A great story
Gday guys I hope you all had an enjoyable and meaningful experience over all the Yom-Tov's in the past month.
I thought I would just post this great story I found on www.crownheights.info , which happened recently right here in Melbourne. I was there when they brought him so I can testify the authenticity(not that I need to). It is written by Moishe Feiglin.
Good luck on exams
Melbourne, Australia — I want to share a story with you that just happened. On Shmini Atzeres after Mincha, I walked down to a small suburb called Elwood together with my good friend Eli Grosberg. Elwood was once a large Jewish epicenter. It has a beautiful Shul with over 1400 seats, but people have long moved out to other suburbs, and aside for Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur, its usually pretty empty expect for a few old men and woman. That being said, we were eager to follow the Chabad custom to go on Tahalucha and bring some life and joy to the few remaining people there.
As Shabbos finished and Yom Tov came in, Eli was craving for a cigarette. Not that I condone smoking, but he asked me to help him look for an existing flame to light his cigarette off, and we looked all over, but couldn't find one. We also looked for the non-Jewish caretaker to help us out, but we couldn't find him either. By this point Eli was getting a bit desperate so he went out to the street to see if he could find a passer by to light his cigarette. After a few minutes a young guy walks past, and Eli asked for a light, the guy gave it to him, and was about to walk off when Eli thought to ask him if he was Jewish. Well, it turned out he was, his name was Michael - “Michoel Moshe”.
Eli invited him in for a dance and a L'chaim. Michoel Moshe, who had never had a Simchas Torah in his life, was thrilled to join in the Hakofos, and from the second he walked into Shul danced his feet off! But the story doesn't end there...At about 11:00pm things were dying down at Elwood, and it was time for us to make our trek back into the Jewish hub of St Kilda. We were eager to join up with the rest of our friends at Yeshivah Shul (the Lubavitch headquarters of Melbourne). We didn't want to miss the 12:00am ”Street Hakofos“ when the Shul is emptied and the Chassidim claim the Streets of St Kilda by doing Hakofos on the road (much to the dismay of the local security company). I looked at our newly found Yid - Michoel Moshe, he was having such a great time, so I decided to ask him if he wanted to join Eli and I back to St Kilda to continue celebrating Simchas Torah. He didn't even wait a second to give me his answer: ”For sure!“.
On the walk back into St Kilda, I told Michoel Moshe about the Baal Shem Tov, and Hashgocha Protis. I explained to him that there is no such thing as coincidence. He happened to be walking past the Shul when Eli needed a light, so that their two souls could meet and he could celebrate a festival that he never new existed... We brought him to Yeshiva Shul, gave him a Sefer Torah and let him dance the night away. At about 2:30am I decided to go home. Before I left, I mentioned to him that he could come back at 10:00am the next morning for more dancing and Davening. But the story doesn't end there...At 10:30am, guess who walks into Shul? Michoel Moshe! He sat down next to me and I gave him an English Siddur to read at his own pace.
As we were getting up to Krias HaTorah it occurred to me that there is a chance that Michoel Moshe never had a Bar mitzvah. I asked him, and he told me that because his family moved to Australia around the time of his 13th birthday, he never had a Bar Mitzvah! I informed the Rabbi of the Shul, who in tern made an announcement to the entire Shul, informing them that we have a special guest who is going to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah! Immediately the Shul burst into a dancing circle, singing at the top of their lungs ”Siman Tov Umazal Tov".And so, in the year 5767 - for the first time in his life, twenty five year old Michoel Moshe, had his Bar Mitzvah.Before the end of the day I let Michoel Moshe know that this kind of thing occurs every Saturday morning at 10:00am, and we would be so happy if he joined us again. Saying that, I'm pretty sure, that the story hasn't ended just yet.
posted by Michael at 1:41 PM
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