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Parshas B'Shalach - 5764
The Jews plunged into the Yam Suf (Red Sea) on pure
faith and trust in Hashem (G-d). It appeared as though they were marching to
a watery grave, but that generation understood with total conviction that
Hashem would always do what was good for them - whether or not it seemed to
make sense. The following incredible true story told recently at the Maalot
Dafna Melave Malka illustrates this point.
Remember the bomb that was found in Meah Shearim a
few years ago (c.2001), in an attache case that a guy opened? and he
disarmed it? Well here's the story behind it. One morning this lady goes out
to her mirpeset (balcony) and she notices a guy throwing an attache case in
the garbage. So this lady thinks, "Oy vey, that guy stole that bag from some
jew here in the neighborhood and it probably has his tallis or tefillin in
it and the poor jew is now without them, he must be so worried."
She looks over to the side and sees her
brother-in-law who was fixing his car, and she says to him,"Go over there
and get that bag out. There's probably a tallis and tefillin in there and
some poor Jew has probably lost it"
So he goes over there right away, he doesn't say,
"Sure one minute I'll do it when I'm finished." No, right that second he
goes. He opens up the bag and he finds a cellular phone and a bunch of wires
... he realizes it's a bomb and disconnects it. A minute later the phone
rings ...and we all know the rest. A near tragedy was averted.
How did this man who's a charedi (ultra-orthodox),
know that this was a bomb and even more interesting how in the world did he
know how to disconnect it without blowing himself up? The answer goes back
15 years.
Fifteen years ago, ten chassidim from Mea Shearim
suddenly got drafted into the army.!!!!!! Everybody was up in arms, how can
they let them go to the army?? They should have been covered by a Religious
Exemption. The ten families used all the protekzia they could possibly get
and finally the army let go of nine of them - they didn't have to do the
army. But this one guy is left and no matter what, they just can't get him
out. This is of course this same guy and he had to go to the army for 6
months. Guess what he learned there? Bomb Diffusion! Hashem put this exact
man right at that exact location at that precise moment.
[Story submitted by Aviva Kessler]
D'Var Torah - Parshas Beshalach
By Rabbi Baruch
Lederman
Many people think that the
Red Sea (Yam Suf) just opened wide and the Jews casually strolled on in.
Actually it did not open right away. Moshe informed the Jews that Hashem
(G-d) would split the sea but nothing happened at first. Finally one man
Nachshon ben Aminadav realized that we must make the first move and
only then would Hashem reveal His hand. With great faith, he ran into the
water. It was up to his waist but nothing happened. He continued till he was
in up to his neck and still nothing happened. He took one more courageous
step and the water was up to his nostrils when at that point Hashem split
the sea. When people extend themselves to do the right thing, amazing things
happen, as the following true story illustrates:
Private Stephen Winneger was on patrol one night during WWII when he saw a
figure running through a field. He shouted, "Halt or I'll shoot." The figure
ducked behind a tree and started to dig. Stephen again shouted, "Halt or
I'll shoot!" He didn't halt. Stephen caught up with him and tackled him to
the ground. To his surprise, he found he had captured a young boy. An ornate
Menorah had fallen from the boy's hands in the scuffle and Stephen picked it up. The boy tried desparately to grab it back shouting in Yiddish, "Give it to me! It's mine!"
Stephen assured the boy that he was among friends, and that, furthermore, he
himself was Jewish.
The boy had just survived several
long, tortuous years of the Holocaust in a concentration camp and was naturally
mistrustful of all men in uniforms. He had come back to retrieve the menorah he
had hidden there. It was all he had left in the world. He had been forced to
watch the shooting of his father, and had no idea what had become of his
mother.
Stephen took the boy, whose name was David, under his
wing. As they became closer and closer, Stephen's heart went out to the boy. He
offered David the opportunity to come back to New York City with him. He
accepted and underwent official adoption procedures.
Back home,
a curator of the Jewish Museum
in Manhattan, saw the menorah and told David it was a very valuable, historic,
European Menorah and that it should be shared with the entire Jewish
Community. He offered David $2,500 for the menorah—a staggering sum
of money in the late 1940’s! But David refused the incredible offer,
emphatically stating that the menorah had been in his family for over 200 years
and that no amount of money could ever make him sell it. He would not part with
a family mitzvah tradition.
