Stories Of Greatness

It is said that the renowned chasidic mashpia, Rav Dovid Horodoker zt”l, wept when Czar Nicholas II was overthrown during the Russian Revolution of 1917. “Why do you shed tears over the fall of a tyrant?” he was asked. “I weep,” replied the holy chasid, “because a great mashal in chasidus is gone.”

Sometimes, we are worthy. Sometimes we see two random events and never know why they occurred. Other times, we witness two seemingly isolated incidents and watch how they intertwine and come together. We recognize that Hashem placed us in that spot, that office, that street, that city – all for a reason. It is then that we have a renewed appreciation of hashgachah pratis and we marvel in awe and gratitude at how the Creator runs His world using us as his messengers.

When Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon zt”l moved to Fostat, Egypt, in 4925 (1165), his fame as a physician spread rapidly, and he soon became the court physician to Sultan Saladin, the famous Muslim military leader, and his son al-Afdal. He also continued a private practice and lectured before fellow physicians at the state hospital.

The Mishnah states that the mother of the Kohen Gadol would bring gifts of food and clothing to the accidental killers who were forced to run to the Cities of Refuge. She did so in order to dissuade them from praying that her son should die (since the accidental killers are released from the city upon the death of her son). The Gemara infers that if the killers would pray that the Kohen Gadol die, then the Kohen Gadol indeed would be in danger of dying because such a prayer is not considered a kil’las chinam – a curse uttered in vain, which cannot take effect, as the Kohen Gadol does carry some responsibility for the accidental killing, since he should have prayed for the well-being of the people of his generation.

The Gemara recounts how the Sages told Rabbi Zeira, “One should always reject with the left hand and embrace with the right” (Sotah 47b). Rabbi Zeira, however, preferred to focus on the sin, not the sinner. He had faith that even a hard-core sinner, even a hoodlum who is wicked towards G-d and wicked towards people, has a very positive seed hidden away in his soul, which over time can eventually overpower all evil and hooliganism. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 37b) quotes Reish Lakish, who taught, “Even the empty among you are as full of virtuous deeds as a pomegranate.” Rabbi Zeira went even further and deduced the notion of highlighting the positive, even in negative people, from the following pasuk: “And he (Yitzchak) smelled the pleasant aroma of his garments” (B’reishis 27:27): Do not read it ‘garments’ but rather ‘traitors.’”

The Aruch HaShulchan writes that when one recites Birkas HaMazon after a meal, he should wear a head covering that covers most of his head (Magen Avraham) like a hat. He quotes from other sources that one should wear a “beged elyon” (outer garment) although he says that he is unsure of the source of this minhag.