“‘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
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