Quick Thoughts: A Story with a Twist
~ Quick Thoughts ~
A Story with a Twist
By: Daniel Listhaus
By: Daniel Listhaus
This past week I was a guest in a shul and between mincha and maariv one evening, the Rov said the following story prefaced with the line: "There are still tzaddikim in this world". The story was as follows:
A fellow from Eretz Yisroel called up this particular Rov and said that he was going through rough times. He had racked up a lot of medical expense debt due to an issue he was facing and now his daughter got engaged and he needed to collect money for her chasuna (wedding). The Rov replied that although his heart goes out for him and his family he will have to take a day to think about if he is comfortable going to his kehilla and asking for money. After all, they finally got through with Pesach and Shavuos appeals and now new memberships and yomim no'raim are approaching and it may be difficult to expect so much from the particular kehilla. In the mean time, this person from Eretz Yisroel contacted three other rabbanim in the states and got the same answer from all of them - they would love to help but need a day or two to really consider if their particular kehillos would be able to take on another mission. Over the next few days all the rabbanim got back that they did not feel like they could turn to their people to ask for more charity in this particular case.
The next week this person calls back the Rov and said that an an amazing thing happened! That Friday there was a knock on his door. His wife went to answer it and there was a stranger there with an envelope. The stranger gave the envelope to the man's wife and said, "Here is money for the wedding". The wife asked him to wait a minute while she ran to get her husband so they could thank this mysterious person. When they got back to the door, however, the man had disappeared. They opened the envelope and indeed there was a wad of cash - enough for him to contribute for his daughter's wedding as well as to help pay down his medical expenses.
The Rabbi's story ended there. He then said, "You see, there are still tzadikkim in this world. Some person with a neshama and a heart felt the pain of this man and his family going through their financial crisis and was willing to take initiative and pitch in without even waiting around to receive a thank you. What an incredible tzaddik! There is no am kadosh (Holy nation) like am Yisroel (the Jewish people)."
I have to admit that the lesson the Rabbi said really struck a refreshing chord for me. The whole time as he was relating the story I thought that the tzaddik he'd reference was the person with the financial crisis who obviously merited a direct gift from Hashem. I figured that this Rov would say that perhaps the stranger was Eliyahu Ha'navi sent by Hashem to make sure that this person was taken care of. However that was not the direction the Rov chose. The Rov pointed out that the person who gave the tzedaka was a tzaddik for being willing to give so much for another Jew and not even wait for a thank you. For me, this story and lesson was refreshing and I realized that our society is so far removed from doing acts of kindness without acknowledgement that the first thing to come to my mind was that the "stranger" was probably Eliyahu Ha'navi versus a kindhearted person. There are indeed real tzaddikim in the world and doing real acts of kindness is in fact achievable by us humans and not merely for malachim (angels).
May Hashem help us, especially during this time before Rosh Hashana, understand that doing true chesed for others is indeed achievable and is actually expected of us to take initiative and truly care and feel for those around us, to be sensitive to their conditions, and smart about when and how we could help.
A fellow from Eretz Yisroel called up this particular Rov and said that he was going through rough times. He had racked up a lot of medical expense debt due to an issue he was facing and now his daughter got engaged and he needed to collect money for her chasuna (wedding). The Rov replied that although his heart goes out for him and his family he will have to take a day to think about if he is comfortable going to his kehilla and asking for money. After all, they finally got through with Pesach and Shavuos appeals and now new memberships and yomim no'raim are approaching and it may be difficult to expect so much from the particular kehilla. In the mean time, this person from Eretz Yisroel contacted three other rabbanim in the states and got the same answer from all of them - they would love to help but need a day or two to really consider if their particular kehillos would be able to take on another mission. Over the next few days all the rabbanim got back that they did not feel like they could turn to their people to ask for more charity in this particular case.
The next week this person calls back the Rov and said that an an amazing thing happened! That Friday there was a knock on his door. His wife went to answer it and there was a stranger there with an envelope. The stranger gave the envelope to the man's wife and said, "Here is money for the wedding". The wife asked him to wait a minute while she ran to get her husband so they could thank this mysterious person. When they got back to the door, however, the man had disappeared. They opened the envelope and indeed there was a wad of cash - enough for him to contribute for his daughter's wedding as well as to help pay down his medical expenses.
The Rabbi's story ended there. He then said, "You see, there are still tzadikkim in this world. Some person with a neshama and a heart felt the pain of this man and his family going through their financial crisis and was willing to take initiative and pitch in without even waiting around to receive a thank you. What an incredible tzaddik! There is no am kadosh (Holy nation) like am Yisroel (the Jewish people)."
I have to admit that the lesson the Rabbi said really struck a refreshing chord for me. The whole time as he was relating the story I thought that the tzaddik he'd reference was the person with the financial crisis who obviously merited a direct gift from Hashem. I figured that this Rov would say that perhaps the stranger was Eliyahu Ha'navi sent by Hashem to make sure that this person was taken care of. However that was not the direction the Rov chose. The Rov pointed out that the person who gave the tzedaka was a tzaddik for being willing to give so much for another Jew and not even wait for a thank you. For me, this story and lesson was refreshing and I realized that our society is so far removed from doing acts of kindness without acknowledgement that the first thing to come to my mind was that the "stranger" was probably Eliyahu Ha'navi versus a kindhearted person. There are indeed real tzaddikim in the world and doing real acts of kindness is in fact achievable by us humans and not merely for malachim (angels).
May Hashem help us, especially during this time before Rosh Hashana, understand that doing true chesed for others is indeed achievable and is actually expected of us to take initiative and truly care and feel for those around us, to be sensitive to their conditions, and smart about when and how we could help.
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