By the Grace of G-d Dear Friend, ‘If I would have traveled to Mumbai just to meet and wrap Tefilin on Eban Hyams for the very first time in his life, it would have been worth my trip’ These words were told to be this morning by D.H., a young Jewish man living in Thailand who just came back from a business trip to Mumbai. D.H. grew up in Long Island but has really developed his observance of Judaism in Bangkok, Thailand of all places. I knew that one of the mitzvas that D.H. has zealously embraced is the mitzvah of wrapping tefillin daily (except for Shabbat and Chagim). But what I wasn’t so much aware of, and this is what D.H. shared with me today, was the fact that he has since put on tefillin on several ‘first timers’ which is an incredible mitzvah!!! When D.H. went back for a visit to NY he took his dad to say hi to my brother in law Rabbi Paltiel of Chabad of Port Washington in Long Island. As Providence would have it, the Chabad House is just across the street from D.H’s dad’s office and they stopped in to say hi to the rabbi and give regards from our family. Mazel Tov! At that meeting, D.H.’s father put on tefillin for the very first time in his life! And that is a cause for celebration – a bar-mitzvah of sorts. Oh, the business part of the trip to Mumbai worked out fantastically for D.H. as well. Hearing this story this morning, I realize that this is exactly the message of the opening verses of this weeks Parsha. The Torah instructs us to take from the first fruits that have grown in our field and to take them to the Temple in Jerusalem to express our thanks to G-d for all the good that He has given us. (And although we don’t have that mitzvah right now for lack of Temple, we certainly must fulfil the gratitude aspect of thanking Hashem for all the good that He gives us constantly!). The actual language the Torah uses goes like this: ‘go to the place on which God, your God, will choose to rest His Name’ The Ba’al Shem tov elucidated this verse, exposing within it a message that is compelling, particularly to those who travel. The place that you go to, wherever it may be, even though it seems you are going for your own reasons and purposes, really this is the place that Hashem your G-d has chosen for you. Hashem has chosen it for you to go and ‘rest’ His name there. This is exactly what happened in a very open way for D.H. He went to Mumbai on behalf of a client who invited him to come. As Providence would have it, there was a young Jewish man staying with that same Indian host that was hosting D.H. D.H. did his business. His material business. Marketing, invoicing, buying and selling. No question that it was a beneficial trip businesswise. But he discovered that there was a deeper reason for his trip as well. To cause the name of G-d to become more revealed there. By doing the mitzva of Tefilin with a Jew who had never had the opportunity for tefillin before in his life. The challenge is merely to look beyond the surface and recognize that alongside the obvious reasons for why we go where we go, there is also a G-dly reason. When we act scrupulously honest, we are causing an awareness that G-d fearing people are meticulous about interpersonal morality. When circumstances take us to a particular place, it is for a higher purpose than just carrying out our mundane tasks. We are also there to do a mitzvah, say a prayer, help someone out of a predicament. This should not be looked at as a burden. We are happiest and most fulfilled when we engage in both aspects of our respective ‘promised land’. The material, and the spiritual. So next time you head out on a trip, pack those tefillin in your carry on. Shabbat candles if you will be away for Shabbat. A prayer book just in case you get the urge to pray, or you meet someone else who wants to pray. ‘Don’t leave home without it’. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yosef Kantor