At night, when I came home from yeshivah, the house was filled with the special smells of Erev Rosh Hashanah. My mother was frying latkes made of karti – leeks – for the simanim.
“Do you see this leek?” my mother asked. “There’s a story behind it.”
Now I no longer knew what was more tempting – the latkes or the story. My mother realized I wanted to taste the latkes and to hear the story too, so I gained on both ends.
This is the story:
Every day, my mother is at my grandfather’s home. Baruch Hashem, he is not so young, and he needs much help. My mother helps him with everything she can; she dedicates much of her time to this mitzvah. That day, she planned on taking care of several important things after helping Saba: First she would go to the office of a certain organization that assists those who are supporting the elderly, and she would hand in forms requesting assistance for Yom Tov. Afterward she would go to the shuk and purchase luf – leeks, because the fruit-and-vegetable store near our home does not sell it.
All of this should have taken at least an hour, and it could very possibly have taken two hours, taking into account the waiting time in each place.
This was the plan, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu arranged for a much more efficient plan.
Right after Ima left Saba’s house, she met one of the clerks from the office of the organization where she was headed. “What’s new?” asked the secretary, who already knew Ima. “When are you bringing us the forms that will enable you to get support for Yom Tov?”
“I’m on the way to you right now,” Ima told her.
The clerk told her, “Don’t bother yourself. Give me the forms now, and I’ll take care of them. All the best.”
With this errand out of the way, Ima continued immediately in the direction of the shuk, and right there she saw a vegetable store. She thought that perhaps this store had the luf she needed, and indeed the store had it. Ima bought the vegetable and went straight home.
Within less than a quarter of an hour, all the important matters were arranged, and Ima told me, “When someone gives of his time to honor his parents, Hashem saves him that time from other things.”
