Jax’s Tuesday D’Var Torah – Sukkos
When we sit in the Succah – a temporary structure with an open roof – it reminds us that it is not the building that protects us, but, it is Hashem who is protecting us. The more and more mitzvos that we do, the more and more Divine protection we merit often in the most unexpected ways, as the following true story illustrates:
In the late 1800s, there lived a Rebbi in a small city in Poland. Reb Zevulun as he was affectionately known, was one of the best and most beloved Torah teachers in the local Yeshiva. He was known for his erudition, dedication and gentle warmth. He and his Rebbetzin never merited having children, and indeed he treated his talmidim as if they were his own children.
The years rolled on, and eventually Reb Zevulun could no longer handle the physical demands of teaching, so he retired from a long and illustrious career. His beloved Rebbetzin passed on, and he lived alone in a one-room apartment. As his health deteriorated, he could no longer handle the chores of cooking and cleaning for himself. For the most part he was home bound.
One of the women of the community, Mrs. Tzirel Roznik, heard of the aging Rebbi’s plight. It broke her heart, Reb Zevulun had taught her own children. Indeed, he was the best Rebbi they ever had. She took it upon herself to prepare meals, which she would send over with one of her children. Each week one of her children would show up with a week’s worth of meals, and would stay to clean and straighten up the apartment and do the laundry.
This practice went on for the remainder of Reb Zevulun’s life. Upon his passing, the whole Jewish community was in mourning. The Roznik family was so broken up, it was as if they themselves were sitting shiva.
The Jewish community of this town remained vibrant and populous all the way up until the invasion of the Nazi beasts. The once proud Jewish community was in turmoil trying to flee from the Nazi hoards, but there was no way out. The Nazis methodically surrounded the city and all of the Jews were being herded into the town square.
Mr. and Mrs. Max Frankel managed to slip out the back of their home with their family. They were hiding in an alley not sure what to do. Suddenly they saw a Jewish friend of theirs running through. He told them two hiding places in town where Jews were holding up. One was to the right, one was to the left, he dashed off to the left. The Frankel’s quickly decided to go to the one on the left. It was closer to them and easier to get to.
Suddenly Mrs. Frankel halted in her tracks. She insisted that they switch to the other hiding place. Her husband didn’t understand, proceeding to the other place presented more peril. Mrs. Frankel didn’t understand either. She simply had this powerful feeling that this was the right way to go and she was adamant.
They safely found their way to the other place and managed to hide there with some other families, amongst them, Mrs. Frankel’s first cousin and his family. They remained there till the “storm” passed, and were eventually able to get out of Nazi Europe. They later learned that the hiding place on the left was actually a Gestapo trap and all who hid there were deported to the death camps. The inexplicable sense that caused Mrs. Frankel to turn around actually saved their lives.
It turns out that Mrs. Frankel and her cousins are grandchildren of Mrs. Roznik, and the room they hid in – the chamber that shielded them from the Nazi tempest – was the very apartment lived in by Reb Zevulun – the man whom their grandmother fed and cared for, in his old age.
When we sit in the Succah – a temporary structure with an open roof – it reminds us that it is not the building that protects us, but, it is Hashem who is protecting us. The more and more mitzvos that we do, the more and more Divine protection we merit often in the most unexpected ways,
[The foregoing true story is documented by Rabbi Paysach Krohn in the Maggid Series. The names have been changed.]