The Power of a Kind Word Yoeli’s

I had the merit of spending winter break in the holy city of Jerusalem. The mikveh at Kahal Chasidim in Rechavia is spectacular. There are three borros with varying temperatures. The Litvak is basically a plunge pool. The Chusid is about 104 degrees and is used the most. The Super Chusid is really amazing, it literally burns the shmutz off your neshama although you do get 3rd-degree burns.

I went with my son one morning and as we were leaving, a guy asked permission to say something to my son. To my son he said something like “you have an awesome father who gives you hadracha in life.” Then he turned to me and said “keep up the good work!” I can’t remember what I said to my son in fluence to bring out the true shefa, divine influence. Similarly, by Yetzias Mitzrayim, Hashem promised the Avos that he would take us out of Egypt which is a shefa of geula, but to unlock that shefa, we needed to do Bris Milah and Karbon Pesach. These two acts caused a release that allowed the Geula to happen. the mikveh to warrant his comments, but something struck a chord with him. I cannot describe the joy I had from this stranger’s words. It really touched me and opened up my heart. I felt physically different for a few hours. It amazes me that this man made himself vulnerable to say something and put himself out there to complete strangers. My greatest take away from the whole scenario is that our words have so much power. Sometimes a few kind words to a total stranger can change trajectories for people, which can later have so many reverberating effects which we don’t initially think about.

What Hashem was telling Moshe was that for you to unlock the shefa of the Torah, you, Moshe, need to help Me! You need to bring in an outside influence to unpack the full shefa of the Torah. Like a seed, the Torah must be watered to reach its full potential. Hashem tells Moshe to unlock the full shefa of the Torah, you should help Me by saying, Titzlach Milachtecha, which are words of encouragement.

I heard a Torah thought from my grandfather Reb Shlomo Freifeld about a gemara in Shabbos that describes, in allegorical form, an exchange between Hashem and Moshe. Moshe went to heaven to bring down the Torah and walked in when Hashem was attaching the crowns to some of the letters of the Aleph Bais. Moshe was silent when he entered the room so Hashem said “Moshe, they don’t say Shalom Aleichem where you come from?” Moshe replied, “It’s not proper for a servant to say Shalom Aleichem to his Master.” To which Hashem replied, “If you are my servant, you should have helped me.” Rashi comments on the words “you should have helped me” that Moshe should have said Titzlach Milachtecha, “May your work be successful.” Moshe then goes on to deliver words of encouragement to Hashem.

Many influences in this world are linked with other factors which ultimately bring an item to completion. For example, an apple seed represents the potential that, when watered, will grow into a fruit. The seed needs an outside in-

The message is so clear. Words have the ability to unlock the greatest shefa in the world—the Torah. In each one of us, there are mountains of potential shefa. People spend their lives drawing out this potential through selfgrowth, self-awareness, or positive self-messaging, which equals a lot of SELF work. However, there is a part of drawing out the potential that is reliant on outside influences. It’s the people around you, the people you interact with. These outside influences help us draw out our own shefa. Man is called Adam because like adama, earth, is just raw potential, so, too, man is raw potential. If you stick an apple seed in the dirt it will grow into apples and if you use a tomato seed, tomatoes will grow. So, too, man is raw potential. To draw out the full potential of man, we need to use our influence and words in a positive way to help each other unlock our full potential.

One of the things that my Saba constantly preached was saying Shalom Aleichem to somebody who is new to your makom. When someone is in a new place it is natural to be somewhat guarded. When you walk over and give that person a big Shalom Aleichem and make them feel welcome, you are unlocking their potential and creativity. Let’s start the Shalom Aleichem movement!! If you see something, say something!!

Yoel Halpern is to bring some of his fondest childhood memories back to life in the Los Angeles community. With that in mind, Yoel, along with many friends and local Rabbis, started the LA Mishmar, a movement of growth and vulnerability sweeping through LA. Yoel lives with his wife and three children in LA.