The Short Vort- Thank YOU 4X

The Short Vort

Good Morning!

Today is the 27^th of Shevat 5781 and February 9, 2021

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, and Thank You

I know I have been remiss in not thanking the four of you until today. However, I was hoping maybe I would see you and thank you in person.

Alas, our paths have not crossed, and it seems you were successful in your desire to remain anonymous.

So here is my thank you letter to you.

Let’s begin with the first three thank yous’. After all, those took place last Thursday.

Part One- THE HOOD

For the last three months, I have been going religiously to Physical Therapy to regain my left knee strength.

Last Sunday (or was it Monday?), it snowed big time.

I mean considerable big- time.

Passaic big time.

What is a Passaic big-time snow?

Here’s the deal. In Passaic, particularly and perhaps exclusively in the area of town I live, known as “the hood,” many of us (who are not part of the “privileged-ones”) are not blessed with driveways, and we must park our cars on the street.

Therefore, when you get a big snow, your car is buried under ten feet of snow.

To extricate your car from the incarcerating snow, you must work a minimum of three hours shoveling snow.

Besides being back-breaking and cardiac crazy, when you shovel the snow from your car, you have nowhere to put it. You can’t shovel the snow back into the street, and you can’t shovel it on the car behind you. Therefore, you are forced to make a semi-igloo snow-house and maneuver your vehicle out of the spot.

Here is where the fun starts. We who live in the hood figure, “I just worked three hours shoveling my car out. What happens when I come back? Some dude will have pulled into my coveted spot?!

No way!”

And therefore, the Minhag is you place a chair, or a box, or your child’s high chair (please take your child out first) or a dummy of yourself smack in the middle of the dug-out spot.

This is the only way you reserve and guard your turf in “the hood.”

Heaven help the person who dares to move that chair and park their car.

The last person who did that – in 2004- is still recuperating from the beating he received for daring to steal someone’s spot.

Why am I telling you this? Read on

PART TWO- THE WALK

Last Thursday, I didn’t want to go to PT because I would have to move my car.

Being the rabbi, I can’t be like everyone else in the hood and protect my turf, so faced with the possibility of having nowhere to park when I returned, I canceled PT and kept my car parked.

I figured I would take a walk, and that would count toward PT.

The walk was going pretty well; I was reaching almost ¾ of a mile.

It was sunny, I was walking, and I was happy.

Out of nowhere, bang- MAN DOWN!!!

Someone hit the ground and hard. I looked around and realized it was me. I was on the ground, and I was bleeding and bruised. My glasses were somewhere else; my hat was down the block, my yarmulka was in the slush, and I was down for the count.

Before I could say, “Hatzolah,” a woman of color was picking up my hat, a man of color was picking up my yarmulka and glasses, and the third man of color was picking me up off the ground.

I looked at them, and thankfully, I know the word gracias as I am not sure they spoke English.

In a flash, they put my glasses back on me, placed my yarmulka and hat on my head, brushed me off, and put Humpty-Dumpty together again.

That is the first three of four thank yous.

Thank you to you three wonderful human beings who, in an instant, were there for me and truly showed me human kindness.

Thank you, and you are living proof that all men and women are created in the image of Hashem.

What’s the fourth thank you?

PART THREE- THE CLEAN CAR

Today (Tuesday), I had a doctor’s appointment, and I had to drive.

Yesterday (or maybe Sunday), it snowed again.

My car wasn’t buried. However, it was covered in snow.

When I went home last night, I wondered to myself, “With my bad back, bad knee, and naturally laziness, how will I ever clean all the snow off my car to get to the doctor today?”

Well, guess what? Today, when I left the office to walk to my car, it was clean as a whistle.

Not clean that some snow melted, completely clean of every single snowflake.

Someone cleaned my car!!!

That is my final thank you.

Thank you to the mystery person who cleaned off my car and allowed me to get to the doctor today.

I don’t know who you are, but, you helped me out immensely.

May Hashem reward you for your kindness.

So that’s it for the four thank yous, and I thank all of you for reading the Vort!

“If Not Now, Then When?”- Hillel

Ron Yitzchok Eisenman

Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel

Passaic, NJ