Messudar

20 Tishrei 5782

“I shall walk with the innocence of my heart [even] within my house.” (Tehillim 101:2)

Chassidus centers around this concept. We can’t be one thing outside the house and another inside. Our fear of G-d must permeate our entire life, into the innermost recesses of our heart and the most private parts of our lives. From here derives also the concept that a chossid must be a “messudar.” Good intentions can only come to fruition when we have our lives under control. When we wake up every day and cover our basic mitzvos: prayer, warmness with others, control over our thoughts, tzedakah, and learning Chitas.

“He appeared from Mount Paran and came with some of the holy myriads” (Devarim 33:2)

Rashi explains this verse: “With God were only some of the myriads of His holy angels, but not all of them, nor [even] most of them. This is unlike the manner of a mortal, who displays all the splendor of his riches and his glory on his wedding day.” Here we can see that the quality of self-restraint is also present in Hashem. We have the obligation to seek to emulate Him, by controlling our natural urges and concentrating our energies in the right direction.

“But as to causing an indwelling of G-d’s holiness, [the individual] cannot be compared to [the congregation] at all.” (Lessons in Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 23)

Still we must know that being a messudar is not for our own sake. It is only a means to an end to do our part in building a strong community, with Torah, mitzvos and ahavos chinam.