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Rabbi Yehuda {Leonard} Blank MS, BCC
Vice President of Professional Development and External Affairs
Chair of the Chaplaincy Commission
Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim
917-446-2126 rablenblank@gmail.com
=August 29, 2024, Av 25, 5784=
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Many thanks to Rabbi Doniel Kramer, Administrator of the Orthodox Jewish Healthcare Chaplaincy Listserv. Amongst the importance of what the Listserv does, he helps keep abreast of worthy information for the men and women who serve as proud orthodox healthcare chaplains throughout the USA. Rabbi Kramer is a dear colleague of mine for many years, and I value our friendship and professional relationship.
Being able to care and minister to all of humanity is truly important. Being able to collaborate with chaplains of all backgrounds is truly special. Being able to keep to one’s own religious beliefs as orthodox Jewish chaplains to respect and be respected by chaplains of other backgrounds is truly praiseworthy. Caring for one and all is not just for and about healthcare chaplains but for all chaplaincy positions.
When I was taking CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) my two supervisors, one a Reform rabbi and the other a Lutheran minister, wrote as part of their evaluation of me that I was able to cross many borders ministering to patients of diverse religions, cultures, ethnicities, lifestyles, etc, but never compromised my Jewish Orthodox religion.
In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to bring various programs with topics that are important for chaplains, rabbis, rebbetzins and other professionals as well as new relationships and collaborations that are truly meaningful.
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Mi K’amcha Yisrael. An unbelievable story about how the love for a fellow Jew is so important. The importance of kindness from a personal perspective is meaningful. When we speak to someone and there is an opportunity to bring a smile on their face surely means a lot to that person. One very hot day a delivery person for Amazon delivered a package to me. I saw him sweating. Not only did I thank him, I asked if he would like a cold drink. He said yes. I gave him a large bottle of water, napkins and several cups to drink from. He mentioned that he will share everything with a co-worker, and they will be grateful. I was standing in a store next to someone who was from the Traffic Division of the NYPD who wanted to purchase a bottle of water. He only had a credit card and due to the store’s policy was unable to purchase it because the water was only $1:58 and the policy was credit card purchases from $7.00 and up. You could see the sweat on his face from standing outside directing traffic and how thirsty he must have been. I told the cashier I would pay for it. The other customers and the employees witnessed what being kind to another person looked like. The officer thanked me. I told him that was the least I could do.d He gave me a big smile appreciating my token of kindness for a fellow human being. There are all kinds of kindness as you will read in the forthcoming story.
There are many opportunities to show and convey care and kindness. What is important is always to be sincere in whatever we do or say. “Kindness is the insignia of a loving heart.”
And now for the story you have been patiently waiting for.
After this story, please read about the passengers of two cars who stopped on Rt 59 to help a fellow Yid who slipped and fell.
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It is a long story but well worth the time you will enjoy reading it. It is jammed packed with achdus, mi k’amcha Yisrael, caring for fellow Jews and a lot more. All the kindness and mitzvos you will read about was done without anyone receiving honor. A truly happy and joyous unbelievable story. A true story we can all learn from.
“Receiving Reward Even in This World-When You Deserve It”
From: Zera Shimshon: The sefer. The stories. The segula.
“By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer in conjunction with Rabbi Menachem Binyomin Paskez and Rabbi Yisroel Zilbergerg. Published by Shaar Press, Distributed by Mesorah Publications Ltd. Parshas Eikev Pages 573-584 “And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them, that H, your G, Will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you: He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your soil, etc.
There is no reward for the mitzvos that we do in this world, says the Gemara (Kiddushin 39b). The Gemara also says, “Do the mitzvos today and receive your reward tomorrow” (Eiruvin 22a), meaning in the World to Come.
These words of Gemara make it clear that we shouldn’t expect to be rewarded for the mitzvos that we do in Olam HaZeh. Yet the verse in Parshas Eikev seems to be saying otherwise” He will love you and bless you…”
The answer, says Zera Shimshon, is this. When a person does only the mitzvos that he has to do, his reward will be given to him in the World to Come. However, if a person sets his mind to doing more than is expected of him-of living the life of a chassid and striving to go above and beyond-Heaven will treat him in the same way and grant him a little portion of his reward even in this world.
(continued) Do not keep the mishpatim (logical mitzvos) because you understand them and they make sense to you. Strive to keep them because the Ribbono shel Olam commanded them, not just because they feel morally correct.
When you reach that level, says the pasuk, “He will love you and bless you and multiply you….
Why does it work that way?
Simple.
The way you act is the way you will be treated (Megillah 12b). Since you made it your business to fulfill every single law of H and you obeyed those mitzvos because they are part of the Torah and because H told you to, you will be granted reward in this world as well.
This is why the pasuk specifically promises rewards such as children and parnassah, benefits that are blatantly necessary for
the continuation of the world. When a person makes a conscious decision to do the mitzvos because H said so and not for any other reason (i.e,)(because the world needs them or because they make sense), he will be recompensed with necessities that are imperative for the world’s continuation: in other words, with beautiful rewards that make perfect sense and that will cause him great happiness.
Speaking of doing mitzvos with the proper kavannos and the right reasons, a friend of mine recently related the following personal story that happened to him, reinforcing what he had always know about Klal Yisrael’s boundless love for mitzvos.”
OK HERE IS THE STORY YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.
“I will never forget the day the rosh yeshivah entered the room where I was hanging out with a few guys.
A word about the rosh yeshivah. We absolutely loved the man. He was so full of life and surprises. You never knew what to expect. That afternoon, he approached the seven of us sitting around the table in one of the shiur rooms, just enjoying ourselves. I remember that it was a few days before Rosh Hashanah and the feeling in the yeshivah was one of pre-Yamim Noraim fervor. The moment he opened his mouth to speak, I knew it was going to be interesting. I could tell from his smile and the twinkle in his eyes.
“Boys,” he said, “we are making a wedding in the yeshivah.”
“When?” we wanted to know.
“Today,” he replied.
“Today?” we repeated, momentarily stunned by the fact that he considered this a possibility.
“Yes. It’s a long story. Suffice to say, the young couple are on the path to teshuvah, the parents are unhappy with their life choices and are not helping them at all, and Rav Chaim Kanievsky paskened that they should get married today, now, before Rosh Hashanah. They had no place to hold the wedding, so I offered them the use of the yeshivah’s grounds.
We sat there, shocked by our rosh yeshivah and his incredible generosity and the fact that he did so many things others would never have considered.
“So, I need you boys to put your heads together to come up with a plan to make the most amazing wedding in the world. Are you in?”
We nodded, but deep down, we weren’t so sure. Still the rosh yeshivah had asked and we didn’t want to disappoint him. He left the room shortly afterward and when the door shut behind him, silence descended on our group. After all, what did we know about planning weddings?
We looked at one another.
“Does anyone have any ideas?” one of the guys asked.
“I have an idea,” someone spoke up.
“What’s that?”
Why don’t we take the rosh yeshivah’s chair from the office-you know, the one with the high back?-drape a white tablecloth over it, and it will be the kalla’s chair.”
“That’s a great idea,” replied the meeting’s self-appointed chairman. “Can you take care of that?”
The other nodded.
“Okay, what’s next?” asked the chairman.
“I have a great idea,” Daniel spoke up enthusiastically.” There’s a gemach not far from here that specializes in candles for chuppahs and in flower arrangements for tables. Why don’t I ride over there on my bike and see what I can get from them at such a short notice?”
We concurred with Daniel that this was a very good idea.
“Go,” we urged him, and taking his bike, he left the yeshivah for the gemach, leaving the planning committee behind, trying to come up with more ideas. Quite honestly, it wasn’t easy. None of us had any experience in making weddings. We were all bachurim. The closest we had come to making a wedding was buying ourselves a suit for the wedding of a brother or sister, and yet, here we were, putting together an entire wedding in a matter of hours for people we had never met before. It was a daunting task.
Silence reigned around the table.
Suddenly Mordy jumped up.
“I got it!” he called out.
“What?” we all yelled back.
He turned to Shuey. “Your father is the owner or Best Meats, isn’t he?
