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D'Var Torah - Parshas Behar/Bechukosai - 5764
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
When we walk in the ways of Torah, amazing things will
happen - some of which we will see during our lifetimes - some of which we
will not see during our lifetime - but they will happen - as the following
true story illustrates:
Joe was a very succesful Israeli. A son of holocaust survivors, he rose from
a childhood of poverty, and by the mid 1980s, built up a huge successful
hi-tech company. One day his wife called, asking him to pick up some meat on
his way home from the office. He stopped at a trendy take-out place to order
basar lavan (pork). As he stood on line, he began to feel uneasy. He began
to remember a story he had heard from his parents. He always knew this
story, but now it took on heightened meaning:
Joe's maternal grandfather was Rav Shraga Feivel of Hungary. Rav Shraga
Feivel was captured by the Nazis about a year before the war ended, and
imprisoned at a slave labor camp. After a year in hell, Rav Shraga Feivel
was about to be free. The war was over and the allied forces were going from
camp to camp, liberating the prisoners. They could already see the smoke of
the allied forces marching their way. Freedom was mere hours away.
At that moment, the Head SS Officer gathered the Jewish prisoners together
and announced, "The war has ended. In a few hours you will all be free."
"All but you," he said, pointing to Rav Shraga Feivel, "You must pass one
more test. You must eat this piece of pig's meat. Only then will you be
allowed to go free. Refuse and I will shoot you in the head right here and
now."
The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Rav Shraga Feivel
had been meticulous all through his stay at the camps, not to eat unkosher
meat. He didn't even eat soup which might contain meat. Rav Shraga Feivel
proclaimed, "I will not eat chazir fleisch (pork)."
A shot rang out, and Rav Shraga Feivel's soul was returned to its creator.
And now 40 years later, Rav Shraga Feivel's grandson stood thinking to
himself, "I am waiting in line to pay money to eat that which my grandfather
gave his life not to consume. All he had to do was eat that one small piece
of pork, and he would be set free. He would be allowed to return to his
family - yet he wouldn't do it. I have everything, I am free to live with my
family and have anything I want; yet I am about to purchase this meat."
"Either my grandfather was crazy, or I am crazy - and I cannot believe that
he was crazy," thought Joe as he got off the line and went to buy dinner
elsewhere.
When he got home, he spoke to his wife about his feelings and the emptiness
he had been experiencing. They both had to acknowledge that despite all
their material prosperity, a certain spiritual emptiness gnawed at him. They
were missing something but never knew exactly what. They spoke for a long
time about values and what is important in life. They decided to attend an
Arachim Seminar. Joe was enthralled by the seminar - it penetrated the murky
mysteriousness of G-d, Torah and Judaism. It rocked his world and shook his
soul.
Afterwards, Joe ran up to them and said, "Why isn't this incredible message
getting out to the whole world?" They explained that though they had a
terrifice 'product,' they lacked the money, manpower, and marketing to do
so. Joe would not hear of this. Right then and there, he became the General
Director of Arachim - a title which he still proudly holds to this day.
Joe, now known as Yossi, lives a completely observant life with his
wonderful family. He has estimated that since the 1980s, 60,000 children
have been born to families that were re-JEW-venated by Arachim.
[The foregoing true story is documented in The Maggid Series by Rabbi
Paysach Krohn.]
D'Var Torah - Parshas Behar
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
And My Sanctuary shall you revere (26:2). The Bais HaMikdash, standing as
a beacon for our people in Jerusalem, was revered by all, near and far.
Our wondrous Sanctuary was destroyed by the Romans two thousand years
ago. How can we now fulfill this commandment if there is no sanctuary to
revere? The Sforno answers that this now applies to all the Shuls and
Yeshivos. There was a certain synagogue in the Catskill Region of New
York that closed down in the 1950's. In the mid 1970's, a Jewish summer
camp chose to hold a Shacharis (morning prayers) service at the building
which was vacant for years but still standing. Upon entering the site
they were amazed to see that the interior was in working order, there was
not a speck of dust on the furniture even though it had been out of use
for over 20 years. More amazing, there was a shul calender which was up
to date. How could this be? They inquired and finally found a man who
told them the following: "My father, may he rest in peace, was one of the
founders of this shul. He was a carpenter and literally built much of the
building with his own hands. After WWII, many young people either moved
out or were killed in the war. The membership dwindled till it closed. I
came in once a month since then to dust the place, update the calender,
and do whatever else was necessary." One of the camp counselors asked
him, "Why did you bother doing all that?" He replied with complete
simplicity, "I figured this is G-d's house and I have to take care of
it." This simple man understood the holiness of a shul and we must have
the same respect and reverence for any shul or yeshiva today, as we would
for the great Bais HaMikdash itself.
