As Yirmiyahu Hanavi foretold, the joyous kol chassan v’kol kallah rang out through the streets of Yerushalayim

Living Higher

S

everal nights ago, on a Jerusalem rooftop offering a panoramic view of the Holy City, an unusually energetic band played for a small but euphoric group of dancers into the wee hours of the morning. The intimate gathering, organized by American avreich Yaakov Bach, had a unique backstory.

Yaakov runs the Tefillin Project, which helps Yidden around the world receive tefillin at no cost, inspiring them to strengthen their bond with the mitzvah. It also invites sponsors to adopt a “tefillin partner,” bringing more Jews into the daily rhythm of mitzvah observance.

Several months ago, Daveed, an Israeli man who’d started learning b’chavrusa in Kehillah Kedoshah Beis Shlomo, Rav Shmuel Zucker’s shul in Ramat Shlomo, was referred to the Tefillin Project. Daveed happily accepted the tefillin, and began donning them daily. Mitzvah goreres mitzvah, Chazal tell us, and he began a journey toward full shemiras Torah u’mitzvos.

At one point, Daveed realized that although he was legally married to his wife, their wedding had not been conducted fully k’das Moshe v’Yisrael, and they arranged for a rav to perform a proper halachic chuppah and kiddushin. But money was tight, so the couple celebrated with only a small minyan inside their apartment, a pizza pie serving as the seudah.

When Yaakov heard about the situation, he and his friends went into overdrive to ensure that the chasunah was celebrated with the festiveness befitting the occasion. In less than 24 hours, they secured the Jerusalem apartment with its rooftop terrace and gathered some musically inclined kollel avreichem to form an ad hoc orchestra. Meanwhile, girls from the Tomer Devorah seminary got busy with the decor and the beautiful chuppah, and arranged for delicious cuisine.

Yaakov then told Daveed to bring his fiancée to the apartment, and a shocked chassan and kallah were toasted and reveled as their true chasunah was held, heralding the building of yet another bayis ne’eman b’Yisrael. As Yirmiyahu Hanavi foretold, the joyous kol chassan v’kol kallah rang out through the streets of Yerushalayim.

Power in Numbers

At an event for Holocaust survivors, Rav Dovid Goldwasser related that the Satmar Rebbe ztz”l said that when you see a Jew with numbers tattooed on his arm, you should ask him for a brachah. In the middle of the talk, survivors began standing and calling out blessings.

Afterward, David Einhorn, a survivor from Hungary, rolled up his sleeve to show his number. It began with 464 — the exact numerical sequence of his Hebrew name, Dovid: daled-vav-daled. He explained that when he first saw those digits, he recognized the pattern of his own name and took it as a quiet assurance that he would live to tell his story.

The Lens

Rav Yaakov Bender, rosh yeshivah of Darchei Torah of Far Rockaway, was sitting in the succah together with Rav Zev Trenk, a rebbi in the yeshivah. With them was a Jew who had embarked on a journey to return to his roots. Rabbi Bender listened to his story in rapt fascination. When the man concluded, Rabbi Bender said, “I’m jealous of you. I was raised Orthodox and did not have the opportunity to search and discover the way you did.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1083)