Story: Mountainside So(u)l

The following story was told by noted author and photographer Rabbi Bentzion Elisha, which describes a miraculous experience he had while traveling on Merkos Shlichus as a Bochur. It appears in a book he published, titled 18 Frames of Being.

Mountainside So(u)l: Two Rabbinic Students Encounter the Wild West

Smewhere between heaven and earth, on the picturesque mountainous terrain of Aspen, Colorado, I’m in the car, waiting.

Dovi stepped into a store before we leave this plush resort town and he is taking his time, which is fine with me.

Staying by the Shliach over Shabbos really helped us. The lump sum of money we got for this summer ‘soul searching trip’ to Colorado from our Brooklyn home base was tight, to say the least. The money we saved will sure come in handy for the continuation of our expedition.

Having lost track of time on the downtown Denver streets Friday, finding Jews to inspire, we decided to take a risky shortcut to get to Aspen on time. We managed to ‘get lost’ and somehow passed through Leadville, the highest incorporated city in America, standing tall at 10,152 feet.

While asking for directions, we were warned that the passage to Aspen could be problematic since it might be snowing in that area and therefore the road could be blocked. We took our chances which meant we would be going through winding fenceless roads with scary cliffs by their side, steeply tapering several thousand feet straight down. We passed Mt. Elbert, the tallest peak of the Rocky Mountains which looked pretty snowed under from a distance.

The slow speed we had to drive down these snakelike paths heightened our anxiety since we had to get to our destination before sundown. The thought of not making it and being forced to make Kiddush on bottled water and feast on canned tuna inspired us to want to accelerate our speed, but the speed signs and deadly cliffs kept us crawling at fifteen miles per hour.

Dovi every once in a while would shriek since I was driving and taking pictures at the same time, our car was repeatedly just a few feet away from the edge…

The clouds underneath us and the frozen snow which created masses of ice by the roadside, even though it was summertime, reminded us how high we really were.

Other more painful reminders were the constant headaches and dizziness caused by ‘high altitude sickness.’

We only arrived in Colorado on Wednesday and clearly we haven’t acclimatized to the high grounds.

Since our arrival we felt terribly sick and our kind Denver hosts shared with us that no, it wasn’t something we ate, but rather we aren’t used to the high altitude which can give people the ‘bends.’   The only remedy was drinking a lot of water to ward off the symptoms.

This advice saved us, especially on this trip to Aspen, since our chosen shortcut went through such extreme heights which just intensified the sickness. We literally drank a bottle of water every five minutes otherwise we would feel the severe headaches coming on pretty quickly…

Ironically enough, when we finally did arrive at the rabbi’s house, just before Shabbos came in, our welcome was a rather frantic one. The rabbi’s baby was suffering from the same acute mountain sickness we were troubled with, since the baby had just travelled to New York with the mother and didn’t reacclimatize yet since their return.

 

It was a very pleasant Shabbos but now it’s Sunday, and the road is calling us.

Dovi and I, two rabbinic students from Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva in Brooklyn, had Jewish souls to kindle on the mountains of Colorado and the open spaces of Wyoming. We were sent here on a holy mission to inspire.

I make use of the time waiting for my colleague to fill out the log book we are supposed to keep, documenting our spiritual work. I open a bottle of water to keep the headaches at bay and sip as I prepare to write.

After some time writing I sit back in my car seat and gaze out of the windshield into space, thinking. Then, waking me out of playback mode, Dovi reappears with a friend…

“Bentzion let me introduce you to Sol.” Dovi says.

I exit the vehicle after placing my log book down and smile as I greet him.

 

I quickly size up this youthful twenty something. Sol is dressed in baggy, dirty, hippy clothes and is wearing a backpack.  An unpleasant odor surrounds him, revealing that he hasn’t taken a shower for some time. His long reddish dreadlocked hair is semi covered with a knit cap. His speech is easy going and on the mellow side.

“How did you meet each other?” I inquire.

