R’ Avraham Goldstein, a well-known ger-tzedek living in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had a friend whose son started drifting from Yiddishkeit. The family reached out to R’ Avraham to see if he could try to influence their son, Yaakov.
R’ Avraham sought after Yaakov, hoping to influence him for the good. During their conversation, he thought of a great idea. Soon after, R’ Avraham brought Yaakov to John’s store, who greeted R’ Avraham warmly and inquired as to who was R’ Avraham’s companion. R’ Avraham introduced Mr. John to his young friend, Yaakov, and told him that Yaakov was a Levi, Levite.
Hearing this, John leaped from his seat and announced on the PA system that all workers should come and get a blessing from this authentic Levite. “We want all our people to be blessed by such a person.”
Within moments, all seventy employees of John’s store gathered around R’ Avraham and Yaakov, seeking his brachah. Everyone lined up, bent their heads, as they were instructed, and Yaakov bentched them all.
As Yaakov and R’ Avraham returned to the car, Yaakov started crying uncontrollably. “Why are you crying?” asked R’ Avraham.
“All this time I never valued myself as a special Levi. This is the first time that the awareness is touching me!”
This episode stood for Yaakov as a life-changer, motivating him to redirect his life, to serve Hashem, to do His mitzvos, and to understand his intrinsic value. Most of us are not Leviim, yet we have a lot to learn from this story. We are the one and only chosen nation, chosen by non-other than the Creator, Hashem. This recollection gives us nobility and dignity. This in itself stands for us to take great pride in and to conduct ourselves in an uplifting manner.
