This post was written long before October 7th.

I walk into the big shul after davinning. It’s my thing – I go and learn parasha with Rashi and the Ba’al haTurim… it’s great. I really do this almost every morning. It’s very nice. Shul is very nice.

One day, I walk in and there is a big guy laying on the bench, sleeping. It’s already about 7:45 and he is still sleeping. You know, there is a halacha that you can’t sleep in shul. And this guy is there.

Not only sleeping, but taking up space lying on the bench where I usually sit.

Not only sleeping, but snoring. Loudly.

And yet, I realize I don’t know anything about him. Nothing.

He isn’t dressed like a soldier – if he were I would know something.

He isn’t well dressed – if he were I would know something.

His face is turned away.

It is clear – I know nothing about him.

But I know some things that do not fit him.

He is not dressed like the chassidiche community standard.

He is not wearing tzitzis.

He is not wearing a kipah. Neither is there one lying on the floor.

He has a beard, but no peyos.

His shoes – sandals without socks – not something one should wear into shul according to halacha or community standards.

In other words, clearly an outsider.

So I go, sit elsewhere to learn, and watch to see what the Me’ah She’arim community will do. And I leave, and come back the next day.

So, the next day, I walk into the big shul after davinning. It’s my thing.

And there is a big guy laying on the bench, sleeping. It’s already about 7:45 and he is still sleeping. And today… he has a blanket.

My friends, today he has a blanket…

Of course this is my over active imagination… but it’s possible. I imagine that someone saw him a second night lay down to sleep, and brought him a blanket.

The next day I saw him the third and (so far) last time.

I walk into the big shul after davinning. It’s my thing. And there is a big guy…

He’s not laying on the bench. He is up, walking back and forth. Still no tzitzis, or kipah, but walking back and forth davinning – seeming to be gathering strength, seeming to be pulling himself together.

Back and forth – like Rebbe Akivah, like the Kiddushas Levi – who knows? I am sure I will never know anything more about this man, he should be strong and well, but I did learn something of the beauty of Me’ah She’arim.

A community that somehow naturally gives strength to those who need. A community that somehow, in a hidden way (like G-d – b’seiser), give strength to those who need (like G-d – somech noflim).

A community that somehow brought a little sleeper cell to the level of active participant in G-d’s world.

I am sure you have done something like this:

A number of years ago I collected all the yahrzeits I could find that were important to me – my grandparents, my great grandparents and other relatives. I kept them all in a notebook, and I carefully kept track of that notebook. I kept that notebook for a long time… and then I realized notebooks wear out faster than yahrzeits.

I no longer have that notebook.

But while I still had that notebook, I had a clever idea – I would put all of my yahrzeits on my computer. In a file on my computer. After all, why do I need to keep track of a notebook when I can put them on my computer?!?

That was back in the days when 64K was a whole lot of memory. And my yahrzeits sat on that computer for a while. That was also back in the days when computers would crash and you would lose everything… so you had to keep backups on 5¼” floppy disks.

Is everyone smiling with me, as we remember 5¼” floppy disks? How can you not smile?

But, to go on with the story, my computer crashed and my floppies were not a lot of help… but I did get my list of yahrzeits on my new computer. So that story goes on for a while – from 5¼”, to 3½” to external hard drives and thumb drives and google drives…

And the problem with all these drives – is I still had to check the file all the time to make sure I didn’t miss one of my yahrzeits!

And then I thought about the internet. I could store them on the internet and write a program to send myself email when I needed to know about a yahrzeit. And then it dawned on me, if I need such a service, maybe others also need it…that is – maybe you need it!

And so, there you are. 100% free, always – come to my website and store your yahrzeits. I will (automatically) send you email about a week before your yahrzeit. And since that is the only email I will ever send you, you may want to enter my email address into your contact list so your email will not toss it into spam.

How is it possible to help someone after they have died? What can you do for them? What would you give to be able to do something – anything – that will help them, that will lift them up (as it were).

In general, we don’t know very much about life after this life. We don’t know anyone who has been there and come back.

And yet, we know that Torah and Mitzvahs raise (give an aliyah) a soul (to a neshama) always. The neshama is forever. HaShem is forever. Torah and Mitzvahs are forever.

But one needs a living body to do Mitzvahs. Or better, a community (minyan) of lving bodies. Or better, a community (minyan) of living bodies praying in the holiest place on earth!

That minyan will be saying y’hei sh’mei raba for your beloved.