Stories of Hasidim

Two people entered the king's palace. One of them walked through each chamber and studied the magnificent vessels and treasures. The second also walked through the chambers of the palace, but his only thoughts were: This is the home of the king!

Hunger moves man to action. Spiritual hunger must become the sort of necessity that pushes man to embark upon the spiritual hunt of his life. A person must ask himself if his need for closeness to God is as pressing as his desire for lunch.

When we proclaim at the end of Yom Kippur that “God is the Lord!” what we mean to say is that the very same unique spiritual reality we experienced on Yom Kippur must also be revealed in the material world we reenter immediately after the fast.

A merchant goes to the market to do business. Man comes into the world in order to observe the Torah and its commandments. What can we say about a person who reaches a certain location with a said purpose, yet abandons that goal for something else?

When R' Elimelekh would recite “Kedusha” on the Sabbath, he would take out his watch and look at it. The sweetness of the moment threatened to consume his soul. By looking at his watch he was able to anchor himself firmly in the physical world.

“What you wish to attain,” explained Rabbi Menachem Mendel, “is a very high state of perfection which only a few individuals in each generation merit attaining: you wish to learn all of the secrets of Kabbala, and then to pray like an innocent child.”

A Hasidic parable teaches us that there are two faculties at work in a person's character: on the one hand, there is a forward-pushing, dynamic ingredient; on the other, a fixed and constant ingredient. One must know when and how to use each trait.

God plays hide-and-seek with man. This state of Divine concealment, with all of the vicissitudes it involves, nevertheless possesses profound meaning as far as man's nearness to God is concerned; God's absence evokes a longing to draw near to Him.

The Chozeh of Lublin senses that the bed which has been prepared for him by the carpenter is not a rejuvenating bed but a bed of lugubriousness and anxiety. From such a bed it is impossible to rise invigorated with a thirst for renewed creativity.