A Levite in the Music Store | Rabbi Reuven Schmeltzer

R’ Dovid Feinstein once asked his father, the groyse R’ Moshe, who was always happy, R’ Moshe had difficult times. Every day was hard. He had to run a Yeshiva, and he had people all over him, all day long, and he had difficulties and all kinds of ייסורים, and he said: Tatte, how do you manage to always be B’Simcha? And his father answered, How could I not be B’Simcha, if the Aibishter desires the Avoda of Moshe Feinstein? The quintessential עניו, R’ Moshe, looked at himself: Who am I? Simple Moshe Feinstein, and I was chosen to give Nachas Ruach to the Aibishter? How can I not be B’Simcha, when the Aibishter chose me for that? Realizing how valuable we are to Hashem requires constant work, and always we have to think about it. It's the strongest weapon we have against the Yetzer Hara. The Yetzer Hara is always enticing us and always making us think, Your actions don't really matter. You're just a small speck in the vast universe. You're insignificant. There's a גר צדק, R’ Avraham Goldstein, who speaks all over the world. He says over a story. He came from Puerto Rico, and he wound up somehow in Williamsburg and he became a Satmar Chosid and raised a Chasidishe family. One of his friends, who had a child who was struggling with Yiddishkeit, he was a 14-year-old boy, a 14-year-old Yoeli. The friend turned to R’ Avraham and he said, You've been on the other side. Maybe you could be Mashpiah, you could influence my son and speak to him. R’ Avraham tried to speak to the boy and he saw that the boy was totally impossible to talk to. He was angry, antagonistic. He didn’t know how to reach him. And he davened to Hashem for Siyata D’Shmaya and he had an idea. R’ Avraham Goldstein is a musician, and there’s a store, a sales and repair shop, a huge one, that he would go there for all his musical instruments. He figured: Let me try to bring this boy there, this Yoeli. The name of the man was John. John was a religious Catholic, and Avraham would always talk to him about the Bible and religious things. He comes to the store and he's holding Yoeli’s hand, and John sees him and says: Hi, Abe. How are you? He says: Here, let me introduce you to my Yoeli, my friend. He's a Levite, a Levi. John looks and says: A Levite? A real honest-to-goodness Levite? I can't believe it. He quickly calls into the intercom to all of the employees. He says: All employees come down to the lobby immediately. All seventy of his employees come from all the rooms, all along the huge building, from the repairs that they’re doing on guitars and clarinets, and they come running and they come down to the lobby. And he says: Guys, a Levite. This boy is an honest-to-goodness Levite. I'd like you all to get a blessing from him. The boy, Yoeli, looks at Avraham and he says, What does the madman want? He says: Don't worry. He knows you're a Levi and he wants you to give a Bracha. Put your hands on the heads of each of these fellows, Chevre here, and say: May God bless you. That's all you have to do. Okay. The first fellow comes, a six-footer, he puts his head down, Yoeli puts his hands on his head, and he says: May God bless you. He stands up with humility, walks away. Next one comes, puts his head down. May God bless you. All seventy stood in line and they got a Bracha from Yoeli. Afterwards, John thanks Yoeli with such humility, Thank you so much. A Levite. What a treat! What a great day we've had today. On the way to the car, R’ Avraham sees Yoeli’s crying, he’s sobbing uncontrollably. Yoeli, what's the problem? He says: I've never ever felt I had any importance that I'm a Levi. I never felt any uniqueness. This is the first time I felt that I'm worth anything. This turned out to be the impetus, this was what motivated him to become a Ben Torah, little by little, this feeling of value. R’ Moshe Feinstein understood, The Aibishter literally begs us, Serve me. Do it for me. I need you. Do Nachas Ruach for me. If the Aibishter needs my Avoda, how can I not be B’Simcha?