Hashem is Speaking to You

Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk and his brother Reb Zusha once happened to be in the streets of a small town at the crack of dawn, when suddenly they heard from a run-down house the screams of a peasant woman. "Wake up!" she yelled at her apparently sleeping husband. "Do you not know that there is work to do? How long will you continue sleeping? Wake up!"

Reb Elimelech and his brother realized that Hashem was speaking to them. It was the month of Elul, and they clearly heard Hashem telling them through the screams of the peasant woman: There is work to do! The month of Elul are days of Avodat Hashem, days to take advantage of! How long will you continue sleeping?

Interestingly, in the story these Rabbis heard Hashem speaking to them not through the Torah but through a rather plain occurence. This story teaches us that we too should look for guidance from Hashem not solely in the Torah but also in the small events in our lives. 

I would like to share a small story. It was the festival of Sukkot and I was on my way to catch the intercity train on my way to a musical Hallel in Tel Aviv. The train station was bustling with people enjoying their holiday. In my hands were the Arba Minim, not a very rare sight at that time of year. I remembered that as a young soldier in the IDF I realized that most of the people on my base probably had not had the opportunity to fulfill the Mitzvah of Arba Minim. A friend and I walked around and offered every soldier we met the opportunity to shake the Lulav and Etrog. Most of the soldiers were very happy to do it with some expressing excitedly that it was the first time in their lives!

Reflecting on this story in the train station, I realized that I should probably duplicate my experience from the army to this very busy train station but for some reason I didn't put this thought into action. I'm not sure if the reason was laziness, fear of rejection or just plain shyness but the bottom line is - I didn't do it. 

I soon arrived in Tel Aviv and took the bus to the musical Hallel. The Hallel was incredibly spiritual and uplifting. At some point I put my Arba Minim safely in a corner to free my hands so I could join the singing and dancing with my guitar. 

When we finished the Tfila I went to retrieve my Arba Minim,  only to discover that my Lulav was gone, undoubtedly taken by mistake by someone with a similar Lulav. 

After the first few minutes of disappointment, I felt like I heard Hashem speaking to me. He was saying: Your Arba Minim do not belong to you. I gave you the opportunity to carry them, but they truly belong to Klal Yisrael. If you keep the Arba Minim to yourself - you don't deserve to keep them.

Hashem speaks to us all through the small things that happen to us in our lives. If we open our ears correctly - we might just be able to hear him.