By Rabbi Yechiel Spero
All the packages are prepared and distributed with an incredible amount of sensitivity and understanding. The organizers and volunteers try to maintain a low profile to ensure that those receiving the packages have no idea who brought them. These programs - the “Tomchai Shabbat” or “Mattan Beseter’ or “Ahabat Yisrael” organizations - are often the crowning glory of the cities in which they operate. The following story depicts what these groups and their volunteers are all about.
Eliezer Gruchkind, a successful businessman, had his hands full. Not only did he run a successful, full-time diamond business, but he also ran the local Tomchai Shabbat near his home - which also turned out to be a full-time affair. Balancing the two was quite a grueling task, but Eliezer managed to do so with professionalism and integrity.
He made sure to attend every meeting of the organization and to be present when the food packages were distributed. Most of the people in need were from families he did not know. On the rare occasion when he found out that someone he knew was coming to pick up his package of food, he made it a point to keep out of sight and allow the individual his privacy.
Once, as Eliezer was entering the shul to help prepare the packages, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his next-door neighbor was coming to pick up a package. Eliezer was shocked. His neighbor was a successful businessman who couldn’t possibly have been in need of handouts - or was he?
Eliezer’s immediate need was to somehow prevent his neighbor from seeing him; he wanted to spare the man any embarrassment. And he had only seconds to figure out how to get out of the way.
Eliezer was fumbling with his keys and realized that he was not going to have enough time to hide himself before his neighbor would see him. The regulars at Tomchai Shabbat knew Eliezer’s schedule, and knew not to arrive when he was coming to prepare the food, to insure their privacy. But this man was a first-timer, and didn’t know the ground rules yet.
Suddenly Eliezer had an idea; he began to bang loudly on the door, demanding that someone inside open up. As people began to arrive to pick up their packages, they noticed him...and so did his neighbor, who quickly walked around the building to avoid running into him. As soon as Eliezer saw his neighbor walk away, he pretended to mutter and rant to himself, acting like someone who had come for his own package.
Anything to save a fellow Jew from embarrassment.
Reprinted from the Parashat Chaya Sara 5785 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace. (Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “Touched by a Story 3”)
