Sacrifice for Shabbat

 One of the things, our Sages said, that helped the Jews in Egypt merit the Exodus from Egypt, was Shabbat observance. This merit will also help bring the redemption from our current exile. In honor of the Parsha Vaera, where we read about the beginning of the process of redemption, I would like to reprint a story that was published today by Rabbi Mordechai Lipskier.  He wrote that he heard the story from Rabbi Moshe Raitport, who heard it first hand.

A few years ago, a woman called the Shomrei Hadas Funeral Chapels in Brooklyn to arrange her husband’s funeral. “Before going ahead with the arrangements, I have a request to make. May I tell you a story?”

This woman had gotten married in the early 1940s in Brooklyn. It was difficult for a Shabbat observer to hold down a job, so like many other Jews, her husband was pink-slipped from one job after the next. (They would often take a job on Monday, and when they refused to come on Shabbat, they were fired.)

Their struggle worsened as the family grew and at a certain point she was at her wit’s end. “We can’t live like this anymore,” she cried to her husband one night. “You must choose between me and our children, or Shabbat. If you’re not willing to work on Shabbat, I want a divorce.” He understood her, but he also knew that breaking Shabbat wasn’t an option. “I can’t work on Shabbat,” he responded softly. “I won’t hold back a divorce if that’s what you want.”

They both cried themselves to sleep that night.

The next morning, she told her husband that she regretted what she had said, and she now stood behind his commitment to Shabbat, no matter what.

A few days later, as he returned home from yet another failed job search, he saw the inevitable nightmare: His wife and two children, along with all their meager possessions, huddled together on the sidewalk in front of their apartment building. They had been evicted.

Without any ideas of where to go or what to do, they stood there, praying for a miracle. 

A woman driving a nice car stopped and asked them what was wrong. When she heard their situation, she told them that she owned an apartment building and the superintendent had just moved. If they’d agree to take over the superintendent’s work temporarily, they could live in the apartment while they looked for a job and a place to live. 

He proved to be very good at this job and before long he secured a fulltime position. In time, he purchased properties of his own and was able to provide for his family in dignity while remaining completely Shabbat observant.

The woman finished telling her story and then made her request:

“My husband held on to every one of those pink slips. He’d often say that they were his tickets to Gan Eden. Please bury them with him.