Transcript
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with you a story and with this story I
think it will help us understand a
little bit. So until world war I was
ruled by Turkeykey's Ottoman Empire and
after the war the league of nations
placed Great Britain in charge of
Isisel. What happened is in 1920 the
British appointed someone named Herbert
Samuel. He was a gid that wasn't
religious to serve as the commissioner
of Palestine which meant that he was the
main British official in charge of the
country was going through change [music]
and it really came through through this
man Herbert Samuel and one of Herbert
Samuel's first official jobs was to
visit the country's important raim the
rabbis and show them kvet show them
respect and his schedule included a
visit to the great big saddic the saddic
of
kim zenfeld the chief [music] RV of
Yoshalim who lived in the old city lived
in a very simple basement apartment
[music] he had no luxuries he didn't
have not anything he didn't even have
electricity and Misha Blau the
administrator of the Israel was
arranging the meeting between Mr. Samuel
and the chief rabbi
and he felt that out of respect even
though was the of the saddic he felt
that apartment was a little too simple
for such an important visitor for such
an important meeting and he asked if he
would agree to meet Mr. Samuel in a
[music] nicer, more suitable home. Ysef
looked at
the rabbi, the chief rabbi, and he said,
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to
refuse." And he said that [music] it
would be borderline sheer. It would be
dishonest to make it seem as though he
lived somewhere [music] else.
Rabbi Blau, understanding and of course
respecting DV's decision, suggested
another idea that maybe [music] they
could buy Kim a new table and chairs to
replace the old rickety shaky furniture
and again
refused again and he said this would
also be dishonest because it would make
his home look different [music] only for
the visit.
Rab blau saw that was unwavering. He
would not change his decision and not
agree to make any sort of modifications
any adjustments. He was going to be
exactly who he was and he's not
changing. this is who he was and if you
want to meet great if not okay
and therefore
Rabbi Blau went according [music] to
Kim's
stance his position and he arranged the
meeting for Wednesday midday in Kim's
own home in the old city on the day of
the visit [music] a group of police and
entourage and officers all came and
escorted the high commissioner and and
the people traveling with him. The group
bringing in Mr. Samuel made their way
through the narrow twisty alleyways of
the old city, the [music] finally they
reached Bate Mak which is where he
lived. And when they finally arrived,
he's wearing big day y to show his honor
and respect for the high commissioner.
And
Sir Herbert Samuel he was not only the
commissioner but he was also the
representative [music] of the king of
England. He was a very important man and
felt that even though it was a
regular day of the week but it was
proper to be wearing big day [music]
shabas for this great meeting for cover
for a meal.
What happened now was astounding.
As Sir Herbert walked down the steps
into Kim's small little basement
apartment, he looked around the little
home and he jokingly asked him, he said
he couldn't find a smaller, simpler
apartment.
And obviously understood the joke
and he turned to this important, [music]
very well-dressed Mr. Herbert and said
the following. He said, "Please come
with me to the window. I want to show
you something." And you have to
understand
what happened was the two men went over
to the window and from there they were
able to see the Marovi in the distance.
But at that time as we explained the
Arabs purposely they were in charge and
they kept the kisel in a very dirty very
disgraceful [music]
condition. And today when we visit the
kisul it's clean it's beautiful it's
shimmering and it's pristine with the
beautiful [music]
white rocks of the kisul filled with
people davening. But back then it was
very very different. The old city was
controlled by Arabs and they purposely
left the dirty and neglected. There was
no large plaza, no place for thousands
of yidden to gather together and it did
not have the beauty and respect
that we see today. And as Mr. Herbert
and and go to the window
pointed [music] toward heaven to the sky
and he said look look at the
with his hands up to Shayim
and he said if he
can [music] live like that
then I can live like this.
And what [music]
was telling Mr. Herbert Samuel is if aes
can live in pain and his engul.
But it's the most serious matter in the
world. You made a joke about my
apartment, but this is exactly why. I
don't have air conditioning. I don't
have nicer [music] chairs. I don't have
a nicer table. I don't have a roomy
sitting
