“Small people do big things, big people do small things”

So said Rabbi David Kronglas, spiritual guide at the Ner Israel Rabbinical College in the last generation. 

Rabbi Kronglas was trying to impress upon his students the importance of small and meaningful actions. People who make large sweeping motions with great pomp and circumstance may not be the ones to be relied upon in a pinch. The truly great people are the ones who quietly lend support and get the deed done, in spite of the lack of publicity. Very often the greatness of a person can be glimpsed in quiet actions that we may discover wholly by accident. 

A sweet case in point:

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was an internationally revered Jewish leader in 20th century America. A giant of a leader, despite his slight stature, Rabbi Feinstein was universally regarded for his encyclopedic Judaic knowledge and incisive leadership. When he passed away in 1985 the grief in the Jewish community was overwhelming. 

The Friday after his passing, one of his children answered the phone in Rabbi Feinstein’s study. The caller was an elderly widow, a woman who apparently was unaware of the passing of the leader of the generation. She innocently asked for the Rabbi as she was calling to inquire what time she should light the Shabbat candles. The Rabbi’s son was appalled, why would someone call the greatest Rabbi of the generation with such a mundane question? When he gently asked her why she would direct her inquiry to the great rabbi, she responded that she had been calling him with that very question every Friday for 40 years! 

No one but this lonely widow knew about this profound kindness. This great man had all the time and patience for someone in need. 

Small deeds do indeed point out greatness!

This weeks Torah portion is Eikev. 

The portion begins with the exhortation to follow the Torah precepts. 

The word Eikev means “if”. 

If you will follow the commandments, Gd will honor the covenant made with our Forefathers. 

But Eikev is an unusual word. It’s not the word usually used for this connotation. 

It is a sign that there is a message at hand. 

Rashi,  the major Torah commentator, explains that the word Eikev also means a heel.  It is a message to us not to take small things lightly. This refers to the commandments we might think are unimportant, the ones we might “step” on with our heel. They may seem small and inconsequential, but these are the commandments which we should not forget. It is the “small” commandments which can actually build us the most. 

It is the small actions that can be life changing.

A lollipop moment!

On the last day of his college career, a young man was approached by a girl who wanted to say goodbye. She told him he had a profound effect on her life and she was forever grateful. The only curious thing was they didn’t know one another.

The young lady described their one and only meeting. She had come to school with her  parents who had accompanied her to the first day of college orientation four years prior. She was petrified to leave home. During the orientation her fear became so overwhelming, she decided to return home. At that moment the young man in question approached her handing out lollipops. He gave one to the guy standing next to her and said “why don’t you give a lollipop to the lovely lady standing next to you?”

After he complied, the young man turned to the parents and said “she just left home and she’s already taking candy from strangers!”

Everyone burst out laughing and the young lady felt a sense of peace overcome her. She knew she’d be able to make it in this new environment. 

So four years later she thanked this young man, to whom she had never spoken to again, for changing her life. 

Because not only did he secure her college career he also secured her future- because she ended up marrying the guy who was told to pass her a lollipop. 

A true story and a lollipop moment. 

Let’s look for those little kindnesses we can do, the small mitzvot of Chessed we can accomplish. To us they may be small enough to step on but by taking the opportunity we may change a life-and it may even be our own. 

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!