Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, Head of the Yeshiva: Chizuk for the 19th of Elul

Upcoming Tikkun and Preparing for the Day of Judgment

Today, the 19th of Elul, 5786, a great tikkun (rectification/repair) is taking place in Bat Yam, with the help of the Almighty and His salvation. On Thursday, we will hold a tikkun here for our sins. Anyone wishing to participate in this great endeavor must accept a fast on Wednesday and fast on Thursday from morning until the emergence of the stars, arriving here at 12:30 PM. We do this to prepare ourselves for the Great and Awesome Day of Judgment.

We all approach Hashem wanting to ask Him to forgive our sins, to grant us pardon. When a person approaches a friend to ask for forgiveness, it is naturally uncomfortable—coming forward to say, "Listen, I did this to you, I ask for your forgiveness," especially when one has done something very bad. Asking for forgiveness creates tension. Nevertheless, we must recognize before Whom we stand and what our commitment to Him is, reciting the verse: "Righteousness belongs to You, Hashem, but to us, shame of face."

The Parable of the Ungrateful Beneficiary

They tell a story from the time of the Holocaust about a lonely Jew who was suffering deeply. One day he fainted, standing on the very verge of death. At the last moment, as his soul was almost departing, another Jew saw his desperate condition and risked his own life to save him. He lifted him up, placed him in a hidden spot, gave him bread, revived him, and took care of him.

After surviving the Holocaust together, the benefactor took this man along, arranged for him to marry, opened a business, and appointed him manager of that business, taking care of his needs completely. As years went on, the benefactor even gifted him a large sum of money as seed capital so he could establish a business of his own.

Despite all this care, the survivor went and set up a competing business against his benefactor, stole all his trade secrets, and caused him immense trouble until his benefactor was reduced to poverty.

This parable reflects how we act toward the Holy One, blessed be He. Hashem does good for us, gives us life, health, and the power of speech. Yet we take that power of speech to utter forbidden things and use it for improper matters. Hashem gives us eyes to see and ears to hear, yet every sin a person commits creates a destructive angel (mashchit). That destructive angel requires sustenance, and while it would be proper for Hashem to say, "You created the destructive angel, so you feed him," Hashem even sustains the destructive angel itself.

That is the meaning of "Righteousness belongs to You, Hashem, but to us, shame of face." What an immense shame it is when He gives us eyes to see and ears to hear, and with those very tools we act against His will, creating angels to harm Him.

Knocking at the Door: Understanding True Need in Prayer

Rabbi Baruch Rosenblum quotes Rabbi Naftali Trop regarding our Selichot prayers, where we say: "Like the poor and destitute, we have knocked on Your doors. On Your doors we knocked, O Merciful and Gracious One." When a poor person knocks on a door, there are two distinct types of beggars.

The first type is not truly poor; he has money, but he wants to live a bit more comfortably. He has one air conditioner, but he wants two. He eats decently, but he wants to eat better. When this person knocks on a door, if they open for him, they open; if they don't open, he simply moves on, thinking, "It's okay, I have a way to live."

The second type of poor person has nothing at all. His clothes are torn, he has no food, and his situation is a matter of life and death. When he knocks on a door and they do not open, he knocks with all his strength! He doesn't have a slice of bread to eat, so he has no etiquette and no patience—he knocks even harder because otherwise he will starve to death.

Rabbi Naftali used to say that when a person approaches Rosh Hashanah and requests what is to come, he must realize that it is a matter of life and death. A person must say, "Master of the Universe, I am changing. I want to be a different person." We see people who lose their livelihood, children who die, and young people who pass away; a person never knows what might happen, so prayer is not merely about asking for supplemental income.

One needs lips that burn strongly in prayer because the net is spread everywhere. Look at what happened in Nepal—a severe tragedy with floods and landslides striking the riverbank on Wednesday the 13th, like a tsunami with thousands dead in a single moment. All over the world, we see strange occurrences: chaos in Morocco, Spain, and Germany; hail falling like cannonballs in Italy forcing everyone inside; and tremendous wildfires in France. The world is behaving strangely. Therefore, a person must pay close attention and not leave things to chance.

