Greetings from Jerusalem from where I write this Shabbos message to you:
Our Mission to Israel made history in July 2015 with a moving ceremony that we held at the Western Wall, affectionately known as the Kotel.
Recently, a Torah was quietly donated to our Shul - a Torah that was in use in Cologne, Germany before the war. Somehow this Torah survived the flames of the Holocaust, defiantly surviving, albeit with considerable damage. Our scribe has been working for almost two years to repair this Torah and bring the Cologne Torah back to perfect condition.
"Don’t even try to arrange a Torah signing by the Kotel," our scribe told us. "They never allow it, no matter what, unless the Torah is to stay at the Wall." But our friends Ed and Leah Frankel proved that its not what you know but who you know that counts.
Just before signing the Cologne Torah at the Kotel, we toured the Western Wall tunnels. We were completely blown away when we saw the largest rock, which sits in the Kotel at 44 feet long, 11 feet tall and 12 feet deep, it weighs a whopping 540 tons! Until very recently there was not even a crane in Israel that could lift that weight, so how could it possibly have been lifted 2000 years ago?
To this very day, nobody knows.
But the Midrash tells us an interesting story that might shed light on this strange mystery:
Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa was a brilliant and pious sage in Roman times, but he was dirt poor. He desired to bring an offering to the temple but couldn’t afford it, so he chiseled out a large stone and prepared it beautifully for the temple. The problem was that it was too large to lift. He had no idea how to move it until five strangers offered to move the giant rock to the temple for a penny each. As he leaned in to begin helping them, he miraculously realized that the rock was already moved to the temple. He then turned to pay them, but they were already gone. The sages told him that apparently the movers were actually angels!
Our Cologne Torah too miraculously survived the Holocaust. We saw what the sadistic Nazis did to Holy Torah scrolls in the pictures below. This Torah too was carried by angels.
Destiny has sent the Cologne Torah to Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens. This beautiful Torah has been without a home for the past 70 years, but it is finally coming home.
And just like the rock moved by the angels, the miracle couldn’t take place until the Rabbi leaned in to assist. So too, this Torah couldn’t come back home unless we made the first move. Our actions are catalysts for G-d’s blessings. Indeed, King David writes: "…and G-d will bless you in all that you do."
And if you find this talk of angels fanciful, you've got to come to Israel, about which Ben Gurion famously said: 'In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.'.
Today, on the day of my birthday, I’d like to bless you with the wisdom and courage to fulfill your potential so that G-d's angels can lift us all even higher.
In the Leah Frankel Balcony at the Western Wall moments after concluding the Colonge Torah Repair for our Shul.
Torah scrolls turned into household items by Nazis, on display in Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum
