Following the recitation of the Amidah, Berl Izenkopp (not his real name), having completed the Amidah in “record time,” so to speak, took three steps backwards, as mandated, and sat down. After Shacharis, Berl was approached by a fellow congregant, Yossel Papovitch (not his real name). Yossel’s objective was to give “muser” to Berl. And what is muser? you may ask. Is it a type of cheese, or what? Not exactly… Muser refers to admonishing another Yiddle for violating a law that is in the Torah. It is a type of warning. Thus, if a Yiddle sees another Yiddle violating a law or making trouble, so to speak, he is obligated to discuss it with the violator – but not with the ganzer velt (everyone else). The objective of muser is to make the “violator” aware of the problem and thus prevent the problem from reoccurring.
The truth is that muser is rarely given because of the sensitivity required to administer it, and because most folks just don’t take kindly to it. A few dozen years ago, a rabbi straightened the drooping tefilin of one of his congregants. The congregant should have been appreciative, right? Nu, instead, the congregant got berogez (angry) and ultimately caused the rabbi to lose his position. Hairst ah geshichteh – Can you imagine such a thing?
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My earliest recollection of muser was a “muser shmooze” given many moons ago by Rabbi Boruch Milikovsky, a favorite rebbi in the Talmudical Academy. Nu? you may ask. What happened? Hair zich tsue (give a listen). Picture a classroom that was engrossed in learning and listening to one of Rabbi Milikovsky’s Torah explanations. Suddenly a thing flew across the room. It was neither a bird nor a plane but an object tossed by Yankel Cooper (not his real name).
Rabbi Milikovsky peered at Yankel with his special stare reserved for classroom nudniks. Next he proclaimed, “Yankel, Yankel, voss veht verehn fuhn deer, Yankel?” – meaning: Yankel, Yankel, what will become of you, Yankel?
Yankel looked at the rebbi and had the chutzpa to respond, “Live and let live, Rebbi.” Answering a teacher back in those days that could have catastrophic results for the student! Not with this rebbi, however, who gave a krechts (sigh) followed by a lengthy muser shmooze directed not only to Yankel but to the entire group.
The muser shmooze finally ended, and Yankel appeared to be crying as he muttered, “I’ll be good, Rebbi.” He did keep his word – for about a week. And what became of Yankel? you may ask. He became a melamed (teacher)! What else?
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So, let’s return to the guy at shul. After all, that’s how the miseh (story) began. (Nu, now you know why we are sometimes called wandering Jews.) Anyway, Yossel requested a meeting with Berl in order to instill the idea of davening with greater kavanah (feeling). The problem was that Yossel needed a lesson in giving a muser shmooze, because rather than using tactful comments, he blurted out, “What kind of Yid are you? How can you finish reciting the Amidah azoy shnell (so quickly)?”
Berl was a bit astounded at the outburst, but he kept his cool, so to speak, and responded, “Hair zich tsue (give a listen): The Ribono Shel Olam (G-d) has just so much time for each Yid, so if you schlep out (drag) your prayers, you may deprive another Yid of his prayer time. So, live and let live.” Thus ended the conversation. (What response would you have given?)
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There was a time when the expression live-and-let-live meant letting other people determine their own lifestyle. Today, the expression can be taken literally, because each and every day, people are extinguishing the lives of other people. If you examine most newspapers, you will quickly come upon articles about murdered, maimed, or robbed people! Several years ago, if a person was murdered, the crime made headline news and the whole town was tsueridert (all shook up). Today, people don’t even blink at the listed atrocities. Voss gayt awn (what’s happening)? Ah broch tsue Columbus – Columbus should have kept sailing!
The live-and-let-live motto originated in Holland, and the meaning was to be tolerant of differences. Among Yidden, if Shmerl had long payess (sideburns), it was no problem. And if Beryl had shorter payess, it was also no problem. They simply applied the live-and-let-live formula. Today, mehn lawst nisht leben (they don’t let you live); there exist groups within groups that disrespect one another. Chin-length payess are frowned upon by payess that are longer. And if you are payess-less, ah broch iz tsue deer, woe unto you! That’s only one example.
The problem also exists in the workplace. How many ehrliche (honest) Yidden or, for that matter, good nochrim (gentiles) have been pushed out of their positions by the aggressive behavior of others? Probably thousands.
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Amazingly, the live-and-let-live motto became popular during World War I. At that time, soldiers on each side of the battleground dug deep trenches, positioned themselves in the fahrzetsteh (beat up) trenches, and went about their business of killing the enemy. Trench warfare created numerous casualties. For a description of trench warfare, you can Google the exploits of Sgt. Alvin York. He imitated the sound of wild turkeys, and when the curious German soldiers poked their head out of the trenches, Alvin made them ah kopp kertzer (headless). For some mysterious reason, the live-and-letlive expression became very popular in the trenches!
The famous Indian lover of peace, Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi, uttered “live and let live” to the masses in India. Nu, ess hawt nit geholfehn (it didn’t help), because, in spite of his quest for peace, he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse (nisht ah Yid). Gandhi’s last words were “Hey Raam” – not a football cheer but an Indian deity. Nu, Hey Raam hawt em geholfehn (helped him) like a rattlesnake bite cures a cold.
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If there wasn’t enough tsoress going on in the East, the West had a new tsoraw (problem). The “evil empire” of the East, the Soviet Union, for some bizarre political reason, began sending ships towards the Communist island of Cuba. Had they been loaded with samovars or caviar, who would care? But the Ruskies were shipping missile parts to be placed in Cuba, an arms throw from Florida!
Nu, such a thing is not done, and U.S. President Kennedy gave a long televised speech which scared the living daylights out of everyone. Newspapers were discussing the morality of building a radioactive fallout shelter in your backyard and stocking it with a gun.
Voss hawt her gezokt – What did Kennedy say? Bekitsur (in short), Kennedy stated that the U.S. would pay any price to stop the ships from delivering their cargo, and if they crossed a given line, a nuclear war would ensue! Luckily for the world, Hashem gave more saychel (sense) to Khrushchev, the Russian leader, than to Kennedy, because Khrushchev ordered his vessels to return to Russia. It was said that Khrushchev uttered “live and let live” in one of his speeches. He added that there was no need to fight the U.S., because Americans would eventually commit national suicide.
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Iz dehr kasheh (the question remains): Will humanity ever live and let live?
With the wonder of wonders known as “Google” (an internet know it all), I reviewed the history of wars and disasters and was astounded at the facts and figures. Here is one: The number of deaths among both soldiers and civilians during World War II (1939 to 1945) is 60- to 72-million! We are discussing just one war. As you review wars of the past, the figure is even more staggering. I googled the question, “How many people have died in all wars?” and the response was a mind boggling 1.5 billion!
The causes of wars are documented, and theories abound as to what constitutes a righteous cause to make war. But if you review the history of any battle, the attacker usually justifies the attack and the bloodshed. So the question is voss gayt awn (what’s happening?) Is war a human need? Do humans have some type of aggressive genetic fiber that requires destroying others? If so, the human race is, chas vesholom (G-d forbid), doomed to extinction.
Here is an aytseh (idea): We are vaccinated against various diseases such as smallpox and the flu. Perhaps our gifted scientists can develop a vaccination or a pill to end the human need to destroy others. In fact, the flu vaccine itself might be the first step. Several days ago, I received an injection against the flu virus. Nu, voss kawn ich deer zogen what can I tell you)? Three hours after the injection, an ant could have knocked me over. Once the “anti-war” vaccination is a reality, the hardest part would be how to get the politicians to make it a health requirement for all newborns!
The bottom line is that, in this nuclear age, either we take a firm stand against violence or, chas vesholom (G-d forbid), the world as we know it could be facing destruction! There is a saying that if humanity could be taught self-control and selfishness control, there would be no need for nuclear control. As long as humans don’t learn, all the treaties we have now are not secure.
The Torah proclaims that life and death are choices that humans make. The Ribono Shel Olam (G-d) advises us to choose life. It’s time for humanity to accept the advice written in the holy Torah and – once and for all – LIVE AND LET LIVE!â—†
