Beloved rebbi Rabbi Nosson Neuberger fulfilled the mandate of kiddush Hashem in a most powerful way
The flight was not going well. It began with a one-hour delay, followed by an additional half-hour delay for a fuel refill. The plane finally took off, but then had to land in Tallahassee. A storm had broken out, and they would need additional fuel to circumnavigate it. But there was no JetBlue crew in Tallahassee, so they had to wait until personnel could arrive from Tampa. The passengers, suffice it to say, were unhappy.
There were two facets to Rabbi Neuberger’s kiddush Hashem, in a manifestation of mitzvah goreres mitzvah. First, Rabbi Neuberger noticed an elderly fellow whom he suspected was Jewish. He invited the man to take the empty seat beside him, and the two got to talking.
“Yes, I am Jewish,” the man confirmed. “My name is Mark but my Hebrew name is Asher.”
Rabbi Neuberger asked him if he would like to learn b’chavrusa, and Mark delightedly consented. He had never learned Torah before.
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