Meet Oren and Nama – A Story From Israel!
Over the past month, we have had the great joy of officiating the Bar and Bat Mitzvahs of several Bellaire Hebrew School students. Last Shabbat, Esty and I had the opportunity to join the Lazar family for Elliott’s Bar Mitzvah in Israel!
We spent Shabbat at the Moshav Yodfat in northern Israel, where we were warmly welcomed by the Lazars, their relatives and the entire Yodfat community.
The view from our room of the upper galilee was breathtaking, like nothing we’ve ever seen before. On Shabbat morning we joined the community at the Synagogue, where Elliott did a superb job reading from the Torah and delivering his speech.
Later, on Shabbat afternoon, we visited with a fellow named Oren and his lovely wife Nama (and a few of their friends). Oren and Nama were not raised religious, but over the years had slowly embraced Jewish observance.
Oren shared with us that as of last year, after 10 years of marriage, he and Nama had still not been blessed with a child. Of course, this was a tremendously painful struggle for them.
About a year ago, he had a very vivid dream where he saw the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe looked at him and said: “Your child is in the hands of Shimon”, and that was it. Oren explained how he was not typically the one who remembered dreams, also, he had never met the Rebbe in person nor was he part of the Chabad community in any way. Nevertheless, this dream was as clear as day!
Very soon after that dream, a friend by the name of Shimon (!) reached out to him with an offer to travel together to the tomb of the great sage Rabbi Shimon (!) in the city of Meron, about 30 minutes north of his home in Yodfat.
Oren prayed at the resting place of Rabbi Shimon and soon after, his prayers were finally answered… Oren and Nama are now expecting their first child (due in less than 2 months, G-d willing)!
We shared a joyous L’chaim and many blessings with Oren and Nama and asked them to share the good news with us in due time. Oren and Nama’s gentle sincerity and faith left a tremendous impression on us!
After Shabbat, on Monday morning, Elliott was called to the Torah at the Kotel.
It was a very special moment for Elliott to be standing at the same sacred spot as his ancestors have stood, over the past 3000 years, connecting to the same Torah, as he was embracing Jewish adulthood with much love and pride!
Mazal Tov Elliott!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yossi and Esty Zaklikofsky