Change in a Moment
If a person is sleeping on his left side and then turns onto his right side, he has changed sides in a moment. This reminds us that (a) a person can improve his direction in life in a moment, (b) but if he isn't cautious, he can turn the wrong way in a moment.
The Maharam Paparish zt'l (a student of the Arizal) said that at the levayah of the holy Remak zt'l, the Arizal saw a pillar of fire in front of the Remak. The chevra kadisha in Tzefas stopped near the Beis Yosef's kever to bury the Remak there. The Arizal said, "This isn't the right place. I see that the pillar of fire has gone further." The pillar stopped further up the mountain, and the Remak was buried there. Today, the Arizal, Reb Shlomo Alkabetz who wrote the Lecha Dodi, and several other great tzaddikim are also buried there.
At this levayah, the Arizal realized that a certain bachur had also seen the holy pillar of fire that went before the Remak. The Arizal wanted to take this bachur to be his son-in-law. However, later, the Arizal changed his mind since the bachur had fallen from his level. A person has ups and downs. We are human, and we can't always maintain high levels. We tell this to encourage caution, always to try the best we can, and when we fall, to pick ourselves up again.
Reb Yaakov Blau zt'l, from the gedolim of Yerushalayim, was married to a woman raised in America. Her sister, who still lived in America, requested that she send a picture of herself and her husband. Rebbetzin Blau was embarrassed to send a picture of how she looked now that she was dressed as a Yerushalmi woman, vastly different than how her sister remembered her. She requested from her husband that they dress up like standard people, just for the picture. Reb Blau said that he would ask Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld.
Reb Yosef Chaim advised them not to do so, although it was just for a picture and just for a moment. He said, "Who knows? Perhaps this will be the only picture that will remain of you and your wife, and your descendants will think that this is how she dressed."
Indeed, this is the only picture that remains of them.
The lesson for us is that whatever we do creates an image for our children. Sometimes, it is a decision of a moment, but that decision might remain in our DNA or our children's consciousness forever. Therefore, we must be cautious every moment.
