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The boys on two buses were rollicking
with excitement. They were on the way
from Yeshiva Tiferes Torah* in Bnei Brak
to the Yam Yum Water Park* in Zichron
Yaakov. The first bus carried the seventh
and eighth graders and their rebbeim; the
second bus held the fifth and sixth graders
and their rebbeim. They had been talking
about the outing for weeks and now it was
finally happening. They couldn’t wait to
frolic on the water slide, the tube slide, and
the wave pool.
The management of the water park told
the yeshivah that the boys had to be on time
for their morning shift, as a girls’ school had
rented it for the afternoon shift. However, as
the buses pulled into the parking lot, the rebbeim were surprised to see that other buses
were already there. Many girls were entering
the park and others were disembarking from
the buses. Something was wrong.
One of the rebbeim told the boys to remain on the bus and he went to the main office to see what was going on. The manager
was incredulous. Indeed, a girls’ school had
rented Yam Yum for the afternoon, but the
office staff had erroneously double-booked
the morning shift.
The manager apologized profusely for
the mixup and said he would book them
for another day. Now the rebbi had the
unpleasant job of telling the boys they
would have to return to Bnei Brak and
come back another time. Understandably,
the boys were upset and disappointed. He
tried to calm down the boys on his bus
while the rebbeim on the other bus tried to
explain things to the younger grades.
There was derision, sarcasm, and anger
among the boys and the rebbeim were at
a loss as to how to control it. After about
fifteen minutes, Betzalel Heimlich,* an
eighth-grader, asked one of the rebbeim if
he could have the microphone. At first, the
rebbi was hesitant, as he feared the young
man might instigate the others to more rebellion. Then, hoping for the best, he gave
Betzalel the microphone.
The boy got everyone’s attention.
“Rabbosai,” he began emphatically, “today
we all made a great kiddush Hashem. We
did not enter the park because it is against
halachah for us to be there with a girls’
school. We showed who we are. And we did
not go and yell at the office staff who made a
bad mistake. We are an exalted people. Let’s
be proud we are yeshivah bachurim!”
With that, he began singing, We are
fortunate — אשרינו מה טוב חלקינו ומה נעים גורלנו!!
How good is our portion, how
pleasant our lot, and how beautiful our
heritage! (Daily Shacharis). In moments,
all the boys were singing vibrantly as the
atmosphere in the bus totally changed. The
rebbeim were astounded. The festive mood
continued even as they exited the bus and
entered their yeshivah.
The principal, Rabbi Chaim Lerner,* who
had already heard about the double-book
ing, was waiting outside to greet the first bus.
As the first rebbi exited, the principal asked,
“So, what was the boys’ reaction?”
The rebbi explained, “At first it was
horrible, they were so upset, but then this
eighth-grader took the mike and turned
everyone around. He had everyone singing
Ashreinu Mah Tov Chelkeinu ... and every
one was in a great mood.”
Rabbi Lerner asked who the boy was and
was told it was Betzalel Heimlich. When the
second bus arrived, Rabbi Lerner asked one
of the rebbeim how the fifth and sixth grad
ers had reacted. The rebbi exclaimed in awe,
“You would not believe what happened.
The boys, of course, were very upset and
then a fifth-grader — a fifth-grader, mind
you! — got up and told the boys they should
be proud of who they were and he began
singing Ashreinu... He turned the whole
atmosphere into a mood of festivity.”
Rabbi Lerner was astounded. “Who was
that boy?” he asked in amazement.
“Yonah Heimlich.”*
Rabbi Lerner was astonished. “His old
er brother did the same thing on the other
bus!” he exclaimed. “What amazing children these boys are! I must call their parents
and find out where they got such incredible
chinuch.”
That afternoon Rabbi Lerner called R’
Akiva Heimlich,* the boys’ father, and told
him what occurred on both buses. “I am
overwhelmed by what your sons did,” he
said. “Please tell me where did they get such
chinuch? How do you teach young boys
such hashkafos?”
At first Mr. Heimlich tried to avoid the
question, but when Rabbi Lerner pursued
the matter, he relented. “I’ll tell you what
happened a few weeks ago,” he began.
His wife had taken their seven children
shopping on a very hot day. They had to
travel by bus, as the department store was
far from their home. The shopping took
more time than she had expected and the
children were getting impatient. Mrs.
Heimlich assured them that before they left
to go home, they could each buy ices, which
would be cool and refreshing.
When they got on the bus and began
unwrapping the ices, she asked one of her
children to give her the wrapper of the ices
so she could make sure the hechsher was
acceptable. To her dismay it wasn’t. She
huddled her children together and said,
“Kinderlach, this is not a hechsher that we
use. I’m not saying that it’s not kosher, but
our family does not rely on this hechsher.”
Understandably, the children were very
disappointed but none of them ate the
ices. Their mother told them that because
they were so understanding, when they got
home they could go to the freezer, take any
cake or ice cream they wanted, and have
themselves a party.
R’ Akiva continued, “A while later, as
the children were eating the ice cream and
cake, I got home. I asked my wife what was
going on. When she told me, I said to her, ‘I
am so proud of the children. We have to do
something more for them.’ I told them all to
go to the local makolet, buy a big cake and
special candies for themselves, and come
back right away.
“As they all scampered downstairs, I
took out a white Shabbos tablecloth and set
the table as though it were a Yom Tov. My
wife and I set out silverware and drinks and
within a few minutes, the children returned.
When they were all at the table, I said to
them, ‘My dear children, I am so proud of
you. Mommy told me how hot and tired
you were and you didn’t even taste those
refreshing ices. You were mekadeish shem
Shamayim, you showed the Ribbono shel
Olam that we live on a higher standard.
That is something to celebrate!’
“With that, I had all the kids stand up
and together we danced around the table as
we sang Ashreinu... We danced for a while
and the children loved it.” The father paused
when he finished the story and then said
softly, “I guess that’s where they got it from.”
Rabbi Lerner was silent in admiration.
“You and your family should be blessed,”
was all he could say.
Over the next few weeks, Rabbi Lerner
told the story to many mechanchim and
someone told it to the noted chassidishe
Rav, Rav Tzvi Meyer Zilberberg. Rav
Zilberberg called Mr. Heimlich to hear the
story firsthand. When R’ Akiva told the story to the Rav, he said, “I would like to add
one thing that I didn’t tell the principal.
“About three weeks after we danced
around the table, a woman came to our home
and, seeing our three-year-old son, took a
candy from her purse and gave it to him. The
little boy came into the kitchen, showed my
wife the candy, and asked her, “Is this a kosher
candy or is this an Ashreinu candy?”
Sugar sweet!
