The Magnitude of the Moment | Rabbi Doniel Osher Kleinman

Before I left Philadelphia Yeshiva to go learn in Eretz Yisroel, I asked my Rebbe, R’ Shmuel Kamenetsky shlit”a, What's the most important thing that I'm looking for in Eretz Yisroel? The Rosh Yeshiva told me, Learning is important, but what you’re going to Eretz Yisroel for is to see a different lifestyle. You're going to see Yidden who live on a different plane. Instead of having chandeliers in their bathroom, they can have a light bulb hanging from a wire in the ceiling in their dining room. They speak about different things. Their life is different. Their מהות is different. Their essence is different. That's what you're going to see. That's what you're going to pick up. And so, when I was in Eretz Yisroel as a Bochur, on Shabbos, I used to go for Seudos to Yerushalmi Yidden. I used to frequent an Amshinover family, a Yerushalmi family, fifth generation Yerushalmis, and I used to go with a Chaver, with a Chavrusa, and we would go there Shabboses quite often. Now, one time we went to this Yerushalmi Mishpacha, and he was about to make a Bar Mitzvah. And he told us that when he was becoming Bar Mitzvah, his father brought him to the Steipler זכרונו לברכה, and his father asked the Steipler: What can you tell my son, what can we tell my son before he becomes Bar Mitzvah? What's the message this boy has to hear? The Steipler told the Bar Mitzvah Bochur an incredible thing. He said: You're going to now become a Bar Mitzvah. You're going to become obligated to keep Torah and Mitzvos, to do Mitzvos, to stay away from Aveiros. You have a responsibility like anybody else. He said: People think when they have a Nisayon, when they have a test, many times they feel like they're alone in their Nisayon. You're alone in a room, you're driving in your car, you're walking down the street. Nobody knows what you're thinking, where you're looking, what you're doing, nobody knows anything. You think you're alone. Yet, the Steipler told him, in Shomayim, you're in the middle of an arena. Imagine you're on that big screen, and there are thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. The Steipler said: There are Mal’achim there watching. Eliyahu HaNavi is there, the Ribono shel Olam is there, and they're all cheering for you. It's your moment. It's your moment to succeed. And... it could be the moment that, רחמנא לצלן, you fail. And the Steipler said: Recognize that if you succeed, it becomes a Yom Tov in Shomayim. The Mal’achim cheer. They’re ecstatic with joy. Eliyahu HaNavi, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, they're filled with pride over your success. And if you fail, you've let them down. Everybody goes home, disappointed, until the next time. You know, growing up as a young boy in America, I remember there were moments, a baseball player, in the top of the ninth, or a closer in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded, he's called into a tough situation. He could either rescue the team or everybody goes home disappointed. He loses the game. A football player, with that last play of the game, down by six, they can score a touchdown and everybody goes home. Hundreds of thousands of fans, millions of people around the world, elated. And if not, you let everybody down. A basketball player, on the free throw line, down by one, he has two free throws. Tens of thousands of fans cheering. If he loses, everybody goes home disappointed. If he wins, it's elation. It's the greatest joy in the world. Each and every day, we are given these special opportunities. It's an opportunity for us, but more importantly, it's an opportunity for Klal Yisroel. We're part of a team. And the Ribono shel Olam sends us opportunities, He sends us tests. And it's up to us. We can pass the test and it becomes a celebration in Shomayim. We can fail the test, and then we have to wait till next time. The next time you're confronted with a test, remember, So many people, so many Mal’achim, everything hinges on you, everyone is counting on you. This is your opportunity to carry the team.