Rav Tzvi Meir Zilberberg: No!!! That Was Your Whole Rosh HaShana!
Rav Tzvi Meir tells a story that goes something like this. A person meets his friend after Rosh Hashana and asks him "Nu, so how did your Rosh Hashana go?" He replies "It was beautiful. The baal tefila didn't leave a dry eye in the shul. The meals were full of divrei torah and zemiros. The afternoons we learned straight without dozing or schmoozing for a minute. The kids behaved like angels" "Wow! Gevaldig. Sounds like it was perfect" his friend replies. "Well almost perfect. The kid next to me in Shul couldn't stop making noise during Musaf and the father the "Groisse Tzaddik" was so busy shukling away that he didn't do anything besides keep shuckling. I had to shissss the kid half of Mussaf, besides that it was perfect.
To this Rav Tzvi Meir says, "Fool! That was your whole test of Rosh Hashana. Maybe your whole year depended on your reaction to the kid. The rest of Yom Tov was not your Nisayon!" This Rosh Hashana don't decide for yourself what Rosh Hashana is all about. Submit yourself to what the King of all Kings decides is your particular avodah. Hatzlacha Rabba and Gut Yom Tov!
RS, Gateshead, 2011-09-27 11:09:28 Rav Tzvi Meir does not need my haskama - and his point is very well taken. However this just applies to the the kid's NEIGHBOUR - it does not in any way absolve or legitimise the FATHER who must seriously re-evaluate his priorities - who wants to be held responsible for causing such nisyonos to the rest of the Tzibur. This also opens the whole issue of when and how to bring your kids to shul - a question which requires a forum of its own
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