5782 - "Atem Nitzavim": Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with a wonderful story from the mashpia in Lubavitch, Rabbi Shmuel Gronem, about an interesting din Torah between a father and his son. Delivered at the conclusion of the shiur of…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:02 Speaker 2 There was a mashpia in Lubavitch named Reb Shmuel Gronem. He once told a story about a father and son who came before a beis din with a dispute. What was the dispute? The father was already old and frail, and his son supported him. They had only one fur coat in the house. The father argued, “I’m old and weak now. I’m cold even when I’m at home. I hardly go out, but I do go to shul, and even though it’s only for a short time, I need the coat because I’m cold.” The son argued, “I earn our living. I’m outside all day, and I need the coat more.” So they came before the beis din. The dayan, the rabbi, told them, “You’re both right. Both arguments are valid. But you should have made the opposite arguments. The elderly father should have argued, ‘True, I’m old and frail, but I’m at home most of the day. My son goes out all day, and he needs to work and earn a living. He deserves the coat.’ The son should have said, ‘True, I’m outside all day, but I’m still young and healthy. I can manage without the coat, whereas my father is weak and elderly.’ If you had made those arguments, people would have heard about this dispute, raised the money and given you another coat. But when each of you looks out only for himself, no one will give you one. You’ll be left with one coat.” “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d.” The Alter Rebbe says in Likkutei Torah: What does “today” mean? It means the Day of Judgment—this refers to Rosh Hashanah, when everyone stands in judgment. Yet you merit a favorable judgment. Why? Because you are all together; each person cares for the other. When everyone is together, all ten

02:12 Speaker 2 levels listed there in the parsha—each one cares for the other. You are bound together, responsible for one another. Then you stand firm and merit a good year, to be inscribed and sealed for good.

02:24 Speaker 1 Amen!