Playing G-D

Essays
Written By Rabbi Yanki Tauber

Upon the passing of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov in 1760, the center of Chassidic teaching shifted to the town of Mezheritch, home of the Baal Shem Tov’s successor, the famed “Maggid,” Rabbi DovBer.

Late one night, a group of the Maggid’s disciples were discussing the state of the universe.

“If G-d would entrust me with the running of His world,” said one, “I would gather all the gold in the world and give it to the Jewish people, so that they should be able to serve the Almighty free of all material cares.”

“If I were running the world,” said another, “I would heal all the sick and banish all pain and suffering from the face of the earth.”

“And I would eradicate the inclination for evil from the heart of man,” said a third. “Then we would have a world that befits the goodness and perfection of its Creator.”

The youngest of the Maggid’s disciples, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, then spoke. “If I were in G-d’s place,” said he, “I would run the world exactly as He does.”

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

 

More Essays from Rabbi Yanki Tauber

Rabbi Yanki Tauber

Yanki Tauber (born 1965) is a Hasidic scholar, rabbi, writer and editor. From 1999 to 2013 he served as chief content editor of Chabad.org. He is currently chief writer and editor of The Book, a new translation and anthologized commentary for The Five Books of Moses. Tauber received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim in 1987. He has taught and lectured at the Maayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, the Eliezer Society at Yale University, and other academic forums. He is the author of three books and more than 800 essays of biblical commentary and Jewish and Hasidic thought. His writings have been translated into Spanish, German, French and other languages.

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