How One Girl's Dedication to Keeping Kosher Saved Her Life

Rabbi Yosef Zaritsky is a world-renowned expert in kashrut who often gives public lectures on kosher food and kosher Jews.

During one lecture, he shared the following true story.

In his words:

Saving money — at what cost?

Not long ago, I was giving a talk to a group of high-school girls about various kashrut issues. I emphasized that as Jews, we must be extremely careful about what we put in our mouths, because from those mouths, holy words emerge. Just as we are careful not to say things that are forbidden, we must be equally careful not to eat what is forbidden.

After my talk, one of the girls stood up and asked for permission to speak. She was just sixteen years old, which makes her story all the more amazing.

It turned out that a few months previously, she had attended a different lecture on kashrut and was deeply inspired to enhance her observance of this important mitzvah. Although her family was somewhat religious, her parents felt that minimal kosher certification was enough, especially as products with more stringent certification were so much more expensive.

“After that lecture,” the girl related, “I felt terrible that my parents cared more about saving money than investing in spiritual matters. I decided I’d do whatever I could to improve things.”

Keeping kosher — at what cost?

The girl was in a boarding school where the girls slept in dorms all week and went home for Shabbat. The evening of her decision, the girl called home.

“Dad, I heard this amazing lecture today,” she began. “All about kashrut. I never realized how important it is to be really careful. So I was thinking...” She started to tell him about how the products they used at home were “a bit problematic” and tentatively suggested that perhaps, he wouldn’t mind...

“Absolutely not!” her father exploded. “It would cost a fortune. Forget it. No way.”

“But, Dad... I really want to start being more careful about kashrut,” she pleaded.

“That’s your problem. I’m sorry, but this is the way we do things, and if you don’t like it, then... that’s too bad.”

“It’s not that I ‘don’t like it,’” the daughter replied sadly. “I just won’t be able to come home anymore for Shabbat, that’s all.”

“Are you threatening me?” her father fumed. “If that’s the way you feel, then go right ahead and stay in the dorms on Shabbat.”

And he slammed down the phone.

Chocolate spread for Shabbat

Friday morning arrived. While the other girls prepared to travel home, one girl was completely preoccupied with other matters. She counted the few coins she had left from her allowance and wondered what she could afford to buy. She didn’t have many options, and eventually decided on bread rolls and chocolate spread.

She was too embarrassed to tell her friends about her father’s reaction to her request and the situation she found herself in, so when no one was looking, she sneaked out to buy her “Shabbat meals” and hid the food in her bedside cabinet when she returned. While everyone was packing their suitcases, she put a few clothes in her own case, and then headed out of the building with everyone else. While they were all waiting at the bus stop, she muttered, “Oh no! I forgot it in the dorm... I’m running back to get it... Don’t wait for me...”

She returned alone to the empty dormitory.

Even during the daylight hours it was strange to be alone in the large dormitory, but after nightfall, with no one else in the entire building, she felt almost paralyzed with fear. She sat huddled on her bed, eating bread with chocolate spread while her tears flowed unchecked.

“Hashem, I know it’s forbidden to cry on Shabbat,” she whispered, “but I don’t even have wine for Kiddush and instead of a cooked meal all I have is rolls and chocolate spread...”

One trial ends...

That night, she barely slept, and the next day she tried to pass the time until Shabbat ended. Finally, the long day and then the next night were over and on Sunday morning, she headed outside with her suitcase, to pretend to be returning, just like her friends.

Two more weeks went by this way, and from her parents there was only silence. Eventually, in the third week, her father called. “Are you upset with me?” he asked.

“No, really not,” she said. “I just want to be able to come home, to be able to eat in your home, that’s all.”

There was a long pause, and then her father said, “Well, okay. Let’s meet up in Jerusalem and go shopping, and you’ll tell me which products are okay with you.”

The girl was overjoyed and thanked her father over and over, especially as it would mean a very long bus journey for him. They met at a large supermarket the next evening, and pushed the shopping cart along the aisles as she picked out what was really essential.

... and another one begins

Even though she tried to keep the purchases down to a minimum, there were still so many things to buy... and her father grumbled and complained each time she put an item into the cart. “Do you think I’m Rothschild? How am I going to pay for all this?”

Finally, they reached the checkout counters, where a long line of people waited at each one. The girl’s father glanced nervously at his watch. “It’s getting really late. I didn’t realize this would take so long — or that you’d be buying so many things,” he said pointedly. “The last bus leaves in twenty minutes.”

Finally, their turn arrived and they both hurried to fill the bags and then rushed out of the store and down the street to the bus stop. Too late... They arrived only to see the bus heading off into the distance.

“Now look what you’ve done! I can’t believe this... I can’t believe I let myself give in to your crazy ideas, and now look what’s happened. What on earth are we going to do?”

Saved by a mitzvah

The girl burst into tears, but she knew she’d have to find a solution. Pulling herself together, she decided to call one of her teachers who she knew lived not far away. After she blurted out her story, the teacher was quick to reassure her.

“No problem. My husband will be there in a few minutes. We have a spare room and you can take the first bus home in the morning.”

She was as good as her word, and within ten minutes they were pulling up outside the apartment block. The teacher’s husband helped them with the bags and then welcomed them into their home. The girl’s father was inclined to feel hostile at first but after a warm supper and being shown into a clean, airy guest room, he managed to thank his hosts.

Just then, his phone rang. He’d been meaning to call home, but no one was expecting him until much later that night, so he hadn’t rushed to do so. But it was his wife calling now, so he picked up.

Before he could even say hello, his wife was screaming at him: “Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Okay? Of course I’m okay. But we missed the last bus. We’re in Jerusalem. I was just about to call you.”

His wife burst into tears. “I heard just now. Just now it happened! The bus... your bus...”

That bus had been the target of a terrorist attack.

“My father was just trembling, totally shaking,” the girl related. “He kept saying that even though he had been so unhappy about spending the money, even though he hadn’t wanted the mitzvah, it still saved his life!”

Courtesy of Dirshu