A Mother's Prayer

All she wished was to have a righteous and pious son. 

Yet, the odds were neatly and firmly stacked against her.

Nature ruled that she would be barren; the Torah ruled הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים, a person's righteousness cannot be destined from Above - a pious lifestyle cannot be foretold.

Thus, the odds of Chana's wish coming true were zero - it could not happen. Not by means of nature nor by the rules of the Torah.

This was reality.

Yet, Chana did not settle with this reality.

She fought to create a new one.

Who's counting?

I was expecting an important piece of mail for a few weeks, and was anxiously awaiting its arrival.

This Shabbos, I was right behind the front door when the mail fell through the mail-slot. One envelope fell onto another. I could not tell if the piece I was looking for had arrived, but another important looking envelope lay on top of the pile. It was from my mortgage bank...

I am set up for paperless billing, and e-notifications, so my heart raced. My bank only writes to me when there is a problem.

I worried that my last payment did not go through. That would mean the check bounced and there would be a fee from the mortgage bank and my regular bank.

Or was it something else?

I had recently renewed the fire insurance policy, and my broker ensured me that all was in order. Was there a lapse? Did the policy expire? 

Hauling Ice Cream

While on a trip this summer, we were driving on a long stretch of interstate highway. These stretches usually offer interesting sights and much time to think about them.

During one particularly long stretch, I passed two trucks that carried ice cream.

One was a long 18-wheeler, and was probably on its way to a warehouse or supermarket, hauling pallets and pallets of yummy, frozen treats.

The other, less intimidating one, was a traditional, city-street ice cream truck, probably on its way back to the garage after a long day's work. 

As I continued driving, I noted another, far more interesting contrast between the two ice cream haulers.

Winds of Change

"Though it is a clear day and the sun shines brightly, one feels a change in the atmosphere; the air is different. The Elul air is palpable; a Teshuva wind begins to blow..."

In this Sicha from 5694, the Frierdiker Rebbe describes what Shabbos Mevorchim Chodesh Elul felt like in the town of Lubavitch.

In another Sicha, the Frierdiker Rebbe describes waking up with a start, upon hearing the Shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul, from the 6 o'clock Minyan.

Cruise Control

When Dovid was escaping the wrath of King Shaul, his friend Yonasan advised him to hide out in the field and await his report on whether and when it would be safe to return home. 

Yonasan devised a plan with which to secretly convey this information to Dovid.

Yonasan told Dovid: "My servant and I will go out to the fields where you are hiding. I will shoot arrows and tell my servant to fetch them. Listen closely to what I tell him: If I tell my servant 'the arrows are close to you', then you will know that it is safe to return home... 

ואם כה אומר לעלם 'הנה החיצים ממך והלאה' - לך, כי שילחך ה

"But if I tell him 'the arrows are further away', then go, for Hashem has sent you..."
(Shmuel I, 20:22)

Yonasan did not tell Dovid, "Go, because my father is still upset with you." He told him, "Go, for Hashem has sent you."

Gevald or Gevaldik

Chaim Yankel was beside himself. He phoned the police to report that thieves had been in his beloved car.

"Gevald! They've stolen the dashboard, the steering wheel, the brake pedal, even the accelerator," he moaned.

Five minutes later the phone at the police station rang again. It was Chaim Yankel.

"Gevaldik!" Chaim Yankel exclaimed joyfully. "I just realized I got in the back seat by mistake."

***

The Ba'al Shem Tov teaches that the forty-two journeys that the B'nei Yisroel traveled between Mitzrayim and Eretz Yisroel are a metaphor for the journeys that are traveled by a Yid throughout his lifetime.

The question is asked: some of the journeys involved events that were displeasing to Hashem, and some were outright acts of rebellion against Him. How can we say that also these negative-experience journeys are a part of The Plan?

Torah: Chip or Drip

Once, Akiva stood near a well and asked the bystanders, "Who chiseled this rock?"

The people answered, "The water which consistently falls on it every day."

Akiva thought: "Something so soft, has shaped something so tough. The words of Torah, which are strong as iron, can certainly penetrate my heart which is merely flesh and blood."
(אבות דר"נ נוסח א פרק ו)

What is unique about water, and its effect on a hard rock, that has taught Rebbi Akiva about the power of Torah?

***

A stone-cutter patiently chips away at a huge boulder, and can take a break, even for years at a time, and his work will not be undone during the passage of the break-time. The chip in the rock remains, and the work can be resumed at any time.

One Step

A group of people were once travelling through the forest. In the darkness, one person veered off the path - only slightly - yet, before long he was deep in the wilderness, far, far away from the path. 

Needless to say, the person who got lost didn't just end up in the wilderness with one step. His being in the wilderness was a result of the very first step he took off the path, and his continuing on that trajectory, without correcting his first, tiny misstep. 

***

Entering the wilderness of life does not happen with just one step. At a moment of temporary darkness, our focus veers from the light and truth of Torah, and so long as it is dark, we continue taking steps away from the Path of Life, G-d forbid.

When the light of Torah illuminates our lives again, the error is discovered, as does the direction and path of return.

One step at a time. 

The Rebbe. The Train. The Smoke.

This article was originally published in honor of Yud Shevat - 5776 

The date, Gimel Tamuz 5687. The place, Leningrad, Russia.

The dusty streets of the city were awhirl with the sounds and sights of the hundreds of Chassidim who thronged to the train station to bid farewell to the Frierdiker Rebbe, who was on his way to Kostroma.

The station platform, packed with Chassidim, was also swarming with KGB agents and spies, their eyes and ears alert to the conversations and expressions of the Chassidim. Along the length of the station stood soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, arms locked, with bayonet tipped rifles, clutched tightly against their chests.

On a far side of the town, a Chossid could be seen, shlepping his young son along with him, as they ran through the narrow streets and alleyways, taking every shortcut possible, in order to come to the station before the Rebbe would depart.

Gathering a Nation

ובהקהיל את העם תתקעו ואל תריעו

Hashem instructed Moshe: When gathering the Yidden, blow a Tekiah, not a Teruah.
(Bamidbar 10:5)

What is the significance of the Tekia sound, vis-a-vis the Teruah sound? Why is Tekia the sound that gathers the nation?

***

For most immigrants coming to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was extremely rare to find a job that did not require one to work on Shabbos. As such, many frum Jews were in constant search of a livelihood, often losing their jobs before or immediately after Shabbos, as a result of their not working on Shabbos.

The story is told of two families who struggled with Parnassa, yet fought valiantly to stay steadfast to a Torah lifestyle. Every week, each father set out to find a job, only to lose it at the end of the week, for their commitment not to work on Shabbos.

Interestingly enough, when the children of one family grew up, they stayed committed to a Torah lifestyle, while the children of the other family did not.