It was the last night of the shivah.
The snow on my street was higher than any of the vans parked there. In addition almost all the empty parking spots were “reserved” with an old chair or some other odd semi-discarded piece of furniture.
In a neighborhood where many (myself included) have no driveway a shoveled-out parking spot was worth fighting for! And the imprudent and irrational individual who dared move a chair from a “reserved spot”? Woe be to that person! He was literally taking his life in his hands.
Therefore I was reluctant to relinquish my parking spot. Who knew what would await me when I returned?
However family is family. When I heard that my father’s first cousin Irving Eisenman of Monsey had passed away I knew I had to go pay a shivah call.
As I drove up Route 306 the normally clogged road was especially backed up as a local kosher grocery was making deliveries. However a little voice deep inside me kept reassuring me that I would get more than I would give tonight.
When my GPS announced “You have arrived at your destination ” I exited into the cold and walked up the path to the front door. As I entered the house it appeared Irving’s four sons and Carol the new widow were “happy” (what other word can I use?) to see me. His oldest son Rabbi David Eisenman and I share a special kinship as we are both involved in chinuch.
I heard stories of the wonderful 66-year marriage Irving had enjoyed with Carol and how Hashem had allowed them to see grandchildren brought to the chuppah.
After sitting for about three quarters of an hour I was ready to make the trip back to Passaic but then Rabbi David asked me if I would like to see a copy of the hesped (eulogy) he’d given for his father. Of course I would. I began to read and on the last page I discovered gold.
David related how at a certain point in his younger years he was unsure what path to take in life. He had done some graduate work but he was interested in chinuch as well. It was after Succos and he was looking for a chinuch position. Without experience however and midyear his chances were slim.
But surprisingly Rabbi Nachum Muschel the respected and well-known principal of ASHAR (Adolph Schreiber Hebrew Academy of Rockland) contacted David and informed him that a small self-contained class of five fifth-grade boys would be opening up and he offered David the position.
So Rabbi David Eisenman became a rebbi and eventually an administrator although he is still a respected mechanech. And it all began with five fifth-grade boys at ASHAR in Monsey.
Years later though when he himself was a principal David began to wonder how midyear Rabbi Muschel suddenly found the funding to hire another rebbi.
Suddenly it all became clear to him. His father had wanted to help his son break into the world of chinuch. So without any fanfare and without telling anyone except Rabbi Muschel Irving Eisenman personally and privately financed the position to allow his son to enter the field of chinuch in a dignified and respectable fashion.
His father had done many philanthropic acts in his life; perhaps the most precious of all was the help he gave his own son without compromising his son’s dignity.
Suddenly parking spots were irrelevant. Once again I had received more than I had given.