SMILE AND GIVE
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SMILE AND GIVE
Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita
It’s not an envious job, but someone has to do it, and it can bring answers to those in insurmountable pain. Amongst the vast numbers of NYC Police is one officer whose assignment is to tell next of kin that their loved one has committed suicide. He has many a tale to share but one stabbed right through my heart. It seems a young man took his own life by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The officer went to the address that the police found in the pocket of the dead man and found lying on the kitchen table a note. Reading its content has lessons for us all.
“To Whom It May Concern:
I am feeling extremely down and have decided to end my miserable life. I am going to walk the few blocks over to the bridge, if only one person smiles at me or wishes me a good day, I will turn around and go home. However, if I am not even worth one smile, then this is the last you will hear from me.”
We live in a world that is quickly becoming ever more fractious and cold. The current culture is busy creating ever more emotional problems whilst overlooking common everyday acts of care.
Last night I was invited to a reception for an organisation that works with hiemisha kids who are struggling in school. Often as not, the school is just a small aspect of the Childs challenges, their whole social world is splintered by low self-esteem. Named Lehatzmiach, this group of dedicated young men, reach out to such boys, and by learning with them one to one, mentoring them at whatever level they find themselves at, and offering each child a smile of care, they gain confidence, self-regard and a clearer attachment to Hashem. I personally have witnessed the growth of this program, and am astounded at the dedication shown by the mentors and volunteers who work with them.
I have observed the creation of this project, and am humbled yet flooded with pride by the successes they have wrought from the very start. The young man who had the insight to create all this, and works tirelessly to keep it going is my grandson, Reb Shlomo Yechiel Schreibhand of Stamford Hill London, and I simply stand in awe by his dedication to all these kids. He gets up early each day and goes from shul to shul collecting for these neshomalech. Every wedding, every public event will see this tall thin chasidisha yungerman collecting table by table, inciting new interest in these children.
Many generations ago there was a little boy who lived in a Polish village where his father served as a rabbinical teacher. The child was kind and sweet, well behaved and loved by his parents. Sadly, he found learning very challenging and often failed to work well in the small cheder class in the village. Things went from bad to worse and one day the melamed just threw the lad out of class and told him not to return.
The youngster was crestfallen and went to the riverside to cry unseen. After some time, he brushed himself off and wandered back to the shtettle looking for some shelter. He found a small shtieble that he took for empty and slid through the creaking door. The boy sat down in a corner and opened a chumash, not seeing the letters yet comforted that they were there. An older Yied witnessed the child’s entrance and tiptoed over to him, “Yingela, vous tiest di do?” “My Child what are you doing here?” The sweet neshomala, bereft of self-confidence whispered his sorry tale of being excluded from school. The Yied sighed, dragged a bench over to the table and smilingly invited the boy to learn with him. So was born a bond that lasted a few years, until the bochur had grown in his knowledge and self-confidence so much that he was able to go off to one of the major Yeshivahs of the time, ultimately gaining worldwide acclaim as a gaon, and compassionate Torah leader.
The name of this hero? The Rebbe Rav Bunim of Peshischa! The leader of Polish Chassidus whose talmidim spread Polish Chassidus throughout Congress Poland. That smile, the offer of understanding from that older Yied all those years ago brought us the wellsprings of Torah love we share to this very day.
Who knows how many sweet youngsters are waiting to be enhanced by a smile, a gift of help? How many treasures await our discovery? How much should we support the heroes who are reaching out to uncap all the beauty that lays shrouded by unsmiling pain?
So yes, I kvell humbly with that tall thin young man who goes to every minyon asking us all to help these kids, I hope we all will want to partner in this enterprise.
If you want to support this amazing charity you can donate online at lehatzmiach.org