The Meaning of Bar Mitzvah

00:01 Nu, of course, this is a story about the Rebbe, and there are many events in it. But one event relevant to our discussion is that the Rebbe Maharash said something to the bar mitzvah boy on the day of his bar mitzvah. So it’s clear that this story has a special connection to that day. He told him that a person has to start with himself, and afterward there is zechus avos, the merit of his ancestors. Although we always talk about zechus avos and all sorts of other things, the work has to begin with the person himself. Afterward, there is zechus avos. Earlier, they were talking here about zechus avos. They spoke about a grandfather, about one side and the other, about Jews who study Torah and have the soul of an Egyptian student, and so on. But we have to know where serving Hashem begins. First, a person has to think about himself; afterward comes zechus avos, the merits that give him strength for this. But it has to begin with his own work on himself. And the Frierdiker Rebbe said the maamar, “Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do work in the great waters.” In general, we don’t have many maamarim on this verse. There is one maamar by the Baal Shem Tov brought in Sefer Hazichronos. The Baal Shem Tov said: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do work in the great waters”—at first glance, the wording seems repetitive. What is the difference between “those who go down to the sea in ships” and “those who do work in the great waters”? The Baal Shem Tov said that every Jew’s soul descends into this world: that is “those who go down to the sea.” The world is like a sea. There are storms, waves, all kinds of confusion and desires. This world is a sea. This world is a sea, with thoughts and confusion and all these things. The soul descends into this sea with ships. The ship helps ensure that a person

02:35 does not drown in the sea. What is a ship—a ship in the spiritual sense? The ship is the Shulchan Aruch. A Jew observes the Shulchan Aruch. He grows up in an environment of Torah and mitzvos, in a Jewish home, a home of Torah and mitzvos, and in cheder—in a place and atmosphere of holiness, observing the law. The Shulchan Aruch, keeping Torah and mitzvos: that is the ship that protects him from falling into the sea. That is the normal way; that is how it should be. But sometimes there is a situation of oniyos, “ships,” connected to the words ta’aniyah va’aniyah, lamentation and mourning, or to the idea of breaking. In other words, instead of a ship of Torah and mitzvos, an environment of Torah and mitzvos to protect him, the ship breaks, and he falls into the sea and drowns in the raging waters—all kinds of desires and confusion. So how does he get out? For that, the verse says, “those who do work in the great waters.” There are souls who do work in the great waters: our Rebbeim, our Rebbe, and, through them, the many shluchim who go on the mission of our Rebbeim. They do work in the great waters: they enter the raging waters, take those souls out of the kelipos, and bring them back. That is the Baal Shem Tov’s point. Apparently, we don’t know exactly which maamar the young chossid came and said on the day of his bar mitzvah, but we know that today the Rebbe knows what is in this maamar. What exactly does it say to a bar mitzvah boy? A bar mitzvah boy needs to know. On the one hand, he needs to know that there are “those who go down to the sea in ships.” When a boy enters life, when he reaches the age of mitzvos, he enters the sea, the sea of the world. Suddenly he begins to see things; desires arise, his mind develops and his senses develop, and all kinds of things happen. A person begins to see the world. He becomes one of “those who go down to the sea.” So we tell him that the ships are Torah

04:43 and mitzvos, the Shulchan Aruch, and an environment of Torah people, Temimim, and holy people. That is what protects a person from falling into the sea, G-d forbid. But if, G-d forbid, it does happen, may Hashem protect us, and the ship breaks and he falls, then he must know that there are “those who do work in the great waters”—that we have a Rebbe. These are the two things a bar mitzvah boy needs to know. On the one hand, he needs to know that there are ships, and that they protect him. On the other hand, he needs to know that even if, G-d forbid, there is a spiritual fall, or any fall, he must not despair, because we are always holding on to the klamke, the doorknob. A boy who understands and knows that he is holding on to the klamke of those who do work in the great waters knows that they are holding on to us. When you are connected Above, you do not fall below. When we are connected to the Rebbe, the Rebbe takes us out of every depth of water. May it be so. L’chaim. May Hashem help the bar mitzvah boy merit, with all honor, to hold on to the klamke and be a soldier of the Rebbe. L’chaim. Boruch Hashem.