When A Child Cries, You Have to Stop Everything | Explaining Chabad Philosophy

Everything is by Divine Providence. This year marks the 150<sup>th</sup> anniversary since the passing of the Alter Rebbe, the founder of the entire Chabad-Lubavitch movement and philosophy. From my father-in-law, the Rebbe, who implanted, transplanted, the Lubavitcher <em>yeshivos</em> in America, we heard many stories about the Alter Rebbe. From these numerous stories, I wish to select one which, I believe, is especially appropriate to this occasion. This story is also characteristic of, and provides insight into, the philosophy of Lubavitch and the philosophy of Chabad. For a time, the Alter Rebbe lived under the same roof as his eldest son – his son who later succeeded him, the Mitteler Rebbe. By that time, the son already had children of his own, some of whom were still very young. The Alter Rebbe was in his quarters on the second floor, while the Mitteler Rebbe was studying in his quarters on the ground floor and in an adjacent room one of his children was sleeping. In the middle of his sleep, as sometimes happens with small children, the child rolled out of his cradle and began to cry. The Alter Rebbe’s son, the Mitteler Rebbe, was so focused and immersed in his studies, that he heard nothing, and he continued to study… On the second floor, the Alter Rebbe was immersed in Torah study, as well, but he heard that a child was crying below. He interrupted his studies, went downstairs, laid the baby back in its bed, and soothed it. Afterwards, he explained to his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, that no matter how deeply one is immersed in Torah study, or prayer, or good deeds, when a Jewish child cries, one must hear it and one must stop praying or learning, and see to it that the child is comforted. That is the story that occurred then. My father-in-law, the Rebbe, derived from this that when a Jewish child cries, no matter how lofty a person may be, and no matter how exalted his pursuits, if there is a child somewhere who lacks what he needs as a Jewish child, one must set one’s personal interests aside, and search for every possible way to stem the child’s tears. The lesson from this for our work, in our times, is straightforward: In recent years, a great awakening can be observed among Jews in general, and among Jewish youth in particular – they have begun to search for Judaism; not only the college youth, the eighteen and twenty year-olds, but even more so among young adolescents, the 14, 13, and 10 year-olds. And this is also true of young married couples, with four or five year-old children. They have recently begun to search for Judaism, and we know that, ultimately, they will reach the truth: If they want to find <em>real</em> Judaism, not a diluted and compromised version, they must provide their children an upbringing founded upon our Torah of Life, which teaches them how to live their daily lives as Torah wants. And this is the lesson of this story: No matter what a Jew is busy with – and surely we are all busy with worthy and necessary things, whether related to livelihood or to various responsibilities – when it comes to the question of the Jewish children who are crying out for a good Jewish upbringing, then this problem and this work has priority of the highest rank, it must be given attention over all other concerns. We must exert ourselves to the utmost, to support all the institutions – the <em>yeshivos</em>, middle schools, and <em>cheders</em> which can raise children in this spirit – enabling them to absorb the maximum number of children possible. Unfortunately, the situation today is such that many children remain on the streets, because the <em>yeshivos</em> are not able to open more classes and grades, or to employ more teachers. As noted above, this is the lesson from this story: This takes priority over all other activities. No matter how worthy and lofty the other activities may be, we must raise the means for these <em>yeshivos</em> to admit the maximum number of students and bring them up in the right path, putting an end to these children’s cries. There are, unfortunately, some homes where the children aren’t even aware that they are missing something so they don’t even cry… In these cases it is the responsibility of Jewish communities and Jewish individuals to accept these children in the <em>yeshivos</em> – for if the child is not even aware that he should be crying, it is the greatest proof of how much he is in need of a Jewish education. This is also one of the tasks of the Lubavitcher Yeshiva<em>,</em> to admit students without limitations based in their background – whether from a background where they know that they should be crying, or a background where they don’t know that they should be crying out – and to give them the full and equal opportunity to receive a Jewish upbringing, which will prepare them for a life of good fortune, both materially and spiritually.