Zalman Der Shikker [Zalman the Drunkard] actually had a Last Name. I discovered this today when I saw on the internet that he passed away at the surprisingly advanced age of 76.
Reb Zalman was a homeless fellow from Newark, NJ who migrated to the streets of Crown Heights -- no doubt because of the open warmth of the Chassidic community who tolerated and perhaps even embraced him. He was legendary for the pearls of wisdom that came from his mouth when he was sober, as well as for the sad and inevitable scene of his lying in a stupor outside of 770 Eastern Parkway – the Chabad Headquarters. As kids –he was simply known as Zalman Der Shikker.
Today I learned that this fellow had two sons from a failed marriage, and he was an accomplished pianist. I can now clearly see that there was so much about Reb Zalman that was unknown to us kids – stolen by the ravages of alcoholism.
Today, I recall one particular nugget of deep thought from this unlikely source.
Reb Zalman would explain why he started drinking: “I started drinking to drown my sorrows – but then I discovered that my sorrows FLOAT.”
I have thought of this 'Deep Thought' many times since when I faced a life-challenge that I thought was too much for me to handle. We are meant to work through our problems. We understand that when facing a challenge, we must process this as a ‘launch ramp’ rather than as a ‘speed bump’.
Reb Zalman taught me that sorrows are amazingly buoyant when we try to drown them; Reb Zalman challenged us kids to embrace the challenge rather than drown it.
May the soul of Reb Zalman find true and final peace.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yisroel Hecht