Cecil (Shimon) Emanuels z"l

Cecil (Shimon) Emanuels

31 december 2014 / 10 Tevet 5775

Today is not just the end of 2014 but also Asarah beTevet, a fastday.

The fasting commemorates the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia—an event that began on that date and ultimately culminated in the destruction of Solomon's Temple (the First Temple) and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah (today southern Israel).

Today is also Opa Cecil’s (Shim’on ben Awraham’s) Jahrzeit. It is already 15 years ago that he passed away, in 1999. We remember him as a very special man,  an honest man, a loving father, a proud grandfather, a man with Chessed and Humor and above all a man with full belief in Hasheem. With the absolute knowledge that Hasheem was revealing himself to him, even during his lifetime. But Opa Cecil had to discover that all by himself.

This past Shabbath we read the Torah portion Wayigash 45.3

The 11 brothers of Joseph are in Mitsrajim, in Egypt, when Joseph who has become very powerful, orders the brothers to let Benjamin stay behind, but the oldest brother Juda offers himself instead.

Then Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, a very very powerful and very emotional moment. Why was he not angry with his brothers who had thrown him in the pit and sold him to Egypt?? Joseph realized that what happened to him was Hasjeem’s Masterplan to save his tribe, to save his people from the famine, the 7 hunger years.

And how could the brothers look in Joseph’s eyes after what they had done to him??…They themselves also realized at that very moment that the terrible things they did were part of a Masterplan from Hasheem.

Joseph revealed himself and by doing that he revealed the Masterplan.

So it is also with Hasjeem. Very often we do not understand many things we encounter or we see or we experience. But sometimes we understand a little bit better after a certain time what actually happened and why…

Only when Hasjeem reveals Himself in the time to come will we understand everything, will we understand HIS Masterplan.

This, for (O)pa Cecil was completely acceptable. He was searching for Hasjeem but fully appreciated that he would not be able to understand everything.

He understood that all you need to do is look for Hasheem, to follow his guidance, his Torah, his Mitswoth and then He would reveal himself somewhat during our lifetime. And only we can hope Hasheem will reveal Himself more to us ‘bimhera bejamenu’ in our time.

Opa understood because he was always studying, hungry to understand more, an incredible thirst for more knowledge through which he could see and understand Hasjeem. Some passages which were always in front of his mind:

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

Dewarim 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Dewarim 10:12
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Dewarim 11:13
So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul….

And so many more of these passages which were Opa’s ‘guide to living’ his road to truth, to Emmet !

Question: "What is Jacob's Ladder?"

Answer: The term "Jacob's Ladder" has become a common phrase—it has been used as a movie title, a book title, a name of a flower, and even as a name of an electrical device. But from where did this phrase originate?Bereshit 28:10-12 first mentions "Jacob's Ladder" when it says, "Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway/ladder resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it."

It is in this passage that God reveals Himself to Jacob and reaffirms the covenant, that He made with Abraham, promising Jacob (who will later be named Israel) that his offspring will be many and that the Promised Land will one day belong to his descendants. The promised land where Opa Cecil’s children now live and also his wife Juliette, The promised land of Israel…. a great miracle coming out of Opa’s teaching of the love of G’d and the faith in His promise.

In the vision Jacob sees something similar to a ladder or a stairway (in Iwrith: sullam) which signifies a connection between God and man. In this instance, it was God who provided the means necessary to link Himself to man as opposed to the men of Babel in Bereshit 11,who tried to reach heaven by their own actions, aside from the help of God.

 Opa Cecil had his own very Jewish ladder! He walked up this ladder from the ground, from knowing very little, slowly, as he himself always did things slowly but deliberately, as we called him Stoffel sometimes, but very sure of himself, slowly towards Hasjeem, with full confidence, belief, trust, emunah, realizing he would never get all the answers but knowing that through his praying and his studying, and with his understanding, Hasjeem would be revealing Himself to him.

As Melech David said:

Todie’enie orach chajim, You will teach me the path of life….

We think of you, Shim’on ben Awraham, with love and very good and fond and wise memories and we are sure about another expression of Melech David:

Af-Elokim jifdeh nafshi mijad she’ol, kie jikacheni sela, But G’d will redeem my life from the grave, He will surely take me to Himself.

May Cecil’s Neshama be together with Hasjeem and the neshamoth of his beloved in the eternal light

Tel-Aviv 10 Tevet 5775 – 31 december 2014

Theo Roos