“Rabbi, I’ve never held my very own lulav and esrog. Can you please show me how to set it up?”
Three decades ago, I had just become the rav of Ahavas Israel in Passaic. The shul was then transitioning from “traditional” to Orthodox. This meant there was a wide range of observance levels among the membership. We were navigating the transition together in a peaceful and respectful manner.
That first Erev Succos was an especially hectic day. Dealing with all the varied personal issues of diverse congregants made my work as a new rav very challenging.
There was the constant stream of visitors requesting last-minute checks of their arba minim. There were 11th-hour calls from desperate balabatim beseeching me to check the kashrus of their succahs.
As things finally started to settle down, I sat down to begin preparing my drashos. Then came a knock at the door.
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