Switchers And Anti-Switchers

By Rabbi Akiva Wagner

It’s the latest fad (or craze), the subject of debates and discussions and ‘in-depth analysis’, and new material for all the blogs: the newly introduced Kosher Switch.

Following on the heels of the Kosher Lamp, Kosher Clock, Kosher Shabbos Toothbrushes and Kosher GPS, this is the latest innovation that purports to enable one to adhere to the highest standards of Halacha, while not compromising on any available conveniences. In that spirit, they now found a way to be able to turn the light on or off as needed without ch”v desecrating the Shabbos.

As with anything novel and unfamiliar, the announcement elicited very diverse reactions from all segments of the frum community, – from those that hailed it as the most significant breakthrough since the crockpot, that will greatly enhance shmiras Shabbos and serve as a Kiddush Hashem, to those that applied the rule of the Chasam Sofer that “chodosh ossur min haTorah”, anything new or novel should be eyed with suspicion; – in fact, anything novel may possibly be what Chazal referred to when they described a “novel bershus haTorah” (ouch).

Of course, the laws of Shabbos are extremely complex and intricate, and this is not the appropriate forum to address the arguments and counter-arguments about the halachik validity of this new device. Ultimately, that is a determination which needs to be made (not by feelings or philosophies, or even by the majority opinions of one internet blog or another, but) by a competent halachik authority.

I would, however, like to focus briefly on one compelling point that was raised: Whether we’re inclined to agree with the switchers or the anti-switchers, and even if we accept that there are halachik flaws with the reasoning to permit it, the fact is that the very same reasoning is universally accepted as the basis for other practices that take place in every Jewish home unchallenged.

Without getting too bogged down by the technicalities and mechanics of the Kosher Switch, let us try to – in a somewhat simplified way – examine the merits of this argument.

You see, we do, in many other areas of our life, employ the same technology. We daven and learn and farbreng. Most of us spend our younger years immersed in an atmosphere that is exclusively holiness and spirituality (if we only allow it to be). We spend the yomim tovim seasons every year uplifted and engulfed in inspiration.

But then, at some point, we have to deal with other aspects of the world. Our need to make a living, to support our families or our responsibility to do our part in the mission of birurim necessitates our emerging from our cocoon of Kedusha and engaging with the world outside. As we learn in this week’s Parsha, there is the fourth year – “ובשנה הרביעית יהי’ כל פרי’ קדש הילולים לה'”, when we consume our fruits in an atmosphere of pure holiness. And that is followed by the fifth year, when everything seems to become plain and mundane.

Some of us, in these situations, find it convenient to turn to the Kosher Switch. Easy, with a flip of the Kosher Switch, we can switch to our other identity. Now I’m a businessman, a doctor, an accountant or a consultant. Things that didn’t make sense – that had no place in my world – while I was in the world of Torah and Kedusha are suddenly very appealing. I switch my hat or my tie or my designer socks and I conveniently switch my identity.

And when it comes to another Yom Tov, a special occasion, a chassidisher farbrengen, – that’s no problem. I still have my Kosher Switch, and I can just switch back again as needed.

As is well known the story that Chassidim would repeat: Aristotle, the great philosopher, was once caught by his disciples “mit’n hoizen arop”. When they asked how that could be, he replied “Right now I’m not Aristotle”. So the Kosher Switch is not that new after all, – it was already invented by Aristotle.

But, as many Rabbonim – both from Chabad and elsewhere – have insisted, this switch may not really be so Kosher. It may be tempting to get comfortable with the garments of Esav, to make ourselves very at home with our worldly identity. But that’s not Kosher. You can’t switch who you are, rather, when you’re in a business meeting with an important client, you need to see yourself as the same yeshiva bochur who was focused on deciphering the maamar in samech vov or plumbing the depths of a ketzos or Avnei Milu’im.

The following story, which illustrates the above point, is similar to another famous story that I’ve shared before. (This story I read in the name of Rabbi Leibel Groner, I don’t know if it’s a different (more accurate?) version of the more famous story, or it’s a different (albeit similar) story):

There was a Gerer Chassid from Israel, a merchant and businessman who, back in the 1950s, dressed in modern, rather than traditional attire. Even among the Gerer community, and their strict dress code, he preferred to go around in a white hat and short jacket.

One day, while on business in the U.S., he came to the apartment building at 346 New York Avenue, on the corner of President Street, in Crown Heights. He entered the lobby and waited for the elevator.

Suddenly, a younger man with a black beard came in and also stood waiting for the elevator.

“Shalom aleichem,” the young man greeted him, and then asked, “Who are you?”

When the Gerer businessman gave his name, the younger man then asked what he does for a living. After hearing the nature of the business, he continued, “Do you frequently have to travel to foreign countries for your business?”

“Yes,” the businessman answered.

Just then the elevator doors opened and the two entered.

As the doors closed behind them and the elevator began its slow ascent, the young man asked, “Where have you gone recently?”

“Nicaragua.”

“Is there a mikvah there?” the young man asked.

“No,” replied the businessman.

“Perhaps the main reason for your going there to visit is (not for the sake of your business, but) in order to build a mikvah for Jewish women and tourists,” the young man said.

Just then the doors parted and the young man, with a quick goodbye, exited.

Many years passed. As he grew older, the businessman eventually rediscovered his Chassidishe roots. Gradually he returned to his earlier practices, and along with them he went back to dressing in accordance with the Gerer custom – a long jacket, high fur hat (spodek), beard and peyos, etc. Meanwhile, he continued his line of work, and his traveling all over the world.

Once during a routine business trip to New York, having heard that the Lubavitcher Rebbe distributes dollars every Sunday, he decided to go to the Rebbe on a Sunday to get a dollar and a brocho.

As he approached the Rebbe, the Rebbe asked him, “Is there already a mikvah in Nicaragua?”

At first the Gerer Chasid stared uncomprehendingly.

“Don’t you remember?” the Rebbe pressed. “A number of years ago, we met at an elevator and I asked you about the mikvah.”

The Gerer chosid left astounded, and when he returned to Eretz Yisroel, he went to share his excitement with the (then) Gerer Rebbe.

“How is it that although I look so different now than I did back then – younger and in modern clothes – the Rebbe immediately recognized me?”, he asked in amazement.

The Gerer Rebbe smiled. “When a Rebbe looks at someone, he looks at the soul, not the physical body.”

He continued, “Your neshama is the same now as it was then. Therefore, when you approached the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he saw that this is the same person with whom he spoke a number of years earlier.”

Our neshomo, our pnimiyus and our essence, doesn’t change. Moreover, no matter what we do and what we choose, “it” remains באמנה אתו ית’. Therefore in reality the switch is nothing more than an illusion. While we change our preoccupation, and we are expected to carry out varying missions, we can’t ever switch our basic identity.

This, in fact, is one of the messages of this week’s Parsha (see also this week’s email from R’ Sholom Mordechai Sheyichye veyigo’el): The goal and climax of the fourth year, in which the fruit are eaten in a state of extreme holiness, is להוסיף לכם תבואתה, – the subsequent enjoying of the fruits on the 5th year. Obviously the 5th year is not meant to be a regression; – on the contrary, the holiness of 4th year is merely a preparation, an empowerment, to be able to maintain the same loftiness in the subsequent years.

The goal of the time spent in Yeshiva, of the experience of davening in shul and of the chassidishe farbrengens on Yomim Tovim etc. is to be able to maintain the same mindset, the same identity, even when subsequently engaging the outside world.

[In another sicha (chelek 32) the Rebbe explains that this is why the Kohein Gadol leaving the beis hamikdash is described by the Rambam as part of the halochos of Yom Kippur: The ultimate goal of Yom Kippur is not the state of loftiness that the Kohein Gadol achieves during Yom Kippur, but, rather, the continuing with that holiness upon his return to his own home and household].

So, in conclusion, there is perhaps a way in which we can agree that the switch may indeed be Kosher: If you find yourself shifting into a balebatishe mindset (those balebatishe hanochos about which we are taught that דעת בעלי בתים היפך מדעת תורה), then it’s time to take advantage of the new innovation. Do a Kosher Switch, and switch back to your true self and to who you really are. It takes a conscious effort of placing your main focus on the spiritual occupations that you are involved with.

Focus more on learning (and perhaps spend some more time on it). Focus more on your davening, on davening the way you know a chosid is meant to. Focus on caring about chassidishkeit, about Yiddishkeit, about Moshiach. And Switch to being in tune to your pnimiyus, your neshomo, the way the Rebbe has been seeing you all along!

L’chaim! May we all take advantage of the new invention to switch back to our true essence,- “chelek Eloka mimaal mamosh”, and may the Eibishter do the ultimate Kosher Switch on the entire creation, switching the גולה into גאולה האמיתית והשלימה with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

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