Elul Day 5
Dear Elul Writers,
I have a particular affinity for the Chasidic stories about the brothers, R’ Zusha of Anapol and R’ Elimelech of Lizensk. There is a buddy comedy feel to many of these tales, which are often full of misadventure and rabbinic shenanigans. This year, I was delighted to re-encounter a story about the two that I hadn’t read in years.
You see, the two pious brothers often dressed as beggars and wandered from town to town in Poland. In one city they were sleeping in the street with other beggars when they were picked up by the local police and thrown into the town jail (some things never change).
When the morning came, Zusha was bereft. Elimelech asked his brother why he was weeping.
Zusha answered, “For the first time that I can remember I won’t be able to daven my morning prayers”. Elimelech wasn’t following, “holy brother, why won’t you be able to pray?”
Zusha gestured towards a bucket in the corner, “The Torah forbids a person from praying in the presence of a foul odor, and here we are in a jail cell with a bucket that is being used as a toilet.”
“Dry your tears, my brother” said Elimelech. “The same Torah that commands you to pray three times daily, commands you to abstain from prayer in the presence of filth.” Elimelech looked into his brother’s eyes, “Now we will get to fulfill the mitzvah of not praying in a dirty place. Don’t you see, we will connect to the Kadosh Baruch Hu via a different pathway.”
Zusha was delighted by this idea; he began laughing and jumping around. Before you knew it the two brothers were dancing and singing. They pulled their cellmates into the merriment, creating a festive circle of song and dance. Hearing all of the hubbub, the warden came in and attempted to figure out what was going on. He pulled one of their cellmates to the side and asked why they were all carrying on. The cellmate explained that these two Jews had started dancing and singing because of the bucket of waste in the corner.
Upon hearing this, the warden, who was not interested in any frolicking in his jail, hastily removed the bucket from the cell. R’ Elimelech turned to R’ Zusha and said, “My brother, now you can begin your Shacharis prayers.”
Prompt
I like this story because it is a reminder of the various avenues we have to serve the Holy One. But, I also like it because it is as close as the Chasidic masters come to potty humor. So, please excuse me for my language, as I follow their lead.
Each of us has *stuff* in our lives that might feel like an impediment to connection with our spiritual selves. We have challenges in our family lives. We have baggage from religious spaces that we’ve inhabited. We have the unrelenting busyness of modern life, coupled with the constant flow of distraction. This crap could be enough to keep us from engaging, but our rabbinic brothers offer us another path. Is it possible that we can place the *stuff* in our lives front and center, that we can celebrate it, that we can not despair, but instead dance and sing around it? What in your life that feels like a challenge and a barrier could you imagine celebrating? How can the crap that we are dealing with be a different pathway to connection with the Divine?
Take care,
Jordan