The Center of Our Nation

Ensuring a befitting Yom Tov for our cherished yungerleit

We say that seeing is believing, but in truth, much of what we experience and see in this world is illusory and false. Only in the Olam Ha’emes will we be able to see things with clarity and truth.

Imagine the way we would view the following scenarios.

 

Mr. Adler writes a check for $1,800. He signs his name with a flourish and smiles benevolently as he hands the check to the eagerly awaiting recipient. It feels good to be on the giving end, Mr. Adler thinks to himself. Baruch Hashem he is on this side.

 

Rabbi Spira opens the envelope. Wow, $1,800! That would really help him make Yom Tov. Rabbi Spira knows that his kollel paycheck won’t be able to pay for all they need. Who was the anonymous benefactor? How could he repay the kindness?

 

Mr. Garfinkel patiently repeats his credit card number as he tells the tzedakah organization that he’s giving $150. “Actually, make that $250,” Mr. Garfinkel decides suddenly. He had recently received a bonus at work. It would be an extra zechus for the coming year. Why not? As he hangs up the phone, Mr. Garfinkel smiles, enveloped with the warm feeling of his generosity. How lucky he is to be able to swipe his credit card and help those who are less fortunate than he.

 

Rabbi Klein is still in kollel after all these years. How proud his family is to live a kollel life of beauty, meaning, and simplicity. But Yom Tov is approaching. How will they cover all the extra expenses? When he opens the envelope and sees the gift cards his family could use to shop and prepare for Yom Tov, he’s overcome with joy and gratitude.

 

Mr. Schwartzman hangs up the phone with a surreal feeling of excitement. He just received the returns on an investment he had made earlier that year. Wow, I can’t believe how successful this deal was, he thinks. After a moment of reveling in his excitement, Mr. Schwartzman decides that he’ll donate more than ma’aser; he’ll give a fifth of his earnings on this investment. Yes, giving to those who don’t have what he’d been blessed with would be a fitting way to celebrate his success.

 

Rabbi Price’s salary as a rebbi covers his family’s expenses during the year. But Yom Tov? That’s a different story. One night when Ma’ariv is over, Rabbi Price’s neighbor approaches him. “Someone asked me to give this to a rebbi or a kollel yungerman to help them make Yom Tov. I thought maybe you could use it.” His neighbor hands him an envelope. Rabbi Price goes home and opens the envelope. There is a very large amount of cash in it. Rabbi Price can’t believe it! His worries are over.

 

These scenarios seem rather simple and easy to understand. The wealthy benefactor is supporting the one who is learning. This is the way we see things. But we are, after all, living in an Olam Hafuch, a world where things are the opposite of what they seem. How would these scenarios look in the next world? Wouldn’t we all love just one small glimpse into the glorious truth and beauty of the Olam Ha’emes?

Let’s imagine getting one tiny peek of what’s going on there. Perhaps we would see something very interesting…

Mr. Adler’s $1,800 really helped Rabbi Spira make Yom Tov. Each article of clothing and each bottle of wine he enabled the Spiras to buy is noticed in Shamayim, praised and rewarded more than we can imagine. But maybe we would see something else too. Does Mr. Adler realize that his entire life, his good health, and his children’s hatzlachah in school is only because of the heilige Torah learned by Rabbi Spira?

 

Every additional dollar Mr. Garfinkel swiped on his credit card for tzedakah is cherished and prized in Shamayim. But would we ever dream that the success of Mr. Garfinkel’s job, the wonderful shidduch he just made for his daughter, and his beautiful new home are a result only of the zechus of Rabbi Klein’s limud haTorah?

And does Mr. Schwartzman realize that the success of the complex business deal he just concluded, which affected hundreds of investors and millions of dollars was only in the zechus of Rabbi Price’s learning and the learning of his talmidim, which Mr. Schwartzman was a part of?

 

Do we really appreciate and understand the reality that our talmidei chachamim and kollel yungerleit are literally holding up the world with their precious, priceless limud haTorah?

Mipihem anu chayin—they are our lifeline. Imagine a patient in the hospital on oxygen. He is utterly dependent on the lifegiving oxygen he’s connected too. We are no different. Our very lives, the whole world in fact, stands only in their zechus.

The Alter of Kelm said an amazing statement: “It was worth creating entire universe, sustaining and fueling it for 6,000 years if even one Yid would say Baruch Hu u’varuch Shmo once in his lifetime.”

And yet, 1,000 of these Baruch Hu u’varuch Shmos don’t measure up to the value of one amen.

And 1,000 amens don’t measure up in value to one amein yehei Shmei Rabbah.

And 1,000 amen yehei Shmei Rabbahs don’t add up to the value of one single word of Torah.”

Now imagine the thousands of words of Torah that are learned daily by the many chashuve bnei Torah we are zocheh to have in our city. They are upholding and supporting the world, validating the very purpose of the world’s creation. “Im lo brisi yoman valaila chukei shamayim v’aretz lo samti.”

 

“Mazel tov! Mazel tov!” The Kagan’s daughter Bracha was engaged to Yaakov Loeb, an outstanding bachur. Mr. Kagan was a wealthy man with a lucrative business. It was his joy and nachas to support his new young couple. Years passed, and Yaakov was still in kollel full time. Mr. Kagan continued supporting them in every way. He often thought of how much this couple depended on his financial help and how they simply wouldn’t manage without his support. For various reasons Mr. Kagan decided to stop supporting his son-in-law and daughter at one point. Shortly after he stopped his support, Mr. Kagan’s business began to fail, and he lost all his money.

It appears that Mr. Kagan was supporting his son-in-law, but maybe, just maybe, he had it all wrong. Could it be that the success of his business stood only in the zechus of his son-in-law’s learning…and when he was no longer a part of his son-in-law’s limud haTorah, Mr. Kagan lost his own support?

 

The air we breathe, the precious life we have… our livelihood, respect, success…. whatever we so dearly desire… all hanging on threads… absolutely dependent on limud haTorah; our lifeline. Mipihem anu chayin.

 

Imagine if our country was at war. Every young man of eligible age is called to enlist in the army. Food is rationed. Resources are scarce. While the soldiers are sent to battle on different fronts, there remain a large group of guards around the White House and surrounding the president at all times. Why? Isn’t it a waste of manpower when they could be out fighting the war? Absolutely not! The president and the White House are the very nerve center of the country. It’s our first priority to ensure the protection of the person who is so crucial to the existence of the entire nation!

Our chashuve bnei Torah are the nerve center of our nation—of the whole world, in fact. Whatever may be happening in the world around us, we know that it’s our very special priority and privilege to ensure that they have what they need at all times.

With life so busy, often overwhelming, with daily struggles and challenges surrounding us, we push to get by. And yet, can we ever afford to forget about those who ensure our very existence, who enable us to live and thrive?

 

Kupas Yom Tov is an organization created to uphold the dignity of our chashuve bnei Torah, to ensure that they can enjoy Yom Tov and prepare for it in a respectable way. Kupas Yom Tov is there to provide bnei Torah with their needs…but really, it’s there for you. You have an opportunity to support them and to be supported with the tremendous zechus of their learning. Allow yourself to be connected to the lifeline of limud haTorah and to receive a shefa brachah of everything you and your family and Klal Yisrael need for the coming year.