The Hasidic Parable

The King's Two Messengers

The King's Two Messengers ~ soldier appearing to summon a person to the king comes with great anger, evoking fear. His very garments inspire fear, and the person is indeed afraid of him. In truth, however, there is no reason to fear this messenger. His clothing is but a sign of his royal service, and in his own right he is nothing; the fear that he incites is the fear and the awe of the king. A wise person will have no fear of the messenger or of speaking to him but will instead simply proceed in haste to the king. Or, it sometimes happens that a messenger from the king behaves in a very friendly way. A fool takes pleasure in the messenger and responds to his friendly words. The wise person, in contrast, knows that what is essential is the king's will itself, and so he thinks, "Why should I delay by conversing and taking delight in the messenger? Rather, I will proceed at once to the essential matter, to the real source of friendship and love." And so he goes directly to the king without giving any thought to the messenger. (Maggid devarav Je-Ya 'akov) 1 The Maggid, Dov Baer of Mezherich, who related the above parable , provided for it the follOwing explanation: 82 The King's TW"o Messengers soldier appearing to summon a person to the l~ing comes with great anger, evol~ing fear. His very garments inspire fear, and the person is indeed afraid of him. In truth, however, there is no reason to fear this messenger. His clothing is but a sign of his royal service, and in his own right he is nothing; the fear that he incites is the fear and the awe of the l~ing. A wise person will have no fear of the messenger or of speal~ing to him but will instead simply proceed in haste to the l~ing. Or, it sometimes happens that a messenger from the l~ing behaves in a very friendly way. A fool tal~es pleasure in the messenger and responds to his friendly words. The wise person, in contrast, l~nows that what is essential is the l~ing's will itself, and so he thinl~s, llWhy should I delay by conversing and tal~ing delight in the messenger? Rather, I will proceed at once to the essential matter, to the real source of friendship and love." And so he goes directly to the l~ing without giving any thought to the messenger. (Maggid devarav Je-Ya 'akov) 1 The Maggid, Dov Baer of Mezherich, who related the above parable , provided for it the following explanation: 82 Deepening the Implications of Divine Oneness 83 In this manner, whatever emotions corne to a person in life, whether they are expressions of love or fear, that person will go to the King, the Holy One, blessed be He, and will elevate all [his emotions] to a higher plane. whether he experiences an emotion of fear or injury, or of joy and delight, he will elevate both fear and love upward to the King on high; unlike the fool who delights in, and plays with, and eats, drinks, and spends time with the messenger whom the King has sent to him....2 During the course of life, a person experiences both love and fear in various forms, along with other emotions. The words of the Maggid warn against becoming preoccupied with one's emotions, of whatever type they may be, for our emotions are really Divine Thoughts, Divine Letters that have become displaced, fallen from their proper station. They exemplify the fallen Holy Sparks of the Lurianic teaching, and one should immediately endeavor to raise those displaced letters to their higher source, to a higher level of love and fear in which those qualities are directed to God. On a broader plane, one's fortunes or misfortunes in life are thought to be of no significance because all of life's events are, at their core, occasions of God's calling to humankind. To think otherwise is to deny the hasidic vision of Divine Oneness in which self is denied any reality separate from God. The fool in the parable attaches importance to what he experiences in life. The presumption of the fool, in this case, is so generally accepted, so basic and pervasive in life, that an abstract statement posing an alternative way of thinking would be powerless...