

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky