Q:
I parked my car on the avenue to stop at a store and when I came back I found a homeless person sleeping in the back seat. I called the police and they came and kicked him out of my car. Then I drove two more blocks and stopped again to run an errand and this time I made sure to lock all the doors. When I returned I found the same homeless man sleeping again in the back seat. So my question is, מאי קא משמע לן – what is Hashem trying to tell me?
A:
And the answer is קא משמע לן טובא – He’s telling us many things. Now, I won’t tell you everything, but one thing I’ll tell you, however. He’s teaching you how lucky you are that you’re not him. You have a home!
Being homeless is a pity. Not these resha’im, the drunks and dope addicts – they deserve what they’re getting. But there are some homeless who it’s not their fault.
Here’s an insane white woman. Once she was a baalebusteh. She had her own house. And now she’s pushing a little cart and all her worldly possessions are in the cart. Where does she sleep at night? She’s bundled up with rags.
And she’s so sad. She sits by herself on the park bench. She’s trying to sleep on the park bench but she can’t get any sleep. Who knows where she slept last night?
That’s a bitter rachmanus. Once she had her home and her kitchen and the refrigerator and her own bedroom and she had a telephone. She had everything a house requires. And now she doesn’t have anything except a little cart. That’s a rachmanus; it’s a heartbreaking thing.
What we can do for her, I don’t know because she’s insane. She won’t let you do anything for her. But one thing at least you can do for yourself. You have to learn to thank Hashem for all the things that you do have that she doesn’t have.
The homeless have to teach you how lucky you are to have a home. You come home at night, you lock the door, you have privacy. If you have a wife, even better. Children, family; it’s happiness. It’s warm too. You have running water. You have a bathroom. You have beds. You have so many things.
The truth is if you start counting your blessings, there are so many that you don’t know what to do. But you better get busy and start counting them right away. And little by little your life becomes full of happiness. The purpose of the homeless is to make you sing to Hashem all day long for what He is giving you.
And the most important gift is אתה חונן לאדם דעת – He gives you sanity. Sanity is a tremendous gift.
So when you see a homeless person, think about that. How lucky you are! And that’s a very important purpose why Hashem sent that homeless man into your car.
TAPE # 854 (December 1991)
