2005-02-18-Lederman—Tetzave
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 Torah
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Tetzave (Exodus 27:20-30:11)
A bus, a policeman, a funeral,
and the soul of Shlomo Moshe
Torah portion
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2005-02-18-Lederman—Tetzave |
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By
Rabbi Baruch Lederman, Congregation
Kehillas Torah, San Diego “And you shall command the children…” (Ex 27:20) Parshas Tetzave is unique in that it is the only parsha, after the birth of Moshe, in which the name of Moshe is not mentioned. In 1991, the soul of our three-month-old son Shlomo Moshe Lederman was returned to its Creator. I remember thinking that on Shabbos Terumah, Hashem took his Terumah (tithe), and on Shabbos Tetzave there was no Moshe (in our home). The funeral was held at the Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva in Forest Hills, New York. A microphone and podium was set up in front of the building. Throngs of people poured out for this sad event. A funeral is always a profoundly sad occasion – every funeral. When the deceased is a healthy baby who died suddenly of SIDS, it becomes even more heart wrenching. The street was blocked off by cars parked perpendicularly across the width of the thoroughfare, as well as with official police barricades, so that participants could stand in the street to listen to the eulogies. The yeshiva was on 69th Avenue, a main street, which had a city bus route that passed by the yeshiva. The bus line was rerouted and the drivers were instructed to detour by turning up the block before and avoiding the yeshiva building. One bus somehow didn’t make that turn and was now at the barricades. The driver asked the men standing nearby to move their cars, remove the barricade and clear the street so that he could go through. They replied that he was supposed to turn up the street before and not even be there. He said that at this point it was impossible to maneuver back to where he was supposed to be, so his only alternative was to go through. They responded that there was a funeral taking place for a three month old baby. They had the city’s permission to hold the funeral in the street and there was no way they were going to disrupt it. The bus would just have to wait. The bus driver was not willing to accept no for an answer and he continued to argue his point. In the meantime the police officer, who was assigned to the event, came over and listened to both sides. The officer said that unfortunately, even though the bus driver was in the wrong, he would have to let the bus through. The men were so disappointed to hear this because this would disrupt an extremely emotional funeral. Mind you that 99 percent of the people there had no idea what was going on. Only the few men talking with the bus driver were aware of the situation. The men pulled back their cars; the police officer moved the wooden barricade and was about to allow the bus to go through when suddenly the bus wouldn’t start. The driver tried and tried but the bus was completely stalled out. The driver, determined to move this bus through, radioed in to dispatch to send a repairman. When the bus was fixed, he would drive it through as planned – funeral or no funeral. In the mean time he just had to wait. The repairman arrived about a minute after the funeral was over – and the bus just started by itself. Rabbi Moshe Labrie and a few other men who had witnessed the whole exchange told me about this the next day while I was sitting shiva. I remembered seeing a bus there during the eulogies, but didn’t give much thought to it, and certainly had no inkling of the whole confrontation. It made us feel like HaShem was watching out for us. It made us feel that Hashem loved our little baby Shlomo Moshe, and was making sure his funeral was perfect. Dedicated in honor of Larry Jaffe. |
