Tuesday morning about a week after Succos was one of those
perfect weather days that Israel is famous for and of which
there are never enough. There was a cool breeze blowing and
just enough heat not to need a sweater. Mr. Levy decided to
go out for a walk.
Mr. Levy wrapped himself in his Shabbos tallis and set
out at a brisk pace. Something here is not quite right. Let's
go back about twenty-five years to the background and
beginning of the story.
When Ramot was new and growing in all directions, the
minyan in Ramot Aleph was not up to the standards of a
young yeshiva bochur. So, when he came home for
Shabbos, he hiked up the hill to a new shul that was
more "yeshivish." It only had one floor, that was rough and
unfinished. Today, it too, has grown in all directions.
One of the levi'im was a middle-aged man who caught
the attention and admiration of our young boy. He sang like
an angel and according to reports, "when he read from the
Torah, you felt like you were in the Beis HaMikdash." He had
a sweet personality and liked to give out blessings to young
people.
The young yeshiva boy grew up and, in the course of events,
purchased an apartment not far from the shul and the
Levi that he admired. The middle-aged man grew old and
was called Mr. Levy who, unfortunately, now has Altzheimer's
Disease.
Our bochur who is now an almost middle-aged
avreich has a much younger sister who is married and
living in Brachfeld but who comes to work in a school in
Ramot. On the lovely Tuesday morning in question, she got off
her inter-city bus on the main highway and watched the
strange sight of Mr. Levy trying to cross the busy
intersection, heading towards a not-so-frum
neighborhood.
At that moment, her cell phone rang. Her big brother was
calling to ask if she had spotted Mr. Levy and if she knew
the phone number of her husband's good friend who is one of
the old gentleman's care-givers.
He explained to his sister that he has known Mr. Levy for
many years and as he was driving his sons to the
cheder bus stop, he saw him out walking alone and
realized that something had to be done to stop him and head
him back home. Unfortunately, cars don't always go on the
same paths that pedestrians may go and in the few minutes
that it took to drop off his boys and get his little girl to
gan, he had lost his quarry.
Between all the family and friends, riding around in two
cars, our young man found Mr. Levy, not far from a place
where the town ends and one could, G-d forbid, fall off the
mountain. He notified the friend care-giver of his location
and proceeded to stall the old man and prevent him from
striding headlong into danger.
He chatted with him, reminiscing with Mr. Levy of the good
old days when they were both much younger and the shul
was new and unbuilt. He chatted about Levi'im and
Kohanim and brochos, but he didn't convince Mr.
Levy to get into his car. Mr. Levy said that he was on his
way to visit his Zeidie in another part of Jerusalem and of
course he couldn't get in the car because it was Shabbos.
Finally his brother-in-law's good friend arrived and was able
to convince the old man that it was okay to drive and it
wasn't really Shabbos today and the story ended safely.
I'm really not writing this to tell you anything new about
Altzheimer's, about which I know almost nothing, or the
history of Ramot, about which I know quite a lot. I do want
to call attention to the need for us to be aware and caring
enough, sensitive and alert enough, to the needs of our
neighbors.
It's not enough to lend a tomato paste when the stores are
closed. They are not there just to borrow some plastic chairs
when we have a simchah. We must not gossip about them
or meddle in their personal business.
We are required to love them. How? We must be there
when we are needed. At the moment of emergency, when help and
chessed are called for — that is the moment to
show our love for our neighbors. That is the time to stop
your life, be late for work, give up some of your
precious time, take a chance on being embarrassed, do
whatever it takes to make things better for your neighbor.
And may the One Above reward those who do so.
