Good Thought!

As simple As That!

Someone Rings My Doorbell.........

“Someone rings my doorbell. I open it — it’s my neighbor. ‘Happy New Year,’ she says nicely, and we exchange a few casual words.

And then her attitude changes, as if she is going to make a very official declaration to me:

‘Lisa, honey, the whole building is asking you to remove it,’ and with her finger, she points to my mezuzah.

I look at her, shocked, and hear the rest of her sentence, ‘You understand, Lisa, you don’t want to endanger everyone…’

Then I don’t hear anything more, I see myself with my fist in the air like Charb with his pencil to claim my freedom, freedom to be who I am… I’m lost in my thoughts, and suddenly, I hear: ‘You’ll do it, right?’

Yes of course, I say quickly.

But when I close the door, I realize how much my ancestors had worked hard for me to have a home, for the day I would be told: ‘Hide that you are Jewish!’

Mes amis, I am telling you that I have made the decision to leave to Israel. May Gd be with me in this new path.”

– Lisa, 45 

France

That's Our Rebbe

Once when a chossid (the person who told me this story believes it was Reb Chaim Gutnik of Australia) entered the Rebbe’s room for a yechidus, he was startled to see that the Rebbe’s eyes were closed, and it was discernible that there were tears coming out from the Rebbe’s eyes.

From previous yechidissin he knew this was not a regular occurrence. The Rebbe would always greet him (and others) with a large smile as if he said beruchim habai’im, and here the Rebbe didn’t even acknowledge him.

However, he understood that there definately is a reason for this and he remained quiet, staying a short distance away from the Rebbe’s table and waited. After a few seconds, which felt like a long time the Rebbe opened up his eyes and apologized.

Being that he had an extremely close and open relationship with the Rebbe, he asked the Rebbe if everything is ok, if the Rebbe is feeling any pain chas v’sholom.

The Rebbe assured him,that he is Boruch Hashem feeling fine and the tears are for a different reason. Right now, the Rebbe said, there is a young couple in the airport about to depart on their shlichus.. The wife is the only daughter in the family and is extremely close with her mother.

So although all of her older brothers went on shlichus, the parents always had other children who were in the house or lived nearby.

Now,the Rebbe said, the mother is saying goodbye to her beloved daughter and there are tears in her eyes. Yes these tears are tears of happiness, but nevertheless, they are tears of a Jewish woman whose nest is now going to be empty, for good reasons, but empty nevertheless.

So I too participated in this momentous moment of theirs.

Then the Rebbe proceeded with the yechidus.

May all the Shluchim and shluchos have tremendous hatzlacha in their mission of elevating the world and bring about the geulah shleima. But knowing that the Rebbe is with you gives the extra strength to overcome the final hurdle.

What A Special Man

As a 14 yr old bochur (from Antwerp in Belgium) I was learning in a Litvish-Yekish Yeshiva in S. Louis France, a small city close the Swiss border and the city of Basel.

Having a strong bond and identification with lubavitch I used to go on my off shabosim to Zurich and stay by local lubavitch families. 

Pretty soon I became acquainted with Reb Levi Itschok Shmerling z"l and his family and eventually his house became my home away from home.

One Shabbes Reb Levi Itschok asked me if I was learning Chassidus. I wasn't really. 

Out of the blue he asked me: "Do you have a break during the day? " I did have an hour and a half midday break. "How long would it take you to come to Basel?". "I have a bike so barely a quarter of an hour" I answered him. "That's perfect. I happen to come to Basel for business once a week and I have to wait for my train back just during those hours,  so let's meet up every Tuesday for an hour of learning Chasdidus!". I was very happy and eager to learn Chassidus so of course I agreed. And so,  for the next three years every Tuesday Reb Levy Itshak learned Chassidus with me.

Eventually I left that Yeshiva to finally join a Lubavitcher Yeshiva (also with his help and contribution).

On the day of our last learning together Reb Levy Itschak gave me a Tanya that he had received from the Rebbe asking me to continue not only to learn Chassidus but also to now teach it on my own.

His dedication to my Chassidik education was total!

Over the following years my contact with Reb Levy Itshak slowly diminished. 

I later married and settled in the suburbs of Paris.

With great sadness I learned one somber day of his early demise. My heart cried the loss of a teacher and mentor.

Memories of his generosity and commitment flooded my mind and  have profoundly inspired me ever since in my shlichus.

Years later I attended a family wedding in Zurich. 

During the evening my mother called me over and told me that Mrs Schmerling was present and would like to say hello. 

I was very happy and emotional to see her again, more than 15 years since I was almost a household member in their house. 

After catching up on personal news I said to Mrs Schmerling:" You know, my gratitude towards your late husband is incommensurable. I have a tremendous debt towards him and everything I do in Shlichus and in Chinuch is thanks to him. I still can't realize how lucky I was that behasgocho protis he had that spare time when he travelled weekly for his business to Basel."

There was a pause and a short but weird silence on her part. She finally said on a very soft tone and with a mild smile:" Is that what he told you?... He never had any business ventures in Basel. You're were his only business. "

My knees almost buckled under me and I became white agash. 

I stummered "no... he had to way for his train back..." but the enormity of what I just grasped was cristal clear. 

Reb Levi Itschak while running a business had given a very young bochur almost half a business day every week for 3 years!

Truth be told that at first after realizing this I was actually upset with him. It was overwhelming and I couldn't understand why he did that!? Had I known I never would have agreed. 

Of course that's why he didn't want me to know. 

