Baring the Yoke

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Baring the Yoke

We all know that Aharon was the first high priest. What qualified him to be chosen over everyone else? It is believed by some that Aharon merited this distinction because of his great desire to always “bear the yoke” of others. To feel joy with people who are joyful is not taxing on anyone, but what about being sensitive to their needs? Aharon’s mark was his unquestionable love for all the Hebrew people. When YHVH chose his younger brother Moshe to be Israel’s leader, Aharon was joyful for him as if it were himself who had been chosen. Helping someone who is hurting can be a life changing experience for someone, as in the following story: Rav Ponovezher once visited a very wealthy philanthropist who supported many Torah Yeshivas. Although he himself was far removed from Torah study. So the Rav asked him, "How did you become so generous in supporting all these Yeshivas, when you are not walking in the Torah?”

He responded with the following: “I was a very wild child as a teenager and so was not accepted in many Yeshivas. My parents finally sent me to apply for placement under Chafetz Chaim in Radin, Poland, hoping I would get accepted there. However, I was not accepted. So that night I could not sleep in the yeshivah overnight and it was too far for me to make it back home. The Chofetz Chaim very graciously offered me a bed for the night at his home. To call it a home would be stretching the imagination. It was a two room shack. In fact, he gave me his own bed to sleep in! It was cold and dark there, he was very poor and he didn’t have any electricity or heat. I was young and used to being in a warm bed at night, so it was very difficult for me to get to sleep. I was so cold. Then I heard Chafetz Chaim come into the room. I pretended to be asleep. He took off his long black coat and covered me up with it. It was probably what he was going to use to cover himself up with that night. I never forgot that night and Chafetz Chaim’s heart warming gesture.

Since that day I have become very wealthy. Regrettably, Torah observance was not what I wanted to commit too. However, that feeling of being loved and cared for by a total stranger who took the coat right off his back, has never left my memory. That one act of kindness in my life touched me in a way such as nothing else has in all these years. Therefore, when a Torah institution approaches me for help, I gladly give to them, because Chafetz Chaim gave to me from his heart.” We don’t have to be a great Rabbi like Chafetz Chaim was to do our part for others in life. Neither do we have to be another Aharon. But both of these two examples are there to teach us to truly “love one another.” Love the “unlovable.” The scripture tells us, what good is it if you only love those who love you, the sinners can do that! We can all be good to other people in life, if we just try, no special degrees needed for this job!