I daresay, that any one who was at the funeral of Yitz zt”l this week, must have been genuinely impressed, as to the life he led. Who could not have been otherwise impressed, after hearing how he enjoyed learning by himself, with a chavrusah for years; how his life was one of being devoted to his family, and helping others, and much more. How was he able to achieve all that he did? Did he have assistance?
To answer this question, let us look to Parshat Va’yai’ra. We recall, this is the Parsha, where the three Malochim, come to visit with Avraham, and at one point in time they ask him ” a’yeh Sarah Ish’te’cha”, where is Sarah your wife? I strongly suggest, there was a deeper meaning to their question, than simply one of geography. I suggest they were asking, how had Sarah progressed, in assisting Avraham in his way of life. They were informing Avraham, that it was because of the encouragement of his wife Sarah, that he was strong in encouraging others to believe in Hashem, to continue learning, and to generally look to do good to others. And how successful Sorah was, we can see, from how Avraham acted. And I truly believe, that if the Malochim were to appear here today, they would ask ” A’yeh Debbie Ish’te’cha?” For just as Sorah spearheaded what Avraham did, so can we say the same thing, between Debbie ( Divorah) and Yitz.
But wait, I suggest it was a two way street, Yitz and Divorah assisted each other. See the rosha tayvot of their names spell the word “yad”, And I am certain they each put in their yad, to assist the other. And if we join yad yad as one, we come to the word “yedid”, meaning beloved. Yes, anyone who knew them, could easily testify, how in love they were for each other. In fact, if you take the gematria of yedid, you will see it is 28 or the same as Ko’ach. Yes they constantly assisted each other, in all that they did, and thereby strengthened each other. And you can go further. The letters of “ko’ach”, spell out Kallah/Chosson. Yes, yes, each and every day of their married life was to them, simply a continuation of the great love they had for each other, from the time they were under the chuppah.
Indeed, we can see from the term Chuppah itself, why this was, and why Hashem assisted them, and saw to it, that their married life, was such a happy one.
I would call it, midah ki’neged midah. Just as they loved Hashem, so did He make their love for each other real. Let me explain. Let us look to the word Chuppa. The middle two letters, the vav and a pay, have a gematria of “86” or the same as Elokim, which has the midah of din attached to it. We want rachamim not din. And we can see rachamim, by taking the first and last letters of Chuppa, that is he chet and Hey, which toral “13”, and thus stand for the thirteen midot of rachamim of Hashem.
So we have both midot here, din and rachamim. Which applies? Would you believe, if you multiply 86×13 you come to 1168, the very same gematria as
“Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokaynu Hashem Echad”.
And yes, if the Chosso/Kallah live this posuk, then surely the midah of rachamim will apply, as it did with our Divorah and Yitz.
And see how important the number 1168 is. The eleventh beracha in Shemoe Esray is Hoshiva Shoftaynu… Yes, how will they be judged? The number “68” says it all. They will be judged with Chaim, with life, as Chaim has a gematria of “68”
You might ask, was this beracha carried out for Yitz, who seems to have been take from us, at a youngish age. I would say yes. Life in this world is not measured by length of years, but rather did you make use of almost every minute, while you were with us. And after hearing how Yitz juggled every minute of his days, between his professional carrear and learning, there is no doubt, the beracha of “chaim”, long life was his
And one of the guides that they both had, in how to act, and what they wanted to be known for, came from their family name Kurtz, spelled kuf, vav, raysh, tzaddi. The gematria of their name is 396. If we divide this number into 39 and 6, it says it all. “39 is Hashem Echad, who gave us the 39 Av Melachot, we are not to do on the Shabbat.
And the “6” testifies, the six days that Hashem created the world, with the seventh day being Shabbat. And anyone who knew Yitz and Debbie, saw that Shabbat was what they loved, lived for, and were known for.
And now a short word, to the children here. Rememeber that the mitzvah of Kabayd et O’veecha vi’et Eemecha goes on, even after your parent is no longer with you. And this is so important, as once one is niftar, he can no longer do any mitzvot, which will take him closer and closer, to the kisay hakavod of Hashem.
And we have no doubt, that his children brought up in this home, that their doing Mitzvot will increase, such that it will not be long, when Yitz will be close to Hashem, from whence he surely will be a Maylitz Yosher for his dear wife, his mishpacha, Klall Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael. And may it be so. Amen!!!