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Reality
Israel and
US
A fter making Aliyah in 1905,
Rabbi Aryeh Levin (1885-
1969) soon became known as
the “Tzaddik of Jerusalem,” due to his
care and concern for the poor, sick and
lepers.
Many anecdotes about his greatness
have been written down for posterity,
including the following, which occurred
on a particularly hot Friday afternoon
in Jerusalem. As Reb Aryeh was walking
to shul in preparation for Shabbat, he
passed a small ice cream store with a
line of customers extending out the door
and down the street. The owner was
fully focused on meeting the demand
and, given the difficult economic
circumstances of the time, must have
been quite pleased at the sight outside
his store.
Aware of the approaching Shabbat and
the owner’s distraction, Reb Aryeh
walked into the store and whispered
in the man’s ear. Soon the store was
shuttered and the owner walked to shul.
One of the students walking with Reb
Aryeh asked him what he had said to the
man.
Rav Aryeh replied, “I told him that if I
was in his situation, as owner of the store different picture. During those three
with all of these customers so close to
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www.rza.org Rabbi David A. Israel
Rabbi David Israel
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Shabbat, I don’t know if I would be able
to pass the nisayon – this test of making Avraham was accosted by the Satan.
so much money in so few hours – and
close the store!”
There are many lessons about being
humble, kind, soft-spoken and gentle
that can be learned from this tale. Yet
perhaps most powerful for us at this time these questions and impediments are
of the year is that it provides us with a really Avraham’s own struggle; his
“reality check” about our own struggles
with imperfection and doubt.
Taken at his word, the Tzaddik of
Jerusalem shared his own doubts, his
own struggles with materialism, with
the store owner. And he was a “Gadol”
who himself lived in the most meager of
dwellings.
Indeed, the Akeidah we read about
on Rosh Hashanah also tells a story of
struggle and doubt, though one does
not see it in the verses themselves.
They merely tell us that Avraham got
up, walked and arrived at the site of
the Akeidah three days later: “…and
(Avraham) arose and went to the place
of which G-d had spoken. On the third
day, Avraham lifted his eyes and saw the
place from afar.” (Genesis 22:3-4)
Midrash Tanchuma paints a very
days about which the Torah says
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nothing, the Midrash tells us that
He asks Avraham questions, ‘Are you
going to sacrifice your son given to
you at 100 years old?’ and appears as
an impenetrable river. As Nechama
Leibowitz so powerfully points out,
doubts as he makes his way to sacrifice
his son. And yet Avraham pushes himself
and moves forward to fulfill the word of
G-d he had heard so clearly.
What makes a person a Gadol is not the
lack of doubt and struggle. It is davka
the way he copes with those doubts and
struggles. Spiritual growth is not about
hiding our worries and inner battles.
Indeed, what makes one worthy of
G-d’s blessings is being able to openly
acknowledge one’s fears and doubts
and yet still move forward to fulfill His
Torah and mitzvot.
May the year ahead be one of moving
forward, of personal growth and of
increased Torah study and mitzvah
observance.
Rabbi David Israel is the Executive
Vice-President of Religious Zionists of
America–Mizrachi
209-286-7141
Alan Gershman office@rzla.org
Dr. Oren Lakser Co-Presidents
Executive Director Dr. Yakov Agatstein
Rabbi Jerold Isenberg Dr. Ernest Agatstein