The Longer Shorter Way

Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah: "Once a child got the better of me."
"I was traveling, and I met with a child at a crossroads. I asked him, which wa! to the cit!" and he
answered: #his wa! is short and long, and this wa! is long and short.
"I took the short and long wa!. I soon reached the cit! but found m! a$$roach obstructed b! gardens
and orchards. So I retraced m! ste$s and said to the child: %! son, did !ou not tell me that this is the
short wa!" &nswered the child: 'id I not tell !ou that it is also long""
(Talmud, Eruvin 53b)
Also in life there is a "short but long" way and a "long but short" way.
In his #an!a, abbi !"hneur #alman of $iadi sets down the fundamentals of the %habad&%hassidi"
a''roa"h to life. (n the "over 'age of this ")ible of %hassidism" he defines his wor* as follows+
",This boo* is- based on the verse,. 'For [the Torah and its precepts] is something that is very close
to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it'&& to e/'lain, with the hel' of 0&d, how it is
indeed e/"eedingly "lose, in a long and short way."
The Torah and its "ommandments (mit1vot) are the %reator2s blue'rint for "reation, detailing the e/a"t
manner in whi"h 3e meant life to be lived and 3is 'ur'ose in "reation to be fulfilled. )ut is a life that
is ordered by Torah indeed feasible4 %an the ordinary "everyman" be realisti"ally e/'e"ted to "ondu"t
his every a"t, word and thought in a""ordan"e with the Torah2s most demanding dire"tives4
The Torah itself is 5uite "lear on the matter+ "(or the mit)vah which I command !ou this da!, it is not
be!ond !ou nor is it remote from !ou. It is not in heaven... nor is it across the sea... Rather, it is
something that is ver! close to !ou, in !our mouth, in !our heart, that !ou ma! do it." Torah is not an
abstra"t ideal, a 'oint of referen"e to strive toward, but a 'ra"ti"al and attainable goal to a"hieve.
)ut how4 In the #an!a, abbi !"hneur #alman develo's the %habad a''roa"h && a holisti" a''roa"h to
life in whi"h the mind and intelle"t 'lay the leading and 'ivotal role. 6irst, a 'erson must study,
"om'rehend and meditate u'on the 5uintessential truths of e/isten"e+ the all&trans"endent, all&
embra"ing, all&'ervading reality of 0&d7 the root and essen"e of the soul and its intrinsi" bond with its
%reator7 man2s mission in life, and the resour"es and "hallenges that are e/tended to him to fulfill it.
!in"e these "on"e'ts are e/tremely subtle and abstra"t, one must toil "a toil of the soul and a toil of the
flesh" to gras' them and relate to them.
The ne/t ste' of this a''roa"h is to translate this *nowledge and "om'rehension into emotional
feelings. )e"ause of an innate su'eriority of the mind over heart that the %reator has imbued in human
nature, the understanding, assimilation and meditation u'on these 0&dly "on"e'ts will "om'el the
develo'ment of the a''ro'riate emotions in the heart+ the love and awe of 0&d. "$ove of 0&d" is
defined by abbi !"hneur #alman as the un5uen"hable desire to "leave to 3im and be unified with 3is
essen"e7 "awe of 0&d" is the utter abhorren"e towards anything whi"h ere"ts barriers between 3im and
man.
6inally, when a 'erson has so oriented his mind and so transformed his heart, his observan"e of the
Torah2s 're"e'ts be"omes not only 'ossible, but a "om'elling need. 3e "raves the fulfillment of the
mit1vot with every fiber of his being sin"e they are the bridge between him and 0&d, the means && and
the only means && by whi"h he "an "onne"t to his %reator. And any transgression of 0&d2s will, no
matter how attra"tive to his material nature, is literally revolting to him, sin"e it disru'ts his
relationshi' with 0&d and runs "ontrary to his own true self.
)ut a 'erson may argue+ 8hy s'end a lifetime 'ursuing this demanding regimen of mind and heart4
8hy must I toil to understand and feel4 8hy not ta*e the dire"t a''roa"h && o'en the boo*s and follow
instru"tions4 I2m a sim'le 9ew, this 'erson may maintain, and the attainment of su"h lofty s'iritual
states as ""om'rehension of the :ivine", "love of 0&d", and "awe of 0&d" are way beyond my de'th. I
*now the truth, I *now what 0&d wants of me && the Torah s'ells out the do2s and don2ts of life 5uite
"learly. I have a material and ego"entri" nature4 An inborn in"lination towards evil and self&destru"tive
desires4 I2ll "ontrol them. ;y faith, determination, and will'ower will do the <ob.
This, however, is the short but long way. As the most dire"t and sim'le line between two 'oints, it is
misleadingly the surest way to town7 but in truth, the dire"t a''roa"h is a dead end. As with the route
whi"h abbi =ehoshua first "hose, it seems to lead straight to the "ity && only somehow it never 5uite
ma*es it. 6or it is a 'ath of never&ending struggle, the s"ene of 'er'etual duel between the self&oriented
animal soul of man and his u'ward&rea"hing 0&dly soul. True, man has been given free "hoi"e and
furnished with the ne"essary fortitude and s'iritual staying 'ower to meet his every moral "hallenge7
but the 'ossibility of failure, 0&d forbid, also e/ists. >o matter how many times he will trium'h,
tomorrow will bring yet another test. (n the short and long road one may win battle after battle, but
there is never a de"isive vi"tory in the war of life.
(n the other hand, the long but short way is winding, stee', tedious, and long as life itself. It is full of
u's and downs, setba"*s and frustrations. It demands every oun"e of intelle"tual and emotional stamina
the human being "an muster. )ut it is a road that leads, steadily and surely, to the as'ired&to destination.
8hen one does finally a"5uire an a'titude and intelle"tual taste for the 0&dly, when one does develo' a
desire for good and abhorren"e for evil, the war has been won. The 'erson has transformed himself into
someone whose every thought, deed and a"t is naturally attuned to his 5uintessential self and 'ur'ose
in life.
6((T>(TE!
.. :euteronomy 3?+.@.
)ased on the tea"hings of the $ubavit"her ebbe
)ased on the tea"hings of the $ubavit"her ebbe, abbi ;ena"hem ;endel !"hneerson7 ada'ted by
=an*i Tauber.