treats for the shabbos table Parashas Chukas

‫ט‬¢‫תשס‬

‫אנגלית‬

‫ּ ָפ ָר ׁ ַשת ֻח ַּקת‬

Shabbos can restore the balance

“‫ – וימאן אדום נתון את ישראל עבור בגבולו‬And Edom refused to let Israel cross his border” (20:21). Once, a group of bochurim came to Chenova to the tzaddik, author of the “Divrei Yechezkel” zt’l, who asked them how was their trip. They answered that they had traveled on foot and in every town and village had stayed at the home of the local shochet, as is custom. When they arrived in one village, however, the shochet had turned them away and they were forced to find lodgings elsewhere. The tzaddik listened and noted the matter. Not long afterwards Jewish leaders of a faraway town not far from that village came to invite the tzaddik to spend a Shabbos with them. He agreed to come.

designated Shabbos so they could hear and see the tzaddik during the Shabbos. One of the many that streamed towards the town was a tall, handsome and distinguished looking man who carried a satchel of food in one hand and a bag containing his tallis and tefillin in the other. His path took him through that village and he wanted to rest there. As is custom, he sought out the house of the local shochet. When he arrived the shochet’s wife answered his knock on the door and said, “Today is Thursday. The shochet is circulating though all of the neighboring villages slaughtering chickens for Shabbos.” The visitor offered, “With your permission, I will wait in the barn for him.” In a faltering voice the woman replied, “My

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News of his pending visit spread quickly throughout the region. Everyone was very excited. People in that village heard, too. Jews from throughout the region planned travel to the town on the days prior to the

husband does not like having guests. Waiting for him will be a waste of your time because you are sure to be disappointed. Your honor, I will tell you the way to the home of the local philanthropist. There you will find

warmth and hospitality.” To the woman’s surprise, however, the visitor held his ground. “Tradition has it that wayfarers stay with the local shochet. I will wait in the barn until he comes home.” He went to the barn, sat down on a pile of straw, reached into his bag that contained his tallis and tefillin and pulled out a sefer. He began to learn in a sweet melodic voice that caused even the birds to stop and listen. The shadows of evening came. It was almost dark when suddenly, the barn door flew upon. “What are you doing here?” yelled the shochet. “Out! Get out of here immediately! You are trespassing on my property!” The visitor slowly rose to his feet and replied, “With your permission, if you will not allow me to sleep in your house, please allow me to sleep here -- in your barn.” The shochet firmly refused. “No,” he said harshly, “There is nothing to talk about.” The visitor accepted the verdict and left. He asked someone for directions to the home of the local philanthropist, where he was treated honorably. They gave him a wonderful meal and a comfortable bed. The next morning his host took him to the beis ha-knesses for davening. The shochet was there, too. After davening all of the talk was about the visit of the famous tzaddik to the neighboring town the next day, Shabbos. Almost everyone in the village was leaving and would go to the neighboring town for Shabbos to be with the tzaddik. They all looked forwards to basking in his radiance, hearing his inspired tefillah and his fascinating divrei Torah. The men in the minyan spoke of hiring a wagon and traveling together and they graciously invited the visitor to come along. At Kaballas Shabbos the main beis ha-knesses in the neighboring town was overflowing far beyond its capacity. Unable to enter, people stood in the courtyard and on the adjacent street, but even from there they could hear the tzaddik’s impassioned tefillah. After the exceptional davening, the throngs lined up to say to the tzaddik “Good Shabbos” and receive his blessing in return. The residents of that village were in line, too, including the shochet. When the shochet’s turn came and he looked at the tzaddik’s face, he swooned and fainted, because the face he saw was the face of the visitor that he had rudely chased out of his barn two days before! There was great commotion when the shochet fainted, for he fell to the floor. Someone brought water and poured it onto the unfortunate man’s face.

He quickly regained consciousness and was stood on his wobbly feet, but his eyes remained glued to the floor because he was too embarrassed to look up. The tzaddik said to him, “You know, when I was told about you I found it hard to believe what they said. Therefore, I came to investigate the matter. To my great dismay, I saw that the report was true. Here, you undoubtedly will ask, ‘When he hears a report that a Jew does not behave properly, does the Rebbe always personally investigate?’ Certainly not, but this case is exceptional. Why did it become customary that travelers stay at the home of the local shochet? It’s because continuously slaughtering animals and birds can easily dull the shochet’s feelings of mercy and compassion – even towards his fellow Jews. Every shochet is expected to show hospitality in order to guard against this. Our Sages say, in fact (Shabbos 156a), that usually, the mazal of a shochet is ‫( מאדים‬maadim) – the red mazal, the mazal of blood shedding. There are three signs that a person is a Jew. He is shy, merciful and kind to others. If G-d forbid, a shochet displays the cruelty of Esav and lacks compassion or mercy so he loses one of the signs that he is a Jew, how can we eat of his shechita? Shechita performed by a goy is pasul. The meat is treif!” The tzaddik added, “If you like, a hint of this is found in parashas Chukas. We read, “‫וימאן אדום נתון את‬ ‫ – ישראל עבור בגבולו ויט ישראל מעליו‬And Edom refused to let Yisroel cross his border. And Yisroel turned away from him.” If a shochet whose mazal of ‫ מאדים‬refuses to let his fellow Jew cross his border, not counterbalancing his blood shedding by performing acts of compassion and hospitality, “‫ – ויט ישראל מעליו‬then an essential trait of being a Yisroel will fall away from him and he will not be considered Jewish.” We might say, “I am not a shochet and I do not neglect the mitzvah of hospitality.” Still, if we think about it we realize that the pressures of everyday life can make us so busy with ourselves we become insensitive to others. We have be on guard about this. During the six days of the week, we are sucked into mainly material pursuits, so when Shabbos comes the spiritual has to be our emphasis. If during the week we are apart from our families and hardly see our children, then on Shabbos we need to be with our families and learn with our children. Let us return to ourselves, our families and our spiritual side, and restore some balance. (M’eyon HaShavu-ah)

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