Chasidic Nosh for the Soul

A Chosid

A chosid is one that speaks a little, thinks a little more, and does even more!

Adapted from Sefer Hasichos of the Rebbe Rayatz 1940

Erev YomTov

Before every Yom Tov (Jewish Holiday) there is the “Erev Yom Tov”. This is the day before the Yom Tov, the day we prepare for the upcoming Yom Tov. The “preface” of Erev Yom Tov is like the preface of the introduction of a sefer (a holy book). The preface alone is a book for itself.

Lesson : Erev Yom Tov is a holy time that carries it’s own special holiness, it’s own customs that prepare us for the Yom Tov itself.

Adapted from Sefer Hasichos of the Rebbe Rayatz 1940

The Chazan

There was a particular chazzan who was obsessed with pleasing his congregation and spent all his energy focused on his voice rather than the content and the meaning of the prayers. This chazzan confided in his Rebbe his master, that he constantly fears that he is not pleasing his congregation and thus he is not successful with his chazzunus his singing his chanting.

The Rebbe replied when you pray (before) in front of people you have fear of the people, but when you pray before G-D then your prayers are imbued with the fear of heaven and as a result your prayers find favor in the eyes of the people.

3 Positive Traits

The Talmud (Yevamos 79a) tells us that the Jewish people carry 3 distinct positive character traits, namely compassion, shyness (modesty), and performing acts of kindness. Yet Moshe Rabbainu, the leader of the Jewish people and the lover of Jews describes the Jews in his prayer to G-D “They are a stiff necked people (stubborn)”.

It is puzzling, after all, what is the great virtue of stubbornness?

The message is that a Jew must live up to the 3 legendary Jewish traits with stubbornness, with energy, and with vibrancy. We must be stubborn be energetic vibrant about our compassion, our shyness (modesty), our acts of kindness.

Lesson - Rather than be that way “just to get by”, we are to be that way with vibrancy with life with energy.

Adapted from Sefer Hasichos of the Rebbe Rayatz 1940

Chasidim must be smart

A Chossid shoyteh – a foolish chossid is compares to a Hadas Shoyteh- a myrtle branch whose leaves are are uneven and thus not fit for the mitzvah of lulav and esrog. Threre is a myrtle there are leaves but they are foolish the leaves are not in order.

Lesson- a chossid must be orderly

Adapted from Sefer Hasichos of the Rebbe Rayatz 1945

Erev Rosh HaShanah

One year erev Rosh Hashona the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe the Rebbe Reyatz asked his father the Rebbe Rashab “what are we supposed to do now?” The Rebbe Rashab replied “Erev Rosh Hashona we need to say Tehilim throughout the entire day, and do Teshuva for all the not good things that we did the past year, so that we will be clean and pure of all the undesirable habits of the previous year by the time we usher in Rosh Hashona with the Marriv Prayer”

The above story explains why the Chassidic siddur Torah Or has the text of Kiddush (which is recited after Marriv) actually printed BEFORE the marriv prayer , To emphasize to us that we must first be “Mikadesh ourselves” and sanctify ourselves (the meaning of the word Kiddush) and only then can we usher in the davening of Rosh Hashona.

Adapted from Sefer Hasichos 1944 of the Rebbe Rayatz