Why do we read Megilas Rus on Shavuos? Because, Chazal tell us, Megilas Rus is filled with acts of חסד/benevolence. Chazal go a step further to show the relevance (Sotah 14a): Rav Simlai expounded: The Torah begins with an act of חסד and ends with an act of חסד. It begins with an act of chesed, as it is written: ‘And the Lord G-d made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them' (Breishis 3:21); and it ends with an act of חסד, as it is written: 'And He buried him in the valley (Devarim 34:6).
At shalosh s'udas the Shabbos before Shavuous, R' Fuerst, shlit''a, expounded on the importance of chesed as a preparation for and maintenance of receiving the Torah. He made the poin with a few stories, one of which was so inspiring that I said the story over to my wife. R' Fuerst repeated the story once again at the end of his Sunday morning shiur, June 9. Here is link, story starts at 52:50:
So what's the story? I suggest you listen to it from R' Fuerst, of course, but in case you want a taste:
The Ponovezher Rov was told by the Chafeitz Chaim before the war: I know you will survive and I know you will build many yeshivos. Before you build a yeshiva, you must build an organization for chesed. The Ponovezher Rov therefore established an orphanage to care for the many children who lost parents and family in the holocaust. One such boy, Moshele, lost his entire family except for one aunt. The aunt brought him to the orphanage of the Ponovezher Rov. The boy would not speak. Moreover, he would not remove his clothing, not even to sleep. As one can imagine, the clothing was filthy. They took him to the אם הבית, Rebbitzin Munk, but the boy would not talk with her either. He still refused to let himself be undressed; even to sleep. She took Moshele to the Ponovezher Rov. Again, he wouldn't talk and refused to take off his clothing to take a shower and change to clean clothes. They took Moshele to Chason Ish.
The Chazon Ish looked at the boy and asked why he didn't want to change to clean clothes? Moshele, for the first time since coming to Eretz Yisrael and said, "I don't want." The Chazon Ish asked again: "But why won't you take off your clothes to take a shower and get clean clothes?" Moshele answered that he had been told to take off his clothes twice, once in Auschwitz and once in Bergen Belsen and I never got them back. He would not take off my clothes for anyone except his parents, and they had been murdered by Hitler, ימח שמו. (At shalosh s'udos, R' Fuerst added that Moshele also said he knew what happened to the rest of those people who took off their clothes; he had seen them taken to the gas chambers.) At that point the Ponovezher Rov was overcome with emotion; he started crying and had to leave the room.
The Chazon Ish tried to get Moshele to trust those at the orphanage, but Moshele didn't budge. Finally, the Chazon Ish was able to convince Moshele to trust him. Moshele accepted a pair of pajamas to change into so he could take a shower, and gave his clothes to the Chazon Ish. The Chozon Ish together with the Ponovezher Rov cleaned Moshele's clothes themselves; by hand, in a washing basin. After emptying and refilling the basin several times they were finally able to get the clothing clean. Then the Chazon Ish saw Moshele's muddy shoes. The Chazon Ish cleaned and polished the shoes himself. When Moshele returned he asked for his clothing. The Chazon Ish showed him, "They are hanging right there in the closet, but they need to dry. You'll stay tonight in my house and put your clothes back on in the morning.
Personal Epilogue:
As I was leaving the Agudah after ma'ariv, a friend who is a little older and is packing up his house to move asked if I could help him out the next morning. I didn't need to be asked twice.
Comments