Photo Credit: Mendy Hechtman/Flash90
“Shalom Sivan, My name is Hananyah and I work at the information booth at the entrance to the Western Wall. Many people write notes at the booth to place in the Kotel. I hear many stories in the course of my work, but the following story is particularly special and so I wanted to share it.
“Last Thursday, the final day of Chanukah, the Kotel was packed with visitors. In such a situation, it is difficult for me to make personal contact with people and to answer questions. But then a young man with Down syndrome approached and asked me to help him write a note for the Kotel. He wanted to write it himself but requested that I help him with spelling since he did not want to make mistakes.
“But after all, what could he be asking me to write other than a prayer for good health? But then I was exposed to his unexpected inner world when he asked me to request the capacity to learn the entire Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud. We are talking about thousands of pages of holy wisdom.
“So, I just stood there and spelled the words for him, letter after letter. I told the people around me what he was writing. What an uplifting encounter! There is much we can learn from this young man. It was difficult for him to write without errors, but his ambition was so extraordinary. It would have been worth it to me to stand there for hours in the sun or the rain just for the opportunity to help him in his quest.
“May we all merit to dream so big.”
Parashat Vayechi: Know Yourself
What is the greatest blessing you can receive? To truly know who you are.
In this week’s parsha, our forefather Yaakov bids farewell to his children and blesses them. However, some of them hear rebukes and not blessings, words of criticism.
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe explains why the Book of Bereishit, which begins with the creation of the world, ends with delving into the depths of our souls:
“The most profound work that a person is called upon to do during his lifetime is to perfect his character traits, the root of his soul. A person can live his entire life without truly knowing himself. The greatest blessing is to achieve an understanding of one’s virtues and faults. Yaakov revealed to each of his children their particular traits. When someone is told which trait he must be wary of – this information can place him on the correct path for his entire life. Only through awareness of his faults, can a person hope to correct them.”
The greatest blessing, therefore, is first and foremost to know your own soul. In this week’s portion, when each of Yaakov’s twelve sons received their individual missions, we too can ask: What are our virtues? What are our faults? What is our mission in the world?
Translation by Yehoshua Siskin