Musings Of A Shliach From Montana

President Waded Cruzado with Chavie and Rabbi Chaim at a Menorah lighting

Rabbi Chaim bowling on Sunday

There is a fundamental teaching in Chabad Chassidism regarding the role that each of us plays no matter where we may find ourselves on planet Earth. It goes something like this: “Ever since G-d told our father, Avraham Avinu, “Lech Lecha…Go from your land…” And then it is written: “Avram kept traveling southward…” We have the beginning of the mystery of Birurim, which means “refinements.” These are the elements of spiritual refinement and purification that are latent in all material things.

By decree of Divine Providence, man goes about his travels to the place where the “sparks” that he must purify await their redemption. Tzaddikim, the righteous, who have vision, see where their Birurim await them and go there purposefully. As for ordinary folk, Hashem brings about various reasons and circumstances to bring these people to the place where their obligation lies to perform the avodah of Birurim.

Birurim are the acts of refinement that Hashem tasks us to perform at the physical location He brings us to, and with the objects and people who are with us at those moments. Sometimes we land in places with people in roles that seem strange, certainly unplanned: an unexpected stop-over, an empty tank of gas, a business meeting across the globe, a request to attend an event in an unusual place. Each of these interactions and moments are meant for us to bring holiness, bringing Hashem’s revelation with a berachah, a kapitel Tehillim, a tefillah, a blatt Gemara, a mitzvah unique to that situation. And if you’re like me, and you’re not a tzaddik, you simply enjoy the suspense of waiting to see what Hashem has in store for you at any given moment, in any given situation.

And it could be something as simple as making a berachah of Asher Yatzar at a gas station restroom, or something as big as getting a Yid to put on tefillin for the very first time in his life. We will never know for sure what the goal is, but we can always be certain that there is something holy connected to why we are in any given location at any specific time.

So, unlike Noach, who sat around building the ark and only explained Hashem’s plans to bring a flood to those who stopped and asked, we must be more like Avraham Avinu, who proactively sought ways to bring awareness of Hashem and kedushah to every moment of life. I was walking into Costco with Chana Laya on Thursday when a fellow complimented my blazer and “outfit” and then asked me in a whisper: “Are you Jewish?” I responded with a big smile and said, “Yes, I’m a Jew and you don’t need to whisper. We can say it out loud.” The man smiled back, gave me a fist bump, and said: “We stand with your people.” The world wants our presence; the world needs our presence, in places like Charan, Beersheva, Sodom, and Ur Kasdim. The world wants to hear from the Avraham Avinus of the world.

About three years after we moved to Bozeman, Montana State University hired a new President, Dr. Waded Cruzado, a native of Puerto Rico. She was a brilliant leader who built up the school in unimageable ways and was a class act in her interactions with the community in general and our Jewish community in particular. She improved MSU and her legacy in Bozeman will live on for generations.

Waded retired in June and I was waiting to see who would fill her big shoes. They hired Dr. Brock Tessman, and I had the great honor of meeting him last Monday, along with my colleague, Rabbi Mendel Backman, and MSU’s Vice President for Student Success, Dr. Steven Swinford.

The meeting was fabulous. We donated a copy of “The Jewish Book of Knowledge,” produced by Chabad’s Jewish Learning Institute, and “Letters for Life,” and he was super grateful as he acknowledged that he needs to learn more about Judaism and Jewish life. He committed to working with us when necessary to improve the Jewish experience on campus for Jewish Bobcats. It was such a breath of fresh air. In a world of wishy-washy, cowardly “leaders,” Dr. Tessman has the clarity and a willingness to learn. Noach would have waited for the university to reach out to him, but Avraham Avinu taught us to do the outreach proactively because that’s how we refine the world and bring Mashiach sooner.

I love learning about Avraham Avinu and his incredible persistence and holiness through every challenge, how he persevered through the highs and lows, ups and downs. He defines our mandate for how to interact with the world. We don’t sit in a tent waiting for guests; we sit outside in the uncomfortable weather seeking souls to enlighten and inspire. Whether dealing with his troublesome nephew, Lot, kings like Avimelech or Nimrod, his wayward son, Yishmael, his Egyptian wife, Hagar, or dealing with Sarah and her death, the infertility and bitterness, or dealing with a father like Terach, or Efron, the conniving realtor, Avraham was always a man on a mission and wherever he found himself, he represented Hashem in all His glory.

On Sunday, it was sunny in Bozeman but a bit too windy for a hike, so we hit the local bowling alley for an hour. We used bumpers because Chana Laya was struggling and it’s about “the kids.” And as I watched the five of us playing, I kept thinking about this metaphor for life. You may land in the gutter, but you don’t give up, you keep trying, hoping to get a strike, maybe a spare, but never holding yourself back from knocking down as many pins as possible. We can quit easily, but that’s not the Avraham Avinu method; instead, he taught us through example to keep going and if you give it all you’ve got, you leave behind a legacy of Yiddishkeit that will carry on to future generations.

I will leave with the incredible words of President Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On!’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” 

Rabbi Chaim Bruk is co-CEO of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana and spiritual leader of The Shul of Bozeman. For comments or to partner in our holy work, e-mail [email protected] or visit JewishMontana.com/Donate.