Rabbi Kletzkin’s Matzeivah Story

13
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

The following story was related by Rabbi Dovid Kletzkin of Yerushalayim and originally written in Hebrew by his brother, Rabbi Yisroel Aaron Kletzkin.

Introduction: As the head of the Chevra Kadisha in Jerusalem, I visit the Har Hazeisim and har Hamenuchos cemeteries almost every day and sometimes a few times a day, and as part of my work I have already become acquainted with many exciting stories and issues of countless hashgacha.

The beginning of the month of Nissan During my participation in a Levaya, I noticed on the ground between the graves, a advertisement flyer of someone who was working on the restoration of tombstones, and since I was also involved in the field of tombstones, I picked up the paper and stuffed it into my pocket.

26 Nissan 5778
A rainy rainy day in Jerusalem, I returned from the funeral on the Mount of Olives with my clothes soiled with mud, changed clothes and took out the contents from my pockets and placed them on the dresser to dry.

27 Nissan 5778

Before I left for Shacharis, I sorted out the documents and decided which to throw away and which ones to keep in my pocket, among them the publication of the ad with the aforementioned tombstone. I was about to throw it away, but my curiosity made me look at the advertising page and saw a picture of Two tombstones, on the right: a dusty old gravestone with the inscription “before” and on the left the same tombstone, only after the cleaning and renovation and the inscription “after ”
I tried to read the small print on the gravestone, of The woman, Taiba, daughter of Rabbi David Shachor z “l,
It said: “She merited to be buried in the graves of her forefathers, which her sisters Chaya and Sanya did not merit as they died al kiddush hashem.” It did not mention their mother or her husband so I came to the conclusion that she was a holocaust survivor ho died without any children. It was written further that she died on the 27th of Nisian 5731 (1971), and immediately flashed through my mind that today is the 47th anniversary of the death and I saw this as a sign of Hashgacha pratis. It is rare the note was in my pocket for many days yet I read it exactly on Wednesday.

After davening shachris i said kadish in the Pinsk Karlin B’M I approaced the Rebbe and related the story and the mitzva of chesed shel emes that i merited. Everyone was excited by the story and lit candles. The Rebbe himself opened a Mishnayos and learned for the Neshama, and everyone joined in. After davening I thought of publicizing the the mitzvah of kindness to other yidden. I shared the storyon the family line (Watasphone), from which the story passed on to other lines, and this became known to thousands of people whom I do not know who also did good things to elevate the souls of the above mentioned.
After the story went public i contacted the owner of the advertisement for kevarim restorations and asked him to tell me about the matziva pictured in the flyer.

The man said that he had been working in the field or kevarim restoration for years, and from time to time he asked his clients permission to print the photograph of their relative for advertising purposes. But as expected, no one agreed to have their family’s matzeiva in the picture as an advertisement .

One day, Rav Binyamin Rimmer, shlita the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Tchebin in Yerushalayim (the son-in-law of Maran Hagarash Elyashiv zt “l), asked me to renovate the gravestone of a relative of his (his elder sister’s) sister. I thought that in this case, they would agree to have her picture in the ad since there were no relatives and explained to them that it might be a zechus for her Neshama.

When I heard this, I immediately called Rav Rimmer to hear more details about the lady Teiba a”h, he said: She immigrated to Israel in 1934, A few years before the outbreak of World War II, and her life was saved by the act of self-sacrifice, as follows: The family first lived in Russia in the city of Minsk, at that time her father, R. David Shachor, got in trouble with the tax authorities in Russia

One night, KGB agents came to arrest him. His daughter Taibeh shouted at the policemen and said: Leave him alone, I was the one who committed the tax offenses my father had nothing to do with the business. After arguments and an open miracle, they left the house empty-handed. That experience caused them to leave Russia and go up to the Holy Land. The two sisters mentioned in her Matzeiva were already married, and remained there, they perished in the war.

In the early years, the family lived in Jerusalem in the Botei Broideh neighborhood and after the passing of her parents who were buried on the Mount of Olives, she moved to the center of the country, where she worked for over twenty years as a pharmacist.

