By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer
Back in the days before the world had gone completely off the rails, a chareidi Jew from Bnei Brak named Yehuda was driving on the Tel Aviv–Yerushalayim highway when he suddenly noticed a car sitting on the side of the road with its hazard lights blinking. Inside the car were two parents, a child, and a dog. He pulled up behind the car and got out to ask what the problem was.
“We ran out of gas,” the father explained. “We’ve been waiting here for a half an hour. You’re the first car that stopped.”
Promises to Bring them Back Gas for Their Car
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Yehuda reassured them. “I’ll drive over to the nearest gas station at Motza and bring you back enough gasoline so you can get back on the road.” Yehuda gave them his phone number, they gave him theirs, and he promised to return as quickly as possible. He was back shortly afterward with a jerry can full of gasoline.
They offered to pay him for his help, but he refused. “It’s on the house.” “What do you mean? You drove to the gas station, you went out of your way and you spent money on me. What do you mean, ‘It’s on the house?’” “Thank you for wanting to pay, but I did a mitzvah and I don’t want payment for it.” “I don’t believe this.” “What’s so hard to believe?” “Come here a second. I want to show you something.” The father led Yehuda around to the back of the car. On the trunk there was a bumper sticker. “Do you see that sticker?” the man asked him. Yehuda looked. The sticker said, “Dros kol dos.” Roughly translated, this means, “Run over every religious person.”
First Time He Had Met a Religious Person
“This is the first time in my life that I’m meeting a religious person,” the man confessed, “and suddenly I find myself incredibly ashamed at the sticker on my car. I’m going to remove it.” “Tell me,” Yehuda said. “Where are you from?” “We live in Kibbutz Be’eri. It’s situated down south, near Gaza.” “Interesting, I’ve never heard of it. At any rate, I hope you have a great trip and nothing else should go wrong.”
They bid each other good night, went back to their respective cars, and drove off. The next morning, the man who had run out of gas on Highway 1 heard his phone ringing. He answered it. “Hello? It’s Yehuda.” “Yehuda who?” “Yehuda. I met you last night on the highway when you ran out of gas.” “Yes, yes, of course. Hello and thank you so much for what you did. You really saved us!”
Just Calling to Make Sure You Got Home Safe
“You’re welcome. I was just calling to make sure you got home safe and sound.” “Yes, after you left, we drove to the gas station, filled up, and were able to get home just fine. Thank you very much!” “My pleasure. Now I’m calm. Kol tuv.”
A few days later, on Friday afternoon, Yehuda called again. He had a story to share with the couple’s young son, if they didn’t mind. “A story? Sure. Why not? What’s the story?” And so it began. Every Erev Shabbos, Yehuda would call the family from Kibbutz Be’eri and tell them a story. It usually wasn’t longer than two minutes, and within a short time, this became their weekly tradition. Half a year passed.
One Friday, the man from Kibbutz Be’eri asked Yehuda a question. “Tell me, Yehuda, aren’t you bored on Shabbos?” “Why would I be bored?” “I don’t know. You pray and you eat, and that’s pretty much the whole situation, no? You can’t speak on the phone or watch TV or work on the computer or go for a drive. That’s why I’m asking. Aren’t you bored?” “It’s funny you should think that I would be bored on Shabbos when it happens to be a day when I find that I am very busy.” “How’s that?”
Invites the Family to Come and Spend a Shabbos
“Look, it will be difficult for you to understand without experiencing it for yourself. So, here’s what I suggest. Why don’t you come and join me and my family for Shabbos? Then you can come and see how it is for yourself.” The man from Be’eri was taken aback. “You’re not serious! Me keep Shabbos? In Bnei Brak?! Are you forgetting that I’m chiloni?” “I didn’t forget for a second,” Yehuda reassured him. “You will be my guest, and everything will be fine. We’ll find you an apartment for you to stay in, and you will make us very happy if you accept our invitation.”
“It seems kind of crazy to me, but I’ll ask my wife and I’ll get back to you with an answer.” In the meantime, Yehuda called his rav. He explained the situation and asked the rav for his advice on when might be a good time to invite the family from Be’eri to his house for Shabbos. The thing was that it was almost Tishrei. First there was Rosh HaShanah — two full days of intense davening. Yom Kippur, of course, was a fast day. Then there was Sukkos, when they’d be eating and sleeping in the sukkah. “I can’t really see them going for that,” Yehuda said.
The Rav’s Suggestion on When to Invite the Family
“What about Simchas Torah?” his rav suggested. “People will throw candies at them, and they’ll have a chance to dance with the Sefer Torah.” “I can’t have them on Simchas Torah.” “Why not?” “My father lives in Sderot, and all my siblings take turns going to spend Shabbos and Yom Tov with him. Simchas Torah is my turn to go.” “Why don’t you invite your father to come and spend Simchas Torah with you in Bnei Brak? Then, in addition to experiencing a real Simchas Torah, the family from down south will also be able to see how beautifully your family treats your father, too...” It was a good idea. There was just one glitch: “We can only come to you if we can bring our dog,” the man from Be’eri told Yehuda when he called to invite them for Simchas Torah. “Is that a problem?” “Not at all. Bring your dog.”
So it was that Yehuda’s father, who lived across the street from the police station in Sderot, wasn’t home when the terrorists took control of that part of the city, killing many people. Not only was he saved, but so were his son Yehuda and Yehuda’s family, who were supposed to spend Simchas Torah with him in Sderot. Then there was the family from Be’eri. They, too, were saved. They remained alive and well while the terrorists set their house on fire and their home went up in flames. And since they had to remain in Bnei Brak for a while — there was a war going on, after all — it made sense to send their son to a local Shuvu school.
And to think that it all began one evening on the highway when a frum guy stopped to help someone who ran out of gas...
Reprinted from the Parshas Yisro 5784 edition of At the ArtScroll Shabbos Table. Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “Angels in Orange – Uplifting Stories of Courage, Faith and Miracles from the United Hatzalah Heroes of October 7th.”