The Cook and the Yeshiva Head

One of the rabbis relates that he was once at the home of a very wealthy, prominent man when there was a knock at the door. Standing there was a Jewish man with a magnificent, noble countenance, looking like one of the heads of the yeshivas (Roshei Yeshiva).

The wealthy man asked him, "What do you need?" The man replied, "I am collecting money for supplemental income. I work, but it isn't enough for me."

Seeing a man with the face of a great rabbi claiming to be a cook struggling for income, the wealthy man offered him advice: "Listen. Go to a certain wealthy man and tell him that you are a Head of a Yeshiva—since you look respectable—and he will give you a lot of money; that's what he likes."

The man left to search for that house, but he couldn't find it. By mistake, he returned to the very same house and rang the bell again. Over the intercom, they asked, "Who are you?" He replied, "I am a Head of a Yeshiva from Rehovot." The wealthy man said, "You were just at my door! You said you were a cook! I was the one who gave you the advice to say you are a Head of a Yeshiva!"

What an extreme embarrassment that was! In the same way, before the Holy One, blessed be He, we must come before Him authentically as "poor and destitute knocking at Your doors," rather than putting on false pretenses.

The Power of the Final Week of the Year

Starting from this Sunday, we enter the final week of the year. The last Shabbat of the year rectifies all the Shabbats of the year, and Sunday—the last Sunday of the year—rectifies every Sunday. Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, a man who possessed Divine Inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh), taught that Monday rectifies all Mondays, and each day of this final week rectifies all those respective days of the year.

The holy Arizal taught that during the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuva), each day rectifies its corresponding weekday of the past year. Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian explains that this rectification process begins now during this final week of the year.

Because this coming Shabbat will rectify all Shabbats, one must be meticulous in how one recites blessings, studies Torah, performs deeds of kindness, and guards against forbidden speech. If we show on the Day of Judgment that everything was wonderful during this last week, Hashem will have great satisfaction. Everyone must be careful not to miss this tremendous opportunity.

The Parable of the Sleeping Child and the Specialist

When a person sleeps and dreams a frightening dream where they need to get up and run, they cannot physically get up. The Holy One, blessed be He, bound all of man's limbs during sleep so that his body cannot act out his dreams. In rare, dangerous medical conditions, a person's limbs remain active during sleep. If such a person dreams that someone is coming at him with a knife, he might physically grab a kitchen knife while dreaming and potentially harm someone. Hashem created man with immense wisdom, making our limbs heavy and bound during sleep as a miracle. That is why we say every morning: "Blessed are You, Lord... Who releases the bound," referring to being freed from the shackles of sleep.

A story is told of a child in Jerusalem whose natural defense mechanism during sleep did not function. In the middle of the night, he would act out his dreams, doing extremely dangerous things like walking toward the balcony. His father was forced to stay awake every single night to watch him, catching him whenever he got up. The situation was unbearable, especially since the father could not function during the day to care for his family of 18 souls.

The father heard of a world-renowned neurologist in the United States who knew how to perform a surgery to fix this condition. The father wrote a deeply moving letter to the professor, detailing their intense turmoil and financial distress. Moved by compassion, the professor agreed to perform the surgery entirely for free. However, the hospital and operating room fees cost $100,000, which the family could not afford.

Eventually, an opportunity arose when the doctor was invited to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem to demonstrate the surgery. The doctor put this child first on his list and called the family repeatedly upon arrival, but got no answer. He finally went directly to their house. The daughter answered the door and explained that her father was sleeping after staying awake all night. The doctor said he needed to wake him up immediately due to the tight schedule, but the family hesitated because the father was so exhausted.

The doctor stated, "I cannot treat this with responsibility. No!" He wrote down his name and phone number, leaving a note: "I am at Hadassah, I need to do such a surgery. If you want – come immediately!"

