Torah

We find a seemingly similar occurrence with Avraham Avinu and with Bilaam, the wicked prophet. The Torah reports that each of them “arose early in the morning and saddled his donkey.” In Hebrew, the word yachavosh (יחבוש – saddled) is closely related to kibush (כיבוש – to conquer). Likewise, the word chamor (חמור – donkey) resembles chomer (חומר – physicality).

Someone once asked R’ Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg zt”l why he had such extraordinary self-sacrifice for the mitzvah of tzitzis. He answered very simply, “Chacham lev yikach mitzvos” – the wise of heart will seize good deeds (Mishlei 10:8). He would often cite the Gemara, “Grab and eat, grab and drink, for the world which we are leaving is like a wedding” (Eruvin 54a). He wanted to chap as many mitzvos as he could. When he was asked how he could wear so many pairs when they were so heavy, he would respond, “Would you have such a question if you were carrying gold?” To him, his layers of tzitzis were layers of pure gold.

Klal Yisroel sang a special Shirah upon learning of the hidden miracle Hashem performed for them as they passed through the mountains of Arnon. The Emorim lay in ambush, hoping to destroy the nation as they crossed the canyon, but Hashem caused the mountains on both sides to come together, crushing the would-be attackers and saving the Jewish people.

The following story was brought to light by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles, associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, who received it from Chaim Berkowitz of Tzefas, who heard it from Yosef Hurwitz of Miami, who got it from the protagonist’s family.

A religious Jew by the name of David Gellis was on a business trip to Chicago. He spent an entire week immersed in work, and upon its conclusion, he grabbed a Friday afternoon flight back to New York. Shabbos was late, and he figured he had enough time to make it home after landing, before the z’man.

A few weeks after the Six-Day War, the Maggid of Jerusalem, HaGaon R’ Shabsi Yudelevitz zt”l, was approached by a young, resourceful man who served as a liaison to the officers and soldiers of the Israeli army.