My husband came home from shul Shabbos Parshas Yisro 5783 and announced, “There were fourteen brisim in Bobover Bais Medrash this week kein yirbe!” No wonder, because in such a large congregation with thousands of members, it is quite plausible that so many baby boys were born.
I recall going to the Bobover Bais Medrash, Congregation Shaarei Tzion on Fifteenth Avenue and Forty-Eighth Street in Boro Park, over twenty years ago to hear them blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana. I arrived on time with my young children. Unbeknown to me at the time, if there is a bris on Rosh Hashana, it is held just before shofar blowing. It is quite auspicious to connect the bond of milah to the blowing of the shofar.
Although I prepared toys and snacks, my children still found it hard to keep quiet for so long. The climax was when one child ripped my pearl necklace and the pearls started rolling all over the freshly shined slippery parquet floors. I was beyond embarrassed as all the women watched, some with a sympathetic smile (one day they’ll grow up!) and some with irritation (really now!).
Just a few years later my Benzion was born, two long weeks after his due date. Although he was born on a regular weekday, his bris was scheduled for just a week later, Rosh Hashana! I actually wanted to send a message out to all the young mothers, “Don’t assume shofar blowing will commence immediately. There is a bris planned!” The Bobover Ruv, shlit”a in fact gave a beautiful speech beforehand, explaining the significance of the blood of milah connecting to the mitzvah of shofar. On his white kittel there was some splattered blood as he was sandak at my son’s bris, and with the badge of honor, the Ruv stood up to blow the shofar.
Last year on Rosh Hashana L’ilanos, Tu B’Shvat 5782, a man was collecting money for tzedaka. He asked Reb Chaim, one of the gabbaim of the Bobover Rebbi, to give him a donation. Reb Chaim took out a dollar from his pocket and handed it to the man. The meshulach must have had a difficult day and began yelling at Reb Chaim, “How are you not embarrassed to give me such a paltry sum?! You should be ashamed of yourself! All the gabbaim of the great Rebbis give me hundred-dollar bills, and at the minimum a twenty!” He continued with his barrage of insults, which The Jewish Press surely would find unfit to print, and this was in front of the whole congregation. Thousands of men became silent, trying to understand what Reb Chaim did to deserve such treatment.
Reb Chaim was his usual self; cool, calm, and collected. Years of being a gabbai taught him to just roll along with the punches. Suddenly, Reb Yitzchok, a yungerman, ran over to Reb Chaim. He began, “Reb Chaim, you know me well. I am married for over five years, and I was not yet blessed with children. You were now humiliated in front of the whole bais medrash. Can you please bless me that I should have children, zera shel kayama?” Unflappable Reb Chaim turned to the young man and blessed him that Hashem should give him healthy children and whatever his heart desires.
The incident was soon forgotten as the congregation got busy with Purim celebrations and preparing for Pesach. On Shavuos, the shul was decorated with the most beautiful floral presentations, and suddenly summer arrived.
This past Parshas Yisro, just two days after Tu B’Shvat, however, a very special bris took place. Every Jewish boy that is born is a gift to his family and the Jewish nation, but the little boy born to Reb Yitzchok is a cherished reward to a father who knew how to take advantage of a difficult challenge and turn it into an auspicious wonderful moment!
