About a year ago, Clive Chitiz, father of fallen soldier Yaron Chitiz was traveling back to Israel from Heathrow. He was told that his Thursday night flight was delayed to Friday morning.
When he showed up for the flight on Friday, as he was being checked in by the ElAl security representative, he told her that he really needed the flight to leave on time so he could make it back to his synagogue in Raanana for Shabbos so he could say the mourner’s kaddish for his fallen son.
He explained that he promised himself that he’d say the kaddish at least once a day and because he was staying at a random hotel after the flight was delayed, he couldn’t say the kaddish, so he needed to be back on time.
The representative explained to him that she’s only on the security team and she had no say or information about the flight’s departure.
The man thanked her and started walking toward the gate.
A few minutes later, he got a phone call.
"Hi, this is Jasmine from security. To be honest, I didn't even know what kaddish was, so I googled it.
I learned that to say the kadish, you need at least 10 men above the age of 13.
If you want, I asked a few men to meet me by the gate so you can say kaddish before you board; at least that way you will fly with the peace of mind knowing that you already said kaddish today."
Clive began to cry and ran towards the gate.
When he got there, he did not find 10 men.
He found EVERY SINGLE man above the age of 13 who was on the flight waiting for him at the gate.
Religious men.
Ultra Orthodox men.
Secular men.
They were all waiting for him.
They recited a few Pirkei Tehillim and he was able to recite the Kaddish for his son.
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
This is what the Jewish people are about.
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On Erev Pesach, a man, let’s call him David, was shopping at an Israeli supermarket.
Anyone who’s been to a supermarket in Israel on the Erev Pesach knows how chaotic it is.
Anyway, he bought what he needed and went outside to unload everything into the car when he noticed a huge dent in the door of his car. He was obviously very upset.
To his surprise, he noticed that there was a note on the windshield.
The note said, “I’m so sorry I dented your car. Here’s my number. Call me and I’ll pay whatever it costs to fix.”
David called the number and the man apologized profusely for hitting his car.
After offering to pay for damages, David asked him a strange question.
“Do you have the money to pay me?”
The man was confused and surprised by the question.
“Why are you asking me that?”
David told the man that he noticed that the note the man had written was on a bank statement and that the account on the statement was nearly empty.
David said to the man, “I just wired $3,600 to your account. Chag Sameach.”
Mi Keamcha Yisrael?
It’s true that there are many disagreements amongst Jews, but at the end of the day, we are family and we will always show up for one another. Sometimes family members fight but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re family.
That’s our strength and that’s why we will win. That’s why we always win. When we are united, we are strong. When we are united, Hashem makes sure we win!
The world knows this and they hate us for it.
They can hate all they want.
We will still win.
We will still be here long after the haters are gone!
