Shemot: The Car Light That Was Not Consumed

Based on a true story

 

Shemot: 3: 1-4

It was a chance occurence.

Michael went outside to take out the garbage. He passed by his car every time he went to the trash cans, on the side of the house. But this time was different.

Friday night was always a momentous evening in the Brandeis house, the biggest of the week. The shabbat meal was a serious affair. Sure, there was the recitation of Kiddush and the singing of Shalom Aleichem and Eishet Chayil. If all went well, each child would tell over a dvar Torah about that week's parsha, and some zemirot might be sung. But along with the shabbat reverie came the big meal, and Chana was an excellent cook. Matzoh ball soup. Potato kugel.  Mushroom chicken. Mommy's special rice. It was quite a spread.

And with an amazing shabbat seudah comes an amazing amount of garbage. Michael was in charge of cleaning up after the meal, and the final act of cleaning was taking out the garbage. The bag was usually overstuffed with the remains of the family gathering, and tonight was no exception.

It was a very cold night in Teaneck, and Michael was not savoring going outside. Still, it had to be done. A blast of cold air struck him in the face as he opened the front door. Probably the Crocs with no socks was a bad choice of footwear, but it was too late to turn back now. As he passed his car in the driveway, he saw something he wished he hadn't. The interior dome light was on.

"Oh, great."

Now he remembered. He had turned on the light over his head at the gas station that afternoon, to scrutinize a receipt he had found on the passenger seat. Had he remembered to turn it off? Apparently not. Now it was shabbat, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He stuffed the garbage bag into the can and turned back toward the house. The light still burned brightly in his car, clearly visible through the Honda's windshield. Michael knew what it meant. The car battery would be dead by the end of shabbat. Now he would need to haul out the jumper cables Saturday night and jump start the Civic from the minivan. It would be cold, it would be unpleasant, and it had to be done.

"Just what I needed," Michael muttered under his fog-forming breath.

The next morning, Michael got up for davening, had his cup of tea, and then bundled up for his trek to shul. On his way, he put his gloved hands to the glass and peered in the car window.

The light was still burning bright, with an otherwordly glow through the frosted glass.

"Hmmm, there's something you don't see everyday." Still, it was another eight hours until shabbat was over. The battery would never last that long.

He didn't check the car when he got home from synagogue. He was too focused on the hot, steaming chulent that was waiting for him inside. But when went back out for his walk to shul for Mincha, Michael eyed his car from the front steps suspiciously. Dare he check? Yes, dare he did.

Still lit. "Wow, I'm impressed," Michael said to himself. "I should call the Honda dealer and tell him. That's quite a battery."

But would the car start after shabbat? That was probably asking too much.

The candle from Havdalah was barely extinguished when Michael rushed outside, key in hand, to check on his car. Would it start? Could it start? Stranger things have happened, but not much.

Sure enough, the light was still on in the Civic. He popped the key in the ignition and turned it to the right.

"Dear G-d, let this work."

There was no hesitation. The Honda roared to life in moments.

"Fantastic."

Michael sat behind the steering wheel, amazed at his good fortune. In a way, his Honda kind of reminded him of that week's parsha. The night before, his eighth grader, Zvi, had given a dvar Torah about the burning bush. Moshe is a shepherd in the wilderness, and he goes over to check out a thorn bush that just keeps on burning.

The Torah states: vehiney hasneh bo-er ba-esh, vehasneh aynenu ookal. The bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

Zvi suggested that Hashem communicated with Moshe through a thornbush, because He chose to communicate with man through the humblest of trees. And surely there was no more humble car than his seven-year-old Civic.

Zvi also said that G-d chose the thornbush to show that there is no where in the world without the Divine Presence, not even a small bush. Could the Divine Presence be in his Honda, an old Japanese import? Why not?

The burning bush was a small miracle that began the entire story of yetziat mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt. It showed that anything was possible. Maybe the Honda miracle was a sign of great miracles to come, or at least good things in his life that were on the horizon.

Michael pulled out the car key and closed the door to his car. He patted his car fondly and turned toward the house. He would keep his thoughts about the miracle of the Honda to himself. Chana and the kids wouldn't understand.

Just before he entered the front door, Michael stopped.  Maybe it would be a good idea to go back to the car and shut off the dome light. Small miracles aside, he probably shouldn't push his luck.

Comments

[pst]

Welcome back, I enjoy your stories/Divrei Torah very much ;)

[Savta and Grandpops]

Welcome back Maggid. we've missed you!
The smell of "Chana's shabbat food" in the background sure is an inspiration to cook
for Parshat Shmot.

your story made us remember our 2 oldish Hondas "zacharnu et hadagah" but we are making due in Israel with a Syzuki, not bad.
However, it has not stood a trial of "fire" like your Honda did.

[Debby]

Welcome back. I'm happy to see your Dvrei Torah.

[Aunty Rashi]

Nice story, Maggid.Sort of fits in with Hannuka too.Here's a quiz question from the Parsha: Find a connection between Moshe at the burning bush and King David.The answer is a two word expression that appears only twice in the entire tanach- once when Moshe is talking to the bush and once when King David says it.
You haven't missed any updates, BTW. I'm just lazy

[The Maggid]

Thanks for the well wishes everybody. It's nice to be back.
The Maggid

[Warren]

Just reading your site for the first time. Love it!!!

Warren
Highland Park, NJ

[Shira Salamone]

Welcome back! Good story.

[vigilon]

What an experience to have. Im surprisingly amazed.