KALMAN’S QUESTION

I scanned the shelves in the neighborhood grocery store which is owned by old Kalman. I tried, unsuccessfully, to locate a bag of “healthy” sugar. Have you heard of such a thing? According to my mother, it is brown and says “organic” on it.

When I realized that I could scan the entire store and still not find the sugar, I went to ask Kalman, or – as he is known by the children – Sabba Kalman, where the sugar was. Why didn’t I do this until now, you wonder? Because Sabba Kalman is not like the grocers in stories, those jolly fellows behind the counters who love children who come to buy lollipops.

Kalman is tough and his short beard of gray and white only adds to his severe look. “How much money do you have, child?” he asks the candy lover. It makes no difference that he is already over ten and a half. “Two quarters and a dime,” says the child. “That’s not enough,” says Sabba Kalman. “The candy costs another nine cents.” The child doesn’t even try to promise to bring the nine cents the next time he comes, because Sabba Kalman won’t agree to that.

Now you understand why I preferred finding the sugar myself and you can also imagine how nervous I was when I finally had no choice but to approach him. “Yes, child, what do you want?” Kalman asked in his thick, somewhat hoarse voice.

“Where is the brown, organic sugar?” I stammered. 

Kalman gazed at me and then said, “Hey, is that you, Berele, the Chabadnik of the grocery store? I want to ask you something. But first bring the sugar from the last shelf on the bottom left; you shouldn’t forget to buy what you wanted. I’m a seasoned businessman, eh …”

With the brown sugar in my hand and as I listened closely, Sabba Kalman asked the question that every Lubavitcher is asked, but Sabba Kalman wasn’t just being difficult. I heard in his tone that he really wanted to know. 

“I know that you believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is Moshiach who will take us out of galus. It even says so on your yarmulke, right?” Sabba Kalman paused slightly and I flicked some invisible dust off the bag of sugar.

Sabba Kalman got the hint and gave me the bag as he continued. “The truth is that I also believe that the Rebbe is a real tzaddik and worthy of being Moshiach, but who says the Rebbe is the one who will take us out of galus? There were many tzaddikim over the generations who were worthy of being Moshiach. Although the Rebbe is one of the worthy tzaddikim, maybe the Moshiach who will take us out of galus will be a different tzaddik …”

It was a good question and I had to consult first so I could answer him properly. I can tell you that I wanted to ask for myself, because I still wasn’t fully knowledgeable in all of the Rebbe’s sichos. So I said, “I understand your question, Sabba Kalman, but I am in a rush because my mother is waiting for the sugar. I will answer you, G-d willing, the next time I come. See you!” 

Kalman nodded and I waved goodbye and ran all the way home.

You surely want to know who I asked for an answer to the question. The truth is that I forgot about Sabba Kalman’s question entirely because of something exciting that happened to me. A while ago, Shlomo, the one in charge of activities in our school, announced elections for the president of the student council

My classmates asked that I be one of the candidates, and on Election Day all the students voted. What were the results of the election? You won’t believe this, but another two students and I were tied for first place! So because of all the anticipation and tension about whether I’d be picked as the president of the student council, I completely forgot about Sabba Kalman’s question.

In the meantime, Shlomo called the three of us and said that the decision would be based on a competition. “We prepared a treasure hunt, and each of you will get a note. With your knowledge of Chassidus you can figure out the riddle and discover where the next note is. The treasure will lead you to where I am waiting for you. The first to reach me will be the president.”

All my classmates followed us excitedly to see who would win, but they were not allowed to help us. I wracked my brain and suddenly had an idea of what the first note was hinting at. I hurried there and found the next note. I continued quickly with my friends running behind me, calling out encouraging words. I ended up showing up first with all the notes.

Shlomo checked to see that I had all the riddles and then announced, “We have a winner! Among the worthy candidates who were elected by the students, the one who showed up first, the winning student is – Berele! He is the president of the student council!”

I was so excited, and then what Shlomo said suddenly reminded me of Sabba Kalman’s question that I had forgotten. He had also spoken about suitable candidates.

I decided to ask Shlomo about it. He heard me out and then said, “The answer reminds me a bit of the competition you just had. The three of you were worthy candidates and were elected by the students, but the one who actually became the president was you.

“The Rebbe said in the D’var Malchus of Parshas VaEira, that in every generation there is one tzaddik who is worthy of being the Redeemer. If not for various reasons that prevent this from happening, he would be revealed and would redeem the Jewish people. The Rebbe says that now, in our generation, all the obstacles were done away with. Therefore, Moshiach in our generation is not merely the potential Moshiach, as those tzaddikim were in previous generations. He was already revealed as Moshiach who will actually take the Jewish people out of galus.”

“Thank you,” I said happily. “Now I know it myself and I can answer Sabba Kalman. Thanks to him I have made a good hachlata to learn the sichos of the D’var Malchus from the years 5751-5752 so I will know more about Moshiach and will be more prepared to welcome him.”