There was an old shul in the neighborhood that everyone went to. The people came and prayed and lived their lives. Now there was one man in the shul who was deaf, and to everyone’s surprise he came to shul each Shabbos.

He prayed with tear-filled eyes because his son was the chazzan (cantor). Though his voice he never heard and he prays with tear-filled eyes.  Though he never heard his son’s voice, he would sit there enjoying every word.

The deaf man watched every motion, every gesture that his son made, and would stay until  the vary end of the prayers no matter how long it took. And when the davening was over he was always the first to greet his son to tell him yasher koach , well done.

Now right before Yom Kippur and the sun was setting fast and everyone was waiting to begin Kol Nidre, but the chazzan (cantor)  was not in the shul. There were many who began to worry and as the rabbi looked he saw the shul was full, but the deaf man’s seat was empty.

Suddenly the chazzan burst into the shul in his kittle and long tallis trailing behind. The people saw that he was wearing his white chazzan’s hat that he never wore before. As he’s rushing up to the beemah he stops at his father’s empty chair for just the briefest moment as he pulls his tallis over his head.

It was almost  past time for the holy Kol Nidre service and the rabbi asked him why he was so late, but the chazzan answered he had to get ready for  Yom Kippur. Silence fell throughout the shul as the chazzan took his place surrounded by the holy Torah ring.  He took a deep breath and began to pray. His voice pierced the very gates of heaven and every heart  was broken. Tears flowed so much that every sin was washed away and every soul was pure for Yom Kippur that year.

When the chazzan finished davening, the rabbi asked asked him, what was it he was thinking of That made him sing so well? The chazzan looked at him and a tear fell from his eye as he answered, “Well you know my father was deaf and last night he passed away and this is the first time that my father^‘s heard me pray^“

May all prayers be heard and everyone be inscribed and sealed for a good year

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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On Rosh Hashanah we are very aware of the Divine aspects of justice, mercy and faith. I was reflecting on a cavalcade from this past summer when I remembered a story about a horse that taught a very important lesson.

At first G-d thought to create the world through the quality of judgment (din), but realizing that the world could not endure at this level. G-d added on the quality of compassion (rachamim).

—Midrash Bereishis Raba 12:15

One Friday morning a group of Chasidim (members of Jewish sects that observe a very strict form of orthodox Judaism) set out to spend the Sabbath with their teacher, a holy rabbi. Reb Dovid, whose deep love for ani­mals earned him a reputation as a gifted horse whisperer, was among this group of students. After encountering several obstacles and de­lays on their way, the group arrived just as the sun was about to set Friday afternoon. Fearing they would be late for Sabbath prayers and miss the holy rabbi’s teachings, the group hastily abandoned their horse and carriage and ran off to the synagogue everyone that is, except Reb Dovid. When the holy rabbi realized that Reb Dovid was missing, he sent the others to look for him. Where did they find him? In the livery, feeding the horses. When they asked him what he was doing there, he responded that all the others had run off without thinking to feed and water the horses, who were weary from the demanding journey, and so he had stayed behind to do just that.

Reb Dovid was a chasid in the truest sense of the word, a lover of the Divine, and his love for G-d was expressed through his deep compassion for all creatures and all living things. It was absolutely clear to Reb Dovid that by observing the mitzvah of tzaar ba’alei chaim, the commandment to prevent the suffering of animals, he would obtain more closeness to G-d than by seeking spiritual uplift­ment in the synagogue. Reb Dovid understood that it is in the expres­sion of compassion the love and care we extend to all living things—that we find the divine presence; for ultimately compassion, or rachamim, as it is called in Hebrew, is G-d’s very essence.

Jewish mysticism teaches that we come close to G-d only when we “walk in G-d’s ways”-that is, when we embody the divine quality of compassion. In the following midrash, the thirteen attributes of divine mercy revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai form the template for the practice of compassion:

“Walking in all His ways . (Deut 5:22). What are the ways of the Holy One? “A G-d compassionate and gra­cious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithful­ness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6). This means that just as G-d is gracious and compassionate, you too must be gracious and compassionate. . . Just as G-d gives freely to all, you too must give freely to all. Just as G-d is loving, you too must be loving.

Spiritual development, according to the rabbis, is measured by how much compassion and mercy we exemplify.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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It is told that the king became enraged at a certain wise physician and gave orders to his servants to put him in prison in a place that was as narrow as the grave. At his order they put chains on him and an iron yoke on his neck. At the royal command they stripped him of his clothes and dressed him in rags and tatters made of the coarsest wool. The king ordered that the doctor should receive each day some barley bread with a spoonful of salt and a pitcher of water. The king further commanded the prison guards to listen to his words and report them to him. For this doctor was very wise and said nothing that was not full of wisdom.

