Earlier this week, my son Eliyahu experienced a biking mishap resulting in a broken wrist. It is tough to see your child in pain and wait with them in the emergency room for some relief. He is not my first kid to get fit with a cast. What made this unique is that he is three weeks away from his Bar Mitzvah. After ascertaining that he was going to be ok, my first thought was, “poor kid, his first opportunity to fulfill the Mitzvah of tefillin will be compromised by the cast on his left arm, which prevents him from properly winding the straps directly on his arm.”
Thinking about it a little more I recalled a story that changed my mindset. Two of the early Chassidic masters, the brothers, Reb Zushe and Reb Elimelech, spent time traveling incognito for a particular mission. During their travels, the “socially conscious” Russian police arrested them in middle of the night for “loitering.” They were thrown into a large cell that held many inmates, mostly drunk Russian peasants. In middle of the room was a chamber pot for the inmates’ use.
In the morning, Reb Zushe began to cry in despair. The presence of the filthy chamber pot in the room precluded them from being allowed to pray. He lamented the fact that it would be the first time in his adult life that he was unable to lay tefillin and pray. Reb Elimelech consoled him saying, “brother, the same G-d that commanded you to lay tefillin and pray each day, commanded you not to pray in the presence of filth. As a servant of G-d you simply have a different mission today.”
Reb Zushe was very inspired by his brother’s words, and he began to dance with joy at his newly discovered opportunity to serve Hashem. As the brothers danced, they were joined by the peasants who welcomed the distraction. Hearing noise emanating from the cell, the guard inquired as to what sparked the celebration. One of the peasants informed him that he wasn’t sure, but it had something to do with that bucket in middle of the room… crazy Jews… Hearing this, the guard tossed the chamber pot out of the room. Upon seeing what the guard did, Reb Elimelech chuckled to his brother and said, “nu brother, let’s go daven.”
Applying this to Eliyahu’s situation, we assumed that Hashem wanted to be served by Eliyahu wearing his tefillin in the “proper” way. It seems that Hashem wanted otherwise. Now, he will have the chance to serve Hashem in an unconventional manner, by winding the straps over his cast. Or maybe, Hashem has a trick up “His sleeve” and when we go for the follow up appointment before the Bar Mitzvah, the cast will be replaced by something removable or will no longer be needed altogether. Either way, Eliyahu will “report for duty” that morning, and whatever orders the Commander-In-Chief has for him that day will be carried out joyfully.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin