A Journey Worth Taking
Each time a new baby was born into the Bloch family, Rav Yosef Leib Bloch, Rav and Rosh Yeshivah of Telshe in Europe, would bring his other children into the room where his wife was recuperating. He would lift the newborn into his arms and speak straight to the child, “Yingele, yingele” or, “Maidele, maidele, your neshamah just traveled all the way from the Kisei Hakavod. You should know that your purpose in this world is to be mekadeish shem Shamayim. If you live by this principle, your trip to this world will have been worthwhile. If not, your trip will have been in vain.”
Years later, Rav Yosef Leib sent his son Rav Avraham Yitzchak to America to collect desperately needed funds for the yeshivah. A prominent American Jew agreed to accompany Rav Avraham Yitzchak in his quest. Then this Jew saw a letter penned by Rav Yosef Leib, expressing his strong stance regarding a sensitive hashkafic topic, and he insisted that he could not help the yeshivah unless Rav Yosef Leib retracted his words.
Concerned about the success of his mission, Rav Avraham Yitzchak sent a telegram to his father apprising him of the situation. Rav Yosef Leib responded with the following telegram: “It is not engraved in stone that Yosef Leib Bloch must be a Rosh Yeshivah in Telshe. It is, however, engraved in stone that he must be mekadeish shem Shamayim.”
Several years later, Rav Eliyahu Meir Bloch, another son of Rav Yosef Leib, immigrated to America and attempted to reestablish Telshe Yeshivah in Wickliffe, Ohio. He was strongly encouraged to make changes to his “old-fashioned ideas” if he hoped to attract American bachurim to his yeshivah.
Rav Eliyahu Meir responded just as his father had. “It is not engraved in stone that Eliyahu Meir Bloch must be a Rosh Yeshivah in America,” he said. “It is, however, engraved in stone that he must be mekadeish Shem Shamayim.”
It was a life-long focus for the Bloch family – your neshamah has traveled here for a higher purpose. Never lose sight of the goal.
(Genendel Krohn, Sparks of Majesty, Feldheim Publications, pages 148-149)
What is the goal in our lives? What is powering our decisions?
Take This Home
We want to make our stay here worthwhile. Before reacting to a difficult colleague/family member/neighbor, one should think: What does Hashem want from me now? Will my reaction or behavior be mekadeish Shem Shamayim?
In Short
“We’re not what we do. We’re not even our name. That’s physical stuff that gets put around us to allow us to operate in this world. What we are is a soul. We’re a piece of a Hashem… We’re charged with a mission that outshines anything physical we can accomplish here, and we’re given power by our Father… The Ribono Shel Olam says, “You’re my soldier, you’re my commando. Go down to this location and accomplish this mission.”
Charlie Harary
(To Comfort and Be Comforted, Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah Publications, page 188)
It Happened to Me!
My Olam Haba Moment
I went to pick up my daughter from her friend’s house, and as we were pulling out of the driveway, she pointed toward the house next door: “Look, the gate is opening!” We watched as the high, wrought-iron gate surrounding the property slowly opened, and a car pulled in. A minute later, the gate shut behind the car. “Do you know that someone frum lives in that mansion?” my daughter exclaimed in amazement.
Is that what we’ll be doing in Olam Haba? Pointing and marveling at the elaborate edifices created by the righteous in this world? Will my eternal life be plain in comparison? Is there anything I can do about that now?!
A.G.
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