From my archives:
In this weeks parsha we read about dispute between Yosef and his brothers leading many people to believe that Yosef's life was "the pits". Originally, they were going to kill him but Reuven saved him and said "let's not spill clean blood". Instead, the brothers threw him into the pit and the rest of the story is known to the readers of this email and all Jewish residents of Lakewood.
The medrash remarks "If Reuven would have known that the Torah was going to write that he saved Yosef, he would have carried Yosef on his shoulders and brought him to his father". Here the question, as do many people at the Kotel and on Sundays in New York at the doors of Jews in well to do neighborhoods, begs. Was Reuven worried about PR?? IF he knew that the Torah would make him famous then he would have performed this act of salvation? THAT'S what he cared about, getting headlines?? Was he a crude-publicity-seeking-egomaniacal-narcissistic-shallow-superficial-politician? G-D FORBID! So what does the medrash mean??
First - a story.....
Once upon a time there was a Jew who chanced upon an Indian commune somewhere in Nowhere. Since they saw a Yid and it is well known that Jews have the Divine Presence that dwells with them and allows them to know things that others don't, they demanded that he tell them what the weather would be like that coming winter. He was at best a Talmud scholar but no weatherman. Where is Al Roker when we need him [is he still around? Haven't watched the news since Walter Cronkeit was giving "shiur". Incidentally, his last name in Yiddish is translated as "sickness". No wonder he died....]!
So the Yid says "The winter will be chilly". Can't go wrong with that one. So the Indians gathered some wood for the coming winter. He wanted to be more certain so he called the weather bureau in Washington and was told that the winter would be cold.
He then told the Indians that the winter would be cold. They went to gather some more wood.
He then called the Washington Weather Bureau again and was told that the winter would be "excruciatingly cold". He told the Indians who then went to collect more and more wood for the coming winter. Twenty hours a day they spent collecting wood.
He then called again and was told that it would be "the coldest winter in the history of the U.S." He told the Indians that this winter would be the coldest ever and they went to collect yet more wood. Around the clock.
He called Washington to ask why they kept changing their story. First "cold", then "excruciatingly cold" then "the coldest ever". They answered "Listen, we know nothing of what the weather will be like. But we know that the Indians are collecting tremendous amounts of wood in anticipation of an especially cold winter."
SWEETEST FRIENDS!!! We NEVER know how profoundly our actions will affect others.
Reuven wasn't interested in his reputation. If Reuven had known that his actions would be written in the Torah and for all generations the Jews would read and learn from this story he would indeed have carried Yosef back to his father on his shoulders.
When the Chashmonaim went to wage battle against the Greeks they didn't know that a holiday would come out of it but in fact for generations they have inspired tens of millions of Jews and earned kids GREAT toys. On the first night of Chanuka my true love gave to me....
Remember - people are watching you and your actions impact others:-).
Love, blessings and a Chanuka Sameach to all!!
In reply my Uncle Fred sent me this news item from Today...
Character is what you do when no one is watching.
But a stranger was watching New York Police Officer Lawrence DePrimo when he decided to buy a barefoot homeless man a pair of new boots on a cold night earlier this month.
“The two things that really stuck out in my mind that night was just how cold it was and that this was the most polite gentleman I ever met, and I knew I had to help him,” DePrimo said Friday on TODAY.
Unbeknownst to DePrimo, a nearby tourist of the random act of kindness — and the picture quickly became famous..
“I knew what I was looking at,” said Jennifer Foster, who was visiting Times Square from Arizona. The moment reminded her of a similar act by her father, a 32-year veteran of the Phoenix police department, and she quickly grabbed her phone.
“I knew it was remarkable,” she said.
Foster sent the photo to the New York Police Department, which posted the snapshot and quickly picked up more than 430,000 likes. Mentions of the photo also started trending heavily on Twitter.
DePrimo, 25, was on counter terrorism patrol the night of Nov. 14, when he spoke to the homeless man. He then went inside a nearby shoe store to purchase some socks and boots.
“I worked in the city for about 10 years and no one’s really sort of taken that sort of initiative,” said Jose Cano, a store employee who gave DePrimo a discount on the pair of waterproof winter boots. The shoes ended up costing $75.
“I really didn’t think about the money,” DePrimo told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie. “I said, I don’t care what the price is. We just got to help him out.”
The photo — and the heartwarming story behind it — has turned DePrimo into an Internet hero.
He said he’s found fame “surreal and extremely humbling.”
“It’s a great experience,” he said. “I think it’s a lot about the people, though, because you see such great comments. People are saying that their faith in humanity is restored and that’s the biggest thing that I can take away from all of this.”
