. . . Like a broken potsherd, withering grass, a fading flower, a passing shadow, a vanishing cloud . . . a fleeting dream. 

The Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur liturgy highlights themes of human shortcomings—mitigating circumstances, as it were—to help us in our defense when we pray for forgiveness and ask for Divine blessings. In the face of our smallness, given our fleeting lifespan, we protest and plead with G-d that He not be too exacting, that He judge us with compassion and kindness.

A sincere defense it is, and how vehemently we strain against the flitting nature of existence!  It is probably one of our deepest and worst fears—to be forgotten like a passing shadow, to leave this world with no proof of ever having been. The thought alone is terrifying, and today, social media offers quick comfort, delivering an instant and easy way to feel noticed: self-exposure before a worldwide audience. I Facebook, therefore I am. 

But if we understand the possibilities that inhere within mere mortals, foibles and all, say the Kabbalists, we can overcome the fear of fading like a flower. If we believe that the human being is animated by a G-dly soul, and that each of us is created in His image, then we can aspire to Maimonides’ notion of imitatio Dei, that is, to imitate G-d, in some small but significant way. 

The idea seems daunting, but the Talmud takes the mystery out of it: “As He is merciful, so should you be merciful.” The Talmud points to ethical behaviors demonstrated by G-d, namely the Divine attributes of kindness, graciousness, compassion that we are meant to imitate: burying the dead, as G-d buried Moses; visiting the sick, as G-d visited Abraham, and other similar mitzvahs by which we approximate Divine compassion.

This is why we are inspired, even awed, when we encounter individuals who live to give to and share with others. Most everyone does a kindness now and then. Most everyone is ready to extend a hand at a time of crisis. But it is a rare thing to find people who make the needs of others—especially the prosaic and ordinary—the stuff of their daily grind.  

***

This must have been the inspiration for a fictional show in Israel that portrays the experience of Chabad representatives to Kathmandu, Nepal, which became a national hit. Unlike most shows that typically shine a negative light on religious life, this one delivers a fair, if somewhat caricatured representation of the Chabad Shluchim whose lives are centered around the needs of Israeli backpackers and Jewish travelers. 

In August, hundreds of Israelis who were in some enduring way affected by Rabbi Chezki and Chani Lifshitz, the real-life Chabad Shluchim in Kathmandu, paid them tribute at a theater in Israel. Many stories were shared among the audience, but there were more that will never be told, about Jewish lives almost gone awry but for the fact of this couple who chose a hardscrabble life in a third world country,  because that is where they are needed, and this is where they can effect change. 

***

Monroe, N.J., a community largely of senior citizens, is not an obvious choice for a young family. But Rabbi Eliezer and Chani Zaklikowski have made their home there, embracing the elderly men and women in their lives, in their Shabbat, holiday and family celebrations, as they raise their children. Day after day, they bring unexpected joy, a sense of belonging, purpose and comfort to many who believed that their best years were behind them.

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At the Chabad Center in East Hampton, NY, people who came in to hear the Shofar and say a prayer were welcomed warmly, no questions asked. Some stayed for a short while, others remained longer, drawn in by the stirring prayers of the rabbi and his sons. Many joined Rabbi Laibel and Goldie Baumgarten at their family table for all of the holiday meals as naturally as did their own children, lingering for hours as comfortably in place as if they were in fact, family.    

***

The Far East is a far cry from East Hampton; the challenges for Jews in Paraguay are not the same as those in Sweden or in Singapore. But in all of these places and more, the presence of Chabad has spelled positive change in the lives of individuals, families and communities so profound and so vital, one shudders to imagine all that may never have been otherwise. For in their steadfast practice of kindness and compassion, it is fair to say that the Rebbe’s Shluchim have found a way to reflect the image of G-d, making a difference that will reverberate for posterity.