Bring Them Home | Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

ברוכים הבאים בשם השם. There is a fascinating Gemara in Psachim that says that there are those הקדוש ברוך הוא מכריז עליהם בכל יום. Rava says: Who are they? They are the great Rav Chanina and Rav Oshaya. What did Rav Chanina and Rav Oshaya do that was so great that Hashem was מכריז, that Hashem singled them out and praised them every day? They were shoemakers in the marketplace in Eretz Yisroel. There were immoral women that used to come into the store for shoes, and Rav Chanina and Rav Oshaya would never look up. They would always look down at the ground. The women couldn't get over it. They were shocked that the people, the men shouldn't even look at us? After a while, their Tzidkus became known throughout Eretz Yisroel. And in fact, even those immoral women, when they would take an oath, they would always say, By the name of the great Tzaddikim in Eretz Yisroel, like those two, who are shoemakers. There is a great Ko’ach beyond our imagination in Shmiras Einayim, in just trying to guard our eyes, to be a little bit more careful. There was an amazing incident that happened, where in London, England, there was a young boy that was kidnapped, held hostage. The parents, they had no idea where he was being held. The police in London, they tried everything. After a while, they came back to the parents and they said: Listen, he's not coming back. But parents that have אמונה שלימה, they don't accept these kind of words. They went to Eretz Yisroel, to go to the great Rabbi Meir Abuhatzeira, זכר צדיק לברכה, זכותו יגן עלינו, the son of the great Baba Sali, who since this boy, Meir, was a little boy, guarded his eyes, always put the covering over his eyes, never saw anything that he shouldn't in the world, even a בהמה טמאה, even a חיה. As soon as the door opened, they began to cry. They broke down. Rabbi, you are our last hope. Rabbi Meir Abuhatzeira called for them to bring him paper and pen. He sketched something, and he said: Do you recognize this? The father says: It looks like my house. And he sketched another place. And he says: And does this look familiar to you? He says: Yes, that is a building three blocks away. Rabbi Meir looked up at him and said, On the third floor of that house, you are going to find your son. The police went on the third floor of the house. They found the missing son, the son that was kidnapped. He was brought back home, safe and sound. Vayimaen does in Klal Yisroel something that is beyond our imagination. To get people to be attuned, to be more careful, to watch their eyes, and we are all trying to be better. In the zchus of the work of Vayimaen, in the zchus of all of us who are trying so hard, Shmiras Einayim, may we find all of the hostages that we don't know where they're at, and may they all be returned home, safe and sound. Amen.