An Example For Us All
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. I love hearing about all the great experiences our summer program participants are having and I’d like to share one story related to our summer programs that is a great lesson for us all. I can’t count how many realatives have called me in a panic that their cousin, niece, nephew etc. is off the path of Judaism in one of many different ways and can I help save the day. We do our best and sometimes can help; but, usually it is too late to make an immediate impact and we just pray that Hashem help them find their way eventually.
When I became a Rabbi, Rabbi Noah Weinberg made us each write a family tree and commit to do our best to reach out to them with the beauties of Judaism. This was an eye opening experience because while we are out there trying to save the world we quite often forget to start at home in our backyard.
This summer, a member of my community approached me about getting their cousin involved in NCSY. We had worked together in the past to involve him in chapter events and National Yarchei Kallah; but, as was getting older he needed to take another step forward and he was being held back. We decided the NCSY summer Kollel would be the ideal program for him. He was interested but could not get permission from his parents. The cousin worked on getting permission as I worked on getting him accepted. This cousin was very persistant and although it took a lot of effort, the parents eventually agreed that it would be a great experience for their son! Only two problems, Kollel was now full and scholarship money all given out! Again we teamed up and got him a spot in the program while the cousin raised the neccesary funds.
We should each learn a lesson from both Rav Noah and this tzadik of a cousin.
Have a great Shabbos Nachamu,
Rabbi Dave Felsenthal
Next entry: Equal Before G-d
Previous entry: www.negiah.org