A Sign For Life
PARSHAS VAYELECH
Good Shabbos! The portion begins with the words Vayelech Moshe - And Moshe went. At the time of portion Moshe was already 120 years old. So where was he going already?
I recently heard a story of an immigrant named Berel, who came to America from the old country and wanted to open a department store. Before he invested his life savings, he decided it would be most beneficial to walk the streets of New York and see what type of stores attracted the largest crowds.
He came to one store and saw that it had numerous people, many more than he had seen up to that point. He asked someone coming out of the store, why there were so many people shopping there, and they pointed to a large sign in the window. Didn’t you see the sign? That’s why there are so many people.
Berel painstakingly copied down the letters on the sign and felt much better, for now he was well on his way for attracting a large crowd for his soon to open department store. He continued to walk through the busy streets of New York until he came to another store that also had a large group of shoppers. Again, he stopped a shopper and asked why there were so many people patronizing his store? The man said, “Didn’t you see the large sign in the window?” So Berel carefully copied each letter of this sign too, for he realized this sign would help bring in the masses of shoppers that he desired.
The big day arrived and Berel opened his store. To ensure the maximum numbers of shoppers, he put out both signs on the two front windows of his new store, but no shoppers came in. He went to check his signs and they both seemed perfect. On one side was a sign - Grand Opening. And on the other side a second sign which read - Going Out of Business.
It seems funny at first, but the story is really quite sad. All too often a boy will come to the Synagogue to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah with family and friends. He will read from the Torah and make a beautiful speech committing to be a wonderful person and a religious Jew. It is as if he held up a big sign - Grand Opening. But, by the time the day is over and the caterer cleans up, it is often time to put up another sign that regretfully says: Going Out of Business.
Yet today I am most happy to be celebrating with you the 65th anniversary of the Bar Mitzvah of Phil Greiver. Phil had a grand opening 65 years ago and now, even after all these years, he is still going strong. What separates Phil Greiver from so many other well intention, kind, sweet wonderful Jews who regretfully have a GRAND OPENING and then follow almost immediately with the GOING OUT OF BUSINESS?
Maybe the answer can best be gleaned from a story. I heard of a unique Bar Mitzvah present that was once given to a Bar Mitzvah boy from a very intelligent grandfather. Of course there was a check included in the gift but the main part of the gift was in a long thin box with the check just tied to the top. The Bar Mitzvah boy opened the check, smiled profusely at his grandfather’s generosity, and then untied the ribbon surrounding the box which held the special gift.
Imagine his surprise when inside the box was nothing but an empty bottle of Coca Cola. Under the bottle was a short note “To my beloved Grandson, cherish the message of this bottle and it will guarantee your success in all parts of your life.”
The boy could not understand what his grandfather could have meant. He called him and said, “Zeide, please tell me what you meant by giving me this bottle. What message for life could I possibly obtain from an empty coke bottle?”
The grandfather explained, “When I was a boy, whenever we bought a bottle of pop, we would have to give a few extra cents for deposit to insure that we would return that bottle and receive our money back. This would insure that no one littered and the company was able to reuse these bottles in the future.”
“However, if you look closely, etched into the bottle there is an amazing lesson that I wanted you to learn. Look at it closely, by beloved Grandson, and tell me what you see.” The boy read the words etched on the bottle - No Deposit No Return.
Miracles do happen, explained the grandfather. “Sometimes, out of the blue, G-d may help you even when you make no effort on your own. But, that is not usually the way the world works. If you want to get a proper return, you have to put in the effort of making a real deposit. If you want a marriage to work, you have to deposit energy, and time, and love. If you want a business to work, you have to invest a significant amount of capital and hard work. In fact, most anything in life will only give you a return based on the amount that you made as a deposit.
Phil Greiver is a man who made a great deposit. He is an accomplished physician who helped thousands of patients during his career. He gave of his time and talents to Jewish Hospital and became a board member there. He was active on the Four Courts Board of Directors. He deposited time and efforts at the Day School and is a Past President of the Vaad Hakashruth and remains active on that Board to this day.
Phil grew up in a Kosher home where Torah values were respected and Shabbos and holiday were all observed. And together with his wife Roz, they have been a beautiful return on their deposit in the way of their wonderful children and grandchildren.
As we mark this Shabbos called “The Shabbos of Repentance and each of us make resolutions to be better Jews and better Mentchen, we would be well served to remember - No Deposit means No Return. All of us celebrated a Grand Opening on Rosh Hashana - Let’s make sure that we do not have a Going Out of Business sale after Yom Kippur.
I encourage you all to choose one area of your life that you can be a little more stringent, meticulous, careful and fulfilling. Together lets hope and prayer that we can proudly stand before G-d with another sign - Open For Business.
This may be the lesson from the opening words of this week’s Torah portion as well. Moshe was already 120 years old. The day of his death was approaching. But he refused to surrender. He refused to put up the Going Out of Buisness sign.
Vayelech Moshe - Moshe continued to go. Even on the last day of his life, Moses was on the move - teaching, leading, going onward - making the most of every opportunity. He remained OPEN FOR BUSINESS as long as he lived.
Maybe this is also the meaning of the Haftorah we read today. Shuva Yisroel - Repent O’ Israel and Kechu Emachem Devorm - Take words along with you. Cherish the words you said when you committed to your GRAND OPENING, so all of your life you know and feel G-d because you are always: OPEN FOR BUSINESS.
May Phil have a wonderful birthday and may we all have a wonderful year and let us say, AMAIN.
