Who Knows Eight?

There are always some numbers in our consciousness that stand out — maybe it’s the number of children you were blessed with, the number of days a loved-one spent in the hospital, the number of years you held out for a shidduch, the number of months of unemployment between jobs, or the number of driving tests you took. As we count our flames each night, do any of those numbers take on a life of their own?

1 Mezuzah

Mindel Kassorla

On Heaven’s Door

WE were married a few years and still had not been blessed with children. My Uncle Jeffrey a”h and Aunt Malkie came to visit their children in Eretz Yisrael around Purim time, and they invited us for a Shabbos seudah. Never one to mince words, Aunt Malkie got straight to the point.

“We’re going to Bnei Brak this week,” she said, “Come with us and get brachos from gedolim.”

My aunt and uncle were very well connected, having hosted many gabba’ei tzedakah for roshei yeshivah and gedolim in their home in Brooklyn, New York. The next day, we set out on our brachah-hopping trip, culminating in a meeting with Rav Chaim Kanievsky ztz”l and his daughter, Rebbetzin Leah Kolodetsky.

My uncle went into Rav Chaim, while my aunt and I sat with the Rebbetzin. She instructed me to accept a few small commitments in my avodas Hashem, to daven, and to check our mezuzos.