“RABBI’S MUSINGS (&
AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh
Parshas Tetzaveh
10 Adar I 5779/February 15,
2019
This past weekend, our family enjoyed a wonderful Shabbos
at my parent’s home in the Forshay section of Monsey.
Shabbos morning was very cold, with a biting wind making it feel even
colder. At about 7:20 am, I left my parents’ house to daven at the hashkama minyan
nearby. When I arrived at Forshay Road, a busy thoroughfare, there were groups
of chassidim with sons hurrying past me. As far as I could see there were
groups chassidim approaching from the same direction.
I had heard that the Gerrer Rebbe was in Forshay. His
wife had needed surgery a few weeks back and afterwards had to stay in New York
for a few weeks for rehab. The rebbe had accompanied her and they were staying
nearby. When I asked one of the chassidim if he was heading to the Gerrer Rebbe,
and he answered that he was, without having much time to think about it, I joined
him.
The fellow I walked with is a Gerrer chassid who lived in
Staten Island. His parents live in central Monsey where he was staying for
Shabbos, and he had walked a great distance in the cold to have the opportunity
to daven with his rebbe. He explained to me that davening was from 8 am until
about 9:30 am. There was no kiddush or tisch, just davening. He also told me
that at the minyan in the main Gerrer Shul Yerushalayim, there is a one-hour break
in the middle of davening for learning, but as the davening was held in a large
heated tent there was no break last week.
Ger is not known for externalities. They are known for punctilious
adherence to halacha, but without fanfare. At exactly 7:59 am the Rebbe emerged
from the house and took his place at the shtender prepared for him, and the
chazzan began davening.
After mussaf, there was a b’ris. The Rebbe sat down in
the seat that was brought in a minute before, and the baby was immediately
brought in. Within five minutes the b’ris was over, the final kaddish was
recited, the Rebbe wished everyone a Good Shabbos, and by 9:45 he returned to
the house.
It wasn’t easy standing on bleachers throughout the davening holding a
siddur and Chumash, with a couple hundred people packed into a tent. But there
are always things/people who are distinguished enough to us that we will endure
some discomfort just to be in their presence. People wait outside all night
before Black Friday for significant monetary bargains, others wait for hours
after a game or will arrive extremely early before a game just to get an
autograph from a professional player.
The people/things that excite us and for which we are
willing to sacrifice for, have a deep effect on us.
Our former neighbor, Yoni Halper, who recently made
Aliyah, presented at the Torah Umesorah President’s conference last winter.
Yoni related that on Motzei Shabbos of the conference, he saw Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky
walking with his Rebbitzin. He approached them and told him that a couple of
decades earlier, when he was a young boy, he had met Rav Shmuel and asked him
to autograph the “Gadol card” he had of Rav Shmuel. Yoni told Rav Shmuel that it
made a deep impression on him and he was very grateful when Rav Shmuel agreed
to do it. Yoni reported that Rav Shmuel and his Rebbitzin had a good laugh.
When Yoni told me that he still had the card, I told him
that I had to see it. It took him a few weeks to find it, but he did show it to
me. It may be the only autographed copy of Reb Shmuel’s gadol card in the
world.
Our society glamorizes celebrities, sports icons, and the
rich and famous. There may not be anything wrong with trying to imitate the way
a player excels the way a singer sings, or the way an actor acts. But somehow
it seems to go far beyond that. People who know how to play ball or are great
actors don’t have any greater insight to life, politics, or relationships. In
fact, it’s often au contraire!
It’s important that we stress that our true role models
in life are people who are selfless, loving, and devote themselves to bettering
themselves and others. Those are people worth emulating and watching how they
conduct themselves, even if there’s no kiddush afterwards.
Good Shabbos & Shabbat Shalom,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum