Make sure to sing your song.

B``H

This week Klal Yisrael lost a very special Jew by the name of Rabbi Dr.Abraham Twersky of blessed memory. It is impossible to put into words how great of an individual he was. He wrote 50 books on mental health and he lived life in a most exemplary way.

I would like to share one personal story that he told that will hopefully shed some light on his devotion and dedication to helping others. Rabbi Dr.Twersky had a patient who had a life-threatening alcohol addiction. As a doctor, he wanted to prescribe a certain medication that could save his life, however, one of the issues with the medicine was that the person could not under any circumstances drink any alcohol while taking it. The problem was that the patient was a Catholic priest and on Sundays as part of his official church duties during Mass, the priest drank from a cup of wine. The priest was not willing to sacrifice his work in the church at any cost. So Rabbi Dr.Twersky suggested that he substitute grape juice for wine. The priest explained that according to the rules of the church this was not permissible. Rabbi Twersky said to the priest, “If I can get you a special letter from the Vatican signed by the Pope himself, allowing you to substitute grape juice for wine during the service, would you take the medicine?” The patient agreed to the offer. So, Rabbi Twersky phoned the Cardinal, his friend since his university days. After several hours of pulling some strings in the Vatican, the letter was signed by the pope himself and then faxed. Not only did the letter allow this specific priest to drink grape juice instead of wine, however, but it also covered any priest who was suffering from alcohol addiction or any other medical issue pertaining to alcohol.

In this week’s Parsha, Yisro (Jethro) brings Moshe’s wife Tziporah, and Moshe’s two sons Gershom and Eliezer. The midrash explains that Yisro allowed Moshe to marry Tziporah on one condition that their firstborn be allowed to worship foreign idols. Moshe agreed and this was the reason why Gershom was not circumcised until Tziporah arranged for his circumcision later on.

The question asked is how could Moshe allow such a condition and why would Yisro request such a thing in the first place? We know that the reason why Yisro’s daughters were having so many arguments with the locals was that Yisro, who was the highest pagan priest, had stopped worshiping idols. The answer given was quite astonishing. What Yisro told Moshe was that there were two ways to educate a child; one way was by teaching them proper principles throughout their lives and the other way was allowing them to experience life on their own, thereby searching for answers on their own, and reaching conclusions based on their experiences. Yisro had tried the latter method. There was not an idol he hadn’t worshiped but through his life’s experiences, he came to believe in G-ds infinite light. The advantage in this type of education was that there was a much deeper knowledge gained than the knowledge learned from a parent, teacher, or book. Besides, this form of enlightenment builds a very intimate relationship that cannot be found on a bookshelf.

Chasidus teaches us to value and implement the education that we receive from our parents and teachers and to look at each of our life experiences as a direct personal lesson from the divine to help improve ourselves.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

At Rabbi Dr. Twerskys funeral this week his wishes to not be eulogized were honored, but he made a special request that the song he wrote is sung. Every song is composed of a low tone and a high tone that symbolizes the highs and lows in our lives and that as individuals we can create our song that is comprised of the unique experiences that are woven into our lives.

Have a wonderful Shabbos.

Yitzchok Friedman