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What Goes Around Comes Around
By Gutman Locks
On the way to the Kotel yesterday, I saw a friend who looked a bit concerned. I asked, and he told me that he had a lot of things on his mind. I said, “May G-d bless you and solve all of your problems.”
He said, “Thank you, and may G-d bless you and all of your projects, too.”
A couple of blocks later, a few young boys came up to me singing a lovely song about G-d and His holy city. One of the boys is a Kohen and had his bar mitzvah just a few weeks ago. I jokingly scolded him for not coming to my minyan (quorum) in the morning so he could give us a blessing. He said that he davened (prayed) with his minyan.
I said, “Now that you are a bar mitzvah, you have to come give me a blessing.”
“I’ll do it right now,” he said.
I bent down so he could put his hands on my hat. He gave me the blessing that the Kohen says for the congregation. It made me very happy. I walked away smiling and humming softly.
Right before the entrance to the Kotel, an acquaintance visiting from Canada stopped me and asked me to give a blessing to his friend, that he needed a healing.
I told his friend, “Whenever you want a blessing, go out and give another Jew a blessing, and G-d will certainly bless you.” Then I asked G-d to bless the man to fulfill all of his needs. He looked very happy.
I took a few steps, and the fellow at the tefillin stand stopped me. He asked me to go over and show an Israeli man how to bless his children. He knows that I often encourage fathers to bless their children at the Kotel. The man was with two small boys. One looked to be three years old, and the other, around five years old. I went over and asked the man to bless his two children.
Pointing to the five-year-old, he said, “He should bless me.”
I said, “Okay, first you give him a blessing, then he will give you one.”
He put his hand on the little boy’s head and read the blessing for his son. Then he blessed his younger son. I said to the five-year-old, “Now, you ask G-d to bless your father.”
The little boy smiled and immediately raised his hand, reaching up toward his father’s head. The man was very tall, so the boy could barely reach his father’s chest. His father bent down. The little boy put his hand on his father’s head and said, “G-d, bless my father.” His face was beaming like a clear sunny day. He was truly radiant. His father saw his little boy blessing him and shining, and his face lit up, too.
What a joy it is to bless, and to be blessed.
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Gutman's Books and music are available online at http://www.thereisone.com/books&music.htm
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from the November 2008 Edition of the Jewish Magazine
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