Join us each week as we journey across the United States and gather words of Torah from rabbanim representing each of the fifty states. This week we are pleased to feature divrei Torah from Rabbi Benny Zippel, of Provo, Utah.
Chassidus points out an interesting theme which helps us contrast the life and behavior of three great Biblical personalities.
For starters, we have Noach. As described to us in this week’s parsha, when Noach was confronted with the fact that Hashem wanted to bring a flood and destroy all of humanity but intended to keep him and his family safe, he didn’t offer much in the way of resistance.
A short few weeks later, we are introduced to Avraham Avinu, who, upon finding out about Hashem’s plan to destroy Sodom and its neighbors, spends a significant amount of time pleading with Hashem to spare them, but, when informed that his requests were not going to be heeded, dejectedly turns and walks away.
Lastly comes Moshe Rabbeinu. Following Cheit Ha’egel, when Hashem informs Moshe of His plan to eradicate the Jewish Nation, Moshe boldly presents Hashem with an ultimatum: either you forgive them and all of the sins they have committed, or I have nothing more to do with You.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught us that this must be the attitude and approach one Jew takes towards the physical or spiritual wellbeing of another. Even in the most drastic of circumstances, a Jew can never be written off completely and one must even be willing to endure total mesirus nefesh for another’s sake.
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For over 19 years, Rabbi Benny Zippel, through Project H.E.A.R.T. (Hebrew Education for At-Risk Teens), has been visiting treatment centers to talk with Jewish teens about their faith, their lives and God’s role in their recovery.
Parents nationwide send their teens to the treatment centers for months or years at a time for afflictions ranging from depression to drug abuse to eating disorders. These centers are prevalent in Utah partly because state law allows parents to place teenagers in them without the children’s consent, said Glen Zaugg, president of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs and president and CEO of Heritage School in Provo.
They are not places the bearded, Italian-born rabbi ever expected his work to take him to when he moved to Salt Lake City in 1992 as a recently ordained rabbi with Chabad Lubavitch. Soon after arriving in Utah, however, a call from Southern California changed his expectations. A Jewish man phoned to ask the rabbi if he could reach out to his teen, who was in a treatment center.
“The first thought that crossed my mind,” Rabbi Zippel recalled, “was, ‘What is a Jewish 15-year-old boy from Southern California, from the L.A. area, doing in Provo, Utah?’”
But Zippel fulfilled the father’s request, visiting the boy about once a week to talk about Jewish holidays and help him fulfill the mitzvah of wearing tefillin. One day, Zippel casually asked the teen if he was the only Jew at the center. The boy replied no, saying there were probably a dozen.
“I was amazed,” Rabbi Zippel said, “that all these Jewish kids are here in our own little state of Utah, and they basically have no connection to Judaism whatsoever.”
Now, over two decades later, Rabbi Zippel spends several days a week visiting more than a dozen treatment centers in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Cache counties. He spends about an hour a week at each center, huddling with students to celebrate holidays and to discuss Judaism and their lives. He works with more than 200 kids who attend his sessions voluntarily, and almost all of whom are from out of state.