story said over by Rabbi David Kletzkin of Yerushalayim written in Hebrew by his brother Rabbi Yisrael Aaron Kletzkin of Lakewood, NJ.
Introduction: As the head of the Chevra Kadisha in Jerusalem, I visit the Har Hazeisim and har Hamenuchos cemeteries almost every day and sometimes a few times a day, and as part of my work I have already become acquainted with many exciting stories and issues of countless hashgacha.
The beginning of the month of Nissan During my participation in a Levaya, I noticed on the ground
between the graves, a advertisement flyer of someone who was working on the restoration of tombstones, and since I was also involved in the field of tombstones, I picked up the paper and stuffed it into my pocket.
26 Nissan 5778
A rainy rainy day in Jerusalem, I returned from the funeral on the Mount of Olives with my clothes soiled with mud, changed clothes and took out the contents from my pockets and placed them on the dresser to dry.
27 Nissan 5778
Before I left for shachris, I sorted out the documents and decided which to throw away and which ones to keep in my pocket, among them the publication of the ad with the aforementioned tombstone. I was about to throw it away, but my curiosity made me look at the advertising page and saw a picture of Two tombstones, on the right: a dusty old gravestone with the inscription "before" and on the left the same tombstone, only after the cleaning and renovation and the inscription "after "
I tried to read the small print on the gravestone, of The woman, Taiba, daughter of Rabbi David Shachor z "l,
It said: "She merited to be buried in the graves of her forefathers, which her sisters Chaya and Sanya did not merit as they died al kiddush hashem." It did not mention their mother or her husband so I came to the conclusion that she was a holocaust survivor ho died without any children. It was written further that she died on the 27th of Nisian 5731 (1971), and immediately flashed through my mind that today is the 47th anniversary of the death and I saw this as a sign of Hashgacha pratis. It is rare the note was in my pocket for many days yet I read it exactly on Wednesday.
After davening shachris i said kadish in the Pinsk Karlin B'M I approaced the Rebbe and related the story and the mitzva of chesed shel emes that i merited. Everyone was excited by the story and lit candles. The Rebbe himself opened a Mishnayos and learned for the Neshama, and everyone joined in. After davening I thought of publicizing the the mitzvah of kindness to other yidden. I shared the storyon the family line (Watasphone), from which the story passed on to other lines, and this became known to thousands of people whom I do not know who also did good things to elevate the souls of the above mentioned.
After the story went public i contacted the owner of the advertisement for kevarim restorations and asked him to tell me about the matziva pictured in the flyer.
The man said that he had been working in the field or kevarim restoration for years, and from time to time he asked his clients permission to print the photograph of their relative for advertising purposes. But as expected, no one agreed to have their family's matzeiva in the picture as an advertisement .
One day, Hagaon Rabbi Binyamin Rimmer, shlita the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Tchebin in Yerushalayim (the son-in-law of Maran Hagarash Elyashiv zt "l), asked me to renovate the gravestone of a relative of his (his elder sister's) sister. I thought that in this case, they would agree to have her picture in the ad since there were no relatives and explained to them that it might be a zechus for her Nashama.
When I heard this, I immediately called Rabbi Rimmer to hear more details about the lady Teiba A'H, he said: She immigrated to Israel in 1934, A few years before the outbreak of World War II, and her life was saved by the act of self-sacrifice, as follows: The family first lived in Russia in the city of Minsk, at that time her father, R. David Shachor, got in trouble with the tax authorities in Russia
One night, KGB agents came to arrest him. His daughter Taibeh shouted at the policemen and said: Leave him alone, I was the one who committed the tax offenses my father had nothing to do with the business. After arguments and an open miracle, they left the house empty-handed. That experience caused them to leave Russia and go up to the Holy Land. The two sisters mentioned in her Matzeiva were already married, and remained there, they perished in the war.
In the early years, the family lived in Jerusalem in the Botei Broideh neighborhood and after the passing of her parents who were buried on the Mount of Olives, she moved to the center of the country, where she worked for over twenty years as a pharmacist.
(At this stage I added to this family line the part that also became known as a supplement to the story of Divine providence.)
On this Monday, 8 Iyar 5778, I receive a phone call from a Jew who identified himself as Aharon, and these were his chilling words: The story that was published last week by you came to me miraculously, and as soon as I heard the details of it all my flesh became full of goosebumps.
This is the story he told me.
