Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom and Wit - Parashat Ki Tavo

[During Elul and] on Rosh HaShana, it is customary for Jews to wish one another SHANA TOVA UMTUKA - a good and sweet year. R’ Shlomo of Lechna asked: “Why add “a sweet year?” If the year is a good year, doesn’t that imply it will be a sweet one?”
He then answered his question as follows: “It is quite possible for a year to be a “good” one, but for a person not to realize it. After all, even when the Jew is faced by a seeming calamity he says, GAM ZU L’TOVA - this, too, is for the good. Our wish, then, is not only that the year will be a good one, but that it will be perceived by everyone as a sweet and happy year as well.”

R’ Ze’ev Wolf of Strykov would say, “If a person is silent when he has nothing to say, that does not prove anything except that he is not a fool. It is only one who has something to say but who nevertheless remains silent who is the true guardian of his tongue.”
Before moving to the United States, R’ Moshe Feinstein was the Rav in Luban, Russia, which was then under Communist rule. The Communists did everything possible to prevent Jews from practising their religion, depriving them of the most basic facilities. Thus, in spite of the fact that Luban had many religious Jews, the authorities refused to allow them to have a mikveh. Of course, a mikveh is a basic necessity of Jewish life, so R’ Moshe thought of a plan to enable the town to have one.
When the Communists built a swimming pool for the use of the town folk, R’ Moshe managed to persuade the contractor to build it in such a way as to become a mikveh. Having done that, one more problem still needed to be addressed. R’ Moshe now went to the authorities and thanked them profusely for the beautiful swimming pool which all could enjoy, and which would provide everyone the opportunity for much-needed exercise. There was one problem, though, he pointed out: due to the modesty of Jewish men and women, they could not swim at the same time. It was only fair that Jews, too, be able to enjoy that magnificent new facility. Heeding his request, the authorities set aside certain hours at night for men and other hours for women.

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