They tell this tale
About my Rebs
I don’t know if it’s true
But one thing I do know for sure
It’s not told about you
It was a cold Chicago night
Back in ‘51
And cold is underrating it
T’was minus twenty-one
But somewhere in a ballroom
In a luxury hotel
You would not think it’s freezing cold
In fact, you could not tell
That night, they braved the snow and ice
And frigid winds that rage
Some were rich and some were poor
And varying in age
Despite the frigid temperature
The ballroom, it was packed
With poor men and philanthropists
Who for them nothing lacked
They arrived in fancy cars
And some were chauffer driven
That their wives came dressed in fur
Of course that was a given
Others came by city bus
Bundled for the cold
Some were young Americans
And others very old
Indeed, they all were Jewish
I think that has been said
You would not know from looking
No yarmulkas on head
Indeed their heads uncovered
And so much else was bare
A gathering of hundreds
But why were they all there?
The people waited for the speech
But not one Torah vort
The man on stage, about to speak
Was bald, and stout and short
It was a time in history
A few years past the gale
In Palestine they made a state
But it was weak and frail
That night they came to buy their bonds
Each and every one
And gracing their gala event
There was Ben Gurion
They came to buy Israeli bonds
Contribute to the nation
And each one there called out his pledge
Without a hesitation
And somewhere in a corner Rebs
A very holy Jew
Hiding in a coatroom
Obscured from their whole view
Still inside his overcoat
He hoped no one would see
His teary eyes were watching
The scene so carefully
He thought that no one saw him
He stayed, quite out of sight
He came to see
But not be seen
On that cold Chicago night
And suddenly he heard a voice
From a man whose son he taught
Rabbi! Watcha doing here?
The tzaddik! He was caught
The man was shocked to see him
“You did not come for fun!
And surely not for chazer treif!
Nor for Ben Gurion!”
Rebbi nodded slowly
Of course the man was right
He did not come to give respect
On that cold Chicago night
“I’ll tell you why I came here
And what I came to see
It’s not like all those who are here
With whom I disagree
“I did, however, come to see
How Yidden young and old
Came to give up of themselves
Despite the bitter cold
“I came to see my fellow Jews
Whose stories each can tell
Despite how far they are removed
Love Eretz Yisroel
“They may not know the Torah
Or observe any laws
Despite that somehow they all came
For some unifying cause
“And that is what I came to see
Despite the lives they live
The children of our avos
And how they love to give”
And with those words
My rebbi left
He told the man goodbye
And one last look
Is what he took
And then began to cry
