The illiterate Jew who worked in the mosad

 Rabbi Meir Abuchatzeira (Baba Meir) was the eldest son of the Baba Sali. In 1965, he

made Aliyah from Morocco and settled in Ashdod; he was very close to Chabad, having

served for many years as the head of the Chabad Yeshiva in Midelt, Morocco.

In 1962, when he was still living in Morocco, the Israeli Mossad conducted “Operation

Yachin,” a giant effort to resettle about eighty-thousand Moroccan Jews in the Holy

Land. During that time, a Jew named Yitzchak Turgeman came Baba Meir, explaining

that he very much wanted to join the wave of people making Aliyah, but he was anxious:

He was uneducated, and completely illiterate. Unable to even read or write, how would

he support himself and get around in a new country? Baba Meir told him, “Make the trip

and don’t worry. G-d takes care of everyone and everything, and He surely knows how to

take care of you, too.” When Rabbi Meir saw that the man was still hesitant, he added,

"Know that the fact that you are illiterate will help you find a livelihood."

So it was. Like so many others, Yitzchak Turgeman immigrated to Israel, where he was

given an apartment in designated immigrant housing. It wasn’t long before he found

himself waiting on line at the employment office, where his fears started gnawing at him.

“There are so many other people here are educated, many even with university degrees.

How can I compete with anyone if I can’t even read or write?” When his turn came, he

introduced himself as a new immigrant from Morocco looking for work, and without

thinking he blurted out, “But I don’t know how to read or write.” Instantly, he regretted

it; who says such things during an employment interview? But then he remembered Baba

Meir’s promise. “Trust the words of the tzaddik” he told himself, and this put his mind at

ease.

Back in his apartment a few hours later, he received a call from the Israeli Defense

Ministry. “Come for an interview at our headquarters first thing tomorrow morning,” a

voice said tersely.” And so, at exactly seven-thirty the next morning, he arrived at the

“Kiryah” (Israeli military headquarters) in Tel Aviv. He loitered around waiting for

someone to call him for his appointment. People came and went, but nobody paid any

attention to him. He began to think someone had played a big prank on him, but at noon

a clerk approached him and called him inside. After his interview, he was informed that

he was hired for an important job: “Our national defense company Rafael develops some

of the most advanced weapons in the world; in the course of our work we accumulate a

vast amount of paperwork, which must be shredded daily. But for security purposes, we

need someone we know will not read any of the classified material before shredding it.

This whole morning, we kept an eye on you. We left newspapers and magazines lying

around, to see if you would pick one up and read it, but you didn’t. In fact, at one point

you were so bored you finally picked up a newspaper, but you held it upside down! It is

clear that you truly don’t know how to read—and that’s the kind of person we need for

this job!”

Turgeman ended up working at Rafael Industries for many years. Even when he passed

retirement age, he was kept on staff because the company couldn’t find another hire who

couldn’t read quite like him.

Joke - Trapped in the Library

"What time does the library open?" the man on the phone asked. "Nine A.M." came the reply. "And what's the idea of calling me at home in the middle of the night to ask a question like that?" "Not until nine A.M.?" the man asked in a disappointed voice. "No, not till nine A.M.!" the librarian said. "Why do you want to get in before nine A.M.?" "Who said I wanted to get in?" the man sighed sadly. "I want to get out."

Elephants in Circus

Did you ever go to the circus? Remember those huge elephants that weighed several tons who were held in place by a small chain wrapped around one of their huge legs, and held to the ground by a small wooden stake? If those huge elephants wanted to, they could walk right through those small chains and that small wooden stake like a hot knife going through butter. But they don’t. Why is that?

When they were little baby elephants, they were chained down by those same small chains and the small wooden stakes. But to them, as babies, they couldn’t move. They tried and tried and tried again and could not release themselves from those chains and stakes. And then, an interesting thing happens. They stop trying. They gave up. They developed a belief system. 

Now, as adult elephants, they don’t try because they are programmed to believe that there efforts would be useless – in vain. They simply don’t try because the memory of trying as babies is their main program.

And as huge, adult elephants, they don’t even try. So they’re held in prison by their beliefs.

The same is true with the elephant in each of us. 

Dvar Torah: Moses’ Wealth

"Carve for yourself two stone Tablets." (Numbers 10:1)

The Rabbis, always sensitive to nuance, focus on the word "lecha" — "for yourself" — which seems superfluous. The verse could have states “Carve two stone Tablets.” What does it mean “Carve for yourself?”

The Talmud (Nedarim 38a) deduces that Moses was permitted to keep the chips of the second Tablets, which made him very wealthy.

Q) It seems a bit distasteful, that Moses is making money from the sacred Tablets containing the Ten Commandments!?

A) Rebbe Rashab.[4]

The second Tablets could not be compared to the first Tablets. While the first were created by G-d himself, the second were created by a human being—Moses.  He carved out the stone into Tablets and only then did G-d inscribe on the Ten Commandments.

It is from the “chips” of the Tablets that Moses acquired his true wealth. The first Tablets had no “chips,” they had no “left over” pieces that go to the garbage, they had no undesirable accessories. The second Tablets, in contrast, had many a chip. For they represented our confrontation with darkness and addiction, with promiscuity, insecurity and shame.

It is from the confrontation with our inner gravel, with our proclivities to depression, failure, weakness and capitulation, that we grow to discover an inner wealth not available in the heavenly, pure and holy first Tablets given by G-d himself to pure and innocent people.

“if I knew how to sign my name I would have become the shamash"

An immigrant got off the boat in NY. With no language and no contacts, he went looking for a menial job at the local Lower East Side synagogue. He applied to be the shamash (sexton) of the shul. Following a positive interview, he was given a contract to sign. Instead of signing his name he placed an X on the dotted line. “No, that will not do,” said the employer, “we need you to sign the contract with your full name.” “I can’t,” the greenhorn immigrant blurted out, “I don’t how to write.” “Well, in that case, I am sorry but we cannot hire you. The job requires someone who can write in English.”

Dejected, he left and went off searching for opportunities. Resourceful as he was, with a pinch of desperation, he eked out a job. Over the years, with diligence, ingenuity and persistence he climbed the ladder and ultimately became a very prosperous man. He became known in town for his enormous wealth, and was greatly respected by his peers and above all, by the banks that readily issued him the loans he requested.

One day, a new bank manager was going over this fellow’s latest loan application, and notices that instead of a signature there is an X at the bottom. The manager calls him up and says, “my dear sir, you forgot to sign the application.” “I did sign it with an X,” he replied. She was bewildered. “Why do you sign with an X and not with your name, if I may ask.” “Well,” he sheepishly replied, “I never learned how to sign my name.” The bank manager smiled and remarked: “Now listen here. You made so much money without knowing the language. Just imagine how much more successful you would have become had you received an education and learned to sign your name.”

“Madam,” the gentleman calmly said, “if I knew how to sign my name I would have become the shamash in the local synagogue…”