DVAR TORAH: Behar
“I will ordain my blessing for you… the land will yield
sufficient crop…” Leviticus 25:21 The Torah promises us that if we
observe Hashem’s (G-d) commandment to allow the land of Israel to rest
every seven years and do not sow or harvest the land, Hashem will bless
us with sufficient crops during the sixth year to sustain us. Similarly,
we show our faith and trust in Hashem by not working on the Sabbath as
the following true story illustrates:
Lenny Bromberg was a
young man who was beginning his family life. He and his wife had a cute
toddler and another little one was on the way. Lenny managed to land a
job with a real estate agency in Manhattan. It was the early 1990s and
the real estate market in New York was very slow.
Lenny was on the job for
a short time, when he already had to ask for time off for Rosh Hashanah.
Asking for time off is not exactly a way to ingratiate yourself with
your new boss. Nevertheless, this was the situation and Lenny had no
choice.
Rosh Hashanah was next
Monday. Monday is a very busy day in the real estate business. Most of
the viewings are on Sunday so a great deal of follow up needs to be done
on Monday. Still, he had heard of Rosh Hashanah, he knew that Lenny
wasn’t just making this up to get a day off, so he gave his consent.
“Sure thing, go pray
next Monday and we’ll see you bright and early on Tuesday,” he said
graciously.
This was a bit awkward
but, Lenny replied, “Rosh Hashanah is Monday and Tuesday. I can’t be
back till Wednesday.”
The boss said, “My
Hallmark calendar says Monday. It doesn’t say anything about Tuesday.”
With pleading eyes,
Lenny answered, “Rosh Hashanah is really two days.”
Somehow, the boss okayed
it. Lenny returned on Wednesday and worked hard as he always did. The
next week Lenny told the boss that he would have to take off Wednesday
for Yom Kippur.
The boss exclaimed,
“What’s the matter? You didn’t pray enough last week! You had two whole
days!” Still, the boss had heard of Yom Kippur so he let Lenny off.
“Make sure you don’t turn Yom Kippur into two days on me.” Lenny was
back hard at work on Thursday.
The next week, Lenny
approached his boss apprehensively, “There is another holiday called
Succos and it lasts for two days…”
The boss hit the roof,
“What are you? Some kind of religious fanatic!” Only after releasing a
tirade that is not printable on the hallowed pages of ShulWeek, did the
boss agree to give Lenny the requisite days off.”
Exactly one week later,
Lenny was back at his at his boss’s desk. He now needed to ask for two
days off for Simchas Torah. Lenny was shaking in his boots. He was in
the company for such a short amount of time; he did not yet have a track
record of being a valuable reliable worker. He was sure he was going to
be fired. He had visions of himself and his young family starving, out
on the street. Nonetheless there was no way he could work on Yom Tov so
he asked his boss, who by some miracle did not fire him. The boss did
however berate him and continued to roast him relentlessly for weeks to
come.
A funny thing happened
though. After several months on the job, it seemed more and more, that
whenever the boss needed someone whom he could trust for a difficult or
delicate assignment, he chose Lenny. Evidently, even as the boss was
ridiculing him, he was building up a deep respect and esteem for him. He
also began to notice other things about Lenny, such as the fact that
Lenny never used foul language, never gossiped about people behind their
backs, never told lies or made excuses about anything. Lenny did not
have the slightest bit of holier-than-thou attitude. He was trained in
Yeshiva to conduct himself in this way, and he was simply doing what he
thought everyone was supposed to do.
Apparently even this
tough nosed boss couldn’t help but appreciate seeing a man of conviction
– a man with values and principles who stood by them unwaveringly.
Dedicated
anonymously in memory of the Rabbi’s father, Mr. Irving Israel Lederman.
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