“I was in the restroom and I was surprised to see someone wearing a skullcap, a Kippah” Sol started explaining as Dovi finished off the thought…“Then he pointed at me and said ‘you’re Jewish! I’m also Jewish’.”

“That’s so unusual. I thought you were going to take a personal break, meanwhile I see your Kippah never rests, and works harder than you…” They both smile at my attempted humor.

 

“So what are rabbis like you doing in a place like this?” Sol asked.

“Well we actually came thousands of miles especially to meet with you.” Dovi quickly quips as Sol makes a disbelieving face.

”He isn’t kidding,” I explain further. “We are students from the Lubavitcher yeshiva, Tomchei Tmimim, in Brooklyn. In the summertime there is an interesting training program called ‘Merkos Shlichus’ which sends rabbis in training to areas all around the world in pairs to meet Jewish people and hopefully make a soul connection. Help perform a Mitzvah, schmooze together, to bond with Jews in the world wherever there isn’t an official Shliach. This summer we are part of this program which sent us here.”

“Hmm, interesting but what’s a Shliach?” Sol asks.

“A Shliach is an emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. A Shliach is a Chabad rabbi and his wife who are sent to a certain place to motivate Jews to elevate their experience of Judaism, just like us, only permanently.”

“Oh yeah, we had my Bar Mitzvah with a Chabad rabbi back in L.A where I’m from.” He reflects thoughtfully.

His eyes narrow a bit and refocus on our car behind me.

“Looking at your car you must be sent with buckets of money” Sol sharply remarks.

“I wish. We’re actually on a very tight budget. There’s a little story behind how we got this car.” I look at Dovi knowingly before I proceed.

 

“We are going to be on this road trip for 18 days and I had to make sure not to overspend on a rental car being that I’m in charge of managing the money for this endeavor. The money should cover airfare, lodging, food and of course the car rental. The car I thought most appropriate for the amount we could spend was the smallest and cheapest vehicle. As we arrived at the Denver airport car rental station, Dovi discovered the car I had reserved and he absolutely refused to accept the situation.

There was friendly lady by the desk and Dovi explained to her that we had arrived for a very important spiritual mission. He then completely shocked me when he promised her that we would pray for her children if she could look into her computer and try to help us out… I was even more shocked when she looked him in the eyes and seriously said that she would see what she could do, propelled by his words. She immediately started typing up a storm and came up with something. When the airport bus stopped by our vehicle we couldn’t believe our eyes! The lady hooked us up with a brand new spacious Subaru Outback station wagon. It must’ve cost at least double what I reserved. We’ve been praying for the lady’s children ever since!” `

“That’s just unbelievable!” Sol declares bewildered.

Dovi just shrugs his shoulders apologetically as Sol looks at him after my car story.

“If you would’ve seen what car he chose for us, you’d believe it!” Dovi says bursting into a laugh. ”I just couldn’t cram myself into that tiny little box for three weeks.”

Dovi turns the tables on him and starts questioning Sol.

“So now that you know why we are here, what brings you to Aspen?”

“Well I’m here because there is a bluegrass concert today up this mountain.”

“You came in just for this concert?”

“Well, yes.”

“So what do you do?”

“Right now I’m just drifting. I travel around and follow different bands I like.”

“How do you pay for the tickets?”

“I usually don’t pay. I volunteer to help the organizers and get in that way. I actually have to go meet the organizers of this concert very soon. They told me to check in with them a little while before the concert starts and it’ll start in an hour or an hour and a half.”

“Maybe before you go you want to put on Tefillin?”

“It was nice bumping into you fellows. You both are more interesting than most of the people I usually meet, however I really have to go…”

“It has been extremely nice to have met you. Like I said before, we literally flew thousands of miles to spend some time with you. How about we at least walk you to your meeting place?” Dovi offers with his witty smile.

“No problem man. That would be awesome! I’d like to hang out with you.”

As we walk up the mountain to Sol’s meeting, we turn more than a few heads. Sol with his hippy clothes that desperately needed to be laundered and his long ‘fragrant’ dreadlocks, and us, two Chasidic men sporting our formal black and white attire really stuck out in the colorful, posh, Aspen crowd.

