As I trod for several blocks through a few feet of snow and over waist-high snow banks, heading to Shacharis and then again to Maariv\u00a0at K\u2019hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ\/\u201dBreuer\u2019s\u201d)\u00a0in the face of a fierce north wind that drove the rapidly falling snow with extreme speed and intensity onto every available surface, so as to assure that any attempts to shovel sidewalks would continue to be in vain, I knew that I would be struck by the impact of this underestimated\u00a0Shabbos\u00a0blizzard on the minyanim of Washington Heights. After arriving at KAJ and removing my whitened and soaking outerwear in the vestibule, I entered the shul and behold \u2013 virtually everything was the same. Almost everyone was there on time to daven, including men and women\u00a0who live up steep hills at relatively great distances; Pirchei and Bnos afternoon groups remained on schedule and were well attended; the Avos U\u2019vanim learning program on Motzei Shabbos was pretty full as well, with most everyone there on time, including many men and young boys who live up a steep hill almost half a mile away. One would never know that was a powerful\u00a0blizzard\u00a0was raging\u00a0outside, for on the inside was an unstoppable\u00a0routine of Avodas Hashem, without compromise, deficiency or delay. This is the impact that struck me and that strikes me every time the\u00a0community faces a major weather challenge.<\/p>\n
I davened Mincha and learned on Motzei Shabbos at a local Nusach Sefard shteibel (Dombrov West) that has much\u00a0membership overlap with KAJ. Same story there \u2013 regular minyanim, same very elderly, middle-aged and young men. What blizzard?\u2026<\/p>\n
What is at the root of this sense of commitment?<\/p>\n
Although I am not a native of\u00a0the neighborhood, a friend of mine who is a third-generation\u00a0\u201cWashington Heightser\u201d\u00a0exchanged a few words with me after Avos U\u2019vanim, and was shocked at the thought\u00a0of not going to shul or to Avos U\u2019vanim during a blizzard (unless it is very patently hazardous or the like). \u201cWould a person stay home from work? Of course not. Then why can\u2019t he go to shul!?\u201d was the \u201cobvious\u201d reply.<\/p>\n
Although such an attitude is far from obvious to others, it bespeaks a mindset permeated with a charge of \u201cNa\u2019aseh v\u2019nishma\u201d of the highest order, such that one does not deliberate, calculate, consider, weigh the factors, equivocate or make \u201ccheshbonos\u201d when it comes to Torah life; there is no option otherwise \u2013 performing the Mitzvos in full form is as much of a person\u2019s being as are his bones, muscles and arteries. It is as natural as breathing. No second\u00a0thoughts or \u201cshtick\u201d.<\/p>\n
This same attitude of no-compromise, and of not even contemplating the idea\u00a0that\u00a0others may indeed\u00a0deliberate and \u201cmake cheshbonos\u201d, is what has sustained\u00a0our nation throughout the millenia. Whether it is the mesiras nefesh of going to shul and learning Torah with one\u2019s children no matter what, of raising generations of large families in an urban neighborhood without an eiruv (KAJ and other local older\u00a0shuls follow the p\u2019sak\u00a0that eiruvin are not effective for Manhattan \u2013 such was the ruling\u00a0of Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik of RIETS\u00a0and his brother Rav Aharon, and so many others), or of living simple and unpretentious lives devoted to Hashem in a society filled with the allure of in-your-face materialism and excessive self-absorption, my local \u201cYekkishe\u201d (and shteibel) community reminds and teaches me what Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim is all about.<\/p>\n
While every Torah community has its own legitimate derech, religious expressions and spiritual values and emphases, which must be respected and appreciated, the lessons learned from the Shabbos blizzard in Washington Heights will always be with me, and, for over 3500 years, have indeed been with us all.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I trod for several blocks through a few feet of snow and over waist-high snow banks, heading to Shacharis and then again to Maariv\u00a0at K\u2019hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ\/\u201dBreuer\u2019s\u201d)\u00a0in the face of a fierce north wind that drove the rapidly falling snow with extreme speed and intensity onto every available surface, so as to assure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"yoast_head":"\n