The Tablecloth
The brand
new Rabbi and his wife were newly assigned to their first congregation to
reopen a Shul in suburban Brooklyn. They arrived in early February excited
about their opportunities. When they saw their Shul, it was very run down and
needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their
first service on Erev Purim. They worked hard, repairing aged pews, plastering
walls, painting, etc., and on 8th of the Adar (February 17th) they were ahead
of schedule and just about finished.
On February
19 a terrible snowstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the
Rabbi went over to the Shul. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the
e front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head
high. The Rabbi cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to
do but postpone the Erev Purim service, headed home. On the way home, he noticed that a local business was having a flea
market type sale for charity, so he stopped in. One of the items was a
beautiful, handmade, ivory coloured, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work,
fine colours and a Magen David embroidered right in the centre. It was just the
right size to cover the hole in the front wall.
He bought
it and headed back to the Shul. By this time it had started to snow. An older
woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She
missed it. The Rabbi invited her to wait in the warm Shul for the next bus 45
minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the Rabbi while he got
a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The
Rabbi could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire
problem area.
Then the Rabbi noticed the woman walking down the centre
aisle. Her face was like a sheet.
"Rabbi,
"she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The Rabbi
explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the
initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials
of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Poland. The
woman could hardly believe it as the Rabbi told how he had just gotten
"The Tablecloth".
The woman
explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in
Poland. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to
follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to a camp and she never saw her
husband or her home again.
The Rabbi
wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the Rabbi keep it for the Shul.
The Rabbi insisted on driving her home. That was the least he could do. She
lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day
for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Erev
Purim.
The Shul
was almost full. The Service was great. At the end of the service, the Rabbi
and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.
One older man, whom the Rabbi recognised from the neighbourhood continued to
sit in one of the pews and stare, and the Rabbi wondered why he wasn't
leaving.
The man
asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical
to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Poland before the
war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the Rabbi how
the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a camp. He never saw his
wife or his home again all the 35 years between.
The Rabbi
asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to
Staten Island and to the same house where the Rabbi had taken the woman three
days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the
woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Erev Purim
reunion he could ever imagine.
The above
is a true story. “God” does work in mysterious ways!
Take 60 seconds and
give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the
person who sent this to you:
"Hashem, bless all my friends and
family in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! May their
lives be full of Your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer
relationship with You. Amen."
No comments:
Post a Comment