Chazal tell us that the “Toldos” of a tzadik are his good deeds. What one does in this world will truly be his descendants, for a person’s good deeds truly shape his eternity. The following story began seven months ago, but the “Toldos” are forever. A chareidi man from Bnei Brak pulled up to a gas station in central Israel to fill up his car’s gas tank. He saw a secular man looking very troubled. He went over to him and asked, “Achi, my brother, you look like something is wrong. Is there any way I can help you?”
The irreligious man looked curiously at the man with a beard and pei’os offering his help. He was quite desperate and so he said, “My car has no gas, and I barely managed to make it here, but I left my credit card at home and I have no money on me.”
The frum Yid from Bnei Brak smiled and said, “Is that it? No problem, I will fill up your car.”
The man was relieved, and he said, “Please give me your information so I can pay you back” – to which the chareidi man answered, “Oh, no! This is my mitzvah; don’t take it away from me!” He refused to even consider accepting remuneration.
The irreligious man looked at him incredulously and said, “My friend, I come from a moshav down south called Kibbutz Be’eri. People there say all kinds of things about chareidim and people like you, but I see that it is not true!”
They exchanged phone numbers and the man from Bnei Brak promised to keep in touch. The kibbutznik was moved, but did not believe he would ever hear from that “dos” again. On Erev Shabbos, the man from Bnei Brak called the non-religious fellow and said, “I just wanted to say hello and wish you a good Shabbos!” Each Erev Shabbos, for six months straight, he would pick up the phone and reconnect with his chiloni friend from Be’eri, always ending off with, “Have a good Shabbos!”
Finally, after a few months, the chiloni said to his friend, “You keep wishing me a good Shabbos, but honestly, I have no idea what Shabbos is all about. I know nothing at all about Shabbos. Can you teach me what it is?”
“Of course!” answered the delighted chareidi man. “But I don’t think that I can explain to you over the phone what Shabbos is. The only way to understand Shabbos, to really appreciate a Shabbos, is by experiencing one! Maybe you and your family would come to me for Shabbos, and then you will see what it is all about!”
The man laughed and he said, “I will think about it!” But every week when he asked him again, he would say, “Maybe...but not this week!” Week after week, there was always a reason or excuse why they couldn’t come from Be’eri to Bnei Brak for Shabbos. Finally, a few weeks into Chodesh Elul, the chiloni from Be’eri decided that it was time to see what Shabbos was all about and he finally agreed to come! The Bnei Brak family felt that although Rosh HaShanah was coming up shortly, that would probably not be appropriate for his guests from a non-religious kibbutz, nor would Yom Kippur or Sukkos. He said to himself, “Simchas Torah would be the perfect time to host this completely secular family. The singing and dancing with the Torah would truly be inspiring.” He invited them for Simchas Torah and they agreed to come. (In Israel, Yom Tov is one day.)
A few days before Yom Tov, the chareidi man’s father, who lived in the city of Sderot, also in the south, called his son and said, “I want you and the whole family to come for Simchas Torah. It is hard for me to be here alone, and I need you to come.”
The man said to his father, “Abba, I would love to come but I cannot. You see, I invited a chiloni family from Kibbutz Be’eri for Simchas Torah and I cannot cancel now and tell them not to come. Why don’t you come to me?” His father refused and insisted that honoring parents precedes inviting guests and therefore he must come to Sderot for Simchas Torah.
The man hung up the phone and was in a real quandary. What should he do? He decided to call up his rav and ask a sh’eilah. His rav told him, “Your father must come to you! There is no question about it! Give me his number and I will call him!”
The rav called the man’s father and convinced him to leave his home in Sderot and come to Bnei Brak for Simchas Torah. That day, the Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel, which shook the entire world, decimated Kibbutz Be’eri, leaving very few survivors! And so, three families were saved because of the good deed that one man from Bnei Brak did when he met a fellow Jew at a gas station. Indeed, the “Toldos” of this incredible story will surely carry on for many generations to come.
Rabbi Dovid Hoffman is the author of the popular “Torah Tavlin” book series, filled with stories, wit and hundreds of divrei Torah, including the brand new “Torah Tavlin Yamim Noraim” in stores everywhere. You’ll love this popular series. Also look for his book, “Heroes of Spirit,” containing one hundred fascinating stories on the Holocaust. They are fantastic gifts, available in all Judaica bookstores and online at http://israelbookshoppublications.com. To receive Rabbi Hoffman’s weekly “Torah Tavlin” sheet on the parsha, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
