The time is Right Now

B"H

"If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now,when?"
- Hillel the Elder, Ethics of our Fathers (Ch. 2, 14)
---------

Time is priceless. Even as I write this e-mail, I know that I have exactly 1 hr. to finish it before I have
to leave to the village of Kfar Chabad in order to make it there before Shabbat starts. (I will be spending it there with Rabbi Fishel Jacobs, the "Karate Rabbi," maybe some good stories for the next e-mail ;)

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Shneerson, was known for his attention to time and detail. How every second was precious in his eyes. In the late 1940's, the Rebbe moved to New York from war-torn Europe, to join his father-in-Law (The previous Rebbe) in helpingto revamp Jewish life in America. During those years, the Rebbe's father sadly passed away in Russia, and the Rebbe needed to say Kaddish (the mourner's prayer) in his memory. To enable this, a minyan (quorom of 10) students were gathered together every morning of the week for prayers.
One morning, the boys took their time and came 5 min.'s late for the minyan.
Later that day, the Previous Rebbe called in a few of the boys and scolded them:
"How could you come late? By my son-in-law, 5 min.'s are worlds."

As children growing up in Ukraine, the Rebbe and his brother would sit and learn together.
A man who was present in their house, once observed that in 30 minutes the boys had gone through 40 pages of Talmud with the commentary of Rashi and Tosfos (to put into perspective, if I'm lucky, one page w/ those commentaries would take me many hours!) With his time, the Rebbe exemplified:
"And if not now, when?"
But amazingly, we see that later in his life, the Rebbe would spend hours upon hours, the bulk of his precious time, reading letters that Jews around the world sent him. After Shabbat or a holiday, the Rebbe would stand for hours pouring wine and giving a blessing to anyone who walked by. On Sundays he would distribute dollars for charity to the thousands who came to Brooklyn for a blessing and encouragement. True, he could have been spending his time devouring the vast amount of Torah books that called to him. But "if I am only for myself, what am I?"

Yet we saw another amazing thing by the Rebbe, a great lesson to take into our personal lives.
As crucial as time was by him, even when engaging in the task of helping others, the Rebbe made sure to never overlook any individual. It's easy when you're very busy, especially when busy with helping others and engaging in a noble pursuit, to focus on the mission at hand and overlook the bystanders around you.
But not so by the Rebbe.
It's known, that as the Rebbe poured wine to the thousands that filed past, Rabbi Junik would refill his cup from a jug of wine. Rabbi Junik once remarked, "Every single time I refilled the Rebbe's cup, he told me thank you."
Now we're talking about hundreds and hundreds of pourings here. And attention needing to be given to all those filing past him. But no one deserves to be overlooked.
One morning, Rabbi Laibel Groner (the Rebbe's secretary) was making important calls in the Rebbe's office. After calling an associate for the 5th time that morning, the Rebbe remarked to him: "You didn't say good morning."

Sure a Rebbe, a truly holy and special leader of the Jewish people, is someone hard to emulate.
But it's vital that we learn a lesson from this conduct of appreciating our time here on earth, the minutes of our day which can be filled with good deeds. And at the same time, never failing to appreciate those around us deserving of a kind word, a smile, and some encouragement.

To end with one more story:
Rabbi Groner related once, that after the Rebbe suffered a heart-attack in 1977, he was relegated to his bed and forbidden to walk about for the time being. In order to put on tefillin, the Rebbe needed his secretary's help.
When Rabbi Groner opened the desk drawer where the Rebbe kept his tefillin, he found them unwrapped.
After the Rebbe finished his prayers, Rabbi Groner asked him if he should wrap them up, or leave them unwrapped as he had found them? The Rebbe responded that he could definitely wrap them up. "But is there a certain reason behind leaving them unwrapped?" asked Rabbi Groner. The Rebbe responded, "I just didn't have the time."
Again, we're talking about one minute here :)

These lessons of time use and compassion for others were taught to us 2,000 yrs. ago by Hillel the Elder.
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?"
But the Rebbe was a living example of these traits that we could observe.

May each of us incorporate these special qualities into our lives, appreciating others and using out the precious time allotted to us on this earth, to better our surroundings and form the world into a home which G-d enjoys Dwelling in.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel
Jerusalem