Weekly Chasidic Story #725 (s5772-04 /19
Tishrei 5772)
Neither in Water nor Fire
The Lubavitcher Rebbe instituted that every year on
Simchat Torah, hundreds of Chassidim would walk near and far to celebrate with
Jews in synagogues in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.
Connection: Seasonal - SIMCHAT TORAH
Neither in Water nor Fire
By Mendel Jacobson
Simchat Torah 5730, 1969.
A young 14-year-old boy is keenly watching a man dancing as if there are no
worries in the world. His legs pump in a rhythm only his soul could produce.
He looks like a flame, flickering on and on, reaching for a place beyond anything
he has ever known. Wow, the boy thinks to himself, "How could that man
be so happy?"
"Which man?"
Startled, the 14-year-old boy didn't realize he'd asked that question aloud.
"Which man?" His father asks him again.
"That man," the young boy points to the whirling dancer. "He
must be the happiest man on earth."
As his father looks to where his son is pointing and he sees the black-bearded
man with five children in tow, his eyes fill with tears and he sighs. "That
man lost his young wife just six days ago."
"But then how can he be so happy, how can he possibly dance like that?"
"Because today is Simchat Torah and it is a mitzvah to dance and
to be happy. This is what a Jew does; this is what a real Chassid does."
Although this story happened before I was born, I have heard it many times.
The year was 5730 (1969), and, on the second day of Sukkot, a young 42-year
old man lost his wife to leukemia. As was the custom instituted by the Lubavitcher
Rebbe, every year, on Simchat Torah, hundreds of Chassidim would walk near and
far to celebrate with Jews in Synagogues across New York. This man was one of
those Chassidim. Each year Simchat Torah he would take his young children to
a small shul in East Flatbush where they would dance with the Torah and
rejoice with the community. That year, 1969, the young man did the same. The
children's grandmother, their mother's mother, dressed them in their finest
clothing and sent them off with their father to East Flatbush.
It was there, in that little shul, that this dialogue between father
and son took place.
After the dancing was over in East Flatbush, the young man and his children
walked back to Crown Heights. He dropped his younger children off at home with
their grandmother and hurried to 770 where the Lubavitcher Rebbe was in midst
of a farbrengen [get-together]. Every year on Simchat Torah, before the
hakofot dancing with the covered Torah scrolls, the Rebbe would speak
for a number of hours, discussing the intricate energies of Simchat Torah and
hakofot. The farbrengen would consist of several talks, each one
punctuated by the singing of a niggun, a Chassidic melody sometimes dating
back hundreds of years. The man of whom we are speaking was one of those who
began the niggunim at the Rebbe's farbrengens.
The shul at 770 Eastern Parkway was packed from floor to ceiling; people
were clinging to bleachers and rafters just as they did to the Rebbe's every
word. As the Rebbe finished one segment of his talk, the crowd looked to the
new widower to begin a song. What happened next was one of the most dramatic
experiences in the lives of those who attended that gathering. A rare moment
of truth...
Through the hush of thousands of people, his gentle but defiant voice began
to sing:"Mi vadiom nye patonyem, ee v'agniom nye s'gorim,"
a vibrant Chassidic Russian melody meaning, "We in water will not drown,
and in fire will not burn." The Rebbe looked up and stared at the man -
with a piercing, knowing gaze that is impossible to describe. Suddenly the Rebbe
sprang up from his chair, pushing it back with such force that it nearly fell
over. The Rebbe began dancing in his place, rocking up and down, swaying back
and forth, with incredible intensity and passion. Witnesses say that in all
the years the Rebbe never danced - never before and never after - quite like
that.
As the Rebbe swung his arms, leading the singing, the crowd became more and
more energized, chanting in unison, "We in water will not drown, and in
fire will not burn; we in water will not drown, and in fire will not burn."
Faster and faster they chanted, as if in a trance.
People present later described the unbelievable sight of this fragile man who
had just experienced utter devastation, swinging back and forth - surrounded
by waves of people, being led by the Rebbe himself - singing: "We in water
will not drown, and in fire will not burn," nothing can vanquish our spirit
- as if G-d had not just taken his wife, as if he was the happiest man alive.
Everyone melted in the dance and the song. The joy and the tears all dissolved
into one transcendent dance; a dance that captured the essence of joy and pain,
ecstasy and agony - the indestructible core of life itself. At that moment everything
and nothing made sense. "Mi vadiom nye patonyem, ee v'agniom nye s'gorim,"
"We in water will not drown, and in fire will not burn."
Moments like that become frozen in time.
~ ~ ~
Fast-forward 20 years - 5750, 1989:
A phone call comes in to a major Jewish children's organization in Crown Heights,
Tzivos Hashem.
"Hello," the voice on the other end of the line says. "I am
so-and-so and I would like to sponsor children's programs for Simchat Torah."
"Ok, sure," the man working in the organization happily replies.
"But, if I may ask, why do you have this particular interest in children's
programs for Simchat Torah?"
"Well, you see, when I was a boy, every Simchat Torah my father and I
would go to a small shul in East Flatbush to celebrate. One year, when
I was fourteen, as I was watching the few people dancing in a circle, I noticed
one man who looked so happy, as if everything in the world was perfect. I stood
there transfixed, wondering how this man could exude so much joy. I asked my
father this question, and my father told me that I should know this man just
lost his wife but, because he is a real Chassid and the Torah says to be happy
on Simchat Torah, he is happy. This made a very big impression on my 14-year-old
mind - that a Jew could put aside all his pain and suffering and be happy just
because it's a mitzvah to be happy was unbelievable to me - so I decided
I would like to help other children celebrate the happiness and joy of Simchat
Torah."
~ ~ ~
Fast-forward another 17 years - 5767, 2006:
On the 23rd of Cheshvon, 5767, 2006, the man of this story, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch
Gansbourg, the one who lost his wife in 1969, rejoined her in the Garden of
Eden. Yet, his (and her) grandchildren, their "life," live on. They
have built families and communities, changed people's lives, and continue to
make the world a better place.
The story of the young man has taught me much: even in the saddest of times,
even when all seems lost, with a little joy, a little dance, everything can
change.
And it's true, "We in water will not drown, and in fire will not burn."
How do I know? you may ask. Because I myself am living proof. You see, my mother
was the youngest of those five children that walked with their father to that
small shul in East Flatbush those 42 years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edited slightly by Yerachmiel Tilles from an original posting on // meaningfullife.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.
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