Musings Of A Shliach From Montana

By: Rabbi Chaim Bruk

The crowd gathered to hear Rabbi Perlstein and Cameron Hayes

Rabbi Chaim and Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn at Zalman’s 40th birthday party in 2022

Our visit to Grand Teton National Park while in Wyoming

The name of our parashah is Naso, which means to lift up. While last week in Bamidbar the family of Kehat was chosen to carry the most holy artifacts of the Mishkan, the Torah now tells us in Naso that we are to lift up Gershon and Merari too in their service of Hashem in the Mishkan. Perhaps it was not as glorious as the Kehat gang, perhaps it seemed more blue-collar, if you will, but serving in Hashem’s Mishkan is always an honor and must always be celebrated. Gershon and Merari carried the beams and curtains, not as holy as the Aron (the Holy Ark), but we could not have the Mishkan in full force, erected properly without them.

It’s so important to live a life of upliftment, always lifting ourselves up while simultaneously uplifting everyone around us. It’s so easy to put ourselves and others down, but the extra moment of thoughtfulness it takes to lift someone up is so valuable. My son Menny, whose bar mitzvah was celebrated just a few weeks ago, keeps asking our gabbai for an aliyah, and I told the gabbai that he should give him an aliyah every week. If a bar mitzvah boy or a young man wishes to celebrate his adulthood by standing and saying the berachos of the Torah, if that lifts him up in his Yiddishkeit even slightly, I’m all in.

Last week, we hosted Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Perlstein (@rabbiay), shliach to Salem, Oregon and chaplain at the Oregon State Penitentiary, and Mr. Cameron Hayes for a lecture at our Chabad Center.

It was fascinating to hear how Cameron, a former skinhead who spent fourteen years in prison including three years in solitary confinement, met Rabbi Perlstein at the prison, and eventually built a friendship that changed Cameron’s life for the better. He is now out of prison, married for two years, about to have his first baby, and he’s educating the world about the insanity of neo-Nazism. The Rabbi’s kindness led to a changed life. By showing kindness to Cameron, Rabbi Perlstein lifted him up so he would believe more in himself and those around him.

A crowd of close to sixty sat mesmerized as they heard their gripping story, not because they were the most eloquent or charismatic speakers, but because they spoke with such sincerity, integrity, and truth, and we saw a glimpse into the soul of a person who genuinely cares about others and a person who is the recipient of that kindness. Moments of spiritual uplift can and should be introduced into our day-to-day lives; it’s what makes the world go round.

During Shavuos we had so many small moments of inspiration seeing souls being uplifted. Before yom tov, I texted about 150 community members to invite them to our event: “Sushi, Cheesecake and Ten Commandments.” It was a simple gesture designed to bring as many of Bozeman’s Jews as possible to celebrate Matan Torah. Since it was also Memorial Day weekend as well as a PIR (teacher education) day for the Bozeman Public Schools, many people were away camping, fishing, boating, etc., but we invited them and, in the process, we ensured that the entire town knew it was one of the three major Jewish festivals and whoever makes it was a win for Klal Yisrael.

About sixty people showed up for the Aseres Hadibros and stayed for the lavish, mouthwatering lunch. Yet, during yom tov, I caught a few special moments that really tugged at my heartstrings that I’d like to share:

The Rebbe, zt’l, encouraged men, women, children, and even infants to come to shul to hear the Aseres Hadibros. The holiness of the moment, the spirituality that is showered on those in attendance, even if they don’t understand the Kriyas HaTorah, is immeasurable. A local Jewish woman named Natalie was away for work, but her non-Jewish husband was home with their baby, a baby who had the zechus to have his bris milah at our shul last year and was named Moshe on Zayin Adar. I told her husband to bring baby Moshe to shul and he did. When I turned around during the Torah reading, I saw Moshe sleeping on his dad’s shoulder, but he was in shul, his holy neshamah was being infused with the kedushah of Shavuos with the Aseres Hadibros and I was warmed.

On the second day of yom tov, a local Jewish doctor came to shul to recite Yizkor for her dad who recently passed away. She was really close to her dad and the loss was huge for her. She was finally able to say a tefillah in shul in his memory, remembering her beloved father Isser ben Moshe, alav hashalom. Yet, it went more than just Yizkor. Her son, Moshe, who just graduated college and has been coming to shul on Shabbos when he can since his bar mitzvah was there too. He was wearing his Zayde’s tallis and was called to the Torah in his mother’s presence. In a world that reports doom, in a Jewish media that too often focuses on the negative, it was such a nachas to see a mother and son in shul honoring a Zayde and carrying Yiddishkeit into the future.

On Sunday, Isru Chag, we drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to attend the bar mitzvah of Nachi Mendelsohn, son of our colleagues Rabbi Zalman and Raizy, who moved to Wyoming about a year after we moved to Montana. The Shluchim and Shluchos in the Mountain West region have always had a special relationship. Pioneered by Rabbi Benny and Sharonne Zippel in Salt Lake City in 1992, there are now Shluchimfamilies in four Utah locations, five Montana locations, two Wyoming locations and in Boise, Idaho. We have a cherished bond, sharing common realities and challenges. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Benny and Sharonne for leading the way and for opening the “neighborhood.”

The bar mitzvah was such a special simcha. Nachi is the oldest son, and to see his family with their local friends and Shluchim coming together to celebrate his milestone was inspiring. Sitting in Wyoming, at the center of the Wild West, and seeing a kid who grew up there sharing Chassidus with his community while they danced and celebrated his simcha was beautiful. To see what Zalman and Raizy have built is nothing short of miraculous. Yidden who would otherwise remain excluded are now connecting with Hashem and their people. As Raizy said at the bar mitzvah: “Thank you Rebbe for entrusting Zalman and me to care for the Jews of Wyoming.”

Amen to that. Lift up, lift up, lift up. n

Rabbi Chaim Bruk is co-CEO of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana and spiritual leader of The Shul of Bozeman. For comments or to partner in our holy work, e-mail [email protected] or visit JewishMontana.com/Donate.