Hi,
Hope you’re having a great day!
… I have to share this with you!
It’s a story that didn’t make the newspapers.
But it should have!
It was February 1st. Super Bowl Sunday.
And the day of Chicago’s great blizzard.
The Polstein and Nathan families were looking forward to this day.
Their children were getting married.
The wedding was scheduled for 4:00 at the Midwest Conference Center.
In Northlake!
A 45 minute drive under the best of conditions!
Both families reached a tough decision at 10:00 a.m.
It was simply too dangerous for people to drive out there.
The wedding was canceled!
Then, at approximately 10:04?
Rabbi Yosef Polstein got a phone call from the CEO of Hebrew Theological College.
It’s also known as Skokie Yeshiva. Where Rabbi Polstein has taught for 30 years.
“Have the wedding here! We can do it!”
The bride and groom were consulted. They agreed.
A message was sent out to the community about the change in venue.
The wedding was called for 1:00 p.m. In three hours!
(Conditions were getting progressively worse.)
They would have a short reception in honor of the bride and groom.
The marriage ceremony would be in the Yeshiva’s study hall.
And then there would be traditional festive dancing. Lots of it!
No meal would be served.
Did people come?
Yes…
Four hundred!
Many brought trays of cookies, cake, fruit and nuts!
And when the guests went home after the dancing?
Friends ordered food from two local restaurants, Shallots and Milt’s.
And volunteers served the immediate family!
It was the most beautiful and memorable wedding anyone had ever attended!
… One more thing.
Rabbi Polstein isn’t just a teacher at the Yeshiva.
He loves his students and they love him.
And the boys in the yeshiva are not only taught to know the Talmud.
They’re taught to live the Talmud!
How being spiritual includes doing acts of kindness.
And the teenage boys rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Turning the Yeshiva into a wedding hall!
They picked up brooms and mops and scrubbed the floors.
Got out the snow blowers and cleared the parking lot.
And they did their best to make the yeshiva as beautiful as possible!
… If you’ve been reading my Torah Minutes for a while?
You know what I always say about the Super Bowl.
How it’s fine if we enjoy a good game.
But if the players we are watching are our kids’ role models?
We have a problem.
Because our kids are cheated if we don’t provide real role models for them.
Kids need heroes.
But they should be great people.
_Not great athletes!_
I think we should tell our kids about these Yeshiva boys.
Because I don’t know how great they are at football.
But they sure are great role models!
And they were the true heroes of Super Bowl Sunday!
All the best,