I was recently
at the levaya of Mrs. Blau A”H, formerly of Boro Park,
but now firmly and rightfully ensconced somewhere in the neighborhood of the
Kisei HaKovod.
There was much
talk of her sterling middos in addition to a selflessness that recognized no
limits that would restrict her multifaceted chesed activities in any way.
When it came to
the needs of yenem, be they financial or emotional, NO was missing in
action from her vocabulary, as was Yes as far as her own needs were concerned.
And from the
midst of all this goodness one particular middah stood out from the
others in the words of several of the maspidim (funeral speakers). We were told that Mrs. Blau A”H had a special
love for doing mitzvohs in general and that the mitzvah of Hafrashas Challah
(the separation and burning of a certain quantity of dough) occupied a very
special place in her heart.
For many years
already, Mrs. Blau rose very early on Friday mornings to join several other
women in one of the Boro
Park bakeries to perform
this mitzvah.
A year or so
ago, the bakery purchased a much larger facility in the neighborhood. It moved
its baking operations into the second floor of the new building and the women
continued to perform the mitzvah of Hafrashas Challah as before.
With the
exception of Mrs. Blau that is.
She had some serious
problems with her legs, which precluded her from climbing the stairs, so she was
forced to take a pass on the mitzvah which she loved so much.
At some point,
one of her sons found out that she was no longer going to the bakery to perform
the mitzvah of Hafrashas Challah and also the reason why. He told his mother that he knew the owner of
the bakery and that he would arrange for her to take the freight elevator to
the second floor of the bakery where the other women met to “take off” challah
from the dough.
On the very next
Friday, a very excited Mrs. Blau showed up at the bakery at 4:00 A.M. to
perform her beloved mitzvah, but when she attempted to enter the freight
elevator the operator wouldn’t let her on.
It seems that there was a miscommunication of some sort and the
freight elevator operator was never informed that Mrs. Blau had permission to
hitch a ride to the second floor.
What could she
do? She had given it her best but under
the circumstances her best simply wasn’t good enough.
We said in EmunahSpeak:
It’s All About Desire, that we
learn from Rabbeinu Yona that for his whole life a person should constantly
desire higher goals. One shouldn’t say,
“I’m giving it my best,” because as laudable as it might sound on the surface,
in reality it’s nothing more than a declaration of surrender to one’s present
circumstances.
But it’s more
than simply pushing the envelope on what hopefully is a goal oriented
life. Rabbeinu Yona takes it a step
further by telling us that one should desire and yearn to attain UNREACHABLE
levels.
There are times,
of course, when one is not in a position to actualize his desires. For physical, financial, or emotional reasons
one may find it impossible to traverse the barriers placed before him, courtesy
of his inherent limitations.
But Mrs. Blau
was cut from different cloth.
Faced with a
non-cooperative freight elevator operator interposed between her and the
mitzvah of Hafrashas Challah, Mrs. Blau would have received full credit for the
mitzvah had she dragged herself home.
But she didn’t schlep
out to a bakery at 4:00 for full credit.
Mrs. Blau was strictly cash and carry.
She came for the love of the mitzvah.
And as we also
said in EmunahSpeak:
It’s All About Desire, this
greatness is not bestowed for giving one’s best but rather for desiring to give
even better.
So she crawled
up the stairs on her hands and knees one step at a time propelled by
nothing….but her desire to break through every barrier that was placed between her and her mitzvah.
