We are in the midst of making a drastic change in our lives. Unexpectedly we are moving from our home where we have lived for the past 40 years!
Considering that I am not a youngster, I have to admit that change, especially of the unexpected sort, is most challenging. It doesn’t take much imagination to expect feelings of unease, unfamiliarity, etc., etc.
Among the many tasks in which I have been involved has been organizing, sorting and packing up our extensive library of seforim. Inadvertently, I packed away machzorim and selichos so my husband went to the Judaica shops erev Shabbos, (i.e. erev Motzei Shabbos Selichos), to purchase additional copies, only to find that the shops were already closed.
Upon our arrival home, I went into our back room where many of the seforim are being re-packed into smaller boxes in order to facilitate the move. My eyes alighted on a small sefer which had belonged to a dear Rov, Rabbi Charles Batt, ob”m, with whom we had been very close…I brought it to the dining room to show my husband. Rushing to finish last-minute Shabbat preparations, I didn’t check to see what sort of sefer it was.
My husband informed me that it was a copy of Selichos!
My eyes misted.
I truly felt as if our dear Rov was offering chizuk to me, during a time of personal challenge just as he had done for me and for so many privileged others, during his lifetime.
May Hashem accept all of our tefillot for a gezunten yeor!