Maariv had finished at about 6:35 PM. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was a father and a son who were waiting to speak with me. At the time I was already conversing with another fellow who had approached me first. After about 10 minutes or so, I turned around and saw that the young man and his father had left. I figured that whatever they wanted to tell me was not “worth their wait” and they had left.

As I exited the Beis Medrash I saw that the father and son team had not left but were waiting patiently for me in the lobby. I figured their question must be important to them if they decided to stay and speak with me. The father prodded the son to begin. The boy looked about 15 years old and he quickly overcame any shyness as he said, “I was in Eretz Yisroel last week with my yeshiva and we had your son Meir as our tour guide. I wanted to let you know how much we all enjoyed him and how good he was as our guide.”

I looked at the boy and his father. I thought about the possible reasons they might have waited for me I must admit that I certainly did not think they were waiting to tell me how much the young man and his classmates enjoyed my son.

I bent down so I was not towering over the young man and I looked into his eyes as I told him, “You waited for almost a quarter of an hour just to let me have nachas from my son. You are a young man of 15; one day, BE”H you too will have a son of your own and will know how meaningful it is when someone tells you a nice thing about him. You did a great mitzvah not only did you share something special, you waited and took time out of your day to tell me. That is a very special action.”

Reach out and tell someone how much you appreciate their son or their daughter or their spouse. Believe me, you will make their day.

 

 

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)