Last Sunday afternoon, Baruch* came over to me in Shul to show me his new suit.
"Rabbi Eisenman, what do you think of my new suit?"
I smiled and replied, "You look like a true Ben Torah."
"My Rebbe got me the new suit for Shavuos and said I could wear it for the first time on Lag B'Omer. He even told me to make a Shehechiyanu on the suit."
"What do you mean your Rebbe got you the suit?"
I had known Baruch since he was born.
His Bris was in the Shul, and I remembered his parents' pride at the occasion.
Yet, that was before the acerbic divorce split the family, and loneliness replaced happiness.
That was when division and divisiveness arrived, and harmony and togetherness left the home.
Ultimately, Baruch's father remarried and moved away, and his mother was left to raise him single-handedly.
The family struggled with making ends meet, and together with community help, the family made do on a shoestring budget.
I knew that Baruch received a new suit over a year ago at his Bar Mitzvah, so I was thrilled he could have a new set of clothes for Shavous.
I had noticed Baruch's acute growth spurt since his Bar Mitzvah, and his new Shavuos suit, which he was previewing on Lag B'Omer, certainly fit him better.
The pant's leg no longer stopped at his ankles, and the sleeves extended to his wrists.
This new suit qualified as"shtody" (Yeshivash for "dapper").
Baruch looked and felt proud.
Baruch explained, "My Rebbe said that since I had been able to say over (Yeshivash for "recite") the Aseres HaDibros, I would receive a new suit for Shavuous as a prize.
On Friday, the Rebbe brought me three suits to choose from. I think I got the best one, don't you?"
I complimented Baruch on his choice, yet I was perplexed.
After all, since when does a Rebbe moonlight as a haberdasher?
I called Rabbi X*., the menahel of the yeshiva, and asked about Baruch's new set of clothes.
The Menahel filled in the details.
The Rebbe had noticed that Baruch had outgrown his clothing, and some boys had begun teasing him about his "too-short" pants.
They ridiculed him by saying, "Baruch, didn't you hear? The flood is over!" and other non-complimentary comments.
The Rebbe, realizing that Baruch's mother had no extra funds for a new suit for Shavuous, borrowed three suits from a local clothing store and brought them to Baruch to try on.
He then awarded Baruch the new suit as a "prize" for reciting the Aseres HaDibros.
The Menahel stressed how neither Baruch nor his mother "caught on" to his plan.
I was very moved by this story and reached out to the Rebbe to compliment him on his sensitivity and Chessed.
The Rebbe explained that there was nothing to thank him for.
He was merely paying back his father's debt to his father's Rebbe, Rav Nissan Alpert ZT"L, whose 38th Yahrtzeit (as previously mentioned) was on Shabbos the 17th of Iyar.
The Rebbe explained, "My father grew up on the Lower East Side. He lost his father before his Bar Mitzvah.
Rav Alpert, my father's seventh-grade Rebbe at MTJ, knew the family's situation and took my father before his Bar Mitzvah to buy a new suit under the guise of a prize for learning well.
Years later, when my father realized what had transpired, he went back to Rav Alpert to pay him back for the suit.
Rav Alpert told him, "Pay me back by continuing the Chessed. Find a boy who needs a new suit and buy it for him as a prize."
"Rebbe, I don't know any boys; I am a businessman, not a Rebbe."
Rav Alpert responded, "I'll give you a Brocha. You will be privileged to have a son who will be a Rebbe. And one day, he will have a talmid who will need a new suit. Consider your debt paid back when your son buys the talmid the suit."
Rabbi Eisenman, it took over 60 years, but I finally paid my father's debt to Rav Alpert."
