Rav Nosson Zvi Finkel, The Alter of Slabodka
Whenever R’ Nosson Zvi saw any good deed in a talmid, he would praise and honor him, speak to him for hours, and sometimes even hug and kiss him. This was especially true when the deed was one of chessed, such as doing someone a favor, caring for the sick, or nice behaviour.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
The sefer Reb Shlomo tells over the following interesting observation by Rav Freifeld regarding Slabodka’s success in America:
Reb Shlomo once remarked to a talmid that the Novardok style of mussar had never really caught on in America because “to be a gornisht, a nothing, one has to first be a zich, a something, and in America no one believes in his own self-worth.” (page 139)
While the Novardok network of yeshivos was rather extensive prior to World War II, it never was rebuilt as a network. Slabodka (where Rav Freifeld’s rebbe, Rav Hutner learned) seemed to make more of an impact (just look at a small list of those who attended Slabodka you’ll notice quite a few names that influenced the major yeshivos in America). I’ve always wondered why Novardok didn’t really find a place in America. Reb Shlomo’s insight says much about the Slabodka derech of building up a person and exposing their inner Kedusha.
Note: The wesite Revach L’Neshama posted a brief biographical sketch today of the Alter of Novardok.
Rav Yosef Yozel Hurwitz, the Alter of Novhardok
A person who uses his mental ability solely for worldly pursuits instead of for understanding the true Heavenly light is like a villager who finds a magniicent sculpture and uses it as a scarecrow.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Note: The Alter was a very successful businessman, as well as the founder of Novhardok network of yeshivos.
Yeah, I know , I’m well a wear that I’m ripping off the title of the “most widely read philosophy book, ever”. But a good title is a good title.
All of the part of a skateboard are important, yet they function interdependantly. If you enjoy using your board then you’ll want to keep up with maintenance. Those things we really care about we try to keep functioning as best as possible, if you don’t it will be bad news. If you don’t, for example, tighten the trucks of your skateboard then the board itself will be really loose when you ride. If your grip-tape rips or gets wet, you need to replace it, or you will have trouble staying on your board. If your wheels get worn down, then you can’t skate. If you don’t maintain your board it’s a good sign that you are not to interested in skateboarding.
Now, you can have best skateboard in the world, but if you don’t practice then it’s only nothing more than a stage prop. Even Tony Hawk (a professional skateboarder) can’t do a trick or even skate without having a board beneath his feet. So part of maintenance is practice and part is actually having the board.
What’s the ‘how’ of maintenance when it comes to Yiddishkeit? That’s the question we all are asking. For me, maintenance is connected to motivation. I think, idealy, it comes from both external and internal sources. You have to want to skateboard, but you also need the skateboard. In regard to my Yiddishkeit, it’s almost the same.
I can have all the gear: Yarmulke, tzitzis, kosher kitchen, etc but if I’m not motivated, then these are ‘stage props’. I can have the strongest desire to attach myself to Hashem and plan to sit an learn but without engaging in Mitzvos and Limud Torah, this desire isn’t actualized.
I wish there was an easy answer, but each person is different. If you were born into a family that is Torah observant then there must have a point when you realized, “Wow, I’m so blessed to live a life of Torah and Mitzvos”. If you were not raised within a Torah observant framework there had to have been some point in your life that you thought, “This is beautiful and it makes sense. I want this life of observance”.
That could be your point of motivation and urge to engage in maintenance. As the title of this post suggests, for me that point was when I first started learning about how to work Mitzvos Bein Adam L’Makom and Bein Adam L’Chavero. The emphasis on this within Yiddishkeit is what “Wows” me (this was not the initial attraction for me however. I had been observant for about 3 years before I actually read any mussar. That’s for another posting).
Find what excites you. For some else it could be Shabbos, davening, chessed, the laws of Lashon Hara, Chassidus, Halacha, Gemora, lighting candles, the laws of family purity, Chumash, etc. Each of us has that one thing that, at one point, got us up in the morning. Somewhere along the way we just forgot what it was.
Keep all parts in tip top shape. Just like all the parts of a skateboard are important so is a balance between the many aspects of observant life: davening, mitzvos, learning, yom tov, nevel vasser, kavod habrios, tzedaka, etc.
Use it or lose it. For me, this what seems to work, is to simply go back and see what excited me. There is, I will admit, a great thrill and rush when you find a smooth stip of concrete and push off on your skateboard and let your own power and phsyics propel you. That thrill is only an echo of what true Avodah should be and can be.
Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant
In the first days of his appointment as a teacher in Vilna, before his family arrived there, R’ Yisrael chose to eat at the table of others. It was customary then for the yeshiva students to eat each day with a different family, and R’ Yisrael insisted on participating in this practice, despite all persuasions that it was beneath his dignity.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Rav Yisrael Lipkin of Salant was quoted as saying:
“Promote yourself but do not demote another“
Rav Naftali Amsterdam
Two thinks are necessary for man’s self-perfection. One is to arouse and inspire himself. The other, by far the harder, is to carry out his good resolutions and retain the inspiration when it comes down to action.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm
This world is like an expensive hotel. And my rebbe, R’ Yisrael Salanter, said it was like an exspensive drink.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Last year, on Shabbos Lech Lecha a friend and I went to a tisch bei Rav Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe, while he was visiting Chicago (the tish was in Lincolnwood). The Novominsker said over the following regarding the debate over the status of Noach if he had lived in the generation of Avraham.
He said that, while he was holding up a shot glass, that for 2000 years before Avraham the world was empty. He then filled the shot glass half way with wiskey and said that in Noach’s zechus the world was saved. Noach’s level of Torah was not as great as that of Avraham, but Noach helped fill the world with his understanding of Hashem and his Torah.
The Novominsker went on to say that in life we can look at a glass as either half empty or half full. He said, we should look at it as half full. Because of Noach we are alive today. Noach was able to recognize that the glass was half full. He had a relationship with the one who poured the drink. Then came Avraham. His job was to m’kadesh the world around him. That’s why the Chumash says that he and his children walked w/ Hashem in Tzedek (charity) and Mishpat (justice). These ideas are known to the non-Jewish world, too. The difference is that Avraham was able to m’kadesh these concepts. That was his gadlus. Avraham took the half filled glass and made a bracha over it, using it for kedusha. That was Avraham’s avodah…to m’kadesh everything in his world. This is also our avodah today. Noach stated the work, Avraham continued, and now it’s our turn.