When Hanukkah came, David and Stephen
lit the menorah in the window of their home in New York City. An hour later
there was a knock on the door. When Stephen went to answer he found a woman with
a strong German accent who said that she was walking down the street when she
saw the menorah in the window. She said that she had once had one just like it
in her family and had never seen any other like it. Could she possibly come
inside and take a closer look?
Winneger invited her in and said
that the menorah belonged to his son, David, who could perhaps tell her more
about it. He went upstairs and called David down to talk to the woman. And that
is how David was reunited with his mother.
We thank Cliff Alsberg for submitting the above
true story, documented by Rabbi A. Tuffs. HAVE A GREAT STORY? We would love to
publish it. Please send it to us. If we can use it, we will contact
you.
DVAR TORAH: Beshalach
by
Rabbi Baruch Lederman
The slavery in Egypt was long, hard and
wearing on the Jewish people. The Jews were faced with near extinction as
they almost sunk to the 49th level of impurity. But despite the seeming
impossible odds, they did not give up. The Jews bore down and held on and
survived to see the greatest miracles in the history of mankind - the ten
plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah. Where there
is life, there is hope, as the following true story, told by Tzvi Binn of Efrat-CRIB
illustrates:
Yoav, a young IDF (Israeli Defense
Force) soldier was stationed in the city of Chevron. Suddenly, he was shot
by an Arab sniper and left for dead. As it was four o'clock in the morning,
and no imminent attack was expected; no one was awake to hear the shot and
rush to his aid. It appeared as though Yoav was doomed to bleed to death
before anybody would ever find him. His short life would come to a tragic
silent end.
One other soldier however, did happen
to hear something. Though not totally sure, he suspected it might be a rifle
shot so he went to investigate. He spotted Yoav, who was lying on the
ground, bleeding to death. He immediately began to stabilize Yoav's wound
and arrange for emergency transport to a medical facility. It took time for
help to get to the scene, so he needed to apply manual pressure and any
other trick he could think of to keep Yoav alive in the interim - he was
literally holding Yoav's life in his hands.
Eventually, Yoav arrived
at a proper medical facility where he was treated by surgeons. Yoav's
parents were notified and rushed to the hospital. The doctors told them that
had it not been for the immediate and appropriate actions of the other
soldier, their son Yoav would definitely not have survived. It was indeed a
miracle that the other soldier heard what no one else heard, and managed
to locate Yoav as quickly as he did. They went to thank him, but he had
already left the hospital.
After Yoav was home
recuperating, and everyone was settled, they called the army to find out the
name of the other soldier so they could thank him personally.
Unfortunately, the other soldier's name had not been recorded in the
incident report, so they now had no way of ever contacting him.
Yoav's parents owned a
makolet (grocery store) in Kiryat Malachi, so they put up a poster in their
store, describing the miracle that occurred and asking if anyone knew the
identity of Yoav's savior. They figured that Israel is a small country and
someone might know someone who knows something.
Months passed with no
response. Finally after a year, a woman entered the store and saw the sign.
She was positive that her son Doron had mentioned such an account. She took
out her cellphone and called Doron on the spot. Sure enough, he remembered
the incident quite well - it was he who had saved Yoav's life.
Soon, all the families
gathered together for a joyful tearful 'reunion.' Doron's mother pulled
Yoav's mother aside and told her, "There is a specific reason I came to your
store today. You don't remember me, but twenty years ago, I was standing in
your makolet feeling lost and forlorn. You and your wonderful husband
noticed how sad I looked and asked me what was the matter. I explained that
I was pregnant and was overwhelmed. There were so many unbearable
difficulties; financially, socially and emotionally. I decided that the only
way out was to have an abortion."
"You both stopped
everything, and calmly and lovingly sat with me. You listened to me. Then
you offered so much encouragement and support. Because of you, everything
began to look different and I chose to keep my baby. I no longer live around
here, but I happened to be passing through and I figured it would be nice to
visit your store again to thank you once again for all that you did. The
name of that precious baby was Doron."
"My beloved Doron, who
would not have been born were it not for you, grew up to save your son
Yoav's life."
Dedicated in memory of
Sidney Abrams by his daughters Denise Nahman & Carol Janet.
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