Sparks of the Divine-
October 23, 2007
I don't know if it's just me, or that I'm getting older and sentimental... or that sometimes connections are made in life that are too amazing to be true, and have the spark of the Divine in them. I like to think that these sparks are the result of incredible " bashert", destiny, or is it pre-ordained and was going to happen anyway? Are we supposed to go through life and have these amazing coincidences, connections, and miracles? Are they a test to see if we are going to notice them? All of this makes me feel deep inside that there is a larger force at work in our lives, and it is up to us to notice these miracles, these connections,, that life ultimately has such meaning and gifts in store for us.. if only we are open enough to notice!
A series of connections just happened while in Boston for a few very special reasons- it all came together for me in a few days. Let me begin.
One of the greatest joys in my life is studying with Prof. Elie Wiesel. If I can take one class a year, I'm happy. I try to go to a few of his lectures at the 92nd St. Y, and if possible, at Boston University. Every time I listen to him, I am brought back to his classes at BU in l975 when he arrived to teach, and I arrived as an impressionable freshman. I was exposed to a world of ideas and love of Judaism so intense and passionate, that his description of a page in a prayer book could bring tears to my eyes. It is this love of learning that brings me back year after year.
Thanks to Rabbi Joseph Polak, I was asked to do a concert at the BU Hillel. As long as I was going to be here, I might as well stay for his Monday evening lecture from his annual series at the university, and stay for his class on Tuesday morning. I was getting my Elie Wiesel double header!
His assistant Jennifer was kind enough to tell me what they would be discussing, and I got a copy of the book, A Passion For Truth, by Abraham Joshua Heschel. The discussions would be on the Kotzker Rebbe, whom a 9 year old Heschel encountered while growing up in the Hassidic world of Europe. In order to understand the Kotzker Rebbe, one has to begin with the Baal Shem Tov- the founder of the Hassidic movement. Reb Yisrael, son of Eliezer born in 1690 in Poland, was called "The Master of the Good Name", in Hebrew, the Baal Shem Tov.
The Baal Shem Tov was the founder of the Hassidic Movement, with generations later still trembling and uplifted by his teachings. The Baal Shem Tov, or the Besht as he was called, believed in open hearts, passionate Talmudic insights, intoxicating tunes, and exquisite tales. Faith and beauty were united in his vision of a Jewish spiritual existence. Hassidism was a great drama enacted on the stage of Eastern European Jewish life. The Kotzker Rebbe lived the last 20 years of his life in seclusion, full of despair for his search for absolute truth can only lead to despair. While the Baal Shem Tov focused on G-d’s love and the light of G-d, The Kotzker focused on the fire of G-d, and the huge bridge between G-d and Man, while the Baal Shem Tov focused on the sparks of G-d all around- a more hopeful scenario. The Besht felt you can have heaven on earth, while the Kotzker saw hell in heavenly places in our world, something Wiesel saw with his own eyes in Auschwitz. While the Besht loved light, dance and song, the Kotzker Rebbe was a troubled soul where faith and truth were in conflict.
Wiesel explained with a medieval quote, “ no one possesses the whole truth- respect the person who seeks truth, and beware of the person who found it”
As Elie Wiesel concluded,” we must sort alone our own truth- I don’t want my truth to be your truth- we must respect our own truths because we are all part of a quest”
Elie Wiesel loves the Kotzker Rebbe because he was a rebel- his faith was also his despair. Elie Wiesel understands that as a survivor, and yet he is full of hope, stories and song like the Baal Shem Tov. To me, Wiesel is a modern prophet, standing up for the oppressed, the victims, and embracing Jewish values while on an international stage. When he speaks, the whole world listens. That is why I’ve decided to return to his classroom for the next 8 Tuesday morning classes at Boston University. I hope to have more to share with you over the coming year.
Back to my story……..
Sitting in a doctor's examination room with my mother-in-law who is having a post-surgical appointment with her surgeon, Dr. Bueno; I began reading this passage in Heschel's book- “The Baal Shem Tov made being Jewish bliss, a continuous adventure. He gave every Jew a ladder to rise above himself and his wretched condition." I had just finished reading this beautiful and inspiring passage to my mother-in-law, when the doctor entered the room. He was warm and welcoming to his patient, and to me, a visitor. I asked him about his unusual name. I had a whole scenario in my head that I shared- " was it that your grandparents fled Europe, got to Argentina and changed their name to Bueno- for good luck?" I knew he was born in Israel, but had some Spanish roots by that name. "No," he replied, " my family came from Spain, but I was born in Israel". He explained that the name Bueno, was just like the European Jews who would have the last name Tov, like the Baal Shem Tov. It was good karma to have the same name as the spiritual master.
This is all so "tov", so good to me! I'm meeting this wonderful surgeon ( who had great news for my mother-in-law about her surgery!), whose name is from the Baal Shem Tov, and I just finished reading a passage about the Baal Shem Tov that inspired me enough to read it aloud to my mother-in-law Naomi. Dayenu, that would have been enough!
That night, I was sitting one row from Elie Wiesel as he was about to give his lecture. Rabbi Joseph Polak got up to give the introduction.
He began by explaining that the Baal Shem Tov was a light to the Jews of Europe and began the Hassidic movement giving hope and courage to the persecuted and oppressed Jews of Europe during the years of poverty and pogroms. He introduced Prof. Elie Wiesel as a light to the world who was born during those times and rose out of the ashes of the Holocaust to give us hope, courage, inspiration and to retell the Hassidic tales, this night of Reb Lev Soras, a Hassidic master. Rabbi Polak began his introduction by saying that consolation for the Jews could be found in the text, and that for 32 years Elie Wiesel has been exploring the mysteries and sacred truths found in Hassidic tales, Talmud, and diaries from the Holocaust. All I can think of is.. Dayenu- this would have been enough, just to listen to Elie Wiesel, but to have all these Tov- connections, all these wonderful coincidences swirling around the Baal Shem Tov in Heschel's book, the Dr. Bueno whose name is from the Baal Shem Tov from Spain, from Rabbi Polak's introduction of Prof. Wiesel, and then to hear Elie Wiesel in person share " stories from the Hassidic orchard" was more than enough- I could say Dayenu and shed a tear of gratitude to G-d for allowing me to reach this moment- the moment when things come together so perfectly that it can't be just a coincidence. I have to feel that a greater voice is at work in the universe and I am just awake enough to hear it.
This is the sermon I delivered on Friday, Oct. 26. At that service there was a couple celebrating their 25th anniversary. Rabbi Haddon had done the wedding, and although they lived further away and belonged to another congregation, they wanted to be blessed by Rabbi Haddon once more. After the service, the wife came up to me and said, “ my father is a direct descendent of the Kotzker Rebbe!”
That just adds to the miracle of everything I experienced.
Lessons from Professor Wiesel
Don’t identify with all 6,000,000 it is too great.
Identify with ONE.
If everyone of us could live for one of them, it would be a victory-
Your life will be full of meaning-
Live a doubly Jewish life for one who could not light candles, say a prayer, sing a Jewish song, hold a prayerbook -
Don’t waste a day
Life life to the fullest
Make your life count
Be meaningful
Be a good, moral person who truly cares about others and it will never happen again.
Don’t be afraid to speak up
There are no bad questions, only bad answers
Look at the Holocaust and ask not where was G-d?
Ask where was Man?