I don't know if I will ever be able to repay him some way to this extent but I regularly tell students this story inspiring them to the bone and hoping that it will emulate similar acts of total sacrifice for Chassidus and Ahavas Yisroel

Elisha Schapira

Here goes the story to the best of my memories:

As a 14 yr old bochur (from Antwerp in Belgium) I was learning in a Litvish-Yekish Yeshiva in S. Louis France, a small city close the Swiss border and the city of Basel.

Having a strong bond and identification with lubavitch I used to go on my off shabosim to Zurich and stay by local lubavitch families. 

Pretty soon I became acquainted with Reb Levi Itschok Shmerling z"l and his family and eventually his house became my home away from home.

One Shabbes Reb Levi Itschok asked me if I was learning Chassidus. I wasn't really. 

Out of the blue he asked me: "Do you have a break during the day? " I did have an hour and a half midday break. "How long would it take you to come to Basel?". "I have a bike so barely a quarter of an hour" I answered him. "That's perfect. I happen to come to Basel for business once a week and I have to wait for my train back just during those hours,  so let's meet up every Tuesday for an hour of learning Chasdidus!". I was very happy and eager to learn Chassidus so of course I agreed. And so,  for the next three years every Tuesday Reb Levy Itshak learned Chassidus with me.

Eventually I left that Yeshiva to finally join a Lubavitcher Yeshiva (also with his help and contribution).

On the day of our last learning together Reb Levy Itschak gave me a Tanya that he had received from the Rebbe asking me to continue not only to learn Chassidus but also to now teach it on my own.

His dedication to my Chassidik education was total!

Over the following years my contact with Reb Levy Itshak slowly diminished. 

I later married and settled in the suburbs of Paris.

With great sadness I learned one somber day of his early demise. My heart cried the loss of a teacher and mentor.

Memories of his generosity and commitment flooded my mind and  have profoundly inspired me ever since in my shlichus.

Years later I attended a family wedding in Zurich. 

During the evening my mother called me over and told me that Mrs Schmerling was present and would like to say hello. 

I was very happy and emotional to see her again, more than 15 years since I was almost a household member in their house. 

After catching up on personal news I said to Mrs Schmerling:" You know, my gratitude towards your late husband is incommensurable. I have a tremendous debt towards him and everything I do in Shlichus and in Chinuch is thanks to him. I still can't realize how lucky I was that behasgocho protis he had that spare time when he travelled weekly for his business to Basel."

There was a pause and a short but weird silence on her part. She finally said on a very soft tone and with a mild smile:" Is that what he told you?... He never had any business ventures in Basel. You're were his only business. "

My knees almost buckled under me and I became white agash. 

I stummered "no... he had to way for his train back..." but the enormity of what I just grasped was cristal clear. 

Reb Levi Itschak while running a business had given a very young bochur almost half a business day every week for 3 years!

Truth be told that at first after realizing this I was actually upset with him. It was overwhelming and I couldn't understand why he did that!? Had I known I never would have agreed. 

Of course that's why he didn't want me to know. 

I don't know if I will ever be able to repay him some way to this extent but I regularly tell students this story inspiring them to the bone and hoping that it will emulate similar acts of total sacrifice for Chassidus and Ahavas Yisroel

Elisha Schapira

Bet Shemesh

Grandparents Answering Machine

GRANDPARENT'S ANSWERING MACHINE  

Good morning. . . . At present we are not at home but, please leave your message after you hear the beep. beeeeeppp ... 

If you are one of our   children, press 1 

If you need us to stay with the children, press 2 

If you want to borrow the car, press 3 

If you want us to wash your clothes and do ironing, press 4

If you want the grandchildren to sleep here tonight, press 5 

If you want us to pick up the kids at school, press 6 

If you want us to prepare a meal for Sunday or to have it delivered  to your home, press 7  

If you want to come to eat here, press 8 

If you need money, press 9 (for each $ requested) 

If you are going to invite us to dinner, or bring-over a freshly baked cheese cake or a cherry pie     start talking we are listening !!!!!!!!!!!"

Alphabet

Technology has hijacked family dinnertime. Watch the Pepper Hacker recla...

Give A Man His Cave!

The Power Of Shabbos!

          Beautiful story which appeared in N'shei Newsletter a while back... 

Back in the mid- nineties, a Jewish advertising executive in New York came up with an idea. What if the New York Times - considered the world's most prestigious newspaper - listed the weekly Shabbat candle lighting time each week?

Sure, someone would have to pay for the space. But imagine the Jewish awareness and pride that might result from such a prominent mention of the Jewish Shabbat each week. He got in touch with a Jewish philanthropist and sold him on the idea. It cost almost two thousand dollars a week. But he did it. 

And for the next five years, each Friday, Jews around the world would see 'Jewish Women: Shabbat candle lighting time this Friday is .'. Eventually the philanthropist had to cut back on a number of his projects. And in June 1999, the little Shabbat notice stopped appearing in the Friday Times, and from that week on it never appeared again.

Except once. On January 1, 2000, the NY Times ran a Millennium edition. It was a special issue that featured three front pages. One had the news from January 1, 1900. The second was the actual news of the day, January 1, 2000. And then they had a third front page. Projecting future events of January 1, 2100. This fictional page included things like a welcome to the fifty-first state: Cuba; as well as a discussion as to whether robots should be allowed to vote. And so on. And in addition to the fascinating articles, there was one more thing:

Down on the bottom of the Year 2100 front page, was the candle lighting time in New York for January 1, 2100. Nobody paid for it. It was just put in by the Times. The production manager of the New York Times – an Irish Catholic - was asked about it. His answer was right on the mark. And it speaks to the eternity of our people. And to the power of Jewish ritual."We don't know what will happen in the year 2100. It is impossible to predict the future. But of one thing you can be certain. That in the year 2100, Jewish women will be lighting Shabbos candles." !!