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The following was received via email from a YWN reader:
I would like to take a moment and reflect on a kiddush hashem I saw this evening on a city bus on my way home from work.
There was a group of yeshiva bochurim approx 13-15 yrs old, that got on at a particular stop on the B9 bus route in Flatbush.
All the bochurim began making their way to the back of the bus. Except for one, who stopped in his tracks.
He suddenly turned around and began picking up pieces of newspaper from the floor !!
I thought to myself why on earth would a Yeshiva Bochur feel it necessary to clean up a city bus ?
And then I realized, the pieces of paper he picked up were from a “heimeshe” publication.
Apparently an earlier rider had finished reading it and left the paper behind only to get strewn around all over the bus.
So this bochur realized he has the opportunity to prevent a chillul hashem by removing the “heimeshe” paper from the floor. But little did he know, in the process he made a great display of kiddush hashem as many passengers who did not realize what paper it was, remarked “Oh look what that Jewish kid did, he’s helping keep the bus clean “.
Rabosai, there is a very important lesson to be learned here. We must remember that the “umos holam” are constantly watching us and how we act, and that you don’t need to have fanfare, lights, posters & events to create a kiddush hashem !
Even the smallest actions make a big impact. What can you do to help ?
Avi Gedaliah Gevoldig
Flatbush NY
Another thing you can do is pick up scraps of paper or whatever, from the floor of the Bais Medrish when you are all alone and no one sees you. Except HaKodesh Baruch Hu
So you know I have to ask…
Would you have shepped the same nachas and considered this beautiful gesture a Kiddush HaShem if the bochur had picked up USA Today and discarded it or is this because the bochur picked up a “heimeshe” paper?
Just asking…
BTW, the bochur did do a Kiddush HaShem, IMO, but not because of the type of paper.
That was the exact point of the letter. That the Kiddush Hashem was made because of the perception of the Nations that this Jewish young man was cleaning the bus. This Kiddush Hashem has nothing to do with the nature of the newspaper, and no one watching was aware what the newspaper was.
The only reason the author informed us that it was a heimishe paper was to let you know that the Bochur’s actions, even though NOT having the intent to make a Kiddush Hashem to the onlookers, nevertheless DID have that effect.
The implied lesson was that we have many opportunities to perform a Kiddush Hashem with small easy acts. Even though the Bochur might not have done this act if it was usa today, we see the important results that would have occurred even if it WAS a usa today
I am glad this boy had a proper upbringing, because this is very, very rare. Parents please teach your children to use a trash can, and not just drop things till where they see fit!!
EDITED
I read it a bit differently, the author specifically wrote that he thought to himself why would a bochur feel it necessary to clean up a city bus? Until he, the author, realized that the paper was “heimeshe”. So I ask, what’s the difference if the papers were USA Today or “heimeshe”
I’m not taking anything away from the bochur’s deed, it was certainly a Kiddush HaShem, and we can all learn from this boy.
I do however question the author’s reason for the nachas…
And smalltown, Obviously it’s a kiddush hashem that he cleaned the bus, if it was a USA today or NY POST for that matter,the purpose of the letter however was to show that he had the understanding @ a young age to help avoid a chillul hashem. The boy had the daas to realize people will see a jewish paper with jewish ads on the floor and will obviously have negative comments. So that’s why he picked up the paper to avoid a chillul hashem caused by the previous rider.
I was just trying to make people aware that they shouldn’t drop their wrappers.
Yesterday, while picking my son off his bus stop, I saw he threw a paper on the ground. I asked him why did he throw it on the floor, and made him pick it up and throw it away till he got home to put it in the garbage. Unfortunately, many parents don’t show their children.
EDITED
So did I do a Kiddush Hashem by picking up the wrappers off the floor at the zoo?? Just asking because I think my situation was similar…
OK, allow me to try yet again to clarify.
the bochur, by picking up the papers, no matter what kind, did indeed do a real Kiddush HaShem, AGREED, and a sincere yasher koach.
My question, and really only a question was, would the author of the original letter shep nachas and acknowledge this Kiddush HaShem if the paper was anything other than “heimeshe”. I ask this because he, the author specifically said that he could not get why a bochur would clean up a city bus, until he, the author, realized that the papers were “heimeshe” –so I hope that clears things up, but just to reiterate, the bochur did a beautiful thing, yes; why is it that the author couldn’t chup picking up papers until he, the author, realized they were “heimeshe”
Its a major chilul hashem when when there are wrappers that have heimishe hechsheirim on them in public areas. Eanyone who sees them on the floor knows that a jewish person threw it down bec we’re the ones eating kosher.
AGAIN, why would a 13-15yr old be picking up a NY POST from the floor ? Generally Yeshiva boys wouldn’t read the NY POST especially from the floor !? Which was the reson for my surprise.
The basis of the story was pretty much along the same lines as smart cookie.
The only people reading “heimeshe” publications are jews. The same way you don’t see a spanish person reading a chinese newspaper, you generally won’t find anyone else besides a jew reading a jewish paper. And if there are pages of a Jewish paper strewn over a city bus people don’t have to be the brightest bulb in the box to realize where it came from.
Hence my reaction, and reason for sending the story in.
Also I must agree with Mazal 77 that I was proud to see a child with this upbringing, and how I wish there were more people in the world like that these days.
This is why when I take a car service (or taxi) I try and make it a point to give a reasonably generous tip to help dispell the myth that Jews are “stingy penny pinchers”.
The bigger point is that kids in that age group are notoriously self-absorbed – who cares what kind of paper it was? The bigger point is that he did it at all! I would hate for him to read this negativity here on whether he “might have” picked up a secular paper. Kol Hakavod to this young man.
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