Category — Yud Beis Tammuz

They tell of a representative on the road that broke all records for sales in his company. When asked the secret of his success, he explained that the first thing he said when someone opened the door was, “Did you see what your neighbor Mrs. Jones just got?”

That trick never failed him.

***

He was not cooperating with the interrogation; they had been asking questions for hours and he was avoiding them.

He knew good and well that this was not the place for games. Here death was determined on a whim, the fate of individuals privy to the mood of the interrogator. A prisoner’s life was of no value to them. Yet he didn’t care.

The officer fumed and lifted his pistol: “Do you see this toy? Maybe this will open your mouth!”

The prisoner, Rabbi Joseph Schneerson, was calm as he responded, “This toy can only scare one who has one world and two deities, but for someone with One G-d and two worlds, this is truly nothing more than a toy.”

With a gun swinging at his head in one of the must frightening prisons of Stalin’s era, such belief and bravery is phenomenal.

This extraordinary drama of self-sacrifice and courage unfolded 80 years ago, with the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe in the confines of Shpalerka prison. And yet, its message still rings true in today’s prisons of temptations and popular opinion.

The gun may not be made of steel. Rather, it might be fashioned of “what will Joe say when he sees me with my Kippa?” or “If Sarah could walk like that, why can’t I?” Whatever shape, form or reality the “toy” assumes, remember the message: we have One G-d and two worlds. Life does not begin at birth and does not terminate at death.

So if Sandra thinks like this, and G-d thinks like that, or even if you are threatened with the loss of your job or your community because of your convictions, don’t hesitate. You’re in good company.