Although we, and everyone else who was fortunate enough to
know and to hear him, have such a massive fund of inspiration
to relive, and although there is also so much that needs to
be transmitted to the younger generation who only know him
through the spoken and the printed word, it is nevertheless
correct to pick on just one of the fundamentals [of his
teachings, something which is as neglected as it is
important. Unfortunately], it cannot [even] be said to be in
the process of being forgotten on account of lack of
attention. Rather, this element is altogether absent from the
mentality of the contemporary world of bnei Torah and
talmidei hayeshivos.
This lesson was really included in his last words on the last
Shushan Purim of his life, which fell on Shabbos. This
is what he said:
"What will be after everything? The same as there was
before everything!
And what was there before everything? Only Him yisborach
Shemo! That is what will remain after everything!
And that is all there is even now! Only Him yisborach
Shemo!...And that is Purim!"
The implication of this is that `merely' to keep Torah and
mitzvos is insufficient. Their performance must be imbued
with the awareness that every single facet of our existence
revolves around a single, central axis, namely, that we
exist, we do things and we achieve, while we are continually
in His presence, yisborach Shemo — in the
presence of the Creator! It was around this pivot that the
Mashgiach's entire life revolved. This was the foundation of
the awesome edifice of avodas Hashem to which he
added, each day of his life.
There are people who act and accomplish, achieving what they
achieve with the intention of storing up plenty of merits for
Olom Habo — they are working for the future.
Others go even further, building up a sound investment, which
yields returns that compound as time goes on. While it is
certainly positive to serve Hashem even with such attitudes,
these [are nevertheless ultimately self-serving attitudes and
they] cannot be compared to the person who does what he does
simply because he is standing before Hashem and he wishes to
fulfill Hashem's will to the greatest possible degree. All
his ambitions and all his concern are devoted to examining
the extent to which he is fulfilling Hashem's will. How far
is he succeeding in bringing pleasure to Hashem yisborach
Shemo, in everything he does?
This idea is part and parcel of the Mashgiach's words on
Purim, in which he expressed the correct outlook on every
single thing and its existence: What will remain after
everything? Of course, after everything has ended and
returned to chaos, all that will remain is whatever there was
before anything was created. But even now all there really
is, is Hashem yisborach!
The ultimate definition of the entire universe is simply that
it exists [by the will of and] in the presence of Hashem.
Deeds are not just the means of acquiring merits or chas
vesholom liabilities. They have an overriding
significance [beyond how they impact on the individual] as
fulfilling Hashem's will and placing a person before Him, as
a means of bringing Him pleasure and being favorable to Him
yisborach.
This is what there was before the world was created. It is
what will be after the world reaches the end of its
existence. But it is also what there is from the time the
world was created and brought into existence and onwards.
This is what Purim represents. This was demonstrated by the
miracle of Purim. There was no king, no Homon, no lots, no
feast and no bowing down to Homon. [None of them had
independent significance or existence.] There was only the
Ribono shel olom! If we merit finding favor before
Him, we merit life, as the posuk says, "life is
according to His favor,' and it is not in the influence of
any power whatsoever to obstruct, to prevent or to lessen
anything which is destined for Klal Yisroel. On the
other hand, if we fail to find favor before Him, then there
is nothing — no survival and no existence chas
vesholom.
An Ongoing Call
[In order to maintain awareness of this principle,] the
Mashgiach would repeat Rabbenu Yonah's words (in Shaarei
Teshuvoh 1:42), over and over again: "The type of success
which tzaddikim crave is to derive favor from Hashem
and that He should have delight in them. His favor is [the
key to] lasting and true life, and to the great light which
includes everything pleasant...and Chazal (Medrash
Tehillim 80)say, `All we have is the illumination of Your
countenance', meaning, the favor [to which we refer]."
The Mashgiach would elaborate: "Rabbenu Yonah doesn't say
that tzaddikim desire and crave to do good deeds or to
fulfill mitzvos. The only success they crave, to merit
spiritual life, is `to derive favor from Hashem.' Though
their good deeds certainly provide them with merits, those
are no guarantee that they find favor before Hashem
yisborach. Additional work is required before one merits
to derive favor from Hashem."
Such an outlook is only possible if a person has affirmed
within himself that the sum total of his existence is that he
stands in Hashem yisborach's presence and that he
serves Him. [If this penetrates, then] he will want to draw
closer and to reach Him. Only then will a person come to the
realization that as well as needing to fulfill his
obligations, he also has to try and find favor in Hashem
yisborach's eyes...
The Mashgiach repeated this idea many, many times, with
varying degrees of length, planting its foundations within
the hearts of those who listened to him, inspiring them to
seek Hashem's countenance and to aspire to merit attaining
the level of finding favor before Him yisborach. Of
course, a precondition for this is the realization that all
one's avodoh takes place before Him...this was the
focus of the Mashgiach's life's work, as all the seekers and
desirers [of Hashem] understood in his last words to them:
What was, is what will remain — only Him. And so it
is even now — even though the physical world seems
to us to have a real, ongoing existence — What there
really is, is just Him alone, yisborach, and that is
Purim!
Decades have passed, but his words still ring in the ears of
those who listened to him and also in the ears of those who
listen to them, and they continue [to exert an influence and]
to yield results. However, even during the Mashgiach's
lifetime, only those who made a point of listening and of
accepting what he said, were affected and that certainly
remains the case now. Whoever goes out of their way to accept
the obligations which his teachings confer, will merit the
same great elevation as did those who actually heard him,
ascending and drawing close to their Creator and meriting a
link with eternal life...May our words have an effect upon
the public, and especially upon bnei Torah, inspiring
them to serve Hashem in the awareness that they stand before
Him yisborach Shemo.
