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Date Posted: 11:10:48 05/01/04 Sat
Author: schwabra
Author Host/IP: dialup-4.225.147.91.Dial1.Cincinnati1.Level3.net / 4.225.147.91
Subject: Living by the law

It was Yom Kippur eve and everyone was in shul waiting for the Alter Rebbe to give the signal to begin the Kol Nidrei service. The Rebbe was wearing his kittel, the special Yom Kippur robe, and had lifted his tallis over his head. The entire congregation had their eyes focused on him, watching him while he stood absorbed in thought.



Suddenly, the Rebbe removed his tallis and his kittel and strode quickly out of the synagogue.



Stunned, the chassidim remained in shul, waiting for him to return. They waited 10 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour.... Where had the Rebbe gone? Why on the holiest day of the year was he not in the synagogue?



Finally, after more than two hours had passed, the Rebbe returned. He hurriedly donned his kittel and his tallis and gave the signal for the prayers to begin.



Later, the chassidim found out where the Rebbe had gone. On the outskirts of Liadi, there lived a young woman who had just given birth. Her husband had traveled away on business and she was left alone with the newborn. Her neighbors had all gone to shul and there was no one to tend to her.



It was cold. There was no wood in the house to make a fire. She did not have the strength to chop firewood and bring it in from the forest, and so she and her baby were huddling under the covers. She had not been able to cook any food before the fast and therefore she was hungry.



When the Alter Rebbe entered her home, he immediately took an ax and went out and felled a tree. He then chopped off the dried branches, making them small enough to serve as firewood, and carried them into the home. He kindled a fire and prepared soup for the woman. Only after she had eaten did he return to the synagogue.



Why did the Rebbe violate the laws of the holiest day of the year? And why did he violate them himself? There is no question that if he had told anyone else to do what he did, they would have gladly done his bidding.



There is something dearer to G-d than Yom Kippur, and that is the life of a Jewish person. When the life of a Jewish mother and her child were at stake, the Alter Rebbe did not think for a moment of the holiness of the day. He went right out to save the woman.



On the other hand, it must be emphasized that of all the people in the town, it was the Alter Rebbe who appreciated the woman's need. It was his holiness that sensitized his perception and enabled him to realize her dire straits.

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