 

As we walk further and further we get to know more and more about Sol. He showered whenever a nice motel or hotel worker would allow him and his friends to use a room to clean themselves. He volunteered for food and no, he didn’t travel alone, he had a girlfriend, a non-Jewish girlfriend…

She meets up with us and we exchange brief polite pleasantries. About two minutes later she excuses herself.

Sol confesses to us “You know this girl is really sweet and I really care for her but I have some reasons to believe that she is cheating on me.”

“That is just not kosher! This girl is just no good.” Dovi strongly protests.

“No. She really is a great girl, she just isn’t perfect. That’s what’s bothering me.”

“Not perfect? Listen to yourself. You are justifying a wrong behavior.”

Dovi takes the opportunity to talk to our new friend about how Jewish men should only date and marry Jewish ladies. This subject being a very touchy topic amplified with the alarming statistics that fifty percent (or more) of unobservant Jews in America intermarry.

His diplomatic tone of voice, spoken slower with more emphasis for dramatic effect, doesn’t water down the conveyed content; yet, he resembles someone walking on eggshells as he proceeds with great caution.

“Didn’t your mother or father ever talk to you about how important it is to date a Jewish girl? You know these things lead to something…”

“What can I do? I met this girl and I love her.” He admits.

“Well the person you ‘love’ is really someone else’s soul mate.”

“Doesn’t love mean something?”

“Yes it most definitely means something… It means you’re in trouble! You developed feelings for someone who isn’t yours!”

“How do you know?”

“I know because a Jew has a Jewish soul whose other half is a Jewish one. A non-Jew has a different soul and they have a different soul mate…A union of a Jew and a non-Jew is just a soul mismatch. If you really love this girl you’d want her to find her own soul mate instead of being selfish and hold onto something that isn’t yours and keeping your very own soul mate waiting… ”

“I don’t know man.” Sol says.

“Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean the subject is in the gray zone…Your soul mate is waiting for you and she is a wonderful Jewish girl.”

“I appreciate your honesty, but let me also be honest, I’m not an observant Jew. I’m not religious…”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re religious or observant or not when it comes to who you are. You are one hundred percent Jewish just like me. There’s no fifty percent or a twenty percent Jew. If your mother is Jewish, you are one hundred percent Jewish! Just because you haven’t had the privilege to learn much of the treasures within the Torah and Judaism doesn’t mean that it isn’t yours just as it is mine. By the way, that’s what I’m here for, to remind you about your great inheritance…”

“Thank you so much. Therefore what?”

“Therefore you should date only Jewish girls because, G-d willing, that will lead to marrying a Jewish girl and having a Jewish family…”

“Wow, family? I’m not even thinking about that yet. I just want to have a good relationship.”

“Listen, you should start thinking about these things. A relationship is serious business.”

“This subject is heavy.”

“Yes it is. You should know, whether your parents told you or not, Jews date and marry Jews, only!”

“Come on, it’s too hard…”

“If I can do it, you can do it…”

Sol’s face takes on a pensive expression as he contemplates the verbal exchange as we walk up the mountain. It appears to be touching a raw nerve.

 

As we finally arrive at the entrance of the large tented concert area, situated on a large plateau a third of the way up the mountain, we are confronted with an awkward feeling of separation. We have been conversing for what seems like a long time.

Not knowing if we will get another chance, I ask enthusiastically again “Sol before you go, would you like to perform the great Mitzvah of putting on Tefillin?”

“I’m sorry, but I really can’t right now. I’ve been trying unusually hard to get in to this concert. It’s a top priority for me. This band is one of my all-time favorites. I can’t be late to meet with the concert crew. However, if they have enough help and they do not need me, I’ll do whatever Mitzvah you like.”

“It’s our paramount priority for you to perform this Mitzvah, so we’ll wait for you here. Just in case…”

With those parting words, Sol disappears into the concert grounds via the service entrance for his meeting.

