#28- His Kabbalah Brought His Yeshuah

Yanky* from EY was having a hard time in shidduchim. At one point, someone told Yanky to go to America; maybe he’ll find his bashert there. Yanky really didn’t want to go, but after a lot of convincing, he agreed. His flight to America had a stop-over in England. While there, his plane had engine trouble, and he realized he wouldn’t make it to America in time for Shabbos. He had no family in England and had no clue where he would spend Shabbos. With no other option, he took a taxi to one of the frum neighborhoods in London & got out. Feeling completely lost, he stood at the side of the road when a frum man stopped. “You seem a little lost!” said the man. “What’s going on?”

So Yanky told him the whole story. “Now I’m stranded for Shabbos & I don’t know where to go.” “That’s not a problem,” the other man replied. “You can spend Shabbos at my house. Come!” Gratefully, Yanky got into the car, and they were on their way. In the middle of the ride, the man said, “I forgot to mention that I have a stop to make first. I’m going to the cemetery.” “You’re going to the cemetery, Erev Shabbos?!” asked Yanky in alarm. “Let me explain,” replied the man. “I had a big Rebbe who was an ish kadosh. He related that if one davens at his kever on Erev Shabbos and is mekabel something, their tefillos will be answered. So I go there every week to daven. Why don’t you come and daven too?” Yanky figured he had nothing to lose, only to gain, so he got out when they got to the cemetery. As he was davening, the man reminded him that he was supposed to make a kabbalah. So Yanky was mekabel that from now on, he’d be mekabel Shabbos 15 minutes before shkiya. After Shabbos, Yanky flew to America. He was going to spend the following Shabbos with his aunt & uncle in Monsey. When he arrived at their house that Friday, it was about 10 minutes before Shabbos, and there wasn’t enough time to get ready. Yanky hurried to the guestroom and quickly popped open his suitcase. Unfortunately, it had been bounced around a lot in the past week. To his dismay, he saw that a whole tube of toothpaste had burst right on top of his bekisha, and now his whole bekisha was all smeared up. He started trying to remove it when he remembered his kabbalah. “I had said that I’d be mekabel Shabbos 15 minutes early! That means that, for me, it’s already Shabbos! But I can’t walk into shul this way, I’ll be humiliated! And it’s not really Shabbos; in 10 minutes, it’ll be Shabbos! But my kabbalah. After a week, I should blow it? You know what, that’s it. I’m going into shul this way. Whatever happens, happens.” And so he went to shul, feeling very self-conscience. He looked for the biggest siddur that he could find, found a seat, and started davening. He didn’t lift his head from the pages until davening was over. He didn't make eye contact even when people approached him during davening to say shalom aleichem. After davening was done, people started leaving. Yanky didn’t want to get up until everyone had left; he didn’t need anyone else staring at the large white stain on his bekisha!

The shul slowly emptied till everyone was gone, all except for one man, who just sat there. Yanky was growing antsy from waiting, but he didn’t want the man to see his dirty bekisha. So he got a sefer and started learning. Finally, after a while, the last man got up and left. Yanky left the shul and returned to his aunt and uncle’s house. “Where were you?” his uncle asked. And then his uncle saw the toothpaste stain. “What’s with you? How could you have gone to shul this way?” Yanky was mortified and started second-guessing his decision and his kaballah.

One week later, as he was planning his return trip to EY, he got a phone call from a shadchan in America. “I think I may have an idea for you,” the shadchan told Yanky.

A short time later, Yanky got engaged to that girl whom the shadchan had thought of! At the tenoim, the girl’s father stood up and said, “You should know, I wasn’t even holding by doing a shidduch for my daughter; she’s young. But I was in shul one shabbos and noticed a bochur standing and davening with such kavanah. For me, talking during davening is a terrible thing, and I saw that this boy wouldn’t talk during davening. It was unbelievable! He wouldn’t respond; he wouldn’t even talk when people came over to him! I was so impressed! That’s called davening! And not only that. After davening, this boy sat and was learning by himself for a while! It was unreal! And so I said, ‘I gotta have this bochur for my daughter!’”

(True story retold by Rabbi Fishel Schachter.)

Sometimes, we make a kaballah as a zechus to get the yeshuah we are hoping for. And so often, right after we make that kaballah, an obstacle comes up that tests us precisely in that area. We may then start doubting ourselves and our kaballah. “Why isn’t this working? I’m trying so hard to do the right thing…” At that point, we can blow it!

But we should remember that sometimes, we don’t see our results immediately. It may take a week, a month, or even years until we see what our kaballah has accomplished. But the lesson from this story is that you have to keep pushing! Because you can never really know!