Balancing the Scales in this World - Mishpatim

 EDITORSNOTES One of the most significant contributors in assisting mein learning how to deliver a speech or lecture was Rabbi Paysach Krohn, thewell-known fifth generation Mohel and modern-day Maggid and author. Rabbi Krohnimpressed upon me the importance of story telling in sharing ideas and gettingthem to stick. Often someone who hears a story will give over the story withits message and that’s the first step in lilmod ulelamed, in our requirement tolearn and teach. Stories with their emotional hook touch our hearts and oursouls and encourage us to ponder their life lessons. My father z’l, would tellover his grandmother’s memories of sitting in the great synagogue in Baghdadfor hours at a time on Shabbat day hearing Rav Yosef Haim, the Ben Ish Chaideliver his derasha which often ran three hours and by weaving in anecdotes andstories he held onto the attention of a crowd of countless men, women andchildren.     Whenever I hear a good story, I take the time to writeit down and file it away for use later on. And often the act of writing it outhelps me to remember it.  Each winter Shabbat, during lunch and before we praymincha gedolah, I have the opportunity to give an hour-long class. I typicallyprint out notes on Friday afternoon and prepare the class in my mind on Fridaynight. This past Friday night I had prepared a class on Har Sinai and thecontrast with Har Sabor and Har Carmel based on the teachings of the ShvileiPinchas and on notes from Rabbi Yosef Farhi. But as we read the Torah thatmorning, I looked at the crowd which included a group of ninth graders on aShabbaton that weekend and reconsidered. I instead recalled a five minute talkgiven the day before by my friend Rabbi Ariel Mizrahi on jealousy, pulled somevolumes of the Talmud, the Ben Ish Chai and Ohr HaChaim on the Perasha and withHashem’s help wove it into an hour long class with the help of stories and B’H,the kahal was very involved and pleased. The secret was in the stories.       This morning I hear Rabbi Paysach Krohn tell a storywhich he heard from Rabbi Chanoch Ehrentreu z’sl. Rabbi Ehrentreu who passedaway a few months ago, served for many years as the Av Bet Din, the head of theLondon Bet Din in Great Britain. The Rabbi was a leading authority in all areasof Jewish law, with particular expertise in the fields of Medical Ethics,Conversions and Kashrut. After hearing the story, I played it again and wroteit down. In the story he mentioned a number of Rabbis and as I did not knowthem, I googled each to get a better understanding of the players.      But as often happens, when googling the players, Hashemdirects me to a link where the story I just spent time writing down is told inmore detail and that’s exactly what happened this morning.  And I would like to share it with you. I also liked thestory as it has to do with Telz and our synagogue through one of its mostimportant families, grandchildren of Rav Mordechai Gifter, z’sl, form RoshYeshiva of Telz in Cleveland, has a direct connection with this ancientLithuanian town.       Last night I spoke about Mishpatim being the portion ofbring the world into balance. We see the symbol of judgement as the scale. TheZohar for Mishpatim focuses on the concept of reincarnation and if you havetime to listen to the class, one can see that the goal of gilgulim seems to beto bring people, souls and creating into balance. Rabbi Abittan would often saythat it’s not necessary to rely on a gilgul to accomplish this, its part of ourevery day lives. Unfortunately, being within the painting doesn’t allow us tostep back and see the entire painting although we are sometimes given aglimpse. It’s these hints that should build our Emunah and bitachon, our faithand trust reminding us that Hashem is guiding our lives always.    So with respect to Rabbi Krohn, here is the much longerversion of the story as told by Rabbi Hanoch Teller.    SOMEONEonce observed that in the yeshivah of Telz,[1] the concept of“adequate” was anathema to the students. To the connoisseur, adequacy isinsulting.    This lofty standard was not unique to the yeshivah, founded in1875. It pervaded that famous Lithuanian town where fear of Heaven wascardinal, chessed was the breath of life and Torah study was…everything. After the turn of the century, the Jews in the majorityof European towns -- even those with a dominant Jewish population -- wereirreligious and often anti-religious in outlook and practice. But Telz was a“college town” whose central focus was the yeshivah. Rabbi Akiva Eigercommented about the Telzers, “Even the wagon drivers are as full of Torah as apomegranate is of seeds.”    ONETelzer wagon driver considered the possibility of the venerable RoshYeshivah stumbling late at night through Telz’s dark alleys soappalling that he insisted on sleeping on the bench where the RoshYeshivah learned. When the Rosh Yeshivah would ariseat the conclusion of his studies, deep in the night, the wagon driver wouldawaken to bring his illustrious passenger home. In appreciation for the wagondriver’s sacrifice on his behalf, the Rosh Yeshivah blessed thehumble man with a long life. The wagon driver first divulged this story at theage of 109.    Oneitinerant repairman in Telz would knock on doors and offer to inspect – forfree – the kashering boards that were a fixture in every kitchen. His trueintention was to engage the women in a discussion regarding the halachos ofkashering meat to ensure that they clearly understood the laws. If repairs forthe boards were necessary, he would never charge more than a few pennies.    Eventhe train depot in Telz was a nucleus of chessed. One Telzer couplewould wait there until the last train made its stop late at night to collectthe weary passengers who had not made lodging arrangements. Sometimes thecouple was so successful that they filled every bed in their home, includingtheir own – whereupon they would remove the doors from their hinges and sleepon these jerry-rigged “mattresses.”    Therewas an elderly Jew who would wait at the depot to attract the attention ofincoming travelers by yelling, “Help me! Help me!”    Thepassengers had only a one-hour layover, so except in case of an emergency theywere reluctant to detrain and jeopardize the continuation of their journey.“You must come to my house now!” the old man would continue to wail.    “Issomeone ill?” the anxious passengers would inquire as they hurried down to theplatform.    “No,no, there’s only a short time before the next train and you must allow me tofeed you and give you a bed to rest. Please – my house is right across thestreet!”    TheTelzers’ love of Torah was so intense that during the yeshivah’s daily recesspeople would step outside to catch a glimpse of the scholars’ radiant faces.One laborer would loiter in front of his shop in the hope that a student wouldpass by so that he could provide a minor service like giving the time of day.    Theproceedings at one conference of the local, fire department are illustrative ofthe degree to which Torah permeated Telz. The Roshei Yeshivah sentsome of the older yeshivah students to represent the Torah outlook to theconference and to demonstrate the yeshivah’s appreciation for the service thatthe non-religious fire-fighters provided. The department seated the yeshivahstudents up front in the section reserved for dignitaries.    Whenthe department’s burly, unlettered chief arose to speak, he wished to affordthe scholars some honor, but he had nothing of Torah content to convey. So hecommenced his address with a phrase that was the most commonplace expression inTelz: “Chazal zuggen - the ancient rabbis of blessed memorytaught…” – and continued with words that bore no Torah content and were in noway connected to his opening idiom.    Andnow that we have an image of Telz, the story I heard from Rabbi Krohn …    WHENRABBI YEHOSHUA HELLER vacated the position of Rav in Telz inorder to become the Maggid of Vilna, it was understood thathis replacement would have to be a scholar of the highest caliber andrefinement of character. Several candidates were considered.    Toppingthe short list was a resident of Telz, Rabbi Abba Werner, the av betdin, who was considered a shoo-in for the prestigious position. A differentcandidate, by all means worthy, but not as well known to Telz, was Rabbi LazerGordon, one of the great students of Volozhin and a disciple of Reb YisraelSalanter. For reasons that will forever remain a mystery, Rabbi Gordon wasselected. It was this very gaon who would subsequently berevered as the gadol hador.    Rabbi Werner was hurt that he had been passed over for what hethought was naturally his. In frustration and humiliation, he left for foreignpastures. After a brief tenure in Copenhagen, he assumed the position of Rabbiin Machzikei Hadass in London’s East End.    RABBIGORDON’S RESPONSIBILITIES as the new Rav of Telz included inspecting theslaughterhouse. There, he noticed one of the shochtim, MendelRappaport, shechting in a way that he felt could standimprovement. Rabbi Gordon suggested to Rappaport to employ a specific techniquethat would free his work of any shailot.    The shochet tookthe recommendation as a personal affront. He was convinced that the new Rav didnot care for him; and, not wishing to continue working under suchcircumstances, vanished from Telz.    Over thirty years later, in 1908, fire destroyed the Telzyeshivah building, thrusting the yeshivah into a financial crisis. Considerablymore money was needed to restore operations than had ever been collectedbefore. Faced with such an awesome debt, Rabbi Gordon decided to employ aninnovative approach. In those days, the standard collection route included themajor cities in the area: Vilna, Kovno, Warsaw. It was a well-beaten path,one meshulachim trod often.    