{"id":98608,"date":"2022-11-20T02:37:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T00:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/?p=98608"},"modified":"2022-11-20T02:37:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T00:37:27","slug":"a-premier-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/a-premier-lesson\/","title":{"rendered":"A Premier Lesson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Premier Lesson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I was once receiving the public in our Manhattan office. Suddenly, loud noise emanated from one of our offices. People were screaming and pushing, and policemen were on the scene as well. I was filled with a feeling of dread. As I was trying to make out what was happening, my secretary walked into my office. \u201cRabbi David,\u201d he began, \u201cthe wife of the president, Bill Clinton, just arrived. She wants to get a blessing from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was stunned by this statement. \u201cAre you serious? The wife of the American president wants a blessing from me<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi David,\u201d he responded, \u201cwould I ever play a prank on you? Mrs. Clinton is on her way to your office. She arrived here a few minutes ago, flanked by security officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know it is her? Did you ever see her before?\u201d I asked, doubtfully.<\/p>\n

We were still arguing, when the guards cleared the way for the First Lady into my office. I was dumbstruck. I had no idea what to say to this prominent personality, who had suddenly appeared before me. When I finally found my tongue, I offered her a seat and asked what I could do for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have many Jewish friends who often host me. I am especially fond of the Shabbat meal which they invite me to partake of. This past Shabbat, when I visited with Jewish friends, the woman of the house spoke about you. She extolled your virtues and praised your blessings, which are accepted on High. I therefore have come to ask for your blessing on behalf of myself, my husband, and our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Embarrassed, I arose and began pacing the floor for a few minutes. I knew that I would give her a blessing, but I was beset by questions. Why did she come specifically to me, as a Jewish Rabbi?<\/p>\n

Finally, I asked her, \u201cMadame, how would you like this blessing, orally or in writing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth,\u201d was her answer. \u201cPlease bless me orally and write a blessing as a keepsake.\u201d<\/p>\n

I did as she asked. I blessed her with Heavenly protection, a high position in the White House, and that she love and protect the Jewish people.<\/p>\n

She was extremely satisfied with my berachah<\/em> and took the slip of paper with her. But she left behind the message which I took from this encounter:<\/p>\n

Here was a woman who might one day rule the largest empire in the world. She wished to receive a blessing specifically from the Jews. This implied the superiority and uniqueness of the Jewish nation, above all other peoples.<\/em><\/p>\n

Additionally, just as I acted respectfully to this prominent personality, so, too, and even more, must I act respectfully toward the Ribbono shel Olam, Whose glory fills the world.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Premier Lesson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was once receiving the public in our Manhattan office. Suddenly, loud noise emanated from one of our offices. People were screaming and pushing, and policemen were on the scene as well. I was filled with a feeling of dread. As I was trying to make out what was happening, my secretary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":58977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1077],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yisrael-and-the-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}