Promoting Love

Translated from Rabbi Arush’s feature article in the weekly Chut shel Chessed newsletter. The articles focus on his main message: “Loving others as yourself” and emuna. 

I Sang – And Was Saved 

The number on the phone’s screen was unfamiliar. My son took the call. The person on the other end introduced himself as the rabbi of a settlement somewhere in the central region of the country, and he said to my son that he must tell him a story, so that he can tell me in turn. What happened? 

The daughter of this rabbi boarded a bus. This particular bus line has a rather infrequent schedule, and it usually leaves the first stop exactly on time, so that if you miss that exact time, you waste a lot of time waiting for the next bus. 

But this time, something went wrong. Some sort of problem was preventing the driver from getting the bus started. The passengers were all sitting in place, but the bus just wouldn’t start, and the driver couldn’t understand what the problem was. Frustrated, he opened the door, alighted from the bus, and then boarded it again, and tried and checked – but the bus refused to move. 

Suddenly, two girls boarded the bus. Judging by their looks, they did not look religious. Then one of them said to the other loudly and triumphantly: “You see? I told you we will make it on time to the bus! Every time I sing ‘Hashem yitbarach always loves me and I will have only good’ – I experience miracles! I told you! And you should know: It works and it’s amazing! Hashem is soooo good! And we will have even better, and even better!” 

The amazing thing was that the moment the girls sat down, the recalcitrant bus came back to life, the engine roared as usual, and the bus went on its way smoothly, without any further delay! 

So, I see we must start telling stories of a new style: “I sang – and was saved.” 

Singing All the Way to the Palace

Last week we spoke about Yosef Hatzaddik and how he held on for many long years in jail, knowing clearly and definitively that Hashem loved him and that he would have only good and even better. 

In this week’s parasha [Mikeitz] we see that really everything was not only good, but the best possible – “G-d intended it for good, to bring about what is now being done: the saving of many lives.” It was by way of everything Yosef went through that he achieved such greatness, reaching the highest of heights, becoming the ruler of the entire world and saving it from famine, thus paving the way for the geula (salvation) of the Jewish People from Egypt. 

But to rejoice in Hashem’s yeshua after Yosef had already come to power and had seen how good Hashem is – that’s easy; the hard part is to live Hashem’s love and His eternal, constant goodness when in the dark. 

Yosef was happy and danced and sang and pranced around even when he was deeply in the dark, with no light at the end of the tunnel. And he didn’t stop believing – even for a second – that Hashem loved him and that he would have only good and better and better. And therefore, not only did Yosef Hatzaddik maintain his hope and not fall into despair and depression, but he also went through it all easily and with joy, and even made others rejoice. 

Indeed, if he had weakened and lost hope, he certainly wouldn’t have gotten all that he did and probably would have remained in jail for the rest of his life, disappearing from history. 

What Are You Publicizing? 

And this is so appropriate for Chanukah, for the main mitzvah on Chanukah is “pirsumei nissa” – publicizing the miracle. What is so important in publicizing the miracle? What’s novel about that – that Hashem can do miracles?! That, after all, is clear and simple. There have been many miracles over the years. Even a miracle of oil lasting and lasting appeared in the Bible hundreds of years before the Chanukah miracle, in the famous story of the prophet Elisha and the wife of Ovadia, where a jar containing just a few drops of oil managed to fill big jugs and many barrels and make the poor widow a very wealthy woman. So, what else is new? 

But pirsumei nissa doesn’t mean to make it known to many people that Hashem can change nature; its purpose is to make it known to many people how much Hashem loves His nation, Yisrael – so much that He shows them His love and makes such miracles! To reveal and publicize that Hashem loves them even in the exile and the great darkness of the wicked Greek rulers.  

The poskim point out that – for various halachic reasons – the miracle of the oil wasn’t really necessary. The novelty of the miracle is that Hashem showed His great love for the Jewish people. The miracle told us: “You should know that I am with you, that I am watching over you and love you. I made big miracles for you in this immense war of a few against many. I am with you in the battlefield, and I am with you in every situation – and I will never leave you!” 

And that is what we should be publicizing! As the Sefat Emet says about what Chazal said, “To show how dear they are to G-d.” Being dear to someone is the same as love – who should one inform of this? asks the Sefat Emet, and he replies: the Jewish people! One must inform and reveal and publicize among the Jewish nation how much Hashem loves them.  

Not Leaving Hashem 

In past years we spoke about the root of the Hellenization – how can a Jew leave the sweet and illuminating Torah and the mitzvot? Why should he search for and dig broken, leaky wells? And all those years we explained that when a Jew is not happy with his Judaism and not living in a state of gratitude, he loses the heart of Judaism, and so he is in great danger of falling and being swept away by the slightest whim of his. That is why our sages established Chanukah as days of hallel (praise) and hodaya (gratefulness). 

And now, according to the new da’at (knowledge) that Hashem has sent down into our world – Hashem loves me, and I will have only good – it is possible to understand the challenge of Chanukah on an even deeper level. Why is a person not happy with his Judaism? Because he doesn’t know that Hashem loves him! 

When a Jew knows – with a complete knowledge, in the depths of his heart – that Hashem loves him, there is no chance at all that he will leave Hashem, the Torah and mitzvot: Hellenization cannot tempt him. As the Holy Zohar says: “If people would know how much love the Holy One, Blessed Be He, loves them, they would roar like lions to chase after Him!” 

Such sweet words! If only we would know and feel the extent of the love, we would have no yetzer hara (evil inclination); no temptation or attraction could possibly make us leave the way of Hashem. We would roar and run after Hashem and would only want to know Him better and to connect to Him more and more. 

Teshuva out of Love – With Love 

How did the Hasmoneans merit to receive such an immense revelation of love that has continued to shine for generations? The answer is based on the idea of “As water reflects a face back to a face, so one’s heart is reflected back to him by another.”¹ The Hasmoneans were willing to die for the sake of sanctifying Hashem’s name. Such devotion is the height of love – when a person is willing to sacrifice himself, like Avraham Avinu did when he was thrown into fire and then was willing to give up Yitzchak. And so, Hashem was also willing to show them His great love. 

This is true the other way around as well: When a person finds out and knows how much Hashem loves him and he feels this love, he’s willing to do much more for Hashem and for Hashem’s honor. So, there is nothing that awakens one’s heart to teshuva and to closeness to Hashem more than this song: “Hashem yitbarach always loves me and I will always have only good!” 

One young man who was far from Torah and mitzvot was singing this song to himself. One of my students heard him and said to him: “He loves you – but what about you? You also must love Him and observe His mitzvot.” The young man didn’t think for even a moment before replying: “You are completely right.” He took it seriously. 

I have no doubt that it will be this song that will cause the Jewish people to do teshuva soon, teshuva out of love, and we will continue to see great miracles – and even greater ones! 

Editor’s Note: 

¹ Mishlei (Proverbs) 27:19 

If you are interested in a magnet of “Hashem love me and everything will always be good and it will only get better and better”, click here.