By Rabbi Yehuda Zev Klein
Rav Avrohom Ausband
No one in recent memory had such a positive impact on his children and students as Rabbi Avrohom Ausband, the head of the Riverdale yeshiva. I’d like to share a fascinating story about him. When Rav Ausband traveled to Florida, he occasionally stayed with a man named Jacob Lyons.
One of those occasions was in October 2011. At that time, the St. Louis Cardinals were playing the Texas Rangers in the World Series, with the Cardinals trailing the Rangers three games to two.
Games six and, if necessary, seven were set to be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Mr. Lyons was a diehard Cardinals fan and wasn’t going to miss the chance to see his team make history. Watching the game on TV wasn’t enough; he wanted to be in the stadium to witness it live.
Game six was scheduled for Thursday night. His plan was to fly from Boca Raton to St. Louis on Thursday and catch the game that evening. However, he had a dilemma: what if the Cardinals won game six and tied the World Series? Game seven would take place on Friday night, and there was no point in flying in for game six if he couldn’t watch game seven when his favorite team could potentially be crowned champions.
Asking the Rabbi a Very Interesting Question
So, he approached Rabbi Ausband with a very interesting question.
“Rabbi, I’ve worked out all the laws of Shabbat in advance. I’ll stay at a hotel right across the street, and they won’t hear my ticket. I found a minyan with a Torah scroll. I can walk in and out of the stadium without any problems.”
Before Rabbi Ausband could respond, he overheard the question and pulled him aside. “Uncle, I just heard your question. Let me understand: you’re thinking of attending a baseball game in a stadium on Friday night?”
“Rabbi, you have to understand, this isn’t just a baseball game. This is game seven of the World Series.”
“I know exactly what you’re talking about. You think I don’t know about the Cleveland Indians from way back? Here’s my deal: if you don’t go to the game, if you don’t watch it on TV, listen to it on the radio, or even ask the score on Shabbat, I promise you the Cardinals will win the World Series. You can even order the Kiddush now for Shabbat, and I’ll tell everyone the whole story during Kiddush. You can include it in the shul newsletter about the Cardinals winning.”
“Rabbi, We Have a Deal!”
That was quite a bold promise. The Cardinals hadn’t even played game six yet, and they would need to win both game six and game seven to be champions. The uncle thought, if I’m truly a Cardinals fan, I must take this deal. He shook hands with Rabbi Ausband and said, “Rabbi, we have a deal.”
So, he stayed in Boca Raton. On Thursday night, he watched game six. It was the bottom of the ninth inning, two outs, and the Cardinals were down by two runs. He thought about calling the caterer to cancel the Kiddush. But miraculously, the Cardinals came back and scored two runs to tie the game.
They went into extra innings. The Rangers scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning. Again, the Cardinals were down to their last out, trailing by two runs. Miraculously, they scored two runs again and tied the game. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, the Cardinals won game six with a dramatic walk-off home run. Now, it was on to game seven.
On Friday night, Jacob was having his Shabbat meal, anxious and wondering about the game. His housekeeper asked if he wanted to know the score. “No, I can’t know the score,” he replied.
Like every pessimistic die-hard fan, he went to sleep convinced that the Cardinals had lost the World Series.
On Shabbat morning, he woke up at 6:30, got dressed, and made his way to shul for the early minyan. On his way, he passed a CVS Pharmacy and glanced at the newspaper. To his delight, he saw that the Cardinals had won game seven, five to two, claiming the World Series title.
When he arrived at shul, Rabbi Ausband approached him. “Jacob, when am I speaking?” he asked, not even inquiring who won the game. He was so convinced that because of Shmirat Shabbat, the promise would be fulfilled.
A righteous person decrees, and Hashem fulfills it. When someone takes a stand for the honor of Heaven, Hashem fulfills His promise.
And now, we know.
Reprinted from the Parashat Nitzavim 2024 edition of the Torahanytimes.com website.