About 50 years ago, I was a young man, and when I came to a health clinic in Tel Aviv to buy a certain cream that I had to apply to my skin, when I got home I opened the package and found it disappointing that this was not the right ointment. I returned to the pharmacy and demanded that they replace it with the required ointment. The pharmacist replied that it was impossible to exchange after I had already opened it. My anger increased and I blamed them for the confusion. It turned out that there was another client with me who asked for an ointment and we mistakenly switched creams, I was the first who came back expected them to replace it but since i had opened the package they did not want to change it. I began to yel and scream and go wild, the receptionist told me, "I did not serve you, let me go get Tova the pharmacist she can help. Hearing the shouting and screaming this lady came out from the back I recognized the older lady from before but i was just shouting at her she did not utter a response, although I knew that it was my mistake my ego got the best of me and I accused her for the mishap.
I threw the cream on the table and blurted out a terrible sentence: "Your children will use this cream." ,Tova did not respond but her face turned red, I also saw that the saleswoman looked at her pityingly and painfully, I left the place with a little mind.
After a few years, I was got engaged b'h and one afternoon I sat in the neighborhood synagogue listening to the lesson in Maseches Avot. The rabbi was reading the second chapter of the famous story about Hillel the Elder who saw one skull floating on the water and said ' "And so on." This means that you were killed because you killed others, and whoever killed you is also destined to be killed. The rabbi quoted the words of the Rambam in his commentary on the Mishna:
אמרו חכמים, במידה שאדם מודד, בה מודדים לו, וזה דבר הנראה לעין, בכל עת ובכל זמן ובכל מקום, שכל מי שיעשה רע ויחדש מיני החמס ופחיתיות שהוא עצמו יוזק מן רעות ההם בעצמם, מפני שהוא למד מלאכה שתעשה נזק לו ולזולתו' הטעים הרב ואמר: הרי ידענו כי מרובה מידה טובה ממידת פורענות פי חמש מאות, ממשיך הרמב"ם ומפרש: 'וכן כל המלמד מעלה שמחדש פועל טוב מן הטובות, יגיעהו תועלת הפועל ההוא, מפני שהוא מלמד דבר שיעשה טוב לו ולזולתו' מוסיף הרמב"ם ומשבח את הפסוק וכותב: 'ודברי הכתוב בזה טובים מאוד (איוב לא יא) כי פועל אדם ישלם לו' כפי הפתגם הידוע 'וואס מען טוט טוט מען זיך' פתח הרב ספר איוב והקריא את דברי המלבי"ם על הפסוק הזה שמסביר: שענין זה, שהעושה רע לזולת גורר רע על עצמו והעושה טוב לזולת גורר טוב על עצמו, אינו בתורת שכר או עונש, אלא מציאות בטבע, וכשם שהמכניס ידו לאש ונכווה מכך, אין זה עונש כי אם פועל יוצא בטבע, וכן האוכל ושבע אין השובע שכר על האכילה כי אם פועל יוצא בטבע שהטביע השי"ת בעולם, כך העושה רע מושך על עצמו רע כפועל יוצא ועאכו"כ העושה טוב מושך טוב על עצמו וסובביו.
The rabbi concluded: "Whoever has already failed and caused harm to others is better off asking for his forgiveness before he is harmed. Since I was standing before my marriage, I thought to myself that a choson is forgiven for his sins, and this is the time to ask for forgiveness from friends and teachers that I hurt, from relatives and family members. But the same story with the pharmacist did not cross my mind at the time so it did not occur to me to go to appease and ask forgiveness.
That summer I happily married my wife, hoping for a happy life, but sadly year after year went by and the house was empty. We went to the doctors, we did all kinds of treatments, but there were no children.
One day I happened to be at the same Kupat Cholim in Tel Aviv and I remembered the story of the above-mentioned ointment, and I decided to go inside and ask forgivness, and perhaps that will be my salvation. I go to the pharmacy and asked for the Lady by the name of Tova they look at me in amazement and say: You mean Tova Shachor? She no longer works here she was transferred several years ago to a retirement home in Gedera. At the same time, I did not have time to go there, and the matter flourished again, but after a while I drove once on the intercity road and I saw the signs pointing to Gedera. a town in the Central District of Israel It is located 13 kilometres (8 miles) south of Rehovot).
Immediately I remembered the incident and decided to enter the city and look for the aforementioned retirement home. unfortunately I was told that Tova Shachor died a few years earlier, when I asked where she was buried they did not know , but her father's name was known to me as "Tova bas Dovid Shachor and they gave me a date of her yartzheit as 27 of Nissan 1971 and that she died without children.
Disappointed, I left the place and went to the burial societies in the city and in central Israel, but found no information about it. I did not have many choices, I decided to do my best for the sake of her soul, and so I have been keeping her yartzheit for years, studying and praying for her soul.
And so Aaron continues.
One day 15 years ago I woke up with a strange feeling in my face, looking in the mirror, my eyes darkened by the shape of my face, distorted by my distorted lips, and my voice changed strangely too. I was hoping its temporary and will just pass on, but after a few hours i realized it was not going away.
I turned to the best doctors who did not know how to help me, although it was possible to do an operation that had very poor chances, and it was dropped because of the high risk. My mental ache was unbearable. I used to say shiurim every day and I was also baal tefillah on Shabbos and High Holidays, etc., and now because of a distortion of my voice I was not able to continue and was ashamed because of the deformity. I went around to the gedolim in eretz Yisrael asking for brachos and , one of them told me that maybe I should seek to correct something related to the mouth and speech. I tried thinking and going back but could not remember anything. I prayed to God to enlighten me, so I spent many years with the deformities until the surroundings became accustomed to my strange voice and strange faces.
At the beginning of last week, on 2 Iyar 5778, I hear in the shul a story about the Hashgacha Pratis that just happened to a Jew from Jerusalem named Rabbi Dovid Kletzkin, who found the publication of a tombstone with the name 'Atka Toibe' After several decades I thought she must be buried in the Dan region, I immediately turned to thechevra kadisha in Jerusalem and they told me she was buried in har hazeisim (a few rows after thekever of the Admor of Lelov who died on Yom Kippur 5709), I knew Well, what to do, and already on Thursday I headed out and went to Jerusalem.
I went to a nearby yeshiva and asked some of the young men to join me in praying at the kever on har Hazeisim. I said the mishnayos with the name of the woman Tova and the letters of the word neshama. After that I took off my shoes and burst into terrible tears that lasted for many minutes and I said, 'I have sinned against the Gd of Israel, I sinned to Tova Bas Rav Dovid and I prayed for forgiveness and forgiveness from all my heart as it is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch. The men answered three times that you are forgiven.
From there I continued to the Western Wall with a feeling of exaltation and liberation, I gave charity to the elevation of her soul and promised Hashem that if salvation came I would publish the miracle in every way Possible.
On the morning of last Shbbos Achrei kedoshim, six Iyar 5778, I get up from my bed to go to daven I wash my face and looked in the mirror and see that my skin has returned to normal just like it was 15 years ago
My wife could not believe her eyes. I began to speak, and here was my voice as it had been in the days of my youth. I walked to the synagogue in a dance. I knew very well who the doctor was
רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות.
It was time for Krias Hatorah and the regular Baal koreh was hoarse and there was no one else able to take over they tried looking for a replacement but no one went up, especially as it is a double parsha- Achrei Mos Kedoshim. For decades I have been a baal koreh until that time that my voice changed.
I get up and go to the bima and start reading, 'After the death of the two sons of Aharon.' Suddenly all the emotion inside me burst out and I cried out into terrible tears in front of the entire audience. After two minutes of silence and embarrassment I managed to continue, the entire public were shocked by the wonderful voice that came back to me years later, and then they also noticed that I had regained my strength. After davening I announced that on Saturday night a large Melave Malka meal would be held for the entire public, where I told the full story as promised at the Western Wall.
And here Aharon adds to me: After an effort I got your phone number, I do not know you and you do not know me, but you know that it was not for nothing that the story of Divine Providence was published all over the country. Please publish this just as i told you.
Epilogue
Dear Jews, my brothers and friends, Rabbi Aharon concludes, did you harm others? Do not wait years until it is too late, surrender and ask forgiveness even if you think you are right and you will not have to go through the terrible suffering. After that, my brother David is flooded these days with phone calls from people who came to them, and they say that they reconciled themselves to people who had been quarreling with them for many years, friends and family, and so on.
Let us try to increase the peace between brothers, Tak ea and pen and paper. Write down a list of those you think may be hurt by you, and of course we should pray and ask God to refresh the memory and prepare the way, for who knows when? And the great peace that we will bring the redemption closer speedily in our days amen
יהי רצון שיהיו הדברים לתועלת ולהצלחת ישראל אהרן בן מאנצ'י
Thank you so much for putting up the English version!
ReplyDeleteYasher Koach!
Thank you Mr. Anon.
ReplyDelete