Davening with the Tstudents, redux

It's really a pleasure spending time with my son out at his Yeshiva, if for not other reason, all these young men come to me and greet me, calling me "Mr. Gursky". It is natural on their part, not at all forced.

Davening with the Tstars -- Tzadeks and Tstudents...

A few interesting things of note these past few weeks.

1. Grand Rabbi Moshe Taub, the Kalover Rebbe, was in Fairfax at the beginning of Chesven and I met with him briefly. The meeting was memorable for how simply unremarkable it was. We shook hands and he pronounced that I was under a great deal of stress. [I mean no disrespect here, but it seems one could make that statement about almost anyone you randomly pick![
   
   As we parted, he wished I should find my beshert and have many healthy children. I politely responded with a thank you, but that I already had three children.
   
   When you meet this Rebbe, you fill out a small form with some basic information -- your name, your marital status, your parents, and your siblings or children. There are two forms -- one for single people and one for married people. Being single, I used that. Unfortunately, there's no accommodation on the form for divorced people!
   
2. Three days ago, I drove up to New York City so that I could say Tehillim at my Dad's grave, in advance of his first Yahrtzeit a week from Tuesday. At my Rabbi's urging, I also stopped at the Ohel, the graves of the Rabbis Yosef Yitzhak Schneerson and Menachem Mendel Schneerson; the sixth and seventh leaders of the Chabad Lubavitch movement.
   
   One of my Rabbi's younger brothers met me there and discussed the Ohel a bit. He invited me to write a short note with whatever I cared to say, and then escorted me into the cemetery and out to the grave-sites. I read Tehillim, and then tore up my letter and placed it on he grave, along with uncounted other notes.
   
   The Rebbes' graves are walled off from the rest of the cemetery, and while I don't know why, I presume it is to maintain some sense of decorum for the others in the cemetery. The consequence of this is that when I was there, most of the area was shaded, but I was actually in a sunny spot. For a few minutes, that stress that Rabbi Taub sensed in me passed and a feeling of serenity fell upon me.
   
3. After New York, I drove out to spend time with my children, in particular my older son who is attending Yeshiva. This is parent's weekend, and I get to spend time davening and learning with my son. There is no feeling like this. My grandparents and great-grandparents left Europe to find a better life for themselves and their children here in the United States, but at the cost of our heritage as Jews. My parents and I worked to fulfil that vision, and it is my objective to pay that back, and facilitate my children's return to that heritage, albeit in terms that are functional for the 21st century. Spending this weekend with my son at his yeshiva is satisfying in ways that cannot be voiced.

Shavuah tov.