It has been a busy run at Chabad of Sudbury, as we have our very busy Bar & Bat Mitzvah season in full swing, lots of exciting events, the beautiful Hebrew School Year End Celebration, prayer services, classes and of course Camp Gan Israel which is right around the corner.
Seeing crowds of people once again milling around on the lawn, children running around and playing, and being able to once again go into nursing homes and bring joy to seniors, is a blessing we are all so grateful for and bodes well for the time ahead.
Earlier this week, an Israeli businessman was in the area and he happened to mention to me on Shabbat, that on Monday evening it will be the Yahzriet of his younger brother who was killed by terrorists while serving in the IDF. I immediately thought that perhaps we can get together as a community and arrange a Minyan for him to say Kaddish and honor the memory of his brother who had been killed 27 years earlier
Sure enough on Monday evening he joined us, along with a nice group from the community, including some boys who recently turned Bar Mitzvah and he was able to say Kaddish and share some reflections and memories about his brother who was killed at the young age of 21 years old.
We hadn't known each other before this, yet our sense of community and connection with one another, brought us all together on a random Monday evening, for Kaddish to be said for his beloved brother, Yaniv Sasson Z"L.
On another day this week, I spoke to someone else who is dealing with a personal crisis and is all alone in the world in his challenge. I was so pained by his story and tried to help as best as I could and it made me realize how sometimes people go through the biggest challenges all alone in the world.
I tried to encourage the person spiritually and also tried to help the individual with practical advice, yet I was pained as I realized just how alone and vulnerable people can sometimes feel.
After the phone call, I was left thinking of just how important community is, and how supportive and helpful it can be to people for the joyous, sad and challenging moments in life. There is a certain care, connection and communal responsibility that comes with a community, and its our job to keep building and strengthening that, so that the future is brighter for everyone.
In the Jewish tradition, a community is a space and place, where there is a sense of care and commitment to help people at every milestone and juncture of life, where orphans are taken care of, where loans are given out to people who are struggling, where the sick are visited and cared for, where people try their utmost to help their fellow with employment, where people come together to learn, grow, pray and celebrate, and where so much mutual good is done for the other.
One of my biggest joys is when I see new connections forming, and people spending time together, networking on behalf of one another, helping other people in the community with a job, errand or rides as needed. It is then, when you realize just how beautiful is the power of a community.
There is a story of a new Rabbi who moved to town and banned all conversation in the Synagogues. Yet the next Friday his door was almost knocked down by the throngs of people who needed his help in so many ways. Each week the problems got worse and he just couldn't understand why no one had told him about this problem beforehand.
Upon investigating the issues he discovered, that previously people would chat in the Synagogues as well as pray, and in doing so they would connect, understand who needed help, and would make sure to follow up and help one another. Now that he had banned all conversation and only allowed prayer, these conversations and the ensuing help were no longer happening.
Of course the story goes, he canceled his ruling and things soon reverted to normal.
The moral of the story is obvious, nothing can truly replace the power of a community coming together, talking to each other, and then being there for one another.
Hopefully with a strong community, no one will ever feel left alone, people will have shoulders to lean on for their challenging moments, and we can grow, learn and celebrate together. In doing so we will make a brighter and more Jewish tomorrow as well as a healthier and stronger community today.
Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel