Travels in Exile II
Jul 13th, 2009 by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in Spiritual Growth
Roots
no matter what we do, we are in the posture
of someone going away? Just as, upon
the farthest hill, which shows him his whole valley
one last time, he turns, stops, lingers -,
so we live here, forever taking leave.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Eighth Duino Elegy (translated by Stephen Mitchell)
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This may not be the most “uplifting” thought, but it is incredibly insightful.
The Torah says: A person is a tree in the field.
Erich Fromm, the great Jewish psychoanalyst wrote that a human being is like a tree in the following way: just as a tree will twist and bend as it seeks light to grow, so too do people.
If you see a twisted person, it is because that’s how they sought light and is their attempt to live.
I’d like to share an incredible story told about either R’ Shlomo or his father Rav Naftali Carlebach:
One day on the Upper West Side of Manhattan R’ Carlebach was walking and encounters a yid who apparently has gone thru intense suffering and is literally deformed,hunched over,bent in half. R’Carlebach spends 10-15 minutes talking to this yid and by the time he is done, the yid has straightened up and is mamash fully ‘alive’ !!!
(This was an eyewitness account, but I wasn’t able to contact him prior to this posting to verify whether R’Shlomo or his father).
If you see a twisted person, perhaps it’s because no one showered them with light.
Or as R’ Shlomo put it, until Moshiach is coming, we all have to be little flashlights, to shine light into the darkness!
Absolutely!
It was Reb Shlomo. This story can be found in the biography Holy Brother.
I have this type of kavannah in mind, i.e., gratitude to teachers who have done it for me in different ways and certainly to the biggest Rebbe of all, HaShem Yisborach!, when I say the daily blessing, “zokeif kfufeem.”
I also feel I do this for others when I teach Tai Chi and dveikut to students at YU.