Tiyul w/ Rav Benny

One of my fondest memories in all my time in Israel was the two days when my father and I took Rav Benny for a tiyul up north – through the Galil and Golan.

We hiked the hills, we picked up every hitchhiker we could (and Rav Benny was effusively able to find no more than 2-3 degrees of separation from any one of them, no matter WHAT they looked like), we listened to Rav Benny tell us stories about fighting Jordanians here and Syrians there, surviving battles through revealed miracles and pointing out monuments along the way that memorialized students of his from 20+ years ago. His life experience so intertwined with this young state of Israel, his boundless rolodex of teachers, students, friends and his ability to “be in the moment” to “be in that space” to “be with that person” and to LIVE the holiness of that moment, space, and person. It was such an inspiration!

But best of all was his luggage. My father and I packed for vacation and hiking. We had hiking shoes, water sandals, shorts, pants, shirts, etc. Each of us had a sports bag of stuff. As for Rav Benny, he was wearing his trademark dark suit with jacket on and white button down shirt, collar spread wide and he was holding a black briefcase. We asked him, “That’s it?”

Over the trip I had to figure out, how did he squeeze all his gear into this small briefcase. You know what was inside? The basics – toiletries, plastic water shoes, tallit/tefilin, and two sefarim – Rav Kook’s Orot Hateshuva and a Maharal. Picture that! It really says it all.

In sum, I’d have to say, Rav Benny (and family) teach me how to strive to be more like them. To be a human being who lives and loves all the goodness of THIS WORLD, but soulfully transcends limitations and “details” to experience the metaphysical dimensions here on Earth.