A mikveh will now be built in Cusco, Peru, named Mei Menachem in his memory

Living Higher

R

abbi Ofer and Rebbetzin Yael Kripor are the dedicated Chabad shluchim to Cusco, Peru. They offer visiting Israeli backpackers, or the occasional Jewish tourists wishing to view the beautiful Peruvian mountain ranges, a chance to enjoy a warm kosher meal and the opportunity to daven, learn, or simply connect with Jews and Judaism on whatever level they’re comfortable with.

Earlier this summer, a group of some 55 frum tourists, traveling with E&S tours, traversed these beautiful mountainscapes. Their final stop was Cusco, where they gathered for supper in the local Chabad house.

Following an enjoyable meal prepared specially for this group, Rav Kripor rose to speak. “My wife would typically be in Eretz Yisrael this time of year,” he said, “but because we knew this group would be traveling through Cusco and would need food, she decided to postpone her trip and leave tomorrow.”

The group got to talking with the rabbi who shared that there is no kosher mikveh for hundreds of miles. “Constructing a local mikveh would be a game-changer,” he said. Then he asked, “Do you think we can start a campaign right now?”

The group was on board. A mikveh in rural South America is far more cost-effective than one in an urban North American community, and Rabbi Kripor estimated it at $77,000.

There was a ripple of excited murmuring and then, within a few minutes, they spoke up. “We have the money for you,” they announced. The Kripors were moved, nearly to tears. Then the Rebbetzin spoke up.

“Exactly thirteen years ago,” she said, “our infant son, Menachem Mendel, was niftar suddenly. We have always dreamed of building a mikveh l’zecher nishmaso, and naming it Mei Menachem. But the dream never materialized. Every year on his yahrtzeit I travel to Eretz Yisrael to his kever, but this year, because of this large crowd coming, I decided to stay until the group left.”

That very day would have been little Menachem Mendel’s bar mitzvah.

And, in a sense, it was.

A mikveh will now be built in Cusco, Peru, named Mei Menachem in his memory.

From his magnificent place in Heaven, he will continue to bring his parents nachas.

Uniform  Chesed

Yossi Greenwald, the director of the RayzeIt fundraising platform, was at non-Jewish store recently when he saw an elderly fellow hobbling out of his car. Yossi walked over to the shopping cart carousel, grabbed a cart, and brought it to the elderly man. The man smiled. “You’re a good person,” he said. Then he added, “I knew you would; you did it for me last time also.”

Yossi was taken aback for a split second. He hadn’t been at that store before and didn’t recall ever helping that man. In a flash, he realized what happened — another Orthodox Jew, similarly dressed, must have helped the man, and now the grateful recipient was mistaking Yossi for his previous benefactor. “Nope,” Yossi was quick to clarify, “it wasn’t me. We just all look alike!”

Overheard

Elul is roshei teivos ani l’dodi v’dodi li. In Elul we must recognize that Hashem is our Beloved with whom we share a deep bond and relationship. The Zohar refers to the 613 mitzvos as taryag “ittin.” “Ittin” is Aramaic for eitzos, solutions. The 613 mitzvos aren’t commandments issued by a strict dictator. They are eitzos, directions as how to best engage in this loving relationship.

—Rav Yoir Adler

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1076)