The father woke up four hours later and called the doctor. The doctor told him, "I am already on my way back... I operated on another child. Wait for another opportunity."

Right now is our golden opportunity—a single week like no other. On Thursday, we have the opportunity to fast, perform teshuva (repentance), and atone for all sins, followed by the opportunity all week long to rectify every day of the past year. Do not sleep through this time!

The Inverted Caravan Synagogue

Rabbi Shimshon Pincus related a story about a large community on a moshav (cooperative settlement) that lacked a permanent synagogue, forcing them to move their prayer services from place to place. A wealthy man offered a solution: he would provide land, build a path, and purchase a large, custom mobile caravan to serve as their permanent synagogue, similar to structures built in Uman.

The community was thrilled with the idea. The wealthy man ordered a beautiful, specialized structure. When the caravan arrived on a truck, there were great celebrations and applause. The workers lowered the structure, aligned it, secured it with heavy bolts, and poured concrete around the base with a cement truck to lock it into place.

Once the work was complete, the community members walked inside, only to discover a disastrous mistake: the caravan had been installed backward! The Holy Ark (Heichal) was positioned where the restrooms were supposed to be, completely misaligned with the entrance path.

While the caravan was suspended in the air by the crane, it could have easily been rotated in any direction. But once it was cemented into the ground, the opportunity was gone, and nothing could be done to fix it.

This is precisely our situation: right now is the opportunity. As long as the Day of Judgment has not yet arrived, the caravan is still in the air. You can change everything, arrange your life properly, and hold on with all your might. Once the judgment is sealed, it will be too late.

The Lion’s Pit and the Gnawing Rabbit

The Chatam Sofer presents a parable of a man walking along a road who suddenly hears the terrifying roar of a lion inside a pit. As he approaches to look, the ground at the edge of the pit crumbles, and he begins sliding down toward the open mouth of the lion.

In his desperation, he catches hold of a bush growing on the side of the slope and hangs on with all his strength. But as he hangs there waiting for help, he notices a rabbit emerging to gnaw and chew away at the very branch he is clinging to! He screams out in sheer terror.

The Chatam Sofer explains that Rosh Hashanah is like that den of lions. During the 30 days of the month of Elul, a person still has the branch to hold onto. As each day passes, the rabbit—representing passing time—gnaws away at the branch. A person must utilize every single day to grasp hold of spiritual growth and never let go.

How can a person not wake up when he hears that the great and awesome Day of Judgment is approaching? Look at the signals sent from Heaven to urge us to strengthen ourselves and return in complete repentance (teshuva).

The Forgotten Father

There was a family in America whose son moved to the Land of Israel to establish his own family. Twenty years passed without the father seeing his son. Missing him dearly and wishing to see his grandchildren, the father wrote to his son, begging him to visit. When the son did not come, the father decided, "I am coming to you."

For two weeks, the father ran around frantically from shop to shop, preparing luggage and buying gifts for his son and grandchildren. He boarded a ship for the long journey, anticipating the grand welcome he would receive at the port. But when he disembarked, no one was there to meet him.

Thinking his son might have forgotten the schedule, the father took a taxi to Jerusalem. Arriving at the house in the middle of the night carrying all his heavy luggage, he found no welcome sign and no one waiting. He knocked repeatedly on the door until his son finally answered.

Instead of embracing him, the son casually said, "Oh, Dad arrived. Well, go to the guesthouse across the street over here, and tomorrow morning we will meet up."

Heartbroken by this cold reception, the father left his luggage behind and walked away, returning home. Later, the son realized his grave mistake and went searching for his father, crying, "What a fool I was! How could I have done that?" But by then, his regret was useless.

Right now, the Holy One, blessed be He, is waiting for us. He notified us a month in advance, then a week in advance, then ten days in advance, warning us to finish our work and prepare for the Day of Judgment. It is a great shame if a person does not know what to do and misses the moment. Therefore, every person must make the ultimate effort to prepare.