Innovatively, Rabbi Gordon sailed to untapped, virgin territory:London. Upon his arrival, as Rabbi Krohn tells it, Rabbi Gordon did not know asoul in town, and he came to the great Machzikei Hadass synagogue in London’sEast End. Mendel Rapapport who had been the shochet in Telz and who afterarriving in London was blessed with extraordinary wealth, recognized the Rabbias the Rosh Yeshiva of Telz and invited him to his palatial home.     .Rabbi Gordon was delighted to be escorted by his host to the home of an alterTelzer (former resident of Telz) who had become an affluent Londoner.After the preliminaries at the door, Rabbi Gordon was ushered into the gvir Rapapport’s parlor. After enjoying a meal together, Rabbi Gordonasked, “It is a long way from Telz to London; what brought you here?”    “You,” the former shochet said, pointing afinger of accusation. Rabbi Gordon was an intelligent man, but this was beyondhim. “How so?”    Mendel Rapapport reminded the Telzer Rav of his arrival in thefamed Lithuanian town and his first visit to the slaughterhouse. “I was the onewhose work you found sub-standard. I understood that that meant it was time forme to pack my bags.”     Rabbi Gordon cringed. “Nothing, simply nothing,” he exclaimed,“could be further from the truth.” He had never had the slightest grudgeagainst the shochet; he had only sought a more mehudar performance of the mitzvah. Rabbi Gordon apologized profusely for an affront ofwhich he had been totally unaware. With sincere remorse evident in his words,he managed to appease Mendel Rapapport. The former shochet accepted the apologyand explained that all was from Heaven as by leaving Hashem blessed himgreatly.    The wealthy host then suggested they visit the leading Rabbi.That rabbi was none other than Rabbi Abba Werner.    Rabbi Werner was honored to have such a distinguished guest, buthe informed his unsuspecting visitor that there were some accounts to besettled – and explained what had brought him to London. Hesuggested that the least his guest could have done was consult with the Av BetDin before accepting the position. By not doing so, Rabbi Werner explained thathe felt his time was over in Telz and made for the exit.     Again Rabbi Gordon became slack-jawed. He had not known of “theshort list,” nor that he had competed against his London host. He immediatelybegged, and received, Rabbi Werner’s forgiveness.    ALAS,ideas that are theoretically sound are not necessarily practicable. The primaryreason London was not a collection hub was that Anglo Jewry had not yet evolvedinto a community of donators. Several days into the campaign, Rabbi Wernerinquired how his guest was faring. The report was far worse than Rabbi Wernercould have feared. After knocking on numerous doors and visiting virtually allof the area shuls, all Rabbi Gordon had to show for his effortswere a few pennies. The trip was a disaster for the yeshivah, an embarrassmentfor the Telzer Rosh Yeshivah, and a fiasco for kavod haTorah.    Butwith the help of Mendel Rapapport, a Melaveh Malka was called for MotzeiShabbat and the wealthy man pushed for others to join. Rabbi Gordon gave apassionate plea and funds were raised to be sent to Telz,     Later that night, Rabbi Gordon’s lofty soul was summoned to theHeavenly Yeshivah. Rabbi Chanoch Ehrentreu,, when telling over the storysuggested that undoubtedly, the two conceivable impediments to immediate accessto the Almighty’s inner sanctum had just been removed, but they required a tripall the way to the British Isles to be actualized.    Rabbi Gordon could not have known this, nor do we know theconsequences of what we do.   Strangelyenough, the eulogy and burial that took place on soil very foreign to Telz,Lithuania. Because of strained relations between the governments of England andLithuania the body could not be sent back, and was to be buried in London. Butif you visit his grave, you will see, that he is buried next to the gvir MendelRappaport.      Often we discuss gilgulim as achance to right wrongs from previous lifetimes, but wouldn’t it be better toright wrongs while we still can in this world.    Rabbiteller closes his story with a beautiful thought: “Perhaps we can derive amodicum of consolation from the fact that Reb Lazer Gordon left this world pureand sinless, having finally resolved any grievance against him. But we shouldnot be too quick to be consoled before we internalize the lesson of how deepand demanding are the consequences of resentment. Rancor is the fire but aneternal grudge is the ash. Let’s bury that too, today, and let the Almightyhave mercy upon us all.”    Let’seach and every one of us do our best to right any wrongs now! It’s truly bestfor all.    ShabbatShalom,  DavidBibi