Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Hashem
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other:
“Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Monday, 9 November 2015
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
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