Reb Shlomo Veingrad

Reb Shlomo Veingrad

In this article I want to share my admiration for Reb Shlomo Veingrad and his commitment to Torah learning and Jewish Beliefs. Also, I will focus on the importance of  Torah learning as well as the difficulty sometimes to keep up Torah learning.

And then of course Reb Shlomo’s question: Would he do it again?

Searching for Jewish Beliefs? Click Here for my main article on Jewish Beliefs.

Reb Shlomo Veingrad - This is just a picture, see the YouTube Video below

Reb Shlomo Veingrad and Jewish Beliefs

I relate to Reb Shlomo Veingrad more than you can imagine. We have a lot in common, even though I see from his accomplishments that I don’t even come up to his knees when I compare myself to his being hard-working, focused, his search for the truth, and now his greying beard, Yiras Shamayim, strength in Jewish beliefs, and commitment to Torah learning. Well, maybe regarding the greying beard I can compete. But not much more. It was a real inspiration to see Reb Shlomo’s videos on YouTube.
Toward the end of the particular video that I embedded here on my web site, Reb Shlomo tells about the presentation that he made to some children, during which a question came from a Rabbi sitting in the back of the room. Asked the Rabbi, “Now that you know the life that a Jew should live, would you play in the National Football League?”

Reb Shlomo answered, “I don’t think that you’re going to like the answer. Of course, because I believe that I played in the National Football League to tell my story.”

Now, the question was phrased the way it came out, and the answer was phrased the way it came out. The truth is that there is room for thought exactly what the Rabbi meant, if he indeed meant anything in particular:

“If you weren’t 50 years old now, rather 25, now that you know what you know would you continue playing football?”

“If you were brought up religious and not in a secular background, would you follow your natural call in high school to play football regularly and pursue it with the idea that maybe you can make a Kiddush Hashem from it some day?”

“If you didn’t go to high school, rather your Orthodox parents and zaydies and fetters sent you to a Chassidishe cheder, would you …”

Anyway, be that as it may, I have one comment. And I preface, far be it from me to disagree with Reb Shlomo, that is not my intention at all. Rather I feel the need to speak out through my ten fingers on the keyboard, that which Reb Shlomo’s words inspired in me, about me.

Reb Shlomo expressed himself, “I don’t think that you’re going to like the answer …” He realized that there is a second side to it, but he understood better the first side. I want to talk a minute about the other side.

Jewish Beliefs: Tikun Neshama

Jewish beliefs tells us that it happens that the Ribono Shel Olam sets in motion a hanhaga through which a person finds himself in all kinds of places, each person according to that which is necessary for his Tikun Neshama. And that is clear from the sefarim that part of what He wants is that the person gets himself out of there and to bring with him whatever nitzotzos that he can gather together. And that this is done by normal quality Avodas Hashem, not by any hocus pocus, abracadabra.

You know, I should really be fair and not express myself like we are tzadikim, for most of us it works this way, that we do avairos, and thereby draw upon ourselves that which is not good. And, well, birds of a feather flock together, so then we find ourselves in even more trouble, meaning in an environment where we have even more trials and battles to fight. And, you know how it is, you win some and lose some, “HaRotzeh etc. poschin lo”. And the losses pile up to make things even worse, gets the person a bit stuck, until ultimately he awakens his resolve to stand up and say “NO!” and gets himself out, or through tefila, or rachamei Shamayim, which brings to a close that aspect of the person’s galus.

I once said, and I am not sure whether this is Purim Torah or not, that maybe this is pshat Gadol Hachnasas Orchim me’Kaballas Pnei HaShechina. That HaKadosh Boruch Hu sees that a person attached to himself that which is not good, got himself muddy, so then Hashem says, “we can’t have this mud uncomfortable out of its natural environment, we have to give it a home to stay in meanwhile”. So He distances the person who muddied himself even further by putting him deeper in the mud. Gadol Hachnasas Orchim me’Kaballas Pnei HaShechina.

Anyway, a G-d fearing person who finds himself far from the Bais Medrash, will try to do his best to serve the A’lmighty in the way which it seems that He wants from him right now: This could be both short term and long term. For example, by learning there, if it is appropriate, or otherwise being Mekadaish Shaim Shamayim, always making sure to keep himself ois gehalten with Halacha. One really needs to be a very big Talmid Chacham to be in business, even though that is not always the case.

Jewish Beliefs: Torah Learning

Personally I came to the internet because I had little choice. I was a computer programmer in America, but I gave it up to come to Israel to involve myself in Torah learning, to sit and learn full time in Yeshiva and Kollel, which I was successful at doing for a few decades until I couldn’t keep up with the chasana expenses any more. Maybe I made a very big mistake from the standpoint of hashkafa, of Jewish beliefs, but I basically left Torah learning except for a chavrusa or two, and went back to my girsa de’yankusa in order to put together an online home business, Hashem Ya’azor. I enjoy what I do, there is a certain fulfillment when being creative through programming, or otherwise building computer entities that work. But this I can tell you, that if someone would walk through my door this minute and lay down on my table enough money so that I could put together an income without having to work, this’ll be the last post you’ll see on boruchrappaport.net. I think so, I hope so. I don’t know if I have the strength any more to go back to two four-hour sedarim, but my heart is in the Bais Medrash, and I’d love to get back there some day soon.

So, if you would ask me, “Boruch, if I tell you that there are people out there who enjoy your writings, and have been uplifted in their Avodas Hashem through your articles, and let’s say you never were in financial trouble, would you still come to the internet to write your inspiring posts …” Ich vais nisht. I heard once from my Rosh Kollel in the name of I don’t remember whom, on that which Chazal say that Klal Yisroel only went into galus in order to bring gairim. Question: what would be if Klal Yisroel never sinned and never went into galus, how would all of those gairim become gairim? Answer: In such a case Eretz Yisroel would become like a magnet and draw all of the Kedusha to it. So I may fairly question which path would have the most to’eles — learning in Kollel or writing nice Torahs online.

Bottom line, for me, I think that what a person needs to do, it seems to me, is to be in contact with Torah authorities to help him work out what he should be doing and how he should be doing it, and then making the best of his situation to do good for the Ribono Shel Olam and for humanity, understanding that this is what HaKodosh Boruch Hu wants from him right now. Being around in different scenarios presents a gevaldig opportunity to accomplish all kinds of interesting acts of goodness and Kiddush Hashem. However, one has to realize that in yenna velt they’re not going to be coding php, nor playing football.

What I write above that if someone would knock on my door etc. that I am out of here, I don’t mean that literally. I currently have customers, and I am still trying to gain more customers. It is self-understood, but maybe it should be spoken out, that I will be 100% loyal to them, and fulfill whatever I took upon myself to the “t”, and if that means writing more and more articles, then so be it. But don’t worry, so far nobody has knocked…

Boruch Rappaport