The Legacy Of R' S. C.

I debated with myself whether to write about this important topic and decided in favor. As is the policy of this blog, all lashon hara will be avoided and everything written will be for toeles [if there is a toeles then it is not "ra"].

One would be hardpressed to find an individual who was personally mekarev as many Jews as R' S.C. There are organizations such as Chabad and Aish who do a lot of kiruv on a mass scale with many, many people who contribute to their efforts. But as a one man show - he was unparalleled. Until this day his efforts continue to bear fruit. Every mitzva, every moment of limmud hatorah, all of the taharas hamishpocho and kashrus that are faithfully guarded by people he was mekareiv, are credited to this great man. These people, their children and children's children for all of time. Nifla!

He didn't tackle [in public at least] deep philosophical problems. His approach was to spread pure faith, unencumbered by what a scientist or bible critic might say. His message bypassed the mind and penetrated the heart. Evolution, bible criticism and the like are not really objective issues that can be mathematically proven or disproven. If one believes, he will have ample reason to believe despite the challenges of the skeptics. There are enough frum scientists and academic scholars who are aware of the data and still believe and keep every word of the Torah. If one chooses not to believe he will do so even without Darwin. Darwin just comes along as a justification for what he is already doing. What people need most is to bypass the challenges and touch and feel the source. Sometimes this can only be done after dealing with the issues but after all is said and done, reading, for example, a book of Dr's. Schroeder or Aviezer is not going to make anyone decide to dedicate his life to spirituality. The magic of S.C. was in telling a powerful story that made one experience the kedusha of Shabbos and sharing a chasidic torah that stimulated the heart to desire to taste the beauty of Shabbos. He wasn't necessarily saying original torahs. The originality was expressed in his ability to bring it down to a place where everybody could appreciate it and the soul was set ablaze.

His music - incomparable! His musical talents when combined with his elevated intellect [he was a massive talmid chochom and talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler] were a rare combination. Many of the songs we sing were his original pieces but are sung by so many it is forgotten where they started. Every minyan done in his memory today where the praise of Hashem is sung for hours is part of his eternal legacy.

His generosity was something almost unheard of. He gave away EVERYTHING, including ALL of his money [they passed around a pushke at his funeral to help pay for it. This for a man who made a substantial amount of money in his life], almost ALL of his time, his comfort, his sleep, his self-respect. He gave everything away in order to show people the light of Torah. And people responded. In my life I have known a countless number of people. I have only met one man whom I believe was on S.C.'s level of generosity and gitskeit [=goodness, see the book Holy Brother]. Everybody else has a savings account [completely legitimate], some level of selfishness etc. He didn't have a selfish bone in his body. Not normal. Yehai chelki imo.

I believe that it was precisely his giving and loving nature that was also the root of his downfall. To love all people is super. To hug every man who walks into shul is so special. If I were the rabbi of a shul, I hope I would do the same. But when your love for people causes you to hug the women who come to shul as well, it is a serious problem. All chesed must be tempered by din. Incest is called "chesed" by the Torah. It is GREAT to love your sister with all of your heart. But not so much that you marry her... Avraham, chesed, needed a Sarah, din, to keep him at bay. Yitzchak's din needed a Rivka of chesed for the same reason.

He was a great man who was imperfect. We can learn from his good deeds which were unique and unequaled while at the same time learning from his failings to be careful in our own lives not to allow things to get out of hand. He had no Rebbe to whom he was mevatel himself. It is important to have someone bigger than yourself as a watch-person to maintain your spiritual integrity. He decided himself what was appropriate and what was not and it could very well be that he made mistakes. His intentions were pure but his actions, it seems, were not always that way...

It has been 20 years since his passing. He has long received kappara for anything he may have done wrong. All that is left for him now is to enjoy the fruits of all of his labors. His many students and student's students who try to live spiritual lives due to his inspiration. May we all learn from him everything we can while at the same time guarding ourselves from any pitfalls the yetzer hara presents to stop us on our path to greatness....