Living Higher

Barbara Bensoussan

It was the typical pre-seminary flight scene at Newark Airport — tears, pictures, final instructions and brachos as parents parted with daughters about to leave for a year of growth in Eretz Yisrael.

One of the parents noticed Rav Binyamin Eisenberger rav of Heichal HaTefillah in Boro Park who was in the airport at the time and he asked the Rav to address the departing girls. The Rav delivered an impromptu drashah to young women just minutes before they were to leave.

Rather than a spirited schmooze about the holiness of the Land Rav Eisenberger asked a question: How much do your fathers make an hour? The girls volunteered different answers about the estimated amount. “Let’s imagine he does nicely and makes 50 dollars an hour — or even if he makes more try to think how many hours of his life have been invested in this trip you’re about to take and the year ahead of you. Now why do you think he did it? What’s he investing in?”

The girls were silent as the Rav concluded: “Remember those hours and use your time in Eretz Yisrael to make sure that all the effort and energy is justified!”

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“Omnom ha’im doresh Elul ani? Indeed am I a seeker of Elul?”

—Rav Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan (1890-1924)

Sometimes Elul seems to only exist in yeshivah. Maybe it’s a schmooze or the excitement of a new zeman — Elul memories are strong but they seem to disappear sometime in our late twenties. Afterwards much of Elul when we even do remember the month is spent waxing nostalgic of more serious times in our lives. If you find yourself grasping for a fresh memory of Elul maybe it’s worth learning someone else’s.