Following My Lead
Once on a flight, as the meals were being handed out, I discovered that a fellow Jew was following my every move. He did not seem to be observant, but when I noticed his interest in my actions, I decided to do something interesting. I decided that I would pretend to pray the Shemoneh Esrei. My thoughts were on my fellow Jew. Who knows? Maybe my actions would stir something within him. I stood up and closed my eyes, as though deep in prayer. After a few moments, I took three steps backward, as though finishing my prayers.
The fellow immediately approached me, and said, “Rabbi, today is my father’s yahrtzeit. He passed away forty years ago. In your merit, I remembered this. What can I do to bring satisfaction to his neshamah?”
The words of this ignorant Jew struck a chord in my heart. How great is the power of Torah and zikuy harabim! It is capable of influencing even distant Jews. A Jew from one country can easily affect a Jew from another land, bringing him to the proper path.