“Yes,” Shuey replied hesitantly.
“Call him up, tell him about the wedding, and ask if he can donate meat for the meal.”
Shuey wasn’t exactly enamored with the idea of calling his father and asking him to donate a ton of meat for the wedding of someone he had never met, but with the rest of us looking at him hopefully, he didn’t feel right disappointing us.
“Fine, I’ll call.”
We watched as he pulled out his phone and dialed the number.
“Hi Abba?”
“How’s everything Shuey?”
“Fine, Baruch H”. Abba, I need to ask you something.
The rosh yeshiva surprised us about twenty minutes ago with the news that we are making a wedding in the yeshivah this evening.”
“That pretty outrageous,” his father said.
“I know,” Shuey agreed, “but the reason I’m calling is to ask whether you’d be willing to sponsor the meat for the wedding meal?”
They discussed the situation for a few more minutes and when he got off the phone, Shuey turned and gave the thumbs-up sign.
“My father will donate enough pastrami and other high-quality cold cuts for the entire seudah.”
That was great news and we were very happy in the space of twenty minutes we had organized a chair for the kallah, meat for the meal, and centerpiece and candles. But this was just the beginning. We had merely scratched the surface. We felt way out of our league and like there was no chance that this would turn out well.
Another, denser silence settled on the room. We needed another idea and we needed it fast. The wedding was supposed to begin in two hours.
I have an idea,” spoke up one of the other guys.
“Yes?”
“We should take the cover of the bimah to drape over the chuppah.”
We liked the idea and off he went to make it happen. (This was probably the only time a chuppah was draped with the pasuk “Toras H Temimah.”)
One of the guys began calling some of the kollel members and asking them if they could donate bags of pitas and tubs of hummus. It was slow going and we were becoming discouraged. Mincha was fifteen minutes away. After that, it was another hour and a half until the wedding was meant to begin. We needed a major idea. Something that would shake the rafters and rouse the sleeping masses.
It was then that an idea that I felt possessed the potential to change the entire game.
“We should call Central Voice,” I suggested, and the other guys sat there astounded by my awesome guys idea.
Central Voice was a pirate radio station operated out of an apartment building not fifteen minutes from where we sat. It was a frum radio station and at the time this story took place, it was the station of choice for many religious people. It had the most popular radio hosts and thousands of listeners. The idea of using Central Voice to spread the message was nothing short of inspired, and I was filled with confidence that going this route would change everything.
We looked at one another.
“Doesn’t your uncle work for Central Voice?” I asked Yoni.
“Yes”
“Call him now. There’s no time to lose.”
Maybe he was reluctant to make the call, but he went out of his comfort zone and dialed the number.
Yoni’s uncle answered the phone on the tenth ring.
“Yes?”
“It’s Yoni”
“What do you want?”
“I need a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“What are you talking about?”
“My rosh yeshivah is helping a young couple get married.”
“Why is he doing such a thing?”
“Because he cares about his fellow Jews and because he has a few big rooms and because Rav Chaim said these people should get married as soon as possible.”
“I see,” said the uncle in skeptical tones.” “You’re telling me that your rosh yeshivah just came into the yeshivah today and announced that there’s a wedding happening tonight, even though you have no way of making this happen?”
“That’s correct. Can you help us or not?”
“Before I help, I need to speak with your rosh yeshiva to make sure that this is really happening. The last thing I need is to start announcing a wedding on the air, only to find out that there is no wedding and the whole thing is a joke.”
“You think I’m playing a joke on you and there isn’t really a wedding?” You think I’m playing a joke on you and there isn’t really a wedding? You really think I would do such a thing?” Yoni was hurt.”
“I don’t think anything, but you can appreciate how stupid I’d look if I made such an announcement on the air and was proven wrong.”
“Do me a favor,” Yoni told his uncle, “and call the rosh yeshiva. Here’s his number.”
“Call me back in five minutes,” the uncle said, and Yoni hung up.
The two of them must have talked, because when Yoni called back in five minutes later, his uncle had a completely different attitude and promised to begin spreading the word about the extremely unorthodox wedding that was happening at a local yeshivah, a mere two days before Rosh Hashanah.
Thanking his uncle, Yoni hung up. Then the committee rose and went into the beis midrash to daven Mincha. We’d done the best we could; the rest was out of our hands.
Minchah passed in a haze of anxiety. Within the hour, the yeshiva was going to turn into a wedding hall. The only question was whether we’d able to provide our young chassan and kallah with the type of wedding they deserved. Would Yoni’s uncle keep his word and announce the wedding on the radio? Would this unique message enter people’s hearts? Would they want to be part of this special mitzvah? What type of outcome were we looking at?
Meanwhile, all was still.
A silence hovered in the beis midrash as everyone in the yeshivah davened Mincha, in a pre-Rosh Hashanah bout of solemnity.
Ten minutes later Mincha had come to and end. We gathered back around the table and waited to see if the phone would ring with people wanting to get involved. Five minutes passed. Then another five minutes. Yoni kept glancing down at the phone in his hand, clearly willing it to ring, but you know what they say, a watched phone never rings.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
We all jumped. Yoni’s hand went for the answer button. I could see that it was shaking.
“Yes?”
“Is this the number for the yeshivah wedding?”
“This is the right place, thank you for calling.”
“Great. I really want to help, what can I bring?”
A second later, his phone rang again.
“Excuse me,” he said to the first person on the line, “but there’s a beep.”
“Hello?”
“Is this the wedding number?”
“Yes, I heard about it on the radio and I want to help..”
There was another beep and Yoni realized that yet a third person was calling.
“Excuse me, please stay on the line, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this the number for the wedding party?”
And so it went.
Eventually we began writing down the numbers of people who called and someone else got back to everyone interested in taking part in what promised to be a phenomenal wedding.
“What can I bring?” It was a Moroccan grandmother calling.
“How about a few cakes and a couple of bottles of wine?
“A few cakes? Some bottles of wine?” She sounded kind of outraged, as if we had suggested she bring a raw cow.
‘What did you have in mind?”
“I would like to cook the entire wedding meal!”
“Were sorry, but the main part of the meal has already been taken care of.”
“Okay, so I will send everything else.”
Not knowing what that meant, we gave her the address and moved on to the next person on the list.
“Hello?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Chaim Lazerson* and I’m the manager of Simcha V’sasson orchestras. We are a band of six players and would like to donate our services free of charge for the wedding.”
“Hello?”
“Yes?”
“Hi, this is Rafi Adler* from Adler’s Bakery.”
“Yes?”
“We heard about the wedding and wanted to know where to send some cakes for the simchah.”
We gave him the address.
“Hello?”
“Yes.”
“This is Binyamin Rabinowitz* from Paper Goods Plus.”
“We would like to donate the paper goods for the wedding. What’s the address?”
We gave him the address.
Meanwhile, the bachurim were setting up the drinks in the beis midrash, which would serve as the hall for the men, and another even more elaborate arrangement in the dinning room, which would serve as the hall for the ladies. The kallah’s chair looked absolutely stupendous, as did the white carpet that had arrived from somewhere and been set in place from the doorway to the chair.
“Hello?”
“Yes?’
“This is Drinks’ R’Us. We wanted to know where to bring the drinks for the wedding.”
We gave them the address.
Meanwhile, a taxi drew up outside the yeshivah. The Moroccan lady had kept her word. I had never seen a more stuffed taxi in my life. Cartons of drinks, platter of fruit and vegetables. Boxes of cakes and cookies. Nosh. Soup nuts. We helped unload the cab and bring everything into the yeshivah.
One of the Best Meats trucks pulled up outside the yeshivah building. The driver emerged and began shlepping two huge boxes of pastrami and corned beef into the building.
Five minutes later Daniel, who had gone off to bring the candles, returned with full arms, only to stop in his tracks and star in wonder at a world gone completely insane. When he’d left an hour earlier, the yeshivah had been quiet and empty. Now there were boxes piled everywhere, and every minute another car, truck, or taxi pulled up to disgorge more food, pastries, cakes or wedding shtick. His mouth dropped open and he couldn’t seem to get it to close. The loo on Daniel’s face was priceless!
