The Power of Longing

Rav Nosson of Breslov, zt”l, explains that all avodah is predicated on lighting a fire in one’s heart and understanding that we can accomplish whatever spiritual goal we set for ourselves. In the words of the Alter of Kelm, zt”l, “Greatness of the heart is a foundation of every Jew’s avodah, since everything, both material and spiritual is predicated on it. Consider the manner in which the Mishkan was fashioned. How could these Jews, who had been slaves all their lives, craft such beautiful workmanship? The answer is that their hearts was filled with a fiery desire to build the house of Hashem. This was so powerful that they cried, ‘Yes, we can!’
“This took such surprising courage in the sense of strong-heartedness that Moshe himself was surprised to see it. As the verse states, 'וירא משה והנה עשו ככל הצוה ה''—‘And Moshe saw that, behold, they had done as all that Hashem had commanded.’ The word ‘behold’ is superfluous. It serves to express Moshe’s wonderment that such untrained laborers achieved results.
“Where did this strength come from? It emerged from the fiery longing in their hearts to do the will of Hashem at all costs. This desire stems from one’s understanding, since there is no longing without awareness. Yet arousing this fire also depends on how we act on our holy desire. As we push ourselves to act we will achieve siyaata d’Shmaya and expand our yearning and achieve more and more amazing results.”

True Empathy

During one of the conventions of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah around the year תשי"ב, the gedolim wondered what to do about the terrible decrees of Stalin against the Jewish people in the Soviet Union. Should they organize a protest outside the Russian consulate in the United States? Or would it be wiser to just try to help their unfortunate brethren as quietly as possible? After all, any protest could potentially be harmful for Jews under Soviet rule.
Rav Aharon Kotler, zt”l, and Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, the Boyaner Rebbe, zt’l, and the Kopitzhnitzer Rebbe were among those who felt that vigorous protest was the proper path to take. Most delegates disagreed. Suddenly, the Bluzhiver Rebbe, zt”l, got up and explained why they were obligated to protest despite knowing that their protest will be ignored. “Our sages recount that Pharaoh consulted with three advisors about his plan to persecute the Jews: Bilaam, Yisro, and Iyov. Bilaam concurred with Pharaoh’s vision and was killed for it. Yisro ran away and merited that his descendants sat in the Lishkas Hagazis. Iyov remained silent and endured suffering.
“We may well ask what the connection is between Iyov’s silence and his suffering. Are we not taught that Hashem punishes measure for measure? The answer is that Iyov—like Yisro—knew that Pharaoh should be stopped. He refrained from protesting because he was sure that any protest would be in vain. Hashem judged him with suffering to show him that if one truly suffers he cries out even though he knows that his cries are futile. He cries out because it hurts, without a thought of whether this will help. This taught Iyov that if one sees suffering and he does not cry out, this shows that it does not hurt him. If he was in pain over the other’s trouble, a cry would burst out with no conscious thought at all.”

A Subtle Sense

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, once applied a statement of our sages to the leaders of the Jewish people in every generation. “Our sages teach that Moshaich will have the power to ‘sniff out yiras Hashem.’ Similarly, during a din Torah the judge must have this special sense, since it is not enough to merely rely on what he sees and hears. He must also be able to distinguish between a false claim and a true one through his ‘sense of smell.’
“Genuine Jewish leaders in every generation have had this special sense and have used it to determine in every new approach whether its adherents are l’sheim shamayim or not.”
One time a group of respectable people from a certain political party spent some time with the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l. After they left, a bochur was called in and he heard the Chofetz Chaim say to himself, “They think they have successfully deceived me…”
People have a tendency to take such statements to mean that gedolim are somehow infallible since they are definitely afforded great siyaata d’shmayah. Such people can become very disillusioned when confronted with what seems to be a clear error on the part of a gadol. The simple truth is that no human being is infallible. As the Toldos Adam, zt”l, explained, when listing various errors: “From here we see that no person is infallible since even the greatest sages can make a serious error. This does not detract from the greatness of these sages in the slightest. But it does teach that no person is infallible since errors abound.”
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, zt"l, similarly observed, “People say that a tzaddik must always be correct and if he errs this shows he is not a tzaddik.But this is not true. The truth is that even if a tzaddik errs, his mistake remains a mistake but the tzaddik is still a tzaddik."