The English update issue 164 164 | Page 35

“‘I went to Egypt and I was watching TV. The issue was about Israel and they showed a scene from the Wall. And there, standing in front of the Wall, was Rabbi Schuster. So I fled to Turkey. But in Turkey the same thing happened.’ His Unfailing Need to Give   “But it wasn’t just his intense determination that drove his success. This man had a coating of siyata d’Shmaya that hovered over his every move. Once, there were two young South Africans who hung around the hotels for a few weeks before taking off to other countries.  Six months later, one of them walked into my office. ‘I am learning in Aish HaTorah now,’ he proudly announced. And then he told me the following story: “‘I went to Egypt and I was watching TV. The issue was about Israel and they showed a scene from the Wall. And there, standing in front of the Wall, was Rabbi Schuster. So I fled to Turkey. But in Turkey the same thing happened.’ He proceeded to relate how he finally reached Spain, and was waiting at the bus station in Madrid to take him further afield. He had a few hours to spare and he started reflecting on the messages via TV he had received from Rabbi Schuster. He never took that bus. He went to the airport, flew to Israel, and entered yeshiva.” When a person spends time in the presence of someone who is very knowledgeable in any field, he does not become any more knowledgeable about the subject. When one is given the chance to simply be in the presence of a great baal emuna, however, one’s soul suddenly becomes infused with a greater emuna. That’s how to be able to give. And my daughter said that what he also still had was his same warm “biggest smile in the whole world.” During his active years, he had tapped us on the shoulder or encountered each one of us and asked simply, “Do you have the time?” Thank G-d, we all did, and we still do. In his last years, he was no longer able to walk back and forth at the Kotel, searching for our neshamas, day and night, but he was still able to show us the way to go in life. What just one person can do on this Earth – he has demonstrated. And literally, or figuratively, we all got tapped by the man with a mission. Reb Meir showed us how to tap into our own inner, invincible spark. one individual - Reb Meir - directly affected the lives of probably more than one hundred thousand people. Rabbi Michel Twerski describes Reb Meir as “an unpretentious, selfeffacing legend of our time. A rare figure of history who touched so many lives through his profound authenticity.” And he couldn't have cared less about any recognition for himself. A few years ago, in his mid-sixties and still going strong and with many more goals that he hoped to pursue, Reb Meir began to develop Lewy Body Disease. He could no longer be the man beside the beloved Wall. He soon required full-time care from his family, and then Reb Meir moved into a nursing home facility where his wife spent her days with him. My daughter Shira, who worked at the Heritage House, told me that she was privileged to see Reb Meir a few years ago when he was still able to get around, with assistance. At that time, the Alzheimer’s-like symptoms of his disease had already progressed to the point where he seemed to be unable to remember or speak. Reb Meir still only wanted to be of help, if it was at all possible, as he tried mightily, and repeatedly, to remain useful in any way he could. He was even trying to help my daughter lift the big bag of laundry that she was loading into a machine. What he still remembered was that he just wanted The original version of this articl