Reb Neuberger: Devarim – Taxi Wisdom

 

TAXI WISDOM

There are Jews who look at you and Jews who turn away. 

You see a Yid approaching on the street. But he is looking the other way! He doesn’t want to look at you! He is telling you, “I don’t want to say ‘Shalom!’”

Then there’s the Yid – he may even be thinking in learning – but he’s looking at you and smiling! He is inviting you to greet him with “Shalom Aleichem!” 

My friends, this is the biggest thing in the world! What destroyed the Bais Hamikdosh is when we didn’t look at each other and say “Shalom.” 

In Megilas Rus, Boaz taught Am Yisroel to greet each other with “Shalom Aleichem!” (Rus 2:4) Right after this possuk, Boaz sees Rus for the first time. This is what saved the entire world, brought Dovid Hamelech and will bring Moshiach! 

My friends, we have to start saying “Shalom” to each other. 

When we say “Shalom,” there will be Shalom!

It is well known that Israeli taxi drivers know more Torah than we do, especially if they don’t wear a kippah! Sometimes they are covered with tattoos, but they know the Zohar and keep every taanis! 

I was once speaking to a taxi driver about achdus. He turned to me, very seriously, and said, “You don’t want achdus! That’s the last thing you want! Those people …. There is nothing you can do with them! Keep as far away from them as you can!” 

Wow! He made me think. Maybe he was right. But there is a question: who are “those people” anyway?” We have to know who is the Erev Rav and who isn’t. 

My dear friend, Reb Reuven Rosenthal, wrote me the following: “In chapter 11 of the Sefer Even Shleima – [conveying the view of the Gr”a] -- the Erev Rav is compared to bran that clings so tightly to the wheat kernel that it can only be removed by crushing them both together. In a footnote, this is compared to the possuk which says, ‘For behold, I decree that I will shake out the House of Israel among all the nations, as [grain] is shaken in a sieve….’” (Amos 9:9) 

These frightening words are said to refer to the End of Days, when the Family of Israel will be forcibly and painfully separated from the Erev Rav. According to Reb Reuven, “it seems, according to the Gr"a, that the primary challenge, as we come close to Moshiach, is the challenge from the Erev Rav,” who seem to be our very own people, but in fact come from a different root and represent a terrible internal threat, as it says, “a man’s enemies are the people of his household.” (Micah 7:6)

But we know that the inner challenge affects the outer challenge; external enemies pose a threat only if we are divided within. As we approach Tisha b’Av, I want to suggest that we take it upon ourselves to greet every Yid like a brother as we walk down the street of life. If we do our hishtadlus, I believe that Hashem will have mercy on us, separate us from our internal and external enemies and bring the Geulah quickly. 

I mentioned a few weeks ago the innumerable miracles surrounding Israel’s attack upon Iran. That stunning series of military operations had to represent the culmination of decades of highly sensitive work by thousands of incredibly dedicated military and intelligence personnel. One single leak – one leak! -- by any one of those thousands of people could have destroyed this entire enormous undertaking. 

But there was no leak! Not one! And Hashem wrought miracle upon miracle, culminating in President Trump’s bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear arsenal. 

The popular perception is that Am Yisroel is internally divided, our own worst enemies. Apparently that is not true! Apparently, Israel is deeply united! For, if we were not united, how would Hashem have blessed us with such supernatural protection against the world of enemies which surrounds us? 

In Madreigas Ha Adam, the Alter of Novardok writes: if we elevate ourselves toward complete emunah in Hashem, then Hashem will correspondingly even make miracles for us and fulfill King David’s words, “The eyes of all look to You with hope .… You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of all the living….” (Tehillim 145)

My friends, it is possible for us to be one! We have seen it!

It is possible for the Family of Israel to greet each other in brotherhood and friendship and shock the world with our dvaikus …. dvaikus with each other and dvaikus with Hashem! It is possible to greet each other with “Shalom!” It is possible to rebuild the Bais Hamikdosh! It is possible that all the tears will be wiped away and that we will soon return as one family to the Land which Hashem has promised us, when He will be One and His Name One!  

May we soon see the Day when Tisha b’Av becomes the Great Yom Tov! 

Israeli taxi

Shalom

GLOSSARY

Achdus: unity

Bais Hamikdosh: Holy Temple

Boaz: the great grandfather of King David, who married Ruth

Dvaikus: unity

Erev Rav: foreigners who left Ancient Egypt with the Children of Israel

Geulah: Redemption

Gr”a: The Gaon of Vilna, a great rabbi who lived in the 18^th Century 

Hishtadlus: effort

Kippah: yarmulka

Taanis: Fast day

Tisha b’Av: the 9^th day of the Month of Av, when both Temples were destroyed

Yom Tov: holy day