When Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezhirich, died, his disciples gathered to share memories of their mentor. Hour after hour the conversation went on, until finally everyone fell silent. Several minutes passed in silence. The silence was broken by Rabbi Shneur Zalman from Liadi:
“Our teacher was a man of extraordinary wisdom, but some of his actions could lead to confusion. For example, we all know that the rebbe loved to leave the house at dawn to walk near the lake to the loud croaking of frogs. What I'm curious about is this: Do any of you know why he did this?
The Hasidim looked at each other, but no one said a word. Then Rabbi Shneur Zalman himself answered his own question:
- Listen to what I think about this. The book of Perek Shira says that, having finished writing his psalms, King David turned to the Lord with the words: “Is there at least one creature on earth who would glorify You more than I?” Then a frog jumped out from somewhere and, sitting down opposite David, said: “What arrogance! This was hard to expect even from the king. For example, I offer many more songs of praise to the Lord than you do, and each of them has three thousand interpretations! And that's not all. My life itself serves as a fulfillment of a mitzvah (commandment), for at the edge of the pond lives a creature who depends on me. When this creature is hungry, I give my life to fulfill the command: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him with bread.”
“Every particle of the universe,” continued Rabbi Shneur Zalman, “small and great, inanimate and animate, brings a special melody into this world and sings it in its own way. Even the frog has its own song.
He paused to make sure his friends were following his thoughts, and spoke again:
“Don’t you understand that this is why the rebbe went to the pond in the morning?” He went there to listen to the songs of the frogs and pray with them.
Commentary by Rami Shapiro What is your song? And for whom are you willing to die?
No one can answer these questions for you. No one can give you a song, for no one knows it except you. All you can do is ask your song to appear to you. To do this, you need to immerse yourself wholeheartedly in the songs of other creatures. How to do this? Listen carefully to the sound of life around you.
How to answer the second question? The death of the frog was not a messianic atonement, but a personal fulfillment. The point is to feed your enemy, not to die for him. Your enemy is persistent dissatisfaction with yourself, which makes you seek power and might. When you sing your song, the meaning of life is revealed to you. Any dissatisfaction disappears - you are completely satisfied with both life and yourself.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru