When something bad happens, we are supposed to say, "gam zu letovah" -everything is for the best. If we miss a plane, we are upset but, if the plane crashes, we thank G-d that we missed the plane. I was reminded of "gam zu letovah" when I read the following story in the Jerusalem Post titled Heart attack saves man from rocket attack.
The heart attack Meir Dimri suffered on Tuesday saved his life on Saturday night when a rocket hit the garage near his small Beersheba home.
The projectile lodged in the pavement between his home and a neighbor’s.
It destroyed a small makeshift garage, shattered the windows in both houses, left pock marks on the walls and killed his dog Ze’ev.
But it did not harm Dimri or his wife who that night was with him in the hospital, where he was recovering from his heart attack.
The other week, I listened to a lecture by Rabbi Wallerstein and his words have made a deep impression on me. At the 38'50'' mark, he speaks about our cell phone use and our complete disregard for others, while we are on the phone, including mothers who don't attend to their babies because they are too busy texting. He speaks about not giving enough time to family members while they are alive while we think they will live forever. He talks about our lack of enthusiasm. He relates a conversation with a rabbi in Israel.
There's a rav in Eretz Yisrael - everytime he asks me - "nu Wallerstein, how's it going?"... I always say, "Baruch Hashem." He says, nu, how's it going?
"Baruch Hashem."
"Baruch Hashem good or Baruch Hashem bad?"
Cause there's a halacha that you have to make a beracha on the good and the bad.... When you say Baruch Hashem, it could be something bad, it could be something good. He says, that's not the answer. Baruch Hashem is very nice, but Baruch Hashem what?
So, now I say "Baruch Hashem, amazing."
This week, I've made a conscious effort to answer, "Baruch Hashem, great," when someone asks me how I'm doing.
Regarding the dreaded cell phone - perhaps you would be so kind to tell people in your synagogue to TURN OFF their cell phones before ENTERING the shul to prevent catastrophes from H"H occurring. Todah
ReplyDeleteEvery Rosh Hashanah when all the once-a-year-shulgoers turn up for services, all cell phones are left at the door in a special box, watched over by the security guard. People can collect them on their way out.
ReplyDeleteTo my knowledge, no-one has lost their phone yet, probably due to the incredible mass of security guards outside the shul.
But as the rabbi of that shul remarked one year - "I am in AWE of you all, who come to shul once a year.... because it shows that whatever you're doing, the pintele Yid is still alive, and brings you back here every Rosh Hashanah."