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The Short Vort- -“Beryl and his Kokush Cake” (7/16/10)
The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Friday the 5th of Av 5770 and July 16, 2010
Beryl and his Kokush Cake
In 1864 the Rebbetzen of the Polonia Rebbe was about to give birth.
The Rebbe and the Rebbetzen had been davening for a long time for a child.
Finally after ten years of marriage, the day had arrived.
Unfortunately, there were complications and the Rebbetzen’s life was in danger.
The baby was delivered successfully, however, just as in the case of Rochel Imainu (our mother Rochel) the Rebbetzen passed away as the baby boy was born.
The young orphan was named Beryl by his father.
He was the apple of the eye of his dear father- the Polonia Rebbe.
His father doted on him and was constantly involved in his upbringing.
Every year, on his birthday which was also the Yahrtzeit of his mother, young Beryl and his father along with the entire extended family would go to the cemetery to the grave of his mother.
Every year at the cemetery the family would and cry and weep, however, little Beryl never quite knew how to react to the entire event.
He would see everyone crying and wailing and being so sad; however, he himself could never bring himself to cry; after all, he had never laid eyes on him mother.
When Beryl was thirteen and turned Bar Mitzvah he once again went with his family to the grave of his mother.
Being that this was also his Bar Mitzvah; the tears of the other relatives were intense.
Once again, Beryl looked on, ostensibly unmoved by the entire event.
After the visiting the Kever, the family returned home.
Since it was the Bar Mitzvah of Beryl, there was a surprise waiting for him at the house: a freshly baked kokush (Cocoa) cake.
Beryl loved kokush cake and he eagerly cut himself a large piece.
As he was about to bite into his favorite cake, his little cousin jumped on the table and spilled a large pitcher of water all over Beryl and his cake.
Beryl was so upset; he burst into tears and uncontrollable sobbing.
One of his uncles could not contain himself and stated loudly for all to hear, “Shame on you Beryl! You never shed a tear for you departed mother, however, over a silly piece of cake you are drenched in tears! Shame on you!”
All at once, the relatives began to chime in and add insult to injury as they commented on the irony of the situation. A boy cannot shed a tear for his mother who died in childbirth, however, for a lost piece of cake he is beside himself with grief.
There was one person present who did not join the fray; that person was the Polonia Rebbe himself.
Suddenly the Rebbe stood and asked for everyone’s attention.
The Rebbe cleared his throat and said the following:
color:navy">“All of you are so upset with Beryl for his lack of emotion over his deceased mother.
color:navy">However, has any one of you ever bothered to tell Beryl why he should be sad?
color:navy">Every one of you told him he should be sad; however, you never bothered explaining to him why he should be sad?
color:navy"> Did anyone ever bother to tell him who is mother was?
color:navy">How can you expect him to mourn over someone he never saw and who he never knew?
color:navy"> We are to blame for Beryl’s lack of realizing what he is missing!
color:navy">We are to blame, not him!”
From that day forward. The Rebbe spent time with his son describing who is mother was.
He told him how his own beautiful blue eyes were exactly like his mother’s.
He told him how excited his mother was about having him.
He told Beryl how his mother -during the ten years when they davened for him- would always take care of her nieces and nephews and what a wonderful mother she would have been.
He described in detail how his mother had planned out how his room should look and how he should be brought up and what a tragedy it is that she never was able to bestow upon her son all of the love she so desperately wanted to.
The Polonia Rebbe told his only son everything and anything about his mother.
What she loved and what she didn’t like
How she davened for him and how she so much wanted to hold her son just once; alas, it was not to be.
Many tears were shed on the walks of the Polonia Rebbe with his son Beryl.
The next year, on Beryl’s 14th birthday, the family once again gathered at the Kever of the Rebbetzen.
As soon as they reached the cemetery, Beryl ran to the grave of his mother and broke down in sobbing and crying -the likes of which had never been seen.
When he finally regained his sense of composure, he screamed out, “Ribbono Shel Olam, (Hashem) please bring Mashiach, so we can have Techias HaMeisim (resurrection of the dead); and I will be privileged to see my mother again!”
Friends, every year on Tisha B’av we are Beryl.
We are the little boys who are told to cry and sob over a ‘mother’ we have never seen.
Is it no wonder that most of us are more upset over our kokush cake than we are over the Beis HaMikdash?
Most of us have just been told to ‘cry’; however, many of us were never told why we should be crying and why we should be sad!
Friends, we are Beryl.
We have to realize how much our ‘mother’ loved us and how much she wanted to ‘hold us’ and what a tragedy it is that we do not have our ‘mother’ with us.
For this we cry on Tisha Bav; for the mother who loved and yet, we never knew her.
The reason we want Mashiach is the exact same reason that Beryl wanted Mashiach.
When the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt we will have Hashem back with us!
Right now Shechinta B’Galusa (the divine presence has been exiled).
We should realize how beautiful life was and how beautiful life will be if only we had Hashem’s presence in our midst!
On Tisha B’av we have to realize what we are missing and how beautiful life was ‘with Hashem’ and how beautiful and meaningful it will be when the Divine Presence returns!
We are Beryl!
It is not enough to know that we should cry we should realize why we should cry!