 

“What are the chances to have met a drifting youth like this in glitzy Aspen, of all places, under these circumstances? Meeting him is nothing short of a miracle! We must Daven that he doesn’t get in!” Dovi declares.

“I can’t believe how close he is, yet so far away! If only Hashem gives us another opportunity…” I lament.

Next to the trees, on the side of the mountain, under an immense blue sky, we sound our sincere pleas and prayers that we will get another chance to merit Sol’s soul. It would be great to talk with him some more, and help him perform this very holy deed.

Our heartfelt supplications seem to have ascended ‘up the mountain’ almost immediately.

Shortly after we parted, we see Sol returning to us sporting a dejected face.

“This never happens to me! I always get in.” Sol complains when he reaches us. He is terribly sad over the fact that he will not be going into the concert.

“This is called Hashgacha Pratis! Divine providence! You are meant to do a Mitzvah,” Dovi states confidently.

“I guess you’re right…” Sol mumbles as he lowers his head and looks at the ground. “Maybe we can go down the mountain. There are tables and benches down there,” he suggests.

“No problem. Let’s go…” I say.

We descend from the plateau and head towards the table area down below.

It happens to be on a very busy, central point on the path where people go up and down the mountain.

When we reach it, I’m surprised by the sheer amount of people passing through.

I place my Tefillin bag on the table and face him.

“Sol, we are going to do a very holy Mitzvah. The word Mitzvah is a very famous word. Everybody has some understanding of it; however I want to add to that which you know with something you might not know.”

Sol’s reddish brown eyes lock onto mine in concentration.

“The word Mitzvah literally means a commandment. A certain act commanded by G-d. Interestingly, in Aramaic the word Mitzvah means connection. So essentially by performing a Mitzvah we connect to His very will. That is true with every Mitzvah, but this really manifests in quite a literal way with Tefillin. We bind these two boxes with these leather straps to our body. They contain holy verses inscribed on parchment. One box is placed on the left bicep facing one’s heart and its strap is bound around our arm. This represents subjugating one’s heart to G-d. The box placed above the forehead held in place by its own strap represents subjugating one’s mind to G-d. Jewish men are commanded to connect to the Creator in this manner every day except for Shabbos and holidays. This act  is very, very, special. ”

“What an introduction!” Sol exclaims thankfully.

“It makes a difference to learn a little about something before doing it, don’t you agree? Are you ready?” I ask as I take the arm Tefillin out of the bag.

“I don’t know what to do.” He admits bashfully.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you along. We will say the blessing on the Tefillin at the beginning of the wrap. Don’t speak until I place the head Tefillin on you. Ok?”

Sol nods his head in agreement.

“Are you a righty or a lefty?”

“I’m a righty.”

“OK. Now roll up the sleeve of your left arm. Take off your watch. The Tefillin must be directly on your skin without any separation. Just like we should let nothing separate us from G-d…”

I place the arm Tefillin on his bicep and say the blessing with him word for word. I proceed to wrap the leather strap around his arm and then I secure the head Tefillin above his forehead between his eyes with the two straps dangling down his chest one on either side.

The regular looks we have been getting turn to stares and double takes from the random passersby.

I open the Siddur, the prayer book, and offer it to him.

“Do you need help reading the Hebrew or should I say it with you?”

“Could you read it with me?”

“Sure.”

We read the ‘Shema Israel’ prayer together. I say a word and he repeats it after me. Sol’s eyes turn soulful as he looks at the words on the pages I’m reading from. The energy of the moment is intense, and somehow transforms into becoming very personal.

 

Then all of a sudden while Sol is still wearing the Tefillin on his head and arm, we are approached by a stranger. The man directs his attention to me and looks me in the eye.

“Excuse me Rabbi. I happen to have this ticket to the blue grass concert starting soon up the mountain. I won’t be able to make it, something came up. Would you like the ticket?” He held the ticket in his hand moving it suggestively towards me.

Sol is amazed, Dovi is taken aback, and I am very surprised by this ‘coincidental’ gift offering.

“I’m not going to be able to go to the concert, however, I have a friend who would love to get into this concert. “ I say with a smile as I look at Sol who is looking on with his mouth open.

The man hands me the ticket and disappears as quickly as he appeared. I hand Sol the ticket into the hand that still has the Tefillin on it.

“I can’t believe this!” He gasps looking at his arm wrapped with the straps then looking at the ticket he is holding with that arm’s hand.

“This is unreal!”

“You see, you just did a Mitzvah and Hashem gave you a little sign. This doesn’t happen every day you know…” Dovi says.

Sol is visibly affected by the fact he ‘miraculously’ received a ticket for the concert he has tried to get into so desperately, without any success, until right after he put on Tefillin.

“Don’t think that by doing Mitzvos you get what you want. The gift itself is fulfilling the desire of the Creator, by performing His Mitzvos and studying His Torah…” I add.

“Whatever you say man, but this is really trippy…” he concludes shaking his head.

 

I remove the Tefillin from Sol’s head and arm and wrap the straps around the boxes before putting them in their velvet bag.

“Sol we have to go. We have to continue on our trip. We are headed to Vail next.”

“It was really nice hanging out with you guys. Let me walk you to your car.”

“That would be very nice of you.”

 

The three of us are walking against the current of people coming up to the concert on the mountain as we head down the road to the parking area.

We speak further making small talk. After a little pause in our conversation Sol confesses to us…

“I was thinking about it, and I’ve come to the conclusion I will give my ticket to my girlfriend. She’ll go in instead of me.”

“Sol, what are you saying? After all this you are just going to give it away to this girl who is cheating on you?” Dovi asks in disbelief.

“Sol, I gave the ticket to you. Not to her.” I protest.

“I know, I just don’t feel good about going myself since we came in together to go to the concert. It would be rather selfish and rude, no?”

We answer Sol with our silence. His etiquette and sensitivity are right on.

We step closer to the direction of our car where out of the blue a man walks over to me from the side and stops me in my tracks with a smile.

“Hello! How are you today rabbi?” He greets me.

“Thank G-d, very well.” I answer back.

“Listen, I bought a ticket for the concert up there. Something came up and I will not be able to go, would you like to go instead of me?” He offers.

Sol’s eyes immediately widen while his jaw literally drops in awe as he hears this.

I myself am quite stunned as I answer, “I will not be able to go to the concert, but my friend here would love to go…“

The man gives me the ticket and vanishes into the crowd. I turn my face to Sol and hand him the second ticket.

“This is a miracle! Are you guys’ angels or something?” He asks incredulously.

“No, just rabbis in training…” I answer wearing a vague smile.

“Isn’t it amazing that just after you told us you’ll be giving the first ticket away, someone just gives me a second ticket?! I hope you don’t take this to mean you two should enjoy the concert together…” I give Sol a knowing look.

“Don’t worry; she’ll be hanging out with her friends anyway.” Sol reassured me.  “But, I am so grateful to be able to go to the concert too. Thank you so much.”

“First of all, I will worry until you find a good Jewish girlfriend. Second, don’t thank us, thank G-d!” Dovi declares.

 

The crowd around us is hurrying to the concert which will commence shortly. We get to the parking area and he is still with us.

 

“It was really special meeting you!” Sol says as he wraps his arms around Dovi in a bear hug.

“Meeting you made our day.” Dovi says.

Sol then gives me a big hug and says” I’m not going to thank you for the tickets. I’ll thank G-d…”

“Goodbye.” Sol says with a melancholy hint of sadness.

“Chasidim don’t say goodbye. We hope to see each other again…”I say. “I wish we could stay in touch.”

“Well that’s going to be a little hard since I’m travelling around. I don’t know where I’ll go next. I don’t have a phone and I don’t have an e mail account.”

I reach into my pocket and produce a Chabad Lubavitch business card. I hand it to him.

“What’s this” he asks.

“Wherever you might roam, you can always come home. It’s a card with a general number to call wherever you are to connect you with a local Shliach, a Chabad rabbi. You are always welcome, anywhere.” I positively say.