(At this stage, I added to this family line the part that also became known as a supplement to the story of Divine providence.)

On this Monday, 8 Iyar 5778, I receive a phone call from a Jew who identified himself as Aharon, and these were his chilling words: The story that was published last week by you came to me miraculously, and as soon as I heard the details of it all my flesh became full of goosebumps.

This is the story he told me.

About 50 years ago, I was a young man, and when I came to the health clinic in Tel Aviv to buy a certain cream that I had to apply to my skin, when I got home I opened the package and found it disappointing that this was not the right ointment. ,I returned to the pharmacy and demanded that they replace it with the required ointment. The pharmacist replied that it was impossible to exchange after I had already opened it. My anger increased and I blamed them for the omission. It turned out that there was another client with me who asked for an ointment and we mistakenly switched creams, but since I was the first who came back to replace me, I opened the package and they did not want to change it. I began to scream and go wild, the pharmacist replied, “I did not serve you, let me go get Tova the pharmacist she can help. I was shouting and creaming and this lady came our from the back I recognized the older lady from before but i was just shouting at her she did not utter a response , although I knew that it was my mistake my ego got the best of me and i accused her for the mishap. I threw the cream on the table and blurted out a terrible sentence: “Your children will use this cream.” Tova did not respond but her face turned red, I also saw that the saleswoman looked at her pityingly and painfully, I left the place with a little mind.

After a few years, I was already engaged and one afternoon I sit in the neighborhood synagogue and listen to the lesson in Maseches Avot and the rabbi reads in the second chapter of the famous story about Hillel the Elder who saw one skull floating on the water and said ‘ “And so on.” This means that you were killed because you killed others, and whoever killed you is also destined to be killed. The rabbi quoted the words of the Rambam in his commentary on the Mishna:

אמרו חכמים, במידה שאדם מודד, בה מודדים לו, וזה דבר הנראה לעין, בכל עת ובכל זמן ובכל מקום, שכל מי שיעשה רע ויחדש מיני החמס ופחיתיות שהוא עצמו יוזק מן רעות ההם בעצמם, מפני שהוא למד מלאכה שתעשה נזק לו ולזולתו’ הטעים הרב ואמר: הרי ידענו כי מרובה מידה טובה ממידת פורענות פי חמש מאות, ממשיך הרמב”ם ומפרש: ‘וכן כל המלמד מעלה שמחדש פועל טוב מן הטובות, יגיעהו תועלת הפועל ההוא, מפני שהוא מלמד דבר שיעשה טוב לו ולזולתו’ מוסיף הרמב”ם ומשבח את הפסוק וכותב: ‘ודברי הכתוב בזה טובים מאוד (איוב לא יא) כי פועל אדם ישלם לו’ כפי הפתגם הידוע ‘וואס מען טוט טוט מען זיך’ פתח הרב ספר איוב והקריא את דברי המלבי”ם על הפסוק הזה שמסביר: שענין זה, שהעושה רע לזולת גורר רע על עצמו והעושה טוב לזולת גורר טוב על עצמו, אינו בתורת שכר או עונש, אלא מציאות בטבע, וכשם שהמכניס ידו לאש ונכווה מכך, אין זה עונש כי אם פועל יוצא בטבע, וכן האוכל ושבע אין השובע שכר על האכילה כי אם פועל יוצא בטבע שהטביע השי”ת בעולם, כך העושה רע מושך על עצמו רע כפועל יוצא ועאכו”כ העושה טוב מושך טוב על עצמו וסובביו.

The rabbi opened the book of Iyov and read the words of the Malbim on this verse that explains: This matter, which does evil to others, brings evil upon oneself and does good Is not a punishment, but an act of nature, Just as someone places his hand in a fire they get burned not as a punishment but as a result of the nature that the Almighty planted in the world , So to one that does bad brings bad and evil onto himself , and one who does good spreads good on himself and his surroundings.

