Listening to Life's Messages - Part 10

00:00 Behem such in continuation to the earlier installments where we discussed that one can and needs to derive lessons in life by listening to life's messages and incorporating or internalizing them in one's personal service to the Creator. We now continue with installment number three under the title Medical Science, elaborating on additional messages in life as they were articulated in the previous Rebbe's and primarily in the Rebbe's talks and writings. Resisting bacteria. Medicine has begun to realize that repeated use of penicillin and other antibiotics can lead to a dangerous situation where bacteria can modify themselves into new resistant strains which cannot be treated by current therapy. This phenomenon reminds us of the statement in the Talmud that there is no comparison between one who reviews a chapter a hundred times and the one who reviews the material a hundred and one times. In the positive as in the negative, constant repetition can lead not only to a greater quantity, but to a qualitative change in the effects of a particular activity. In the time of the Talmud, when it was customary to study each chapter a hundred times, the addition of just one extra time beyond the habitual number made all the difference. This benefit is derived for us all whenever we extend ourselves just a little beyond what we are accustomed to do. This is a letter from the Rebbe, Erev Laitbeimer, Tav Shin Chof Tes, 1969. Now we go to the second title, A Surgeon. An uninformed stranger who enters an operating room will observe

02:25 a helpless person on a table surrounded by masked men brandishing knives and other instruments. The masked men cut and stab and draw blood, disregarding the moans of pain from the victim who is drugged and prevented from moving. The stranger's natural reaction is to shout for help. As far as he can see, a group of sadists is torturing a helpless person. If the stranger realizes that the activity he observed was actually a surgical procedure essential to the patient's well-being, he would certainly understand why the few hours of pain on the operating table were necessary. In fact, he would probably argue that the masked villains are great humanitarians who are performing a vital service. This impression will remain although no doctor can guarantee a cure or how long the patient will live, even if the surgery is successful. From this example, you can understand that a person's life sometimes involves elements of pain and suffering. When we are caught in the middle of a difficult situation, it is not easy to appreciate the massive benefits that accrue from temporary discomfort. The concept of divine providence stresses that there are no random occurrences in the world. Even the painful episodes are part of the divine plan, an all-encompassing system that includes the individual, his family, and every other person, thing, or event that occurs. This is from a letter of the Rebbe in the series of Igress Kadesh, Volume 13, page 171. And now the third title, Syringe. A hypodermic needle draws blood for the purpose of diagnosis

04:44 and treatment. However, it is not the needle which draws the blood from the veins, rather it is the vacuum in the syringe. The lesson of the value of a vacuum can be extremely relevant to a person who considers himself, quote-unquote, empty. And dash unworthy, and dash to be successful in his godly service. An empty vessel can draw in with greater intensity than one which is full. So too can the person who is aware of his own inadequacy be more strongly motivated to study and to do positive things. Similarly, when one finds oneself in a situation where an absence or loss is deeply felt, one need not be despondent. We can rather use the emptiness itself as a momentum for even greater achievement. This is derived from a message that the Rebbe spoke on Simchas Teder, Tav Shin Lamet Ches, late 1977. A message to Chassidim who gathered in a Fabregen Simchas Teder a day after the Rebbe suffered a massive heart attack. And the Rebbe was sending a message to Chassidim that the emptiness, the vacant seat of the Rebbe at that point is basically just a big preparation and a beginning of something that will follow even on a greater positive scale.