How could he miss davening and being with other Yidden on Shabbos?!
Yehuda was feeling pressured and stressed. He had come across tough times, and was at risk of losing his business. He approached his good friend Levy, who graciously lent him the money he needed. He invested it back into his business, but not only did it not turn a profit, but unfortunately he lost that money, too.
The day came when the loan was due to be repaid, and Yehuda couldn’t handle the thought of facing his friend Levy without the means to repay the loan. So Yehuda made a hasty decision to just avoid Levy at all costs. He turned off his phone, and stayed in his home, embarrassed to even go around town due to the risk of meeting up with Levy.
But then Shabbos came, and he couldn’t bear the thought
of not going to shul. How could he miss davening and being with other Yidden on Shabbos?! But he also couldn’t bear the thought of bumping into Levy. So he decided to walk across town to a faraway shul where Levy does not daven. True, the shul wasn’t his nusach or preferred style of davening, but at least he’s going to shul.
He walks into the shul, and sure enough Levy is right there, sitting near by the door! He can’t avoid him. For a millisecond, their eyes meet, and then Yehuda quickly goes to find a seat in the back of the shul.
But Yehuda is baffled — because when their eyes met, he had expected to see anger, but not only was there no anger, from the twinkle in Levy’s eye it looked like he was happy to see him! What was going on here?
After davening he’s ready to slip out quietly, but Levy went straight over, gave him a warm “Gut Shabbos,” and said “Yehuda, I am so happy to see you — please, I need your help!”
“My help?” Yehuda responded. “What can I possibly help you with?”
“I recently traveled overseas,” Levy explained, “and when I came back home, I was horrified to find that a group of bandits had squatted in my house, claiming it was theirs. I went to the police, but had no evidence to prove the house was mine, as all the evidence was in the house. I brought witnesses to testify that I lived there, but the bandits had some of their friends come and testify that it was their house, and that I was lying.
It was my word against theirs, and nothing I could do convinced the police to get my house back. Finally, the police had an idea. They told me that if I could bring someone who is my enemy, who has no interest in you winning this case, and he still testifies that the house is yours, that would convince us that it is, in fact, your house.
Yehuda, please help me! You owe me a lot of money, so you can be considered as someone who is not on my team. But I know the truth — that you really love me, and you want to repay me, but you obviously just fell on hard times and don’t have the ability to repay me right now. Please, come and be my witness, and help me get my house back. And of course, I will forgive the debt.
Every Yid is sent down to this world with a pure neshama and many tools and talents that Hashem lends us to use to serve Him. But sometimes, during the week, we may “invest” these tools Hashem loaned us into a bad investment, by not utilizing them properly for what they were intended for. Sometimes a Yid feels that he has lost all the value of his “neshama currency.”
Then we might feel that we can’t ‘look Hashem in the face,’ because we are embarrassed of what we did with what he loaned us. We ‘shut off our spiritual phone,’ neglecting our responsibilities because we feel that Hashem is angry at us.
But then comes Shabbos Kodesh, and the neshama simply can’t handle being spiritually disconnected and withdrawn anymore. We are afraid to look Hashem in the face, but we can’t bear the thought of not being connected with Him at all anymore.
At some point during Kabbalas Shabbos, a Yid can make a quick “eye contact” with Hashem — but then we notice that He isn’t standing there being angry at us. On the contrary, He is happy to see us. He has been waiting for us, and He has a ‘favor’ to ask!
A favor? What does Hashem want from me?
Hashem says, “The klippos have hijacked my world, claiming it belongs to them. I need someone who looks like they are not on “my team” to bear witness for me. Dear Yid, I choose you, because although it may sometimes look like you are on the ‘other team,’ I know that you love me deeply, and if you ever forget, it is only because of the powerful yetzer hara that pulls you away.
Please, make Kiddush and scream out to the whole world that there is none other than Hashem! Do this, and I will annul your debt.
Perhaps this is the pnimiyus of what Chazal teach us (Shabbos 119a) that on Friday night when a Yid bears witness that Hashem created the world, two malachim put their hands on his head and say “And your iniquity has passed, and your sin has been atoned (Yeshayahu 6:7).” Hashem annuls our aveiros.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 71.
