1 year ago

VaYechi: G-d and Jews Can Bless

This week’s Torah reading enumerates the blessings Jacob gave to his twelve sons before he died.
Why did Jacob have to bless his sons. Don’t blessings come from G-d? How can people give blessings?
And why did Jacob have to bless each one separately? Why not just one general blessing for all of them? And what exactly is a blessing?

To answer, here is a story I heard almost 30 years ago.

In the Chabad community in Crown Heights, there was (perhaps still is) a woman who is very active in the community (I wasn’t told her name but for the sake of the story we’ll call her Sarah) who told the story of how she became religious.
She and her brother were brought up in a “reform” home where Torah was of little or no importance but after her brother attended a few classes at a Chabad House in New Jersey he became interested in Judaism and tried to get her involved too but with no luck.
She even spent several Sabbaths there with him and although it was a pleasant experience, she felt it wasn’t for her and decided to seek spirituality elsewhere.
So she enrolled in a seminar of Scientology (or some similar cult) and prepared for new vistas. But because the seminar she signed up for was to begin only on Sunday and her brother invited her for one more Shabbat at Chabad she agreed to join him.

That Shabbat, like all the others at Chabad, was peaceful but uneventful and shortly after nightfall and Shabbat ended, she was already heading for the front door of the Synagogue with her bag packed.
But before leaving she approached the Chabad house Rabbi to say good bye and thank him for the hospitality but it just so happened that he was busy on the phone and was also arranging the room for a speaker that was supposed to arrive soon, so at first, he didn’t notice her.
But as soon as he did, he signaled for her to wait, finished his call, and said, “Hey! Why don’t you stay for the lecture? It’s a great speaker, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Hecht from Chicago, you’ll really enjoy it. C’mon, he’ll only speak for an hour or so, and he tells fantastic stories. Unless you have somewhere really important to go you should stay. You can help me arrange the tables.”
It sounded harmless enough and she really wasn’t in a hurry, so she put her suitcase in a corner and began helping set up the room.
Just as she was beginning to have second thoughts about staying the Rabbi arrived. He was an older man, perhaps in his late sixties, but he had a contagious smile and warm eyes that made her forget her qualms. Everyone took their seats, and the lecture began.
He was really an interesting speaker. But fifteen minutes into his speech he stopped in the middle of a sentence, fell silent for a few seconds and then said,
“My dear friends please excuse my changing the subject but I just remembered a strange story that happened to me years ago that I want to share it with you.
“A while ago, about a year after World War Two, I flew to New York from my home in Chicago to have a private audience with the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (1880 – 1950) of blessed memory.
“I entered into his room, gave him a letter in which I wrote all my questions but before reading it he looked at me and said: ‘Rabbi Hecht, do you know who was just in here to see me? The man who just now left my room before you entered was Rabbi Boyer the well-known philanthropist’
“The Rebbe’s holy eyes were red as though he had been crying.
“I remember thinking to myself that this was very strange because the Rebbe would never reveal to others what was told him in private. But he continued; ‘Rabbi Boyer told me that he had just returned from a tour of refugee camps in Europe. He said there are thousands of Jews in these camps; broken souls, all that remains of European Jewry.’ The Rebbe wept aloud then dried his eyes and continued:
“‘Rabbi Boyer explained, that even though he is a Misnaged (opposer of the Chassidic way) he came to visit me because of a young boy he met there wandering in one of the camps.
“The boy was about twelve years old, wearing an old ‘kippa (Yarmulke) and his clothes, even his shoes, were so worn and torn that he looked like a truly lost soul. So he went up to him, took out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and offered it to him.
“But the boy shook his head ‘no’ and said in Yiddish that he didn’t take gifts and that he didn’t need anything.
“‘When Rabbi Boyer insisted, the boy looked up at him and said, ‘If you want to give me something, then buy me a ticket to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe in New York! I want to see the Rebbe!’
“Rabbi Boyer was astounded. He said ‘Here is an orphan who had been through hell, no parents or family, lacking even clothes, and what is going on in his mind? What is he thinking about? He wants to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe! Just imagine what an education he must have had to teach him that’.
“Rav Boyer told the boy he couldn’t give him such a gift but did promise him that when he arrived back in New York he would go see me and mention his name to me and that is why he came to see me.
“Then” the Rebbe continued, “I asked Rabbi Boyer to tell me about the other refugee camps he visited and when he finished (here the Rebbe began weeping almost uncontrollably) I thanked him for coming and asked him if there is anything I can do for him, anything he wanted for himself. He answered that he wanted me to bless him. So, I blessed him that he should have ‘nachas’ (satisfaction) from his children and grandchildren.’
Then the Rebbe turned to my letter.”
Rabbi Hecht apologized again to the crowd for telling a story out of context, continued his lecture, finished an hour later and everyone applauded, thanked him and left. But one girl remained seated in the empty room, her face in her hands. It was Sarah and she was weeping.
Rabbi Hecht said that he and the Chabad House Rabbi approached her and asked if anything was wrong. She dried her eyes. Smiled a smile of thanks and said,
“I’m sorry for crying, excuse me but I couldn’t help myself. You see…. that Rabbi you spoke of in your story, Rabbi Boyer …. He was my grandfather.
“That blessing the Rebbe gave him must have been for me! G-d wanted you to tell that story tonight so I would hear it.”
She changed her mind about the cult and decided to give another chance to becoming the type of Jew that would give her grandfather (and hundreds of generations of grandfathers before him) ‘nachas’. And that is how she became a Chassid Chabad got married and raised a fine Jewish family in Crown Heights.

This answers our questions about blessings.

It’s true that blessings are only in the hands of the Creator. But after G-d chose Abraham and told him, “You will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2) Abraham and all his offspring were also given the ability power to bless.
So every Jew today is a ‘part’ (Deut 32:9) of G-d Himself; each with the power to bless and improve the world just as G-d does.
That is what blessings do. Blessings ‘draw down’ and reveal the potential good from the spiritual ‘healthy’ worlds where there is no evil or disease to this world.
And Gd put this power in the hands of the Jews.
For instance, in our story about Sarah; although it is certain that EVERY Jew will eventually return to Judaism (Rambam, Hil. Tshuva 7:5) the Rebbe’s blessing to Rabbi Boyer was to make it ACTUALLY happen, to reveal this potential and make it happen sooner.
That is why Jacob blessed his sons; to reveal the hidden potential goodness in store for each of them. And because each was different, he had to bless each separately.

This is very important to each of us, today.
The Rambam (Mimonedies in Laws of Kings 11:1) explains that in the days of the Moshiach there will be no war, disease, hunger or strife because the Creator; the SOURCE of all good and blessing, will be revealed in His creation.
And we can make it happen sooner.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that days of Moshiach are now ……….. but we must reveal it. And like Jacob, we all have the power to do so and bring blessing to all mankind.
And not much is lacking to make it happen. We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish sacrifice, prayer and suffering now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought will awaken all positive potential and bring the ultimate blessing …
. MOSHIACH NOW!!

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