We’re all experiencing the Cold Snap here in Albany, as winter has been especially harsh since the start of the Spring semester. We happened to take out this children’s picture book from the Library titled “Cold Snap” by Eileen Spinelli, and reading it I realized it has two profound Chassidic messages that are especially fitting for the Shabbos of Yud (10th of) Shevat when we commemorate the 75th year since the Rebbe assumed leadership of the Chabad movement.
In short: There’s a quaint little New England-type town called Toby Mills, named for an old general, whose statute stands in middle of town. The town is experiencing a very harsh winter, a cold spell, what meteorologists today would call a Polar Vortex of arctic air. The kids first have fun with the snow, but then it gets colder and colder, and doesn’t let up. Old ladies sew mittens, old men warm with hot water bottles, they shivered and huddled and bundled under blankets as the icicle from General Toby’s statute got longer and longer.
And they keep complaining to the mayor! Why doesn’t the mayor do something about the cold!? Finally the mayor put up a notice for the whole town to gather atop the hill. Which they did. Everyone made their way up to the top. And there was a giant bonfire! With hot cider (Shabbos House folks can relate)! And maple-syrup snow candy.Ppeople warmed and gathered and connected – and the next morning, the sun came out, temperatures rose, the Cold Snap was over!
(How did the temperatures rise because of the giant bonfire? Global Warming? Book doesn’t say).
But two classic Chassidic lessons:
(1) An old Chassidic teaching says there are two ways to warm up from the cold: A) put on a thick fur coat! It will insulate you, keep you warm. B) Light a fire, it will warm you AND those around you! The fur coat won’t do that.
Most of the book’s length, the townsfolk of Toby Mills were knitting mittens, using hot-water bottles, bundling and huddling under blankets. Even the dog wanted its coat! But the story takes a turn when they light a bonfire, with communal warmth, with the type of warmth that warms others… not just insulating ourselves.
(2) The book may not explain it, but Rebbe spoke often of the global macro impact that our micro actions have. Our good deeds change the world! They have an impact, they are transformative, they make a difference. Even if we don’t always see how, or see it right away.