The rav concluded: “Whoever has already failed and caused harm to others is better off asking for his forgiveness before he is harmed. Since I was standing before my marriage, I thought to myself that a chosson is forgiven for his sins, and this is the time to ask forgiveness and forgiveness from friends and teachers that I hurt, and from relatives and family members. But the same story with the pharmacist never occurred to me at the time so it did not occur to me to go to appease and ask forgiveness.
That summer I happily married my wife, hoping for a happy life, but sadly year after year went by and the house is empty. We went to the doctors, we did all kinds of treatments, but there were no children.

One day, I happened to meet with the same Kupat Cholim in Tel Aviv and I remembered the story of the above-mentioned ointment, and I decided to go into and ask forgivness, and perhaps that will be my salvation. I go to the pharmacy and asked for the Lady by the name of Tova they look at me in amazement and say: You mean Tova Shachor? She no longer works here she was transferred several years ago to a retirement home in Gedera. At the same time, I did not have time to go there, and the matter flourished again, but after a while I drove once on the intercity road and I saw the signs to Gedera.

Immediately, I remembered the incident and decided to enter the city and look for the aforementioned retirement home. unfortunately I was told that Tova Shachor died a few years earlier, when I asked where she was buried they did not know , but her father’s name was known to me as “Tova bas Dovid Shachor and the date of her yahrtzeit was 27 of Nissan 1971 she died without children.

Disappointed, I left the place and went to the burial societies in the city and in central Israel, but found no information about it. I did not have many choices, I decided to do my best for the sake of her soul, and so I have been keeping her death for years, studying and praying for her soul. And so Aaron continues
One year ago I woke up with a strange feeling in my face, looking in the mirror, my eyes darkened by the shape of my face, distorted by my distorted lips, and so my voice changed strangely too. I was hoping it is temporary and will just pass on but after a few hours i realized it was not going away, I turned to the best doctors who did not know how to help me, although it was possible to do an operation that had very poor chances, but it was dropped because of the risk. My mental ache was unbearable. I used to say shiurim every day and I was a baal tefillah on Shabbos and Yomim Noraim, etc., and now because of a distortion of my voice I was not able to continue in addition i was ashamed because of the deformity, I went around to the gedolim in Eretz Yisroel asking for brachos and one of them told me that maybe I should seek to correct something related to the mouth and speech. I tried thinking and going back but could not remember anything. I prayed to God to enlighten me, so I spent many years with the deformities until the surroundings became accustomed to my strange voice and strange faces.

At the beginning of last week, on Iyar 5778, I hear in the synagogue a story about the Hashgacha Pratis story that just happened to a Jew from Yerushalayim named Rabbi David Kletzkin, who found the publication of a tombstone with the name ‘Atka Toibe.’ After several decades I thought she must be buried in the Dan region, I immediately turned to the burial society in Jerusalem and told me she was buried in Har Hazeisim (a few rows after the grave of the Admor of Lelov who died on Yom Kippur 5709), I knew well what to do, and already on Thursday I went to Yerushalayim to Har Hazeisim.

I went to a nearby yeshiva and asked some of the young men to join me in praying at the Mount of Olives. I said the mishnayot with the name of the woman and the letters of her neshama. After that I took off my shoes and burst into terrible tears that lasted for many minutes and I said, ‘I have sinned against the Gd of Israel, I prayed to you and prayed with me, and I prayed for forgiveness and forgiveness from all my heart. The public answered three times to you, from there I continued to the Western Wall with a feeling of exaltation and liberation, I gave charity to the elevation of her soul and promised the Father in heaven that if salvation came I would publish the miracle in every way Possible.

On the morning of the last Shbbos Achrei kedoshim, six Iyar 5778, I get up from my bed to go to daven I wash my face and look in the mirror. and see that my skin has returned to normal just like it was 15 years ago

My wife could not believe her eyes. I began to speak, and here was my voice as it had been in the days of my youth. I walked to the shul in a dance. I knew very well who the doctor was.

רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות

It was time for Krias Hatorah and the regular Ball koreh was hoarse and there are no one else able to take over they tried looking for a replacement and no one goes, especially as it is a double parsha, Achrei Mos Kedoshim For decades I have been a baal kriah until that time that mu voice changed

I get up and go to the bima and start reading, ‘After the death of the two sons of Aharon.’ Suddenly all the emotion inside me burst out and I burst into terrible tears in front of the entire audience. after two minutes of silence and embarrassment I managed to continue, the entire public were shocked by the wonderful voice that came back to me years later, and then they also noticed that I had regained my strength. After davening I announced that on Saturday night a large melave malka meal would be held for the entire public, where I told the full story as promised at the Western Wall.

And here Aharon adds to me: After an effort I got your phone, I do not know you and you do not know me, but you know that it was not for nothing that the story of Divine Providence was published all over the country.

Epilogue

Dear Jews, my brothers and friends, Rabbi Aharon concludes, did you harm others? Do not wait years until it is too late, surrender and ask forgiveness even if you think you are right and you will not have to go through the terrible suffering. After that, my brother David is flooded these days with phone calls from people who came to them, and they say that they reconciled themselves to people who had been quarreling with them for many years, friends and family, and so on.

Let us try to increase the peace between brothers, Tak ea and pen and paper. Write down a list of those you think may be hurt by you, and of course we should pray and ask God to refresh the memory and prepare the way, for who knows when? And the great peace that we will bring the redemption closer speedily in our days amen.

יהי רצון שיהיו הדברים לתועלת ולהצלחת ישראל אהרן בן מאנצ’י

{Matzav.com Israel}


13 COMMENTS

  1. Rabbi Dovid Kletzkin is an amazing speaker. If you understand Yiddish, it’s worthwhile listening to him tell this story on the phone. 9722-301-1300 (Yerushalayim) or 074-721-9798

  2. “thank you, the entire story is worthless now”
    Why is it worthless?
    1) There are numerous translating mistakes. Perhaps the quoted MaLBI”M is also in (slight) error.
    2) And if someone quotes a meforash from memory, and mistakenly attributes it to one Achron when really someone else said it, does that mean nobody said it and the vort or maaseh is botul?
    3) Can it be that in the emotions of the moment, he misquoted the source, or part of the shiur? Does that uproot the entire chain of events?
    4) There was no shiur, perhaps, are you suggesting there was no Aharon, no advertisement, no pharmacist, no kever?

  3. Wow!!! I’m in awe of this current day Hashgocha Pratis!! Amazing story, amazing chizuk. May we be zoiche in Aron’s zechus to the full redemption- Moshiach Tzidkainu.

  4. (1) מלבי”ם על ירמיה פרק טז פסוק יז – חלק באור הענין
    (יז) כי עיני על כל דרכיהם – ר”ל אני מביט בין על הדרכים שהם דרכי הנפש והמדות שמהם צומחות העונות, בין על העונות עצמם שהם המעשים הרעים, והנה דרכי הנפש כמו דרך האכזריות הגאוה הנקמה תלוים בידיעה, ועז”א לא נסתרו מלפני – היינו מפני ידיעתי והעונות – עצמם שהם המעשים הרעים תלוים בראיית החוש, ועז”א לא נצפן מנגד עיני – ר”ל כי יש הבדל בין משפטי ה’ ובין משפט בשר ודם, בשר ודם אינו משקיף רק על המעשה, וה’ ישקיף גם על דרכי הנפש והמדות שמהם יצמחו המעשים כמ”ש כי פועל אדם ישלם לו וכארח איש ימציאנו (איוב ל”ד”

  5. Not to miss the whole point of the story, but what’s “Watasphone”?

    “I shared the storyon the family line (Watasphone), from which the story passed on to other lines”

  6. This story is absolutely amazing and shook worlds.
    whoever still has issues about it, cause of minor details, is missing the whole point of Yad Hashem and Him running our world and lives. And may YOU come to the right mind very soon!!

    Hatzlacha Rabbah in all!!

  7. I was so amazed from this story I tolled it to my class and we were all very inspired it’s so powerful to see what mechila is!

Leave a Reply to Eli Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here