That was about a dozen years ago.<\/p>\r\n
I, then a young benefactor, was one of the benefactors of the Gaon Rabbi Yoram Abergel, in one of his branches in central Israel.<\/p>\r\n
And today, a certain urgent matter required me and the community to come to the Rabbi in person and speak with him about the matter.<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0On the appointed day, we woke up about an hour and a half before the hawk prayer, took the tefillin, got into the car - and drove.<\/p>\r\n
We arrived in the city of Netivot. Silence reigned on the streets, and we already found ourselves in the rabbi's 'Rav Pe'alim' yeshiva.<\/p>\r\n
The prayer hall was packed to the brim, hundreds of people were already adorned with tefillin and preparing to speak at the dawn prayer.<\/p>\r\n
The prayer was conducted in a nice and orderly manner, and after the prayer, the rabbi delivered his regular sermon, then began to receive the congregation.<\/p>\r\n
The line in front of him was very long, many people came to be blessed and receive advice.<\/p>\r\n
For us, it was a bit of a letdown, because it seemed to me that everyone was a local who prayed with the rabbi every day and hitchhiked - why not be blessed by the rabbi... [I already said I was young and didn't really understand, right?]<\/p>\r\n
But we came especially from the center of the country, we woke up early. For a young Abraha, waking up an hour before the hawk is like creating the world anew... We drove for about an hour and a quarter, and now we still have to wait?<\/p>\r\n
This is no business, I mused aloud.<\/p>\r\n
And from a practical point of view, with all my might, I bypassed the line and approached the rabbi and asked: Your Honor, we are from the center and we came early... and if possible...<\/p>\r\n
The rabbi smiled at me and caressed my cheek, turned around, and showed me the picture of the old Rebbe, and said to me:<\/p>\r\n
You see him, we follow his ways, and he commanded us to strengthen ourselves in 'loving your neighbor as yourself,' and therefore wait patiently until your turn comes.<\/p>\r\n
I returned to my place in line, still thinking about the rabbi's words - which I hadn't thought about.<\/p>\r\n
We came to the rabbi, we were blessed, we asked for what we wanted and he answered us willingly and willingly, so I understood what the rabbi's love of Israel was.<\/p>\r\n
We returned to the center a little late because of the queue... but with a lesson, a real lesson in love for Israel.<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0May his memory be blessed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I bypassed the line, approached the rabbi and asked: Your Honor, we are from the center and came early \u2022 The rabbi smiled at me and caressed my cheeks, turned around, and showed me the picture of the old Rebbe's dean \u2022 Rabbi Yitzhak Licht on the passing of the late Rabbi Abergil zt"l","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[5806,9751],"class_list":["post-214778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-138","tag-5806","tag-9751"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n