“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Yisro
23 Shevat 5784/ February 2, 2024
Mevorchim Chodesh Adar I
STEP UP
There aren’t many people who are able to impact and influence masses of
Jews throughout the world. Rav Matisyahu Salomon zt”l, the late Lakewood
Mashgiach, was one such rare individual. Aside from being a scholar of note, he
was an eloquent and inspiring orator with an English accent to boost.
During his youth Rav Matisyahu learned in the Gateshead yeshiva where he
gained mastery of Shas. His proficiency was evident from his shmuessen and
speeches, in which he would quote extensively from Chazal, midrashim and
mussar.
Many of those who knew him during his formative years thought Rav
Matisyahu was destined to become a great rosh yeshivah.
In the late 1960s however, Rav Matisyahu was appointed assistant
mashgiach and then mashgiach of Gateshead Yeshivah. After holding the position
for almost 3 decades, Rav Matisyahu and his family moved to Lakewood, NJ where
he assumed the daunting role of mashgiach of Beis Medrash Govoha.
Originally, Rav Matisyahu was very hesitant to accept the position of
mashgiach. During his early years, he periodically traveled to the Steipler
Gaon to ask if he could leave his leadership role and return to full-time
learning in kollel. The Steipler advised him to retain the position. Rav
Matisyahu once quipped, “All of my success in life has been a result of
doing things I did not necessarily want to do.”
My rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein, was a lawyer for nine years after his
marriage. One November afternoon as he was preparing to leave the office his
old friend, Rabbi Aryeh Rottman, appeared. Rabbi Rottman had been the Rav of a
small shul in Miami Beach but was preparing to leave. Rabbi Rottman told Rabbi
Wein that he had been sent by their rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Kreisworth, to tell
Rabbi Wein to seek the position. Rabbi Wein’s initial response was incredulous
at best. But Rabbi Rottman was persistent and wouldn’t leave until Rabbi Wein
agreed to at least apply for the position. The rest is history.
Rabbi Wein was and is a very influential personality in the Torah world.
He has taught and inspired tens of thousands as a Rabbi, Rosh Yeshiva, lecturer
and author. Yet, in Rabbi Wein’s words, “My wife married a lawyer. I was never
going to go into rabbanus. Never say never; you don’t know what’s going to
happen, and you never know where the truth really lies until it hits you in the
face.”
While I was visiting Eretz Yisroel last week, a friend suggested that I
attend a funeral for an IDF soldier on Har Herzl. Unfortunately, there was
bound to be at least one such funeral, and attending would help me connect with
the harsh and painful reality of the war.
During my week in Eretz Yisroel, Rivka Baruch, a lone female soldier from
Holland passed away.
Rivka had immigrated to Israel from Holland, and had enlisted, and served
in the IDF as an officer. When the war broke out, Rivka was abroad, but she
immediately returned to enlist in the reserves. A few weeks ago she contracted
a fatal infection and her family came to Israel to be with her during her
hospitalization until her tragic passing.
My son Shalom and I attended her funeral on Har Herzl. Messages had been
sent that day asking people to attend the funeral because she was a lone
soldier. Amazingly, hundreds of people came to the funeral.
At the funeral, her bereaved father, Robert, recounted the message Rivka
had shared a few years earlier at her Bas Mitzvah. She had quoted the pasuk
from the haftorah of Parshas Yisro in which the Navi Yeshaya relates, “Then I
heard the voice of Hashem ask, ‘Whom can I send and who will go on our behalf?
Va’omar hinini shlacheni – I answered, “I am ready; send me!”
As Robert said the words “hinini shlacheni” his voice broke. He
shared that his daughter had always lived with that sense of mission, to act on
behalf of her people. It wasn’t easy to become a lone soldier in the IDF from
the Netherlands, but with incredible resolve she forged ahead.
As he described each of his daughter’s accomplishments during her short
life, Robert continually repeated the words of the prophet, “hinini
shlacheni – I am ready; send me.”
I will never hear those words the same way again.
The words of the Navi are to be our mantra as well. Throughout our lives
we encounter situations that require ‘someone’ to step up. It is as if Hashem
is asking us, “Whom can I send and who will go on our behalf?” Those tasks and
roles may very well not be what we originally planned. Heaven looks for those
who are up for the task and declare, “hinini shlacheni –
I am ready; send me!”
The greatest event in the history of the world was Kabbolas HaTorah. The
Jewish people uninhibitedly accepted the entirety of the Torah with absolute
adherence to G-d’s will. Complete acceptance of G-d’s will includes accepting
the path and role He has destined for us.
Life doesn’t always follow our carefully crafted plans. Great people are
able to adapt and recalculate. At the end of the day, or more accurately, at
the end of our lives, what counts is how much we accomplished with the cards we
were dealt.
“Va’omer hinini shlacheni – I answered, “I am ready; send me!”
Shabbat Shalom
& Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani
and Chani Staum