Editors note: Last week, Gabe Wood-Isenberg was the student speaker during the Friday night Shabbat meal at Chabad. The following is a transcript of his speech.
I will start with a story. There once was an emperor of Rome that really was not nice to the Jews. The emperor, Hadrian, had a nephew whose name was Onkelos. Onkelos was a very wise man who was very well versed in Roman and Greek cultures. After learning his whole life, he discovered that all the idol worship that was going on around him was wrong and that Judaism is the true way to serve G‑d. He began to serve G‑d the Jewish way in secret.
After realizing this, Onkelos decided to speak to his uncle. He said “after poring over books and manuscripts, I have not gained anything form it. It is time for me to enter the world of business.” Hadrian told him that all the money he needed was at his disposal and wished him well on his journey.
After this Onkelos left the palace, he ventured to Israel. He spent many years there learning under some of the biggest Rabbis of the time and converted to Judaism. Onkelos spent day and night learning the vast secrets of the Torah until his knowledge of Judaism far surpassed his knowledge of the Greeks and Romans.
Hadrian eventually found out that his nephew had accepted the Jewish religion and had become a great Jewish scholar. This infuriated him so he sent a group of soldiers to go arrest him. As soon as they got there, Onkelos received them with a warm welcome and spoke about religion and knowledge. They were so impressed with Judaism that they threw themselves at his feet and asked him to convert them.
Hadrian heard about this as well and was even angrier this time. He sent another group of soldiers and told them not to have any discussions with Onkelos. Again Onkelos greeted the soldiers warmly and said “I know your master told you not to have any discussion with me. I have one question though. In the royal court the soldier carries the torch for the officer, the officer carries it for the captain, the captain for the general and the general for the emperor. Tell me, who does the emperor carry the torch for?” “No one!” they responded. “He’s the highest authority!” Onkelos answer them, “well, the G‑d of Israel still deemed it fit to carry the torch for the Jews and lighten their way with a pillar of fire in the desert for 40 years!” This group of soldiers was so impressed with Judaism that they asked to become his disciples.
Hadrian heard about this as well and he had enough. He sent one last group of soldiers and told them not to mention a single word to Onkelos or answer any questions and arrest him immediately. They obeyed orders, took Onkelos and led him out of the house. On his way out he stopped to kiss the mezuzah. The messengers could not help but ask what he was doing. He told them that unlike their king who protects them from inside a palace, the Jewish King, the G‑d of the world, allows his servants to sit at home and He protects them from outside! This is what the Mezuzah symbolizes. Of course this final group of soldiers fell under the influence of Onkelos and they, too, became his disciples.
This weeks Parsha is called Yisro. I have a question though, why would that be the name of the Parsha when seemingly the biggest event in the history of the Jewish people happened: we received the Ten Commandments?! Shouldn’t the name have something to do with that? To answer this we need some background information about Yisro. The Parsha begins saying the Yisro, the father-in-law of Moses and chieftain of Midian, heard of all that G‑d did for Moses and Israel when he took them out of Egypt. He decided to leave Midian to meet with Moses and the Jewish people. Unlike Amalek coming to destroy the Jewish people out of fear of seeing what G‑d had done for them, like we learned in last weeks Parsha, Yisro came out of joy and admiration in order to join the people and convert. Yisro left Midian where he was the chieftain of the whole nation. That is not a bad life to live! Seemingly, he had everything he wanted at his fingertips. Still he decided leave everything he had for something better. This is what made him deserving of having arguably the most influential Parsha in the Torah named after him.
Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Bubby Lovies incredible story. Bubby Lovie also converted to Judaism and is now the Bubby of ASU Chabad. She constantly inspires everyone around her with her journey which was one of much hardship and struggle. We are so blessed to have her here with us; I am always so amazed at how much trouble she went through to discover the truth and I have never seen a loving relationship with Hashem quite like the one Bubby Lovie has.
We can learn so much from the inspiring stories of these amazing Jews. All of them left seemingly incredible lives in order to come to Judaism. Onkelos was part of the royal family and Yisro was the chieftain of Midian, and Bubby Lovie left the comfort and support of her family! They all severed themselves from the lives they had and said, “there is something better out there”. The immense sacrifices that these remarkable Jews went through are ones that we can and should strive to include into our lives.
This is the Sinai Scholars Shabbaton and for many of you this is the first time ever keeping Shabbat. It may seem like there are a lot of restrictions and that you are making a lot of sacrifices to be here. You have to turn off your phone, you can’t do schoolwork and you can’t drive. This may seem like a lot to give up. I will tell you one thing though. If you asked any of these Jews they would tell you that every single one of the sacrifices they made were worth it. So, I challenge each of you to appreciate this Shabbos we have together and realize that the sacrifices you are making are worth it too because Shabbos is the greatest gift we have.
L’Chaim and Gut Shabbos!