Stories Of Greatness

One of the greatest desires of the holy Baal Shem Tov zt”l was to emigrate to the Land of Israel and transplant there the chasidic way of life that he founded. Unfortunately, he was never able to realize this dream, due to Divine prevention. But years later, a worthy group of his talmidim did accomplish what the master was unable to do.

A religious Jew by the name of David Gellis was on a business trip to Chicago. He spent an entire week involved in business and, upon its conclusion, he grabbed an afternoon flight on Friday back to New York. Shabbos was late and he figured he had enough time to make it home once he landed in New York before the z’man.

When asked about her most meaningful accomplishment, Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” of British politics, did not typically mention serving in the British government, defeating the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands, taming runaway inflation, or toppling the Soviet Union. The woman who reshaped British politics and served as prime minister from 1979 to 1990 often said that her greatest single accomplishment was helping save a young Jewish Austrian girl from the Nazis.

In Parshas D’varim, Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Jewish people, “Hashem was angry with me, as well, because of you, saying you shall not come there” (D’varim 1:37). The context of Moshe’s words is clearly the sin of the M’raglim (the Spies). A number of commentators offer an explanation that Moshe was denied entry to the Land of Israel because of the M’raglim incident, despite the fact that he was personally blameless, based on his general responsibility for the fate of that generation as their leader. Once they were denied entry, it was inconceivable that he would enter without them.

First put into service in 2011, Israel’s Iron Dome air defense missile system is designed to stop short-range rockets and artillery like those fired from Gaza. It relies on a system of radar and analysis to determine whether an incoming rocket is a threat, firing an interceptor only if the incoming rocket risks hitting a populated area or important infrastructure. The interceptors are designed to detonate the incoming rocket in the air, producing the explosions in the sky that have come to accompany warning sirens during numerous recent Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.

In Parshas BaMidbar, Hashem instructs Moshe Rabbeinu to make a special count of Sheivet Levi from ages 30 to 50, as they were chosen to do the work in the Mishkan. Later, though, in Parshas B’Haaloscha, Moshe is told by Hashem to inform the L’viim to serve in the Mishkan from the age of 25. These two instructions appear to contradict each other.