What to learn from a Story
A true story. Back in the 1970s a Soviet Jew seated at a Moscow Seder table felt an urge. He recalled a fellow Jew who’d been imprisoned for secretly teaching Hebrew. His urge was to bring him a small box of matzah. So, the next day, he traveled a great distance, two train rides over several hours to arrive at the Prison. When the guard refused to accept the Matzah, he appealed to the prison Commander who rejected it even more forcefully. Before departing he tried once more. He found another guard and bribed him with his last 25 rubles.
He never knew whether or not the matzah got to his friend. 20 years later, after moving to Israel, one day, by pure chance, he came across his friend, alive and well, on a street in Jerusalem. His friend told him a story about that Matzah which actually saved his life. It had arrived just in time. It revived him. He’d been on the verge of committing suicide. His days were so filled with misery and suffering, being brutally beaten by both inmates and guards. What’s more, the prison Commander began to worry. Why would someone travel such a distance to make such a delivery. Perhaps the inmate was an important person. Perhaps his Moscow superiors were testing him. So he instructed the guards and inmates not to harm him.
And that’s the story of a box of matzah that literally saved someone’s life. Last night at KI’s Minyan when I asked Alla to retell it, I commented afterwards “Imagine, it was just a Mitzvah. But the prison Commander couldn’t fathom that such a noteworthy effort didn’t signify something more profound.” One of our wise Minyan regulars, Danny, commented, “Just a Mitzvah?” He was right.
And the conversation also taught a life-lesson: back and forth learning with a study-partner (Hevruta), can take a story and refine it.
This week’s portion features one of the richest back and forth (Hevrutot) in the Torah. It’s between Moses and Aaron. And it comes in the wake of the sudden death of two of Aaron’s four sons. They’d brought an unprescribed offering. Turns out, deviating slightly from precise rules for a Priest can be fatal. Moses rashly criticizes Aaron’s remaining sons for not handling another offering properly. Aaron replies, “Given all that’s befallen me today, would it have been preferable to God that we carry on as usual?” Moses listens. And then the Torah says he approves of Aaron’s good point.
Do a Mitzvah today. Text a tender sentiment. Check in on a neighbor. Then learn something from the give and take that follows. And try to recall, there’s no such thing as just a mere Mitzvah.
