Weekly Story: Promise Me Part 1

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

Two weeks ago, I posted a story, and one of the details was that the Rebbe Rashab requested from a bochur, who was being drafted into the army, to wear tzitzis whenever possible. He added that this will be a constant reminder that you are a Jew, and when you have the opportunity, you will help another Jew.

A few people questioned why the Rebbe Rashab chose specifically the mitzvah of tzitzis? Two people replied in their comments that tzitzis is a makif, a garment that surrounds you, and kabbalah explains that a makif has strong powers. 

That reminded me of the story that the Rebbe Rashab related to his son HaRav Yosef Yitzchok, the Frierdiker Rebbe, when he came to him, as he had his tallis over his shoulder and said that he came to an impasse in his communal work. The Rebbe told his son that this once happened with the Mitteler Rebbe and his father, the Alter Rebbe. When the Alter Rebbe was about to wrap himself in his tallis, he said that a tallis is a makif and overwhelms its opponents. Hearing that, the Mitteler Rebbe kissed the tzitzis of his father’s tallis and succeeded in his mission.”

Hearing this, HaRav Yosef Yitzchok did the same, returned to the capital, and succeeded in his mission.

But the truth is that we don’t know and can’t say for certain why the Rebbeiim would instruct a specific individual to do one mitzvah and instruct another person to fulfill a different mitzvah.

However, as that story showed that everything is bhashgacho protis, including the way and day I received the story, I took a lesson from the question as well.

Around ten years ago I wrote a short novel, portraying a story that I heard when I was in elementary school from Rabbi Shmuel Kaufman, a master storyteller. Yes, it was on the mitzvah of Tzitzis.

Yes, over the years I realized it was a figment of my melamed’s imagination, but the story stuck with me and I myself would repeat it in my classroom. However, I never sent it to my editors as they were editing other books for me. So, it remained on my computer.

Seeing the question of why tzitzis, I was reminded of that novel, and I decided to post it over the course of a few weeks.

Personally, I would appreciate your feedback if you feel that it would be beneficial for our youth to read such a story.

Thank you.

THE MITZVAH OF TZITZIS WOULD SAVE YOU!

Chapter 1, THE COMPETITION

  The auditorium of Yeshivas Toras Emes elementary was abuzz, as all the students were discussing who they thought was the winner of this year’s Chumash competition. Did Shmuel Kaufman of the eighth grade hold on to the title he won last year, or did young Moshe Levy of the fifth grade grab the prize?

            The competition opened two weeks ago on Monday, for all the students of the fifth through eighth grades. The qualifying quiz of one hundred questions was passed with ease by almost everyone. They had to write a few lines about all fifty-four parshiot and to also write one event that happened with forty-six individuals mentioned in the Torah. Who couldn’t write something about Adam, Noach, Shem, Nimrod, and the three Avos and four Imahos etc?

            Then for the next five days, they were given fifty questions to answer. Each day the questions were on a different Chumash.

            The ten boys with the highest mark were then given two days to review an additional two hundred questions on the Chumash, and today they all sat on the stage and were tested in front of all their parents and the entire school.

            All of the boys made their parents and friends proud. They all successfully completed the first round and entered the second. However, eight of them made one or two mistakes or gave an incomplete answer. Only two of them, Shmuel and Moshe, answered every question correctly. So who won?

            Suddenly, everyone quieted down and stood by their places as the principal Rabbi Shmid walked in, together with the melamdim of these four grades. The broad smile on his face showed that he was extremely happy with the competition, but who was the winner?

            Enjoying the suspense, he stood quietly by the podium for a moment, but he knew that if he remained quiet any longer, the students would plotz. So he announced, “And the winner is, the boy who answered every question today, as well as correctly answered every question on the previous six quizzes”.

            “But before I announce who the winner is, I must say that the runner up also did exceptionally well, as he made only one mistake. We are proud of all of our talmidim who participated in the competition and especially of our two finalists. Therefore, it was decided to also award the runner up with a prize.

            “And now the winner is none other than, Moshe Levy of the fifth grade!” The clapping of all the boys drowned out the last few words, so Rabbi Shmid wisely waited for a moment for it to be quiet and for Moshe to run over and hug his parents.

            Motioning to Moshe to return to the stage, Rabbi Shmid continued, “Mazal Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Levy, may you continue to have much nachas from Moshe and all of your other children”. He then presented certificates to the other eight finalists and rewarded Moshe and Shmuel, the runner up, with a set of seforim.

