A chassid, who lives in Bnei Brak, did business with a secular man who lived in the Gaza Envelope, let’s call him Eran.
Last Chol HaMoed Succot, Eran called the chassid and said he needed to see him about some business that couldn’t wait. The chassid was reluctant to do business on Succot, but since it couldn’t wait, he told Eran to meet him after Shacharit the next day.
“What’s Shacharit?” Eran wanted to know. That’s how far removed he was from Judaism.
The chassid gave him the name of the shul he prayed at and they arranged to meet after this mysterious Shacharit, which took longer than Eran thought.
The chassid appeared in full regalia, shtreimel on head, a tallit draped over his shoulders, and lulav and etrog in hand. Eran was naturally flummoxed at the sight. Having conducted their business, the chassid offered Eran the chance to bless the lulav. Eran demurred, at first, but eventually gave in and even recited the Shema at the chassid’s behest. And the chassid videoed the whole thing.
A few days later brought the horrible and devastating news of October 7th. The chassid tried to contact Eran to see if he was okay. After being unable to reach him, he called his family who told him that Eran was missing. Eventually, they received the tragic news that Eran was among the victims of the massacre.
The chassid asked the family for the details of the funeral, wanting to pay his last respects to his business associate. The family told him that they would not be burying Eran but cremating him, instead. The Chassid was of course horrified by this information and started trying to convince them to have him buried. He called repeatedly until the family threatened to call the police if he bothered them again.
The chassid, knowing the severity of the prohibited act of cremation wouldn’t give up. He decided to try one last time. He called and told them, “Your son was a ba’al teshuva and wouldn’t want to be cremated.” Of course they didn’t believe him. “But I have proof,” he said, and the chassid sent them the video of their son Eran waving the lulav and reciting the Shema.
Seeing this, the family relented and gave the chassid Eran’s body to bury as he saw fit and that’s how Eran merited a kosher Jewish burial. The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah. And the timing of his one mitzvah was nothing less than a miracle!
