Throughout Jewish and human history, we have seen a recurring phenomenon: great people, who discovered new light or invented a vital invention, have been attacked, slandered, and sometimes even had actual war declared against them.
Over time, everyone recognized their great contribution, but when they came and presented their innovations to the world, the reaction was cold and even hostile.
It's a bit difficult to understand this phenomenon. Why don't people immediately recognize the great news? Why is the first reception that the great innovation receives one of reservation, suspicion, and even resistance? Is it the fear of new things? A mental fixation that doesn't want to move from its comfort zone?
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Why were they attacked?
This week (24th of Tevet) we celebrate the anniversary of Rabbi Shneur-Zalman of Ladi, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch and founder of Chabad Hasidism. Today, there is no one who does not recognize his greatness and his immense contribution to the people of Israel. The Tanya he authored was accepted in all of Israel's Diaspora and is studied by all. His Shulchan Aruch serves as a cornerstone in the world of jurisprudence.
But in his life – how much suffering and pain he knew! He was attacked, slandered, persecuted, and even falsely slandered that could have taken him from this world, God forbid, if it weren't for the miracles of God that caused the Russian Tsarist government to realize his innocence and the purity of his hands.
Why did he have to go through this ordeal?
Its rabbis, the Maggid of Mezritch and the Baal Shem Tov, also suffered severe persecution. In our day, when their names are held in admiration and a vibration of holiness by all classes of people, it is difficult to understand why they were attacked and how they did not see their greatness and the wonderful light they shed on the Jewish world. But it is a fact.
Even Maimonides, whose name is greater to us than his, to the point that they said of him, "From Moses to Moses, no one has risen like Moses" – was a target of suspicion and attack, to the point of his books being burned. We cringe at the mere thought of it, but the appearance of his book caused a great stir, and only after some time did it subside and everyone recognized the book's enormous importance.
The vaccine as a parable
The Lubavitcher Rebbe often used the parable of vaccines or the new medicine to explain the necessity of studying the teachings of Hasidism in our time. Some argued that if their ancestors did not study Hasidism, they too could do without it. To this, the Rebbe responded with this parable that when a new disease spreads, new medicines and a new vaccine are needed, and whoever says that this is not necessary, claiming that they did not use it in the past - everyone who hears will laugh at him.
Thus in recent generations, as the world faces new spiritual challenges, new questions, and experiences that were previously unheard of, there is a need for a new 'vaccine' and a new medicine. For this purpose, the teachings of Hasidism were revealed, to give us a spiritual 'vaccine' and a medicine for the 'diseases' that plague the world today.
And now, opponents of vaccines are also emerging, with various and strange claims. The disease doesn't scare them, but the vaccine - it's truly terrifying and terrible in their eyes... Not bad, this phenomenon has accompanied us throughout history.
In the end, everyone will admit that vaccines and medicines save lives and remove the danger of epidemics from us.
So it was and so it will be.
