A STROLL THROUGH LIFE

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A STROLL THROUGH LIFE

Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita

I sit in a comfortable room that over looks Lake Windermere. It is fresh after Succos and the powers that be, (my devoted daughter) have insisted that I go away for three days for a rest. It is no small feat to get me into a car and shlep me away for a “rest”, I’m not a great traveler and don’t do well without the comfort zone I live in. However, rest must be had, and I will take it no matter what I think. So, pack we did, shlepping duly took place, and now I am safely ensconced in a comfortable room surrounded by trees. The calm of rest slowly slips into my being, and the lakes rippling waters gently become my soundtrack.

I open my Chumash and it speaks to me a message that often gets lost in the hustle bustle of reality.

“Lech lecha- Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s home.”

Rashi explains that “lech lecha” (lit. go for yourself) intonates, “Go for your own benefit.” Why was this assurance necessary? Avroham was surely loyal enough to obey Hashem’s command and go forth from his land, even if it were not to his own benefit. The Midrash applies to our parshah the following verse from Tehillim:“ Hear, daughter, and see. Turn your ear, and forget your nation and your father’s house.” What is the relevance of this verse to our parshah, and what did the Midrash mean to teach us by applying it?

When Avroham left his father’s home, he began a spiritual journey of self-discovery, to “forget his nation and his father’s house,” and cleanse himself of the corruptive influences to which he had been exposed in his youth.

We, Avrohams children, are all living in a golus rife with soul destroying challenges, each of us has moments that try us and become tools for our own growth. As I sit and reminisce I look back at just some of my own travails in life and realise that when those moments presented themselves they were indeed difficult but led me to where I sit today.

I was born into a positive world flush with promise, days after the war ended. We lived in a newly built community that was peopled by middle-class patrons of the American dream. As a child, I went to public school and attended Hebrew Cheder each afternoon for an hour or so.

To the uninitiated, this was the path for the vast majority of Jewish kids living in the suburbs. There were no full-time Torah educational facilities; Hebrew school taught us how to read and perhaps a sprinkling of quaint Jewish customs like, well, like shabbos and kashrut. My home was set in this norm and all my friends followed suit. Strangely, I was different, I dont know why, but the moments spent in the Hebrew school beckoned to me and I was drawn to the rabbis who taught there. I was not yet bar mitzvah and I was popular, yet something drew me to Torah. I started to seek learning beyond the confines of the limited space of what I was getting from Hebrew school. I drew closer to the Rabbi’s, they directed me to a local chasidic Rav, Harav Yosef Gelernter Ztl, a scion of some of the greatest chasidic leaders, and a holocaust survivor. I have written about this giant and his worthy rebbetzin on several occasions.

I soon realised my home and present schooling wasn’t right, I had to move on if I would hope to live a Torah life. I was thirteen, there were no baalaie teshuvah programs in 1957 and as I stumbled about, looking and seeking, I met many wondrous neshomahs that gave me so much help. One of these Rabbonim invited me to a Chol Hamoed gathering at his Rabbi’s centre and it was then that I had the merit to meet the Bobover Rebbe Rav Shlomo Ztl for the first time.

I have written about that most special moment and upon the edifice of that chance occurrence, my future was and continues to be built. I speak of these long ago events with purpose.

Every Yied will have moments wherein like Avrohom Ovenu we will have to face new beginnings, fresh starts, unique steps seemingly fraught with the unknown.

As I type these words my mind gathers just a few of those life changing moments that I have experienced and I am humbled by the chesed Hashem has shown me throughout. Every step was replete with the need to turn to new experiences never thought of before. Avrohom Ovenu taught us that growth comes by moving forwards, seeing the next step with promise and the knowledge that this is all Hashem’s Will. It is His rotzon that we are born to follow, and by doing so we can each create Kiddush Hashem in our own unique way.

I could stroll down my personal memory lane for many pages, but I dont want to bore my worthy readers with all my tales. Besides, I’m on holiday, and my daughter is looking at me balefully because I’m meant to be Resting!