The Cry of a Child
While his son was lost in study, the Alter Rebbe heard a baby crying and went to comfort it, teaching that no height of learning excuses ignoring a child's cry.
A story ofRebbe Schneur Zalman of Liadiרבי שניאור זלמן מלאדיProfile ›
Chassidim relate that the Alter Rebbe's son, Rav Dovber, later the Mitteler Rebbe, was known for the depth of his concentration. When he studied or prayed, he heard nothing around him.
One day his infant son fell from the cradle and began to cry. Rav Dovber, deep in his learning, did not hear. But the Alter Rebbe, who was also absorbed in his own Torah, heard the child at once. He put down what he was doing, went to the baby, calmed him and laid him back in the cradle.
Afterward he spoke to his son. Rav Dovber explained that he simply had not heard. His father would not accept that as an excuse. However lofty a person's learning or prayer, he told him, he must never become so absorbed that he fails to hear the cry of a Jewish child.
Chassidim have long taken this as a principle of Chabad: the cry may come from an infant, or from someone young or far from Torah, and a real servant of Hashem always has an ear open for it.
Source: A tradition told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Menachem M. Schneerson, in a published letter and in his talks; in English in Keeping in Touch, vol. 2 (Eliyahu Touger), Vayeishev.
Choose a time today when you are most absorbed, whether in learning, davening, work or your phone. During it, ask yourself who might need you and has not yet said so. It may be a child asking for attention, a spouse who is quiet, or a friend who has not called in a while. When you notice, stop what you are doing and give that person your full attention for a few minutes. The Alter Rebbe shows that closeness to Hashem and attention to others belong together.