In addition, I hand him some authentic Jewish inspirational reading material to keep.

He stands a few feet away, in the current of people, looking at us with those big reddish brown eyes.

It seems that our new friend is sad to see us go.

We head to our car and I look back a couple of times to see him lingering there, with the mountain behind him, staring at us. Each time I wave he waves back.

We get into our car and slowly drive away.

I look back and he is still there following us with those eyes, holding the two tickets, his two miracles, close to his heart.

 

***********

 

The sun on our flight is shining with an unusual golden light as we ascend into the skies, transcending the earth and the clouds below.

I get a flashback of the cliff side road to Aspen when we were literally driving above the clouds.

Here we are, two rabbinic students who spent eighteen days on these spiritual soul travels that spanned some 2,600 miles through Colorado and Wyoming. Now, we are going back to our New York home.

I look out of the window and let the sun’s rays warm my face as I reflect on some highlights of our recent ventures.

The mysterious chain of acquaintances that lead us to a recluse living on the outskirts of Nederland in the woods…

The emotionally charged meeting with a convicted family man who we visited in his Cheyenne prison, through the efforts of the Aleph Institute…

How we drove 13 long hours to meet with ‘just’ one Jew living in Jackson Hole.

The guru hunt we were given, attempting to make contact with an elusive celebrity ‘spiritualist’ who happened to be a Cohen, and his angry non-Jewish wife who was outraged that we found them.

The intriguing phone call and hospital visit to an ex-Lubavitcher who formed his own reformed sect in Boulder.

The grueling call-a-thon and challenging house calls from the lists of Jews we were given to contact.

The unnerving encounter with the man in Denver whose drugs sadly debilitated him.

And off course…our ‘coincidentally random’ meeting with Sol.

 

As I meditate on our long drives through the vast open spaces and the holy souls we met, I marvel at this extremely unique experience we were privy to.

I can’t help but think that this whole trip was reminiscent of those stories I read of the Baal Shem Tov and his Chasidim travelling around reaching out to fellow Jews amidst much revealed divine providence and miracles so many years ago.

If I let myself dare to compare, I really feel this truly was a modern day Baal Shem Tov-type road trip!

As I study the different shapes of the clouds underneath, different memories form within me. I let my thoughts wander. My thoughts change form and reshape, playing back more of our quest.

Then the interaction with Sol takes center stage of my undivided concentration. The image of him standing there, watching us go, flashes before me. I envision Sol amongst the roaring sea of people following us with the windows of his soul wide open.

What will become of him? I wonder.

Maybe he will find his real soul mate, a Jewess, there in the bluegrass mountain concert.

Wouldn’t it be great if this nice Jewish boy fulfills his ultimate destiny and settle down and build a warm Jewish family someday, instead of wasting his time or making a grave mistake?

Wouldn’t it be amazing if instead of squandering his time drifting to and fro chasing entertainment he will spend it wisely by exploring the depths of the Torah and apply its truth to his every day?

 

My ponderings halt. I gently scoff and shake my head in disagreement.

Dovi sitting next to me notices and asks “What’s on your mind?”

“I’m just thinking about Sol. Remember how he thought that the miracle was getting into the concert with those tickets people gave me?”

“Yes, of course. It was a clear miracle, in fact, two miracles.” Dovi answers.

“Well. I was thinking about it and I disagree! The miracle wasn’t getting the tickets so he can do what he thinks he wants. The miracle was meeting him and enabling him to do what his soul truly desires, to do what G-d wants of him…”

 

The sun is brightly casting a truly energized magnificent light unlike I’ve ever seen.

Could this be a sign of satisfaction with our work from up above?

Internally too, these eighteen days ignite in me an especially lively fire. A hidden switch has been turned on. I secretly vow to not forget what I experienced and learned on this adventure.

I wish to continue being a catalyst for connecting my fellow Jews to our Creator.

Whatever happens in the future, if I’ll be an official rabbi or not, I know this Baal Shem Tov trip is never ending.

I must keep this distinct vibrant light illuminating forever.