Mohorosh – Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Shick

A very great tzaddik has left us – our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Shick of saintly and blessed memory.  May it be Hashem’s will that these words be for the benefit of his pure soul and strengthen all of us to follow the way of the tzaddik and fill the gaping hole that’s been left in the world.

We see from our teacher Rav Shick, may his merit protect us, that from age 16, when he discovered our holy Rebbe Nachman’s teachings, his whole desire became to spread those teachings to the whole world. And he did this with limitless dedication, to personify the words of Rebbe Nachman, “Don’t be dry [fruitless] trees.” As written in Chayei Moharan: “Many times he [the Rebbe] would speak with us and warn us very much to bring people close to Hashem, may His name be blessed, that we should speak a lot with people in order to arouse them to return and bring them close to Hashem…”

We are obliged to observe the greatness of Mohorosh’s holy endeavors.  From the time he was young, he worked with total dedication to print, spread and fulfill the Rebbe’s teachings.  His awesome outreach machine grew and grew to tens and hundreds of thousands of books and pamphlets that have strengthened and continue to strengthen people.  They are generating wonderful ‘fruits’.  One can tell from his students’ great dedication for hafatza, outreach, how he trained them in this. So too, he left this as a central point in his will.  Therefore we need to wake up from his holy words and see to it that the vision of hafatza just grows and grows and fulfill these words “just as his descendants are alive, so too he is alive”.

Each one of us should dedicate himself to spreading emuna with all of his abilities.  There’s no such thing as a person that can’t do hafatza.  Everyone can talk with their family and acquaintances and even if they don’t know how to talk with people, today there are endless numbers of CD’s, pamphlets, and books that are appropriate for every person, whatever their situation.  How many times have we heard about Jews who were in the worst places and predicaments and came across a CD that totally changed their lives? One of the students of the Yeshiva told me that he was in a state of total darkness, the lowest of the low. Someone gave him the CD “Stop Crying” and he listened to it again and again until he came to complete repentance.  Today he’s a student in the Yeshiva and everyday he goes out to do hafatza and bring other people close.

We need to think about the reward of the person who gave him that CD.  The one who received the CD now learns Torah and keeps mitzvot because of the person who gave him that CD.  Furthermore, the yeshiva student who himself came close to Hashem because of the CD, goes out daily to do hafatza and brings more and more people close to Hashem!  Those people in turn bring other people closer and it’s all accredited to that person who gave him that one CD!  It’s impossible to measure the awesome merit of that first person who started the ball of emuna rolling.  Even if a person were to learn Torah for a thousand years, he wouldn’t come close to that one person who just gave one disk!

We lack the time to cite all the important sources on this great and holy mitzvah of bring other people close to Hashem and back to their roots, because the ‘learning is not the main thing, but doing.’  We must rise to this challenge, for this is the legacy of Mohorosh, that he dedicated his whole life to. It is his greatest desire that we continue in his footsteps!  

How is it possible that a person can hear such simple and clear words that through one CD, he can merit to a greater world to come than a person that learns Torah for a thousand years, but he doesn’t make a solid decision to do hafatza daily with all of his strength, money, and everything he has?!  We need to rid ourselves of this apathy!

Hafatza is the true shimush – the true internship of and connection to Rebbe Nachman in our generation.  Rebbe Natan says that this is the true sign of one who is close to the tzaddik – that he brings more and more souls to the way of the tzaddik.

Mohorosh zatza”l, this tzaddik who recently left us, was a living example of how to fill one’s life with hafatza, bringing people close to Hashem and shining the light of the tzaddik to the whole world.  It is our solemn duty to continue on his path.  If everyone would work at hafatza with even a tiny bit of dedication, then the whole world would look entirely different and it would be possible to bring the redemption with great mercy, speedily and in our days, amen!