Chapter 2 In Honor of Shabbos

            Some of the students were surprised, wondering how Moshe outdid every other boy in the school. He was the youngest boy in the competition! But those who knew Moshe’s family weren’t surprised. Rabbi Levy was a genuine talmid chochom who learned a few hours every day in the Beis Hamedrash. Then he would go home and do the tailoring jobs he had.

            Rabbi Levy wanted to have a full time job, but in the 1930’s, companies demanded that the workers work seven days a week. On the Friday after his first job, he told the manager that he would have to leave an hour early in order to be home for Shabbos. The manager replied, “If you leave early, you won’t have a job next week because many people are willing to work every day of the week, so your position would be given to someone else.”

            But Reb Chaim Levy wouldn’t budge, he would keep the Shabbos no matter what, and left the company at 4:00 pm. He hoped that his superior workmanship would help him find another job, even if he loses this one.

            Sure enough, when he showed up Sunday morning, the manager told him, “I warned you that the position would be given to someone else, but you were too stubborn to listen. You wanted to keep Shabbos. Many of the other workers have kept Shabbos in Europe, but here in America it is different. They realize that they have no choice but to work on the Sabbath or they will have no income and starve. But you feel you are better than them, and you proudly walked away from this company. You think you will find a position in another sewing company? Yes, there are hundreds of small companies, but all of them will give you the same ultimatum – work every day of the week, Shabbos and holidays included, or no job.”

            “We will see how long you will be firm and resolute, until you also become Americanized, like all of us,” he said. “Good luck!”

            Sure enough, Reb Chaim was hired by another company, but the same thing happened that Friday and the next few Fridays. As soon as he informed the manager he was leaving, he was told not to return.

            Now Reb Chaim realized why one of the biggest shuls in the neighborhood on Shabbos would daven shacharis at six in the morning. These people are really good Jews, who would love to keep Torah and Mitzvos, but the pressure of feeding and supporting their family was too much for them. So with sad hearts, they went to work on Shabbos after they davened with a minyan. Furthermore, on Shabbos many of them would walk for over an hour to their workplace, because they didn’t want to travel on the train or bus on Shabbos.

            But he was not going to allow himself to fall into this trap. Shabbos is the basis of a Jew’s life. So he opened up his own little tailoring shop in the corner of his apartment, just as his father did in Europe. This way, no one could pressure him to work on Shabbos or Yom Tov.

            The neighbors enjoyed his expert tailoring, fair prices, and especially his service. When necessary, he would work at night so they would have the clothing for the next day.

            Reb Chaim was thrilled, he was earning the same amount of money as the companies were paying, but not only didn’t he have to work on Shabbos and the Yomim Tovim, he was home when his Moshe’le and the other children came home. He would take a break from his tailoring to review with them what they learned and tell them the beautiful stories from the Midrash and Gemorah.

            So yes, Moshe was the youngest boy in his class and the contest, but when your father is such a talmid chochom, who is able to spend time and teach you, it is no surprise that you can do so well.

Chapter 3 Pneumonia 

            That summer, Rabbi Levy learned with Moshe the general concepts of the gemorah that he was going to learn in the upcoming year. In a few places he showed him the sweetness and enjoyment he receives when he learns the topic in depth. Yes, Rashi and Tosefos explain the topic differently and it seems confusing. But once you understand their reasoning, you realize they had to be explained differently. Then you realize that some Jewish communities are following one opinion while other communities follow the other opinion. Now everything made sense. Some things are obligations – or mitzvos, while other things are hiddurim – doing mitzvos in a nicer way, and then there are our minhagim – customs, and by customs every community can be different.

            The school year began with such promise; Moshe really liked his melamed Rabbi Goldman. Rabbi Goldman had a knack of making every student feel special and inspired them to strive to do their best. The way he presented the lessons was so clear that no subject felt difficult. Full of energy, the classroom was never boring. He was a teacher par excellence.

            Moshe excelled in class and home; everything was just great. He would come home and after he rested for a few minutes and had something to eat, he would go over to his father and proudly review what he learned that day. Occasionally, his father would have to explain or clarify something that Moshe didn’t understand. But most often, Moshe understood it correctly.

            But four months later, Rabbi Levy developed a cough. Originally, he thought it was just a cold and drank a lot of tea and a lot of his wife’s delicious chicken soup. After two weeks, he began feeling weaker and saw that the cough was stronger than before, so he went to the doctor.

            The doctor listened to the cough and prescribed antibiotics for ten days. But even after the ten days, it didn’t improve. The doctor prescribed stronger and more expensive antibiotics, but Rabbi Levy was becoming weaker.

            Over the next few weeks, the cough which developed into Bronchitis now became pneumonia and Rabbi Levy was able to work only a few hours a day. The rest of the day he had to rest. No longer was he able to promise next-day service and big jobs would take a week or more. The customers wanted to give him the job, but it wasn’t always possible. He could no longer commit to a deadline, as there were some days he was completely drained and couldn’t do any work.

            But what bothered him the most was the fact that he wasn’t able to learn with his Moshe’le and the other children. In the beginning, he sat in his chair and listened to Moshe review his learning. But after his coughing became so strong causing him no strength to sit, and then even when he was in bed, sometimes it was not possible to talk to him for more than a few moments.

            The pain in Moshe’s eyes and the worry about his father’s health began taking its toll. Some nights he was awakened by his coughing and couldn’t fall asleep, so when he went to yeshiva the following morning he wasn’t alert. No longer could he ask his father to clarify the gemora that he didn’t understand, and especially now that he was sometimes tired, this was happening more and more often. As his marks began slipping, Moshe’s self-confidence began falling.

            Rabbi Goldman, the kind and understanding Mechanech, noticed that Moshe was not the same. After a short conversation, he understood the pressure and anxiety that Moshe was going through, so he made up that on Shabbos and one evening in the week Moshe would learn with him.

Chapter 4 Helping Out

    While Moshe was grateful for this help, it was not the same. Moshe wanted to give his father something to smile about and tried to say a nice dvar torah at the Shabbos table, but he just couldn’t concentrate the way he used to. Something was telling him that his dear and loving father was much more ill than he was being told. Would the family situation ever return to normal?   

He then noticed how his mother stopped buying certain items and overheard her say to a relative how expensive the medicine was. He realized that the problem wasn’t only his father’s health, but his mother was becoming overwhelmed.

            So Moshe decided he had to help. After school he went to Mittleman’s grocery. Mr. Mittleman asked him how his father was, and Moshe told him, “My father needs expensive medicine and I want to help my mother. So can I become one of your delivery boys in the morning? I will deliver the bread, milk, and juice to your customers.”

            Mr. Mittleman thought for a moment. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t agree to hire such a young boy, but helping Rabbi Levy attain his medicine and become better, is a mitzvah. Additionally, if they don’t have money for medicine, then who knows what else is lacking in their home? He replied, “I can consider it, but won’t it interfere with your daily schedule in the yeshiva?”

“I will go to sleep an hour earlier,” replied Moshe. “This way I will sleep the same amount of hours, and I will make certain that I don’t come late to class. Anyways, I must be home by 8:00 in the morning to help my mother with my younger brothers and walk them to school.”

            Hearing this, Mr. Mittleman felt it was a real mitzvah to help out the Levy family in a respectful manner. He even decided to give Moshe a little more for each delivery than he paid his other delivery boys. He reasoned that if Mrs. Levy is allowing Moshe to do this, she probably really needs the extra money. How was he supposed to know that Mrs. Levy had no idea of what Moshe was planning to do?

            That night, Moshe kept his word. He ate dinner, davened maariv, did his homework, said shema, and went to bed an hour early. But his happiness and excitement didn’t allow him to fall asleep so fast. On the one hand, he was thankful that Mr. Mittleman agreed to give him the job without asking his mother. He was hopeful that with this extra money, his father would get better medicine and become better. But he was also nervous. Would he be able to service all those customers, in just one hour? What would his mother’s reaction be at the end of the week when he gives her the money? She might be upset that he did this without first discussing it with her. What would his friends say if they found out how desperate his family is? All these questions caused him to toss from side to side until he finally fell asleep.

            Luckily, he remembered to reset the alarm, because he never would have awakened on his own. He quickly washed negel vasser, said brachos, and quietly walked out the house. Oh how dark it is at six in the morning, but at least no one would recognize me, he thought.

            Mr. Mittleman smiled when he came in and showed him how to put together the orders. He then took out a paper and showed him the streets/route he should go on and this way he can go to more houses in a shorter amount of time. “Just don’t rush, because if you do, you may break some bottles or the eggs, and you will become tired. And remember that you must be back ten minutes before eight so you will be able to go home and help your wonderful parents.”

             I will finish these twelve deliveries in a half hour, thought Moshe confidently. But little did he realize how much time it took even with everything in the big basket on the back of the bicycle. The bicycle was heavy. and he couldn’t pedal as fast as he did on his own bicycle. Then he had to take each order out of the basket and place it in the milk chute or between the screen down and the real door to the house. Everything took time and he returned five minutes to eight.

            Rushing home, he ate breakfast with his brothers and walked them to yeshiva. Happy and excited, yes, but little did he realize how tired he was, and a half hour after the class began, his eyes began closing. The class was interesting, and he really wanted to pay attention and listen, but he was extremely tired and worn out and couldn’t stay awake.

            Rabbi Goldman quietly motioned to Moshe to go out and wash his face, hoping he would wake up. He was extremely careful not to embarrass him or make him uncomfortable. Moshe came back a little more awake, but his mind couldn’t concentrate. He kept on thinking how it would work out, and if he can somehow make more deliveries.

            To keep him engaged, Rabbi Goldman asked him a question on what they learned yesterday, which he was able to answer. “Excellent, keep it up Moshe,” exclaimed Rabbi Goldman, and Moshe made a firm resolution to be more attentive.

            That night he once again went to sleep early and began the route ten minutes earlier. This way he didn’t feel he had to rush and wasn’t so exhausted. The smile he received from Rabbi Goldman for being attentive and alert was worth it, he will do so every day.

            That Friday, Mr. Mittleman paid him, and Moshe was so proud of himself. He will help the family until his father becomes better and will be able to work, and his mother won’t have to take care of him and she too could return to work.

            He rushed home hoping to arrive before his brothers entered the kitchen. Luck prevailed and he came into the house and met his mother. Smiling broadly, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bunch of dollar bills. Giving it to his mother, he said, “Mother dear, here is the money I earned in order to help father become better. You can buy the best medicine, take him to the best doctor, everything will be good,” he said confidently.

            “Amen!” she said loudly as she hugged Moshe close to her. Luckily, he didn’t see the tears running down her cheeks. How was her young Moshe’le to know how expensive medicine and a doctor was? Yes, $11.50 was an enormous amount for him, and it will definitely help, but it won’t pay for the best doctors. And how innocent my dear Moshe is, little does he know how serious and dire the situation really is.

            Patting his head, she said, “Moshele, now go and bring your brothers down and we will buy them a treat for shabbos kodesh.”

            Moshe was so proud of himself, it worked just as he hoped for. He made his mother happy. This Shabbos, everyone will smile at the table as his mother said that his money would allow her to buy a treat for the whole family in addition to paying for the medicine.  

Chapter 5 Quiet Before The Storm

            That Shabbos was indeed a happy one in the Levy house. Moshe, who was convinced that his father would become better, sang the niggunim, beginning from Shalom Aleichem with gusto. His brothers followed his example, and they too were in a happy mood.

            Moshe said a short dvar torah on the parsha and patiently listened as his brother Yisroel interrupted him and said, “My Rebbe taught me….” Mrs. Levy initially cringed at the interruption, since in previous weeks Moshe reacted angrily, but how pleasant it was as Moshe waited for Yisroel to conclude his words and said, “That was a such a nice dvar torah”. Oh, if only everything will indeed become better.

            Getting caught up in the spirit, Mrs. Levy allowed herself to relax and momentarily put the hardships out of her mind. Seeing the children calm and happy had a therapeutic effect and forgetting her exhaustion, she asked them what they did in yeshiva this week, just as she used to months ago.

            The children bentched, said shema, and went to sleep. The next morning they awoke, got dressed and went to shul on their own. Moshe told them that Mommy bought them a surprise and they were eager to please her.

            That Shabbos, Moshe told his mother in detail about his job, how he got it, and his hopes. Mrs. Levy told him how proud she was of him putting in the extra effort and physical work to help. But she stressed, “You are doing it to help your father become better. Remember, the best way to help him is by learning well. As long as you do well in class, you can continue making the deliveries for Mittleman’s Grocery. But if it affects your learning, you will have to stop.”

            “Mother, you will see that I will get at least a 90 on tomorrow’s test, and I made up with my friend Gavriel to review the gemorah in shul today between mincha and maariv. I will make sure to continue staying awake in class every day and repeat the gemorah we learned this coming week to father. It is going to be great!”

            Sunday morning, Rabbi Goldman noticed the smile on Moshe’s face as soon as he entered the classroom, and he made sure to call on him on several occasions. When he said the gemorah, he kept an eye on Moshe, and when he saw a puzzled look on his face, he reviewed it another time adding an example or an additional explanation. Only when he saw that Moshe understood it, did Rabbi Goldman continue.

            He didn’t know what caused Moshe to be so happy and eager to learn today, but perhaps Rabbi Levy is finally getting better. Oh, how good that would be!   Indeed, for the next five weeks, things looked better. Moshe made sure to remain alert in class, especially as there were some days that his father had the strength to learn with him. It seemed that Rabbi Levy was regaining some of his strength. Mrs. Levy looked more rested, as evidently, she was able to sleep through the night. The family was smiling again.

Chapter 6 A Turn To The Worse

            But one day when Moshe came home, the worried expressions on his brother’s faces told him that something was wrong. “Mommy and Dr. Feld are in Tatty’s room,” they said. Moshe knew that he shouldn’t go into the room, but what was he supposed to do? He was scared, his brothers were scared, and no one had an appetite to eat. “Let us say some Tehillim,” he said, he said a few chapters together with his brothers.

            A few minutes later, they heard someone talking. Evidently Dr. Feld was talking to their mother. Looking at his mother’s face, Moshe saw that she was faint and pale, worry written all over her face.

            Seeing Moshe, she called him over and giving him the paper Dr. Feld gave her, she told him to go to the pharmacy and wait for them to fill the prescription.

            Moshe ran as fast as he could and gave the pharmacist the prescription. Realizing that something suddenly happened, the pharmacist told him, “Just wait a few minutes, we all are davening that your father has a refuah shalema.”

            These words calmed Moshe somewhat, and two minutes later he had a bag of a few different medicines. Rushing home, Moshe gave it to his mother.

            During the next two weeks, Dr. Feld was in their house almost every day. Moshe saw the nervousness and fear on his mother’s face. Everyone spoke in a hushed tone. He wasn’t allowed to see his father. It definitely wasn’t good.

            Then Dr. Feld announced, “Baruch Hashem, Rabbi Levy’s situation stabilized. The crisis has passed us.”

            “Baruch Hashem!” cried out Mrs. Levy and for the first time in weeks, she smiled. “Children,” she said, “father is still very weak, but in a few days, you will be able to go into his room and speak to him for a few minutes.

            All the children jumped for joy and explained their happiness, “Yes! Father is finally getting better!”

            Indeed, two days later they all went into their father’s room and spoke to him for a few minutes. But he looked so tired, he didn’t have the strength to sit up and speak clearly. They were all confused.

            That night, Moshe couldn’t fall asleep. Not to say that he slept soundly the other nights, but tonight he really didn’t sleep. The crisis is over, is what Dr. Feld said, but he didn’t say the danger was over and father is so weak. There didn’t seem to be anything to celebrate for. 

            He woke up to make the deliveries, but he definitely was tired. He maybe slept, but it felt as if he didn’t. Rabbi Goldman greeted him warmly as he waddled into the classroom, but his tired expressions showed that he didn’t have a good night. His heart went out for the young boy, how much more suffering can he and the family endure.

            Moshe wanted to pay attention, however, he was too exhausted and dozed off. Gavriel, who was his best friend who sat behind him, pushed the chair to awaken him. While it helped and Moshe would be alert for a few minutes, he would then doze off again. After a few times, Gavriel thought, “Maybe it would be better if I let him sleep today and hopefully tomorrow will be better.”

            By recess Rabbi Goldman called him over and asked him how he was. “Rebbe,” Moshe said, “I am sorry that I couldn’t concentrate and fell asleep today. Last night I didn’t have a good night’s sleep. I will try to be more alert tomorrow. Maybe my father will have more strength and he will be able to listen as I review the gemorah for him.

            That means that yesterday and other days Rabbi Levy didn’t have the strength even to listen. No wonder Moshe’s mind sometimes wanders. These words stuck with him harshly. “Amen,” replied Rabbi Goldman.

            The next few weeks were a roller coaster for the boy’s family. Some days it seemed that Rabbi Levy was getting better, as he listened to the children review what they learned and said words of encouragement to them, making them feel like a million dollars. Other days he was so exhausted that he just slept most of the day. Little did they realize how hard he was trying to give his children the chizuk they would need for the rest of their life.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com