He stayed a long time in prison without uttering a word, keeping silent. In due course the king instructed the kinsfolk and acquaintances of that sage to visit him in prison and talk to him, for maybe he would speak to them. So they went to him and said:

“Good master, we see your distress in this prison where you are yoked and shackled at your neck and legs, and how you hunger and thirst in your nakedness and are surrounded by all this torment. Yet we are astonished at your bright face which has not changed, while you have not grown lean and you are as strong as ever!”

The doctor looked at them for a moment or two and then answered them:

“I took seven drugs with me and mixed them together and from them I have made myself a potion of which I drink a little every day. That is what has kept me strong and unchanged.” “Tell us what those drugs are,” said they, “and if anyone of us should suffer such grievous torments as these we shall make a potion of them so that he should not perish.”

“The first drug,” said he, “is faith in the Holy and Blessed One who can deliver me from many evils and troubles, and He will deliver me from these and from the king, as it says in the Book of Proverbs (21:1): ‘Streams of water and the heart of the king are in the hand of the Lord to turn whichever way He desires.’ The second drug is hope. The third drug is: My knowledge that my sin caused this and I was trapped by my transgression, and I was the cause. That being so, why should I complain? The fourth drug is: If I do not wait patiently, what shall I do instead? Is there any other choice? If the king decrees that I must die, why should I die before my time? The fifth drug is: I know that it is for my own benefit that the Holy and Blessed One causes me to suffer in order to erase my transgressions in this world so that I may enjoy life in the world to come. The sixth drug is: I rejoice in my portion and give thanks and offer praises on account of it, since I might have been in even greater distress. Though I am chained and shackled it might have been worse, for they could have beaten me with whips or other torments. If I have barley bread to eat, it would have been possible not to receive bread at all, neither of wheat nor even of barley. They give me a measure of water, but they might not have given me any water at all. Though my garb is of coarsest wool, they could have left me naked. And the seventh drug is: I know that the salvation of the Lord can come in the twinkling of an eye since He is gracious and merciful, long-suffering and full of kindness and truth to him who can repent of wrongdoing; and He, may He be blessed, will deliver me from my distress and settle with my foes.”

May you be blessed and sealed for a sweet year of success, happiness and good things

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It is taught that Hillel said: “You should be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow man, and drawing them near to the Law.” (Pirke Avos 1:12) Peace is not passive, It doesn’t just happen, It requires action, and pursuing peace must be an active consistent process.

We learn from the words of King David in the Psalms, “Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:15). The Torah does not obligate us to pursue the mitzvos, but only to fulfill them at the proper time and at the appropriate occasion.

Peace however, in Jewish tradition, must be sought at all times. Both at home and away from home, we are obliged to seek peace and be proactive in pursuing it.

It seems that almost everyone, Jewish and non Jewish is familiar with the Hebrew word for peace, shalom. It is one of the most beautiful and important words in the Jewish vocabulary. We are told in Pirke Avos to meet every person with a friendly greeting. Therefore it has become customary in Jewish tradition to greet one another with the words “shalom Aleichem” (peace be unto you). The Talmud (Brachos 6b) instructs us that one who does not return a greeting is called a robber. The inverted order aleichem shalom (upon you let there be peace) is the customary response to the shalom aleichem greeting. When we bid farewell to people we say tzais’chem le’shalom leave in peace. Each week as another Shabbos arrives and candles are lit at sundown we greet each other with shabbat shalom may your Sabbath be a peaceful one. Even when a person dies, our wish is that the deceased rest in peace.

The word shalom derives from the Hebrew word shalem, meaning “whole” or “complete.” It also signifies welfare of every kind, including security, contentment, sound health, prosperity, friendship, peace, and tranquility of mind and heart. By contrast, the English word “peace” comes from the Latin word pax, that means “quiet.”

(to see this post with the Hebrew references click below)

Rodef Shalom

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Is there a blessing greater than good friends? “Either friends or death,” ringingly declares the Talmud (Ta’anis, 23a). The sages insist that isolation is a betrayal of G-d’s design. People need one another to thrive.

The Bible is a book of deep friendships: Jonathan and David’s, Ruth and Naomi’s. Each illustrates the depth of true friendship, which involves not only love but also the willing­ness of one to make sacrifices for the interests of the other. True friendship is not selfish and does not disappear when the friend is in trouble. Who does not understand the sadness of false friends as they eat with you, celibrate and share your happiness and good times, but are absent when you are in need. When you fall, where are your friends?

True friends don’t leave.

Deep friendship is mysterious. It is not always based on a community of interests or a similarity of goals. If love depends on something temporary, once the temporary thing passes away, love also passes away; but if love does not depend on something short-lived, it will never pass away. What love depends on something temporary? The love of Amnon for Tamar. (2 Samuel 13) And what love did not depend on something short-lived? The love of David and Jonathan. (2 Samuel 1:26. Pirke Avos 5:16)

Among the glorious gifts celebrated by our tradition is this peculiar and lasting love, the true friend.

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