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An Etrog From Eden
It was the first day of Succos, and all the congregants in the shul (synagogue) of Rabbi Elimelech of Lisensk were in a festive mood. One could feel the "Yom-Tov (Festival)" spirit in the air.
As Rabbi Elimelech stood at the amud (Lectern) and began reciting Hallel (a Jewish prayer of praise to G-d), all eyes turned upon him. There was something unusual in his manner this Sukkot.
He had his esrog and lulav in his hands and began to sniff the air? Why did he not go through the Service in his usual leisurely manner? It was evident that something was on his mind, something rather exciting by the look on his radiant countenance!
The minute the davening (prayers) was over, Rabbi Elimelech hurried to where his brother Rabbi Zusia (who had come to spend Yom-Tov with him) was standing, and said to him eagerly: "Come and help me find the esrog which is permeating the whole shul with the fragrance of the Garden of Eden!"
And so together they went from person to person until they reached the far corner of the shul where a quiet looking individual was standing, obviously engrossed in his own thoughts.
"This is the one," called out Rabbi Elimelech delightedly. "Please, dear friend, tell me who are you and where you obtained this wonderful esrog?"
The man, looking somewhat startled and bewildered at this unexpected question, replied rather slowly, carefully choosing his words:
"With all due respect to you, Rabbi, it is quite a story. Do you wish to sit down and listen to it all?"
"Most certainly I do," answered Rabbi Elimelech emphatically, "I am sure it will be a story worth hearing!"
"My name," began the quiet-looking man, " is Uri, and I come from Strelisk. I have always regarded the blessing over the esrog as one of my favorite mitzvos (commandments), and so, although I am a poor man and could normally not afford to buy an 'esrog' according to my desire, my young wife, who agrees with me as to its importance, helps me by hiring herself out as cook. Thus she is independent of any financial help from me, and I can use my own earnings for spiritual matters. I am employed as melamed (teacher) in the village of Yanev, which is not far from my native town. One half of my earnings I use for our needs and with the other half I buy an esrog in Lemberg. But in order not to spend any money on the journey I usually go on foot.
"This year, during the Ten Days of Repentance, I was making my way on foot as usual, with fifty gulden in my wallet with which to buy an esrog, when on the road to Lemberg I passed through a forest and stopped at a wayside inn to have a rest. It was time for minchah (afternoon prayers) so I stood in a corner and davened (prayed) minchah.
"I was in the middle of shemone esrei (the 18 blessings) when I heard a terrible sound of moaning and groaning, as of one in great anguish. I hurriedly finished my davening so that I could find out what was the trouble, and if I could help in any way.
"As I turned towards the man who was in obvious distress, I beheld a most unusual and rough looking person, dressed in peasant garb with a whip in his hands, pouring out his troubles to the inn-keeper at the bar.
"From the somewhat confused story, between his sobs, I managed to gather that the man with the whip was a poor Jew who earned his living as a baal agallah (owner of a horse and cart for carting purposes). He had a wife and several children and he barely managed to earn enough to make ends meet. And now, a terrible calamity had be fallen him. His horse, without which he couldn't earn a living, had suddenly collapsed in the forest not far from the inn, and just lay there unable to get up.
"I could not bear to see the man's despair and tried to encourage him, by telling him that he must not forget that there is a G-d above us who could help him in his trouble, however serious it seemed to him.
" 'I'll sell you another horse for fifty gulden, although I assure you he is worth at least eighty, but just to help you out in your difficulty!' " The inn-keeper was saying to the baal agallah.
" 'I haven't even fifty cents, and he tells me I can buy a horse for fifty gulden!' the man said bitterly.
"I felt I could not keep the money I had with me for an esrog when here was a man in such desperate plight that his very life and that of his family depended upon his getting a horse. So I said to the inn-keeper:
"'Tell me what is the lowest price you would take for your horse?'
"The inn-keeper turned to me in surprise. If you pay me cash down, I will take forty-five gulden, but absolutely not a cent less. I am selling my horse at a loss as it is!'
"I immediately took out my wallet and banded him forty-five gulden, the baal agallah looking on, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets in astonishment. He was just speechless with relief, and his joy was absolutely indescribable!
"'Now you see that the Almighty can help you, even when the position appears to you to be entirely hopeless!' I said to him as he hurried off with the innkeeper to harness the newly-bought horse to his forsaken cart tied to the stricken horse in the forest.
"As soon as they went off, I hurriedly got my few things together and disappeared, as I did not want to be embarrassed by the thanks of the grateful baal agallah.
"I eventually reached Lemberg with the remaining five gulden in my pocket, and naturally had to content myself with buying a very ordinary looking but kosher esrog! My original intention had been to spend fifty gulden for an esrog as I do every year, but as you have heard, I decided that the need of the baal agallah for a horse was greater than my need for an 'exceptional esrog.'
"Usually my esrog is the best in Yanev, and everyone used to come and make the blessing with it, but this year I was ashamed to return home with such a poor-looking specimen, so my wife agreed that I could come here to Lisensk, where nobody knew me."
"But my dear Rabbi Uri," cried out Rabbi Elimelech, now that the former had finished his story, "Yours is indeed an exceptional esrog! Now I realize why your esrog has the fragrance of the Garden of Eden in its perfume! Let me tell you the sequel to your story!"
"When the baal agallah whom you saved, thought about his unexpected good fortune, he decided that you must have been none other than the Prophet Elijah whom the Almighty had sent down to earth in the form of a man, in order to help him in his desperation. Having come to this conclusion the happy baal agallah looked for a way of expressing his gratitude to the Almighty, but the poor man knew not a Hebrew word, nor could he say any prayers. He racked his simple brain for the best way of thanksgiving.
"Suddenly his face lit up. He took his whip and lashed it into the air with all his might, crying out with all his being: ‘ Dear Father in Heaven, I love you very much! What can I do to convince you of my love for you? Let me crack my whip for you as a sign that I love you!’ Saying which, the baal agallah cracked his whip into the air three times.
"On the eve of Yom Kippur the Almighty up above was seated on His 'Seat of judgment,' listening to the first prayers of the Day of Atonement.
"Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev who was acting as the Counsel for Defense on behalf of his fellow Jews, was pushing a wagon full of Jewish mitzvo (good deeds) to the Gates of Heaven, when Satan appeared and obstructed his path with piles of Jewish sins, so that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak just got stuck there. My brother Rabbi Zusia and I added our strength to help him move his wagon forward, but all in vain; even our combined efforts proved fruitless.
"Suddenly there came the sound of the cracking of a whip which rent the air, causing a blinding ray of light to appear, lighting up the whole universe, right up to the very heavens! There we saw the angels and all the Righteous seated in a circle, singing G-d’s praise. On hearing the baal agallah's words as he cracked his whip in ecstasy, they responded:
"'Happy is the King who is thus praised!'
"All at once, the Angel Michael appeared, leading a horse, followed by the baal agallah with whip in hand.
"The Angel Michael harnessed this horse to the wagon of mitzvos, and the baal agallah cracked his whip. Suddenly the wagon gave a lurch forward, flattened out the Jewish sins that had been obstructing the way, and drove it smoothly and easily right up to the Throne of Honor. There the King of Kings received it most graciously and, rising from the Seat of judgment, went over and seated Himself on the Seat of Mercy. A happy New Year was assured."
"And now dear Rabbi Uri" concluded Rabbi Elimelech, "you see that all this came about through your noble action! Go home, and be a leader in Israel! For you have proved your worthiness! And you shall carry with you the approval of the Heavenly Court! But before you go, permit me to hold this wonderful esrog of yours, and praise G-d with it."
Yehuda Green - Selichot 2011
Imagine the power of prayer and supplication with achdut (unity) and song:
Yehuda Green, Selichot 2011
Click on the three images below to watch the videos
A valuable lesson
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a £20 note.
In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this £20 note?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this £20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the £20 note up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still want it because it has not decreased in value. It is still worth £20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, we will never lose our value."
Don't Blame, Don't Complain campaign
The "Don't Blame, Don't Complain" Campaign can change your life.
Click the image below to view amazing inspirational video. Where's the salt?
Click here for follow up on the Don't Blame, Don't Complain campaign, the wrist band competition.
Miracles on 9/11
Through the Valley of Death by Hatzalah
The personal miracle of a rescue worker buried beneath the rubble of the Twin Towers.
An excerpt from the new book "Even in the Darkest Moments" by Zeev Breier.
Click the image below to read this amazing story, an absolutely brilliant read!
Shipwreck
The Bed By The Window
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it. In his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days and weeks passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.
The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”
Giving up your seat!
A young man was holding an infant in his lap while he was trying to watch several other children.
When an older man got on the Jerusalem bus there was an argument over the seat that the man holding the infant was sitting in.
The argument was over who would accept the seat! The man holding the infant tried to give it to the older man and the older man refused to take it.
Dreams
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his horse to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.”
“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of some day owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.’”
“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did I receive an F?’”
“The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’”
“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’ “Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.”
“He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.’”
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.”
“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.”
Something to ponder!
Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit £86,400.00 in your personal account for your use. However, this prize has rules,
Just as any game has certain rules.
1. Everything that you didn't spend by the end of each day would be taken away from you.
2. You cannot transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it.
3. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another £86,400.00 for that day.
4. The bank can end the game without warning. At any time it can say, it's over, the game is over! It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.
What would you do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?
Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, right?
ACTUALLY this GAME is REALITY!
Each of us is in possession of such a bank!
We just don't seem to see it!
This MAGICAL BANK is TIME!
Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life,
and when we go to sleep at night,
any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven't used up that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone.
Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can close your account at any time...
WITHOUT WARNING.
SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?