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 | Blogs > moonstruck > step by step-day by day > A story for Pesach, about coming home |
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moonstruck
4/10/2008 3:37 am |
This is rather long but it is a beautiful Jewish/feel good story. On his way out from shul in Jerusalem, Dan approached a young man in jeans, backpack, dark skin, curly black hair -- looked Sephardi, maybe Moroccan. "Good Shabbos. My name is Dan Eisenblatt. Would you like to eat at my house tonight?" The young man's face broke in an instant from a worried look to a smile. "Yeah, thanks. My name is Machi." Together they walked out of the shul. A few minutes later they were all standing around Dan's Shabbos table. Dan noticed his guest fidgeting and leafing through his songbook, apparently looking for something. He asked with a smile, "Is there a song you want to sing? I can help if you're not sure about the tune." The guest's face lit up. "There is a song I'd like to sing, but I can't find it here. I really liked what we sang in the synagogue tonight. What was it called? Something 'dodi.'" Dan paused for a moment, on the verge of saying, "It's not usually sung at the table," but then he caught himself. "If that's what the kid wants," he thought, "what's the harm?" Aloud he said, "You mean Lecha Dodi. Wait, let me get you a siddur." Once they had sung Lecha Dodi, the young man resumed his silence until after the soup, when Dan asked him, "Which song now?" The guest looked embarrassed, but after a bit of encouragement said firmly, "I'd really like to sing Lecha Dodi again." Dan was not really all that surprised when, after the chicken, he asked his guest what song now, and the young man said, "Lecha Dodi, please." Dan almost blurted out, "Let's sing it a little softer this time, the neighbors are going to think I'm nuts." He finally said, "Don't you want to sing something else?" His guest blushed and looked down. "I just really like that one," he mumbled. "Just something about it - I really like it." In all, they must have sung "The Song" eight or nine times. Dan wasn't sure -- he lost count. Later Dan asked, "Where are you from?" The boy looked pained, then stared down at the floor and said softly, "Ramallah." Dan was sure he'd heard the boy say "Ramallah," a large Arab city on the West Bank. Quickly he caught himself, and then realized that he must have said Ramleh, an Israeli city. Dan said, "Oh, I have a cousin there. Do you know Ephraim Warner? He lives on Herzl Street." The young man shook his head sadly. "There are no Jews in Ramallah." Dan gasped. He really had said "Ramallah"! His thoughts were racing. Did he just spend Shabbos with an Arab? He told the boy, "I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. And now that I think of it, I haven't even asked your full name. What is it, please?" The boy looked nervous for a moment, then squared his shoulders and said quietly, "Machmud Ibn-esh-Sharif." Dan stood there speechless. What could he say? Machmud broke the silence hesitantly: "I was born and grew up in Ramallah. I was taught to hate my Jewish oppressors, and to think that killing them was heroism. But I always had my doubts. I mean, we were taught that the Sunna, the tradition, says, 'No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.' I used to sit and wonder, Weren't the Yahud (Jews) people, too? Didn't they have the right to live the same as us? If we're supposed to be good to everyone, how come nobody includes Jews in that? "I put these questions to my father, and he threw me out of the house. By now my mind was made up: I was going to run away and live with the Yahud, until I could find out what they were really like. I snuck back into the house that night, to get my things and my backpack. My mother caught me in the middle of packing. I told her that I wanted to go live with the Jews for a while and find out what they're really like and maybe I would even want to convert. She was turning more and more pale while I said all this, and I thought she was angry, but that wasn't it. Something else was hurting her and she whispered gently, 'You don't have to convert. You already are a Jew." I was shocked. My head started spinning, and for a moment I couldn't speak. Then I stammered, 'What do you mean?' 'In Judaism,' she told me, 'the religion goes according to the mother. I'm Jewish, so that means you're Jewish.' "I never had any idea my mother was Jewish. I guess she didn't want anyone to know. She whispered suddenly, 'I made a mistake by marrying an Arab man. In you, my mistake will be redeemed.' "My mother always talked that way, poetic-like. She went and dug out some old documents, and handed them to me: things like my birth certificate and her old Israeli ID card, so I could prove I was a Jew. I've got them here, but I don't know what to do with them. "My mother hesitated about one piece of paper. Then she said, 'You may as well take this. It is an old photograph of my grand-parents which was taken when they went visiting the grave of some great ancestor of ours.' "Now I have traveled here to Israel. I'm just trying to find out where I belong." Dan gently put his hand on Machmud's shoulder. Machmud looked up, scared and hopeful at the same time. Dan asked, "Do you have the photo here?" The boy's face lit up. ""Sure! I always carry it with me." He reached in his backpack and pulled out an old, tattered envelope. When Dan read the gravestone inscription, he nearly dropped the photo. He rubbed his eyes to make sure. There was no doubt. This was a grave in the old cemetery in Tzfat, and the inscription identified it as the grave of the great Kabbalist and tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz. Dan's voice quivered with excitement as he explained to Machmud who his ancestor was. "He was a friend of the Arizal, a great Torah scholar, a tzaddik, a mystic. And, Machmud, your ancestor wrote that song we were singing all Shabbos: Lecha Dodi!" This time it w as Machmud's turn to be struck speechless. Dan extended his trembling hand and said, "Welcome home, Machmud." This true story, submitted by Nechama Goodman, is documented in "Monsey, Kiryat Sefer and Beyond" by Zev Roth. |
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 4/13/2008 1:27 pm |
great story I think maybe I'm missing the time in with pesach....please explain
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4/15/2008 7:57 am |
We tell stories during the seder, and one story leads to another, and in fact is pesach not about coming home? all jewish souls were there, when we left mizraim, thats why a jewish soul will always try to 'come home' ..and feels instinctly connected to the other jewish souls. There are alot of stories of people not knowing they were jewish, untill something suddenly happened and then they suddenly recognise who they really are. In fact this man had his own 'getting out of Egypt' The story of Pesach is an old story but it happens every year, for each of us. For this man it was just as for our ancestors very drastic. And for us? well every one has to look into his own heart and fight his own 'pharao' Have a wonderfull pesach !
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4/29/2008 2:54 pm |
Hello Moonstruck..I would 1st like to say that I am not Jewish. I have been a member here for only 2days. I have been reading many blogs and comments about various subjects and I was moved by the story of Machmud. I too am trying to find my way. I remember (and will never forget) a friend I had when I was very young. She was a very beautiful little girl with the brightest eyes(I can still see them today)but most of all she had a big heart. We were best friends for 2yrs..(4th and 5th grade)She and her family moved away one summer..it was a very painful time for us..we hugged each other so tightly(I cry even now when I think of her) I remember I said to her that we would never be together again... and she said to me through her tears that we would find each other someday...she said"you have to become Jewish and then we will see each other again"(she was Jewish) I told her I would..but I was a child. I think about her often and throughout my life I have been very "curious" about the Jewish religion. I actually just found out that my uncle and godfather was in fact Jewish. He is passed now but he was everybit as big a heart as my little friend. I am not so much into religion as I am into GOD. I love GOD with all my heart and soul and I try to be a good example to him but I still feel"lost". I also a few months ago befriended a most wonderful Jewish man. He is so patient and smart and very"logical"...he has a great deal of wisdom and he says things that make me see things so much more differently than I ever had before. He has helped me through some of the most challenging moments of my life(and I mean challenging) He simplifies everything to a point where i wonder why I did not see this myself. I told him I was sure GOD sent him to me. I call him my "Angel". But.. I am also very sure I am in love with him. I am very sad to say that because I am sure that we will never be together. He has said that he will someday meet a Jewish girl and have a family. This is his dream and so it should be...I want him to be happy..I do...(I just wish it could be with me)...but as I said before...I am not Jewish...I can not have children...and I am 13 yrs older than he. And for all this I am extremely sure that GOD has a huge sense of humor...he brings to me the love I have waited so many years for and yet says... you cant have it...) I know I should be happy for just his freindship(and I am) but I can't help feeling that he is part of my destiny and for that...I can't let go.(in case you were wondering...I have not told him how I feel) I'm not sure I could could find the courage...I guess underneath it all I know how he feels and I could'nt bear that heartache of losing another friend...He's my every breath...without him I would die...this I know for sure...well,anyways...sorry for rambling..your story made me remember things..old and new...GOD BLESS
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5/4/2008 3:03 pm |
Sweet Curiousbynature, I feel your frustrations,your pain, your struggle. I am not in a position to tell you, what you should do, But logically I think you have to take distance from your friend, till your feelings cool down abit,for stopping to hurt yourself.Till you can see him in antohter persective, giving you the opportunity to open yourself for other friendships.(this does not mean you have to loose his friendship, but at this moment your feelings are too intense) You're not jewish, but feels close to G'd. That is Ok.There are many ways to pray and to serve G'd. When you are jewish you do it the jewish way, Chritians pray the Christian way, and Muslim have their own way of woshipping G'd too. it does not matter, as long as the message of love and friendship, and doing good deeds (we call it mitvot)remain the principal. I wish for you, balance in your feelings, your feelings of love and your feelings of identity.
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5/5/2008 11:47 am |
Dear Moonstruck, Thank you for your kind words. I really am having an awful struggle with this. I write this with such a heavy heart. I have not eaten barely a thing in weeks(I was 138 pounds and am now 112) sleep, I don't know how any more...maybe 1-2 hrs a night is all...I know this is totally wrong to be doing, but my mind and my body are also struggling with this. Have you ever been so sure of something in your life??..something that was beyond the relms of your imagination?? Unexplainable by mere words?...Something so very wonderful that you were sure only God could have brought it to you....no one else could have shown you this...its a blessing..a precious gift. (a kind of thank you for all the kindnesses you had done throughout your lifetime..for your self sacrifices that you never speak of..for all the good acts you have done even when no one was looking) This is how I feel about my friend. I am being torn between doing what I "should" vs doing what I "want". Why cant I ever....just once...just this one time...have what I want?
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6/14/2008 2:28 pm |
Don't you guys believe in keeping it short and simple.
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