By Daniel Keren
One of the featured speakers at the recent Flatbush Labor Day Hakhel Yarchei Kallah Event was Rabbi Meyer Yedid, Rav of Congregation Shaare Zion and Rosh Yeshiva of YDE (Yeshiva Darche Eretz.) The topic of his lecture was “Making this Year’s Teshuva Different!”
Rabbi Yedid pointed out that the halacha (Jewish law) is that Rosh Hashanah while being a scary day [as one is concerned whether one will be indeed worthy to be written in the Book of Life for the coming year] is not a day for crying. Indeed, the Navi (the Prophet Ezra) told those Jews who returned from Bavel (Babylonia) to restore a community in the Holy Land after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, that Rosh Hashana, [the day he was speaking to them] was rather a day for giving gifts of cooked food for those who have nothing to eat.
Viewing Every Jew as a Valued Person
The great Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon) says that in every moment or in every place, whether it is a close family member or regarding a rav or someone else in your shul, one is obligated to love and care for that Jew (unless he is a rasha, a wicked individual*) as a valued person, even if you are having a hard day and they don’t deserve it. It is not enough for a Jew to say that he is not hurting another person, if he has the chance to help that individual either materially or spiritually.
Regarding the designation of a rasha, Rabbi Yedid said that there are very few people who truly qualify for this undesirable title, as most Jews today are ignorant of the Torah and perhaps we can have an opportunity to turn them around for the good.
Tzaras (pain) is part of life. It could range, Rabbi Yedid said from something as simple as not finding a parking spot to something more serious [as G-d forbid a serious health issue.] When you are concerned for others, you are going against the world (the common culture.) But this what distinguishes a Jew, when he makes such a commitment to care for others.
The Three Good Friends and the Florida Vacation
A story has in recent years circulated about three very close friends from the Five Towns who had studied together in yeshiva. They got married at around the same time and had children. They used to vacation together with their wives and children. One year they chipped in to rent a house in Florida for a mid-winter break vacation. The wives went out to shop and the husbands were left to look after the children. Two of the husbands took the children to the swimming pool. Afterwards they returned into the house.
Only one of the boys notice that his 18-month-old brother was missing. He went back to the pool and to his horror saw his brother floating face down. He ran back into the house screaming. The third husband ran down and into pool where he jumped in. He was a trained Hatzalah emergency medical technician and he began doing procedures to get the toddler breathing again. Baruch Hashem, he got the boy to breathe and he was brought back to the hospital where he miraculously was given further treatments and came out with no serious long-lasting problems.
The Surprising Story of the Hatzalah Member
Back in New York, the families got together for a seudas hatodah (a festive meal to thank Hashem for the miracle.) One of the fathers spoke and noted that it was a miracle that one of the three adult men was a trained Hatzalah EMT. The Hatzalah member than asked to speak. He said that that year when told about the plans to go to Florida, he told one of his buddies that this year because of financial reverses in his business he simply couldn’t afford to come with his wife and children.
His buddy said that it wouldn’t be a vacation if he didn’t join them as they were friends going back to their childhoods. He was going to pay for his friend and his family. The Hatzalah member said that it was this friend whose toddler fell into the pool and the miracle was that he arranged for his own son to be saved by paying his friend and family to come to Florida for that mid-winter vacation.
The Power of the Prayer Recalling King David’s Chesed
Rabbi Yedid concluded by recalling how Shlomo Hamelech in the inauguration of the First Beis Hamikdosh was unable to open the gates. He made 24 different prayers (each emphasizing a different virtue) to Hakodesh Baruch Hu without success. Finally, he pleaded that Hashem should open the gates of the Holy Temple in the merit of his father – Dovid Hamelech’s chesed (kindness.) At that moment, Hashem allowed the gates to open.
We have to learn that our commitment to doing chesed to others is the key to our being worthy of a good year as we prepare in these precious days of Elul for Rosh Hashanah.
Reprinted from the September 19, 2024 edition of the Flatbush Jewish Journal.
