Ever wonder
about the people who drift into (and out of) our lives? All kinds of
interesting relationships forged and often forgotten, with random people
who pass through our path in life? Well, by know you all know that I
don't believe in coincidences. Rather, all of the people who come and go
are put there to either help us grow, to challenge us and/or to give us
opportunities to do or receive acts of chessed. That is how the Torah
teaches us to view our interactions with the people in our lives!
Sometimes it's so obvious to see the Divine orchestration of these interactions that it practically takes away our free will! Here's a recent example that, looking back, blows me away. I like to pray the Minchah (afternoon) prayer service every Friday (and pre-holiday afternoon) at 2:00 PM in Cleveland Heights. This way, regardless of how hectic Friday ends up being, I know that I have the afternoon service "in the bag." This also prepares me for the Kabbalat Shabbat service, allowing me to pray that service with proper focus later on in the evening.
Last
Sunday, "Erev Sukkot," was no exception. I arrived at the Kollel
(center for Torah study and prayer) for the service and discovered that
they had actually begun at 1:45. I had no idea - nobody told me, and
now I'd missed the boat. Determined to get my early Minyan in, I
decided, irrationally, to make my own Minyan.
Now
a man with a mission, I pulled people from everywhere I could find
them. I begged, pleaded and cajoled people walking by on Taylor Road,
in the Judaica shop and kosher pizza place, until finally we had 9
people. Still one short. Then he caught my attention: a man, clearly
not a local traveler, walked cautiously into the Judaica shop. He
wasn't wearing a kippah. Was he Jewish? Would he offended if I asked
him to be our "10th man"? I was desperate. I popped the question.
"Yes," he replied with an Israeli accent. "I would be so honored to
come and help you make a minyan."
It
turns out that this gentleman, originally hailing from Israel, and
currently living with his family in California, is stuck in Cleveland
for three months for a business project. Being the only Jew on his
business team, and knowing nobody in our fair town, he is staying at a
hotel on the west side. Lonely, and desperate for a Jewish experience
in anticipation of the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, he took some time off
from work to explore the Cleveland Jewish community. We meet, he is
the tenth man for our prayer service, gets a chance to say Kaddish at
our minyan, and now he's stuck with me, my family and our community. He
started coming to our shul on Green Road, joined our family for Sukkot
holiday meals, and has quickly become a favorite guest in our
community. He's now so happy he's here, loves Cleveland and is getting
more Shabbat invitations than he can handle.
