A number of fine biography-type books have recently been published about the Lubavitcher Rebbe in connection with his 20th yartzeit, prominent among them is Joseph Telushkin’s “Rebbe” book, which has been best-selling in Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. This book is an easy, inspiring read, chock-full of stories, which he painstakingly researched and documented, verifying first person accounts.
Every author has their own perspective, interest and fascination, and it is interesting for me to see which aspects of the Rebbe were most interesting to Telushkin.
I was especially interested in the topics he chose for chapters 7 and 10. True, these are things I knew about the Rebbe while I was growing up, but I never saw them as entire chapters about the Rebbe. Yet Telushkin did!
For each chapter he brings a number of stories to illustrate how these points were typical of the Rebbe’s style and way. These two chapter titles are:
Chapter 7: Optimism and the Careful (Positive) Choosing of Words
Chapter 10: Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Now (i.e. don’t procrastinate or wait for perfect opportunity)
These two chapters came into play this Friday for me on right here on Fuller Road.
I was driving back from a pre-Shabbos shopping trip when something at the curb caught my eye. It was a stationary exercise bike, a vintage sort. It had legs like an ironing board, and a yellow body with the color that I remember from my grandmother’s metal cabinet doors. I really want to exercise more, and don’t want to use our time limitations or lifestyle as excuses, but it isn’t as easy to get out as much. So I knocked on the door of the Fuller Road home, verified it was out there for the taking and shoved this small but super0-heavy bike into my car for the few blocks to our home.
A few alumni were visiting and they could not get over the oldness of the thing, but agreed that it still seemed to work (a testament to how well things were built years ago). Together we shlepped the thing down to the basement, and I hope to give it good use.
It was (as Telushkin’s Chapter 7) optimistic and positive choice of words to view that bike in a decent light. Why focus on the worn parts or the rust, when you can focus on its durability and ease, and comfort. And (like Chapter 10) had I debated or waited or dithered, or hung around for a better option or opportunity, who says I would be spinning my wheels and getting a little much needed rigorous movement in my legs?
I’ll keep you posted on how this old stationary bike works out for me. In the meantime, let us all try to think and speak more positively, with more optimism, and to seize opportunities, Carpe Diem!, and not wait around for it to be perfect.