Whenever Jews meet together, it is customary to extend greetings of Shalom Aleichem, and to respond Aleichem Shalom. This atmosphere of peace is enhanced when this meeting is attended by many Jews. Similarly, it is enhanced by the place in which it is being held, a building which serves as a synagogue, a house of study, and a house of good deeds. Needless to say, a meeting held in a place which shares an obvious connection to holiness and Yiddishkeit is different than a meeting held in an ordinary place.
Similarly, there is a difference regarding the time when a meeting is being held, whether on a day which is distinguished as "holy" or on an ordinary weekday. In the latter instance, our efforts must be directed at revealing the holiness of that day. For surely it contains holiness since it was created by G-d and "everything which G-d created was created solely for His glory." In mundane matters, this holiness is not openly revealed and must be revealed by the service of man, and particularly, by the service of the Jewish people.
To explain: The Hebrew word for "world," ìîàÆ, is related to the Hebrew for "hiddenness," ìîÆä. The G-dly energy in the world is hidden. In regard to articles associated with a mitzvah, e.g., a mezuzah or tefillin, we see immediately the connection with holiness, and can appreciate how it was created "solely for His glory."
Why is it that a material entity can reveal G-d's glory? Because it was created by G-d. If G-d, as it were, used His energies to create a world,[1] it is for the sake of revealing His glory. This is surely true in light of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov that the creation is renewed at every moment. G-d could have created the world in such a manner that it could maintain itself for these 5751 years. Nevertheless, in actuality, He created the world in a manner in which it requires to be constantly renewed by G-d. This was intended so that each creation will feel the need to use its energies to reveal G-d's glory, i.e., to reveal the G-dliness latent within the creation.
This is accomplished when a person, even a young child, before drinking a glass of water, declares that "everything came into being through His speech." Although he is merely drinking a glass of water, he proclaims how the entire creation is brought into being by G-d. Through this activity, revealing G-dliness throughout the creation as a whole, a creation derives pleasure.[2]
To fulfill this mission, it is not necessary that a Jew study much Torah or fulfill many mitzvos, on the contrary, every Jew -- even a young child -- can accomplish this when he follows the educational guidelines given him by his parents. (During the summer, this role is fulfilled by the counselors in camp, who explain to the children the importance of reciting blessings[3] and reciting the Shema before retiring.)
This is the purpose of education to lay down the fundamental basis for a person's thinking processes and conduct. Thus, a child should be educated to look at all the entities in G-d's world as a Jew should, to appreciate that every entity is created by G-d, and "created solely for His glory."
It is customary to connect every event with the weekly Torah reading, and more particularly with the portion of that reading associated with each individual day. Thus, today is associated with the fifth aliyah of Parshas Korach.
This reading describes how Moshe took the staffs, the symbols of leadership and power, of all the Nesi'im and Aharon's staff, and placed them together in the Sanctuary, placing Aharon's staff in the center of the others. A miracle occurred and Aharon's staff sprouted flowers and fruit. This was an obvious miracle because, according to the laws of nature, it is impossible that the flowers and fruit could be produced in such a short time.[4]
This teaches us a lesson in our service of G-d, that we must carry out our service with eagerness and vitality. G-d performed this great miracle to teach a Jew how important this quality of eagerness is and how it must be applied in our everyday lives.
This is particularly relevant to those of you who will serve as counselors in camp. You must appreciate how important it is not to waste a minute of time, and how with the quality of eagerness, you can make the most of every minute. Although this service must be carried out within the limits of nature, our service can be performed eagerly and quickly and thus fill those moments with greater content and in this manner, carry out the mission of revealing how each creation was brought into being "solely for His glory."
This lesson also relates to Parshas Shelach (the Torah reading of the previous week). The very name Shelach emphasizes that each creation and person has a shlichus (mission) to reveal how it was "created solely for His glory." This mission is accomplished by the Jewish people, whom the Torah describes as "children unto G-d, your L-rd."
We see in the world at large that when a person has an important mission, he entrusts it to his children. And when he entrusts the mission to them, he is confident and trusts that they will fulfill it. Similarly, G-d entrusts this mission to the Jews, and every Jew, even a young child, fulfills this mission by reciting a blessing and declaring how, "everything came into being through His speech," particularly when he does so with happiness and joy.
And in this way, we prepare for the conquest of the land of Canaan and its transformation into Eretz Yisrael, a land for Jews and for Yiddishkeit,[5] a land where Torah and mitzvos are observed in actual life.
The fulfillment of this mission is also connected with the fulfillment of the mission to distribute money for tzedakah, for tzedakah, "brings near the redemption" and hastens the coming of the time when the entire Jewish people will proceed, "on the clouds of heaven," to Eretz Yisrael, to Jerusalem, and to the Beis HaMikdash, "the Sanctuary of the L-rd established by Your hands." May this be in the immediate future.
[After giving money to be distributed to tzedakah to the organizers of the gathering, the Rebbe Shlita concluded:] May you have a healthy summer and a happy summer and may you use every moment of the summer to hasten the coming of the ultimate Redemption, led by Mashiach.
Notes:
- (Back to text) And indeed, each creation in the world has its source in a different Divine power and was created in a different time during the six days of creation.
- (Back to text) It is as if the water itself feels as if it is making this statement, for without it, the child would never have done so. G-d structured the world in such a manner in which a human being requires food and drink, so that man's acknowledgement of G-dliness would be dependent on the creation, as it were.
It was not an absolute necessity to create the world in this fashion, indeed we see that Moshe was on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking. He was not weakened by this experience; quite the contrary, these were the most strongest and most fulfilled days of his life. (Significantly, at the present time, we are still within the forty days after the holiday of Shavuos, this significant period amplifies the potential possessed by each Jew to fulfill his mission of revealing G-dliness in the world at large.)
- (Back to text) Among these blessings are the blessings reciting over lightning and thunder, "...Who performs the work of creation," and "...Whose power and might fill up the world."
- (Back to text) A staff will generally not bloom, and it will definitely not do so overnight. Furthermore, the fact that it produced fruit is all that more miraculous. Even almonds which are the fastest blooming fruit, do not produce fruit in less than 21 days.
- (Back to text) I.e., Eretz Yisrael will be not only a land for Jews, but a land where Jews live according to the Torah.
