The Rabbi Who Brought Joy to a Lonely Bar Mitzvah Boy

This story happened during a rare and heavy snowstorm that brought almost all of Jerusalem to a standstill. For two straight days, snow fell without stopping, covering the city and paralyzing movement.

But neither the freezing cold nor the snowdrifts stopped Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul from doing what he felt was right. That night, one of the members of the Ohel Rachel synagogue was celebrating his son’s bar mitzvah. The Rabbi, sensing that very few guests would come because of the weather, decided to do something about it.

Although public transportation wasn’t running and snow continued to fall, the Rabbi made his way to the family’s home on Polansky Street. He arrived shivering, his coat dusted with snowflakes, only to find a quiet and sad scene. The table was beautifully set. The lights were on. But the room felt heavy.

Only the bar mitzvah boy and his parents were there, waiting with disappointment. When they saw Rabbi Abba Shaul walk in, their faces lit up. They were touched that he had come despite the storm. The Rabbi blessed the boy, gave him a gift, and spoke warmly with the family. But then he said something unexpected.

“Please forgive me,” he told the boy gently. “I’ll be back in about half an hour.”

The Rabbi walked back into the stormy night and made his way to a public phone. With cold fingers, he placed a call to someone who owned a high-wheeled vehicle that could travel through the snow.

As the icy wind stung his face and snowflakes whipped around him, Rabbi Abba Shaul waited for the car. When it arrived, he got in and began visiting one house after another. At each stop, he personally invited great Torah sages, giants of that generation, saying with his usual mix of joy and urgency, “There’s a mitzvah waiting, a lonely bar mitzvah boy! A rare mitzvah no one else can do!”

His sincerity and warmth were impossible to resist.

One by one, great Torah leaders joined him. His own teacher, the respected Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Ezra Attiah. The holy Kabbalist Hakham Ephraim HaCohen. And many others. Their final stop: the bar mitzvah boy’s home.

One after another, the Torah sages stepped out of the car and climbed the stairs to join the boy’s celebration. Meanwhile, Rabbi Abba Shaul stayed behind to personally pay the driver and thank him for helping with this mitzvah.

Then he, too, entered the home.

This time, the scene was completely different. The room glowed with warmth and joy. The bar mitzvah boy and his parents were beaming, their hearts full. What had begun as a painful evening turned into an unforgettable moment of happiness and holiness.

This is the kind of care that Torah sages show, not just in their teachings, but in their actions, bringing light and comfort to every Jew, even in the middle of a snowstorm.

From ‘Rabbeinu HaOr LeTzion’