Everyone seeks positivity. Even the most bitter, self absorbed narcissist prefers smiling over scowling and complimenting over scolding. The trouble is learning how.
Lately I’ve been reading observations about the Rebbe by diverse personalities. As this Shabbat marks 25 years since the Rebbe’s passing on the third of Tammuz 1994, academics, journalists, rabbis and laymen in the global Jewish community feel compelled to pay tribute in various ways.
Most intriguing for me, though certainly not surprising, is the fact that many of them reflect on a personal connection they feel with the Rebbe, although most never met him in person.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks attributes every major decision of his adult life to the Rebbe; Yossi Klein Halevi carries around a dollar bill he received from the Rebbe through a friend; Liel Leibovitz has a photo of the Rebbe in her wallet. All three started viewing themselves and others differently after forging this connection.
Their diversity illustrates that every type of Jew can benefit from the Rebbe’s empowering teachings in a practical and personal way, with an emphasis on seeing the good in everything and everyone and identifying positive opportunity everywhere.
To the Rebbe this was not merely a slogan. For over forty years he educated all that would listen a deeply sophisticated intellectual Torah framework through which we can, not only believe in the potential good possessed by all but actually understand it and reveal it.
Here is an example of a radical twist in historical perception that I learned from the Rebbe in this week's parsha.
Korach instigated a misguided revolt against Moshe, claiming that Aharon's appointment to priesthood was nepotism. While he is condemned in almost every area of Torah scholarship, the Rebbe finds a redemptive angle to Korach - based on traditional Torah sources we have been studying for millennia.
His desire to be a Kohen and be privy to the immersive divine experience of the Temple service is something we should all strive for. Certainly not in practice (because priesthood is exclusively a patriarchal inheritance) but being entirely focused on G-d is an attitude we can and should develop in our daily life.
Although this seeming revision of Korach is radical on the surface, in the paradigm of the Rebbe's Torah framework it is the most rational conclusion. Korach's actions are never justified, but an inner reading of his argument inspires us to become better.
The Rebbe does not create motivational catch phrases or self help programs for life struggles. He shows us how to learn Torah, understand its eternal truth and view reality from its lenses.
Through studying the Rebbe's teachings and emulating his ways we become connected today, 25 years after his physical presence has left our world.
But learning is key.
As we observe the Rebbe's yartzeit, I encourage you to taste the beauty and depth of the Rebbe's wisdom readily available in the vast online knowledge base in over a dozen languages. Do it regularly.
This will prepare ourselves and the entire world for the era of Moshiach when the inherent good in everything will be revealed.