Who Can Fill the Wise Man’s Shoes?
Well, thank G-d, the IDF has eliminated the October 7th diabolical terrorist mastermind, Yahya Sinwar. What a miracle that despite all his terror tunnels to hide in and hostages kept as human shields to protect himself, Israel still got him and brought justice to the victims of the brutal Hamas massacre from one year ago.
This same day that the evil Sinwar had his ticket punched to eternal damnation, I spoke to an extraordinary elderly gentleman in the synagogue who told me his important story of how to live a holy life. I call him the man with the fancy shoes because aside from his deep emunah (belief) in Hashem and in doing good deeds, he enjoys wearing a beautiful pair of sparkling, jeweled blue velvet loafers to shul.
After services and kiddish in the Sukkah, the man asked to speak a few words to the congregation. He has a speech impediment due to illness, and it was hard for him to say anything or be heard, but after he spoke, people were crying and clapping for him. After reading his words below, I think you’ll see why.
First, he recognized the miraculous news about the IDF’s liquidation of Sinwar. Then he went on to say that he is very sick and dying, and despite that, he actually asks that Hashem increase his suffering as long as he blesses the brave men and women of the Israel Defense Forces in their mission to safeguard Hashem’s people, land, and Torah.
He went on to say that no amount of the doctors telling him that “it is his time” impacts him, and that the most important thing is for us to keep on taking care of each other. He was clear that life is a wonderful gift and that we must make the most of every moment. He told me that he is in stage 4 near death, but he completely believes in Hashem, and he is not afraid to die anytime. Every morning when he wakes up, he immediately thanks G-d for allowing him another day to worship Him and help others.
He told me we have no reason to fear because we have a mission and purpose in life, and we must carry it as out as long as G-d grants us. He explained to me that he was not always religious. He said that his parents were poor, and when they went to the synagogue on the high holidays, they couldn’t afford seats, so they were relegated to the back of the synagogue, and that this was a turn-off to religion.
Later in life, as he saw G-d’s guiding hand, he realized his true purpose was to help others and try to bring them closer to the Almighty. For the last eight years, his health has deteriorated, and he has multiple severe illnesses. In fact, he told me that he now has to take almost three dozen pills a day, and that does not include the shots he also has to take. Despite so much suffering, he is in the synagogue at 6:20 AM every morning to pray to Hashem and thank Him for his every kindness.
I asked him what about the mistakes we make in life—how do we deal with those? And he said to me:
They are building blocks!
He explained that none of us are saints, but we learn from our mistakes to do better in the future and bring holiness into our lives and the lives of others that we care about.
He told me that he instructed his wife that if something happened to him, she should call the “good rabbi” and he would take care of everything, but in the meantime, he would take every day to continue to help others.
Every day, he wears his kippah everywhere since he is proud to be a Jew, and when people ask him about the fighting in the Middle East, he explains that is not what we are about. We want to live in peace, raise our families, and live free as Jewish people. Unfortunately, we are in a time when we have no choice but to fight and defend our families and freedom.
Because of his illnesses, he told me that he can barely speak and people have trouble understanding him or think he’s crazy. I responded that if he allowed me, I would like to be his voice to people and tell them his important messages of mission, belief in Hashem, desire to help others, yearning for peace, and love of life.
Despite a thousand miles of distance between us, I have always felt very connected to this man as though his message and goodness as a human being and a Jew have just been waiting for me to share it. As I was called to the Torah to say the blessing, the man with the fancy shoes put his hand on mine and squeezed it tightly to affirm his standing with the Torah and the people called to it.
Today, as we praise Hashem for the wonderful news on the end of the notorious Sinwar and his evil ways, we can yet marvel at the untold number of good, humble people in the world, like the man with the fancy shoes, who radiate its true meaning of life, faith, and love.