This past Sunday morning, I was standing outside our Chabad center waiting for a minyan. Nine of us were already there, so the hunt was on for a tenth.
I asked a passing gentleman if was Jewish, and he confirmed he was. I asked if he could join us for a minyan and he wanted to know how long it would take. “Fifteen minutes,” I responded, figuring that’s how long it would take for our expected tenth (who must’ve overslept) to arrive.
He introduced himself as Moishele and agreed. “But no more than 15 minutes,” he insisted. “I’m really in a rush.”
With my reassurance, he came inside. I handed him a kippah and went to get my extra pair of tefillin.
I asked him when he last put on tefillin and discovered that he never had.
“Wow! This is your bar mitzvah!” I explained. The first time a person puts on tefillin—no matter what age they are—is considered their bar mitzvah, until which they retain the spiritual designation of “karkafta.”
We recited the Shema together and joyously wished him mazal tov, excited to celebrate such a special occasion right before Yom Kippur.
Before the 15 minutes were up, our tenth man came, freeing our visitor to leave, but first he told us: “I’m from Asheville, North Carolina,” he told us. “Our city has been devastated by Hurricane Helene. The only reason I agreed to enter the shul for 15 minutes today was to pray for my city.”
We don’t know why G-d sends natural disasters, but Hurricane Helene directly led to our new friend Moishele having his bar mitzvah.
Helene was followed by Milton just yesterday, both leaving immense destruction in their wake.
To form, hurricanes require two key ingredients: powerful winds and warm ocean waters.
As we approach Yom Kippur, we also need to harness these two ingredients—warmth and strength—to create a spiritual hurricane: good deeds, compassion, helping others, giving charity, etc.
We’re moments away from the holiest day of the year—a day to connect with G-d, our essence, our souls. While we pray for those affected by the devastation caused by Helene and Milton, let’s create winds of love to feed a bigger, more powerful spiritual hurricane.