T he recent hurricanes created a need for heroes and the worldwide frum community stood tall. From shuls and communities across the Jewish spectrum — chassidish to Modern Orthodox — crews were dispatched to Houston and Florida. Shul rabbis doctors and businessmen left offices and families and traveled at their own expense to unfamiliar communities where they got to work stripping drywall and filling garbage bags.
Wow.
I say the following with all due respect which is what people say when they’re about to make fun. (On a serious level I write it with genuine awe at the mesirus nefesh and nesiah be’ol of those who traveled and that their families: This is written tongue-in-cheek.)
I admit to having a personal discomfort around supremely capable people the ones who would know what to do after a hurricane. I definitely would not. (As an aside this is a very difficult time of year for me. I start being nice to my handy brother-in-law just after Tishah B’Av because I’ll certainly need his help to put up my succah. When I was in shanah rishonah my wife found it funny that I don’t really hold the chicken by kapparos. So you’ll forgive me for seizing the opportunity to poke fun at the handy macho I-put-up-my-succah-in-half-an-hour types. It’s revenge for the way they look at me.)
So here’s my proposal. The last month has shown us that everyone has the capacity to be a hero — if they get to be the hero that is. Bathing a kid or doing car pool will never make a man’s eyes light up because there’s no guts or glory involved. But other tasks which might sound menial if they’re pitched the wrong way can be repackaged to attract the bold the fearless the daring.