It was absolutely insane.
In a good way.
“Hello”
“Yes?”
“My name is Mickey Ben Artzi.* I’m not religious and I don’t usually listen to Central Voice, but I just happened to tune in to the show this afternoon and I heard all about the wedding.”
“What can we do for you?”
“Well, I wanted to bring something for the wedding.”
“Mr. Ben Artzi, thank you very much, but we are all done. We have enough food by now for seven weddings and enough drinks to float a battleship. As for cakes and cookies, forget about it. We have so many baked goods that we can just about open our own store! People have dropped off presents and checks and really, it’s been a truly fascinating display of ahavas Yisael!”
“I see.”
“Thank you anyway.”
Mickey arrived half an hour later despite being told that we had everything we needed. Having wracked his brain for something to bring, he’d decided to donate bags of ice for the drinks!
The kallah’s chair was ready for the bride. The chassan’s tisch was ready for the groom. The entire yeshivah building quivered with a sense of anticipation. It was like something our of this world.
It was then that the lady walked into the yeshiva. At a glance, it was obvious that she was not a wealthy person. She was holding a platter in her hands and the rosh yeshivah went over to greet her.
“I’ve brought something for the simchah,” she said.
Under the plastic wrap, we could see slices of cake. The cake was simple and there wee chocolate lentils on top. It was a far, far cry from the boxes of fancy bakery cakes, cartons of wine and grape juice, and platters of the finest spreads and salads. But somehow that platter of freshly baked cake, brought by a woman with a big heart, who had baked the cake herself and hurried to bring it to the wedding, touched me more deeply than almost anything else on that never to-be-forgotten night.
The wedding was about to begin when Yoni called his uncle. “Nu, Yoni, did anyone call you about the wedding? Should we keep on talking about it? What’s going on?”
Yoni looked around him at the yeshivah filled with boxes and gifts and food galore, and so much love and warmth.
“You can’t even imagine what you helped create!”
“That’s great,” his uncle said.
“Why don’t you stream the chuppah live?” suggested Yoni.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” his uncle replied.
And so it came to be that a slightly shell-shocked and bemused chassan and kallah walked down the aisle, he escorted by the rosh yeshivah, and she, escorted by the rebbetzin. They were serenated by music that had been gladly donated for the evening. The berachos were recited with fevor. The crowd was completely involved and every moment of the ceremony was broadcast live over Central Voice, to the delight of all the listeners, who couldn’t get over the kiddush H of a wedding that had been put together in two hours by gantz Klal Yisrael.
It was a classic example of Klal Yisrael at its best, with no machlokes, and everyone working together and every heart wanting to help and nobody caring about honor.
It was the perfect way to enter the New Year.
After if was all over and the dust had finally settled and we had finished cleaning up, all I could think was, “Lucky is he who merited to take part in that wedding, for it was a wedding that no one will ever forget.”
“The Segulah of the Zera Shimshon” “And in much the same way that as frum Yidden we should be always trying for better and better mitzvah observance; the same thing is true regarding our relationship with gedolei Yisrael-both those who are still alive and those who have since passed away. The Zera Shimshon is a prime example of a gadol with whom many Yidden have a genuine relationship, even now, hundreds of years after his passing.”
*Not actual name.
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I recently disembarked from a bus in Monsey on my way to a Pidyon Haben. I was about to get into a taxi for the second part of my trip when my hand slipped from the taxi’s car door handle and I fell backwards onto my back. This occurred at the bus shelter on Rt 59 at the Evergreen stop. I don’t know how it happened, but the passengers of two cars stopped, rushed out to help me to make sure I was alright. The two groups of wonderful Chasidik men would not leave until they heard that I was ok and B H was able to get up and get into the taxi. They wanted to take me wherever I needed to go including NYC. B H I was able to stand and walk with only a slight “boo boo”. The Pidyon Haben of a great grandson was held in the catering hall of a shul in Monsey.
May we all be zoche to have the wisdom on all the best ways of dedicating our lives following in the ways of H.
Sincerely, Rabbi Yehuda Blank