The rabbi’s study was interrupted when the telephone rang “Shalom rebbe. This is Yaakov Binder. I want to invite you to the bar mitzvah of my son Mordechai on Parshas Va’eschanan.” The rabbi answered, “I’m very sorry, but I am leaving for Eretz Yisrael in a few days, and I won’t be back for three weeks. I’m very sorry I can’t be there in person, but my blessings for your son and family are with you.”

The rabbi paused for a moment and asked “What special foods are you planning to serve at the meal?” “Serve?” Yaakov Binder responded, surprised by the question. “The usual menu like kugel, gefilte fish, kichel, bobka.” “I noticed that you didn’t include the cholent,” the rabbi added

“Rebbe, there will be so many other foods, and cholent is so plain.  I’m sure no one will miss it,” Yaakov Binder explained. “That would never do! Cholent is traditional! You should definitely serve it at the bar mitzvah meal. said the rabbi.

“Well, if you say so. I never realized it was so important! We never even have it at home,” said Yaakov Binder.

The rabbi explained, “Every item on the Shabbos table symbolizes something special. The fish reminds us of the meal the tzaddikim (righteous) will enjoy in the future; the 2 challahs remind us of the lechem mishneh – the two portions of manna collected for Shabbos; the kugel, with its crust, is a symbol of the mohn (manna) that the Jewish people ate in the wilderness, which was covered with dew! Everything has its own message!”

After a few more minutes, the conversation ended. Little did anyone realize, the great effect that this discussion would have on a certain person.

The Binders invited Adelajda, their Polish maid, to the shul’s Kiddush hall for Mordechai’s bar mitzvah celebration. Her natural parents had been killed when she was a little girl during World War II, and she had been raised by foster parents as a religious Polish Catholic. When she grew up, she came to America, where she was hired by the Binder family. Adelajda sat at the table with the Binder’s’ friends and acquaintances. That Shabbos she was not a maid, but a guest – able to relax and enjoy the celebration.

At the Shabbos noon meal, the room was filled with the special aroma of the cholent. Something from the past stirred in Adelajda’s memory. What was it that seemed to remind her of bygone years?

She remembered something. She must have tasted this food somewhere before – the smell was familiar, too. But how could that be – this was Jewish food, eaten on the Jewish Sabbath! Who were her real parents? Her foster parents had never wanted to tell her. Could it be that they were really Jewish, killed during the war with millions of other Jewish people? She decided that she must find out!

The next day, she informed the Binders that she had to go back to Poland for a short time. Upon her arrival in Poland, she hastened to her foster parents’ home. They we shocked to see her.

“Adelajda, what are you doing here? You wrote that you had a good job!”

“I came to find out the truth about my real parents. Tell me, were they Jewish?” Adelajda asked sternly. There was silence in the room as they began to talk. “You know, the Jewish people were rounded up and killed during the war. Before the Nazis deported them, many of them left their children in Christian homes for safekeeping. Your parents left you with us. The Nazis would have killed us if they had known you were a Jewish child.

We risked our lives to save you. But now that you have insisted – we told you everything.”  Adelajda was stunned. “You meant well, but I want to find out more about my culture. Now, I will learn about Judaism”

She flew back to the United States and went straight to the Binders. “It’s true, I am Jewish!” She told them the whole story. “The smell of the cholent brought back my childhood memories. I owe it to my true parents to learn about my heritage and preserve their memory!”

Adelajda kept her word. She enrolled in a school for ba’alei teshuvah (people who want to return to Jewish observance), and studied hard. From time to time, she visited the Binders for guidance and encouragement. Adelajda progressed rapidly, both in her understanding of Judaism and in the performance of mitzvos.

After the rabbi returned from his trip to Eretz Yisrael, his phone rang. It was Mr. Binder on the line. “Welcome back from Israel, Rabbi. You will never believe this story!” Mr. Binder then told the story of the cholent miracle. “It all happened because or your suggestion to serve cholent, Rabbi!”

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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