Locking One Door

A simple Jew who lived in Czernowitz once asked Rav Isamar why he kept his children indoors and did not let them go out like everyone else. The question was put in these words: "Why do you lock the doors to the street before your children and cause them to know less of what goes on in the street and in the world?"

The Rebbe took out his siddur and showed him the prayer said on Motzei Shabbos that begins Ribon HaOlam Av HaRachamim, and the selichos that follow. It lists many gates, in fact sixty-three, that are opened to those who keep the Torah. The Rebbe said, "You see, my friend, I lock one door before them, the door of my house, and this causes all these lofty gates to be opened to them. Surely you agree that it is better to close the one door than to open the door of the house that leads to the city, which could cause, Heaven forbid, all these lofty and good gates to be closed before them."