I met him again at a funeral recently, and the story he told me left me speechless.
It was on Rosh Hashanah this past year, I had just finished leading my Rabbi On Demand service at Bondi Beach. As I stepped outside, ready to walk home, I noticed two Jewish men strolling along the promenade. One I recognised — Eddie — and he was together with a friend.
I called out, “Hey, did you hear the shofar today? It’s Rosh Hashanah!”
They hadn’t. So without hesitation, I lifted the shofar, and right there, metres from the sand, with hundreds of people around, in the heat of the day, I blew its notes into the wind. The piercing sounds carried across the promenade, raw and alive. They stopped, listened, their faces softening. When I finished we hugged, shared a moment, and they walked on.
Two months later, Eddie came up to me after this funeral. His voice shaking, eyes wide:
“Rabbi… you won’t believe this. My friend that met you that day in Bondi, he’s been struggling with heart problems for a long time, and doctors were worried. But ever since you blew the shofar for us on Rosh Hashanah… he hasn’t had a single episode. Rabbi… you are a miracle worker.”
I was stunned.
It reminded me that sometimes, we underestimate the power of a single act. A sound, a smile, a presence, a moment of connection. That small act, right there on the promenade, pierced into a place deeper than medicine or logic could reach. It touched a soul, and it changed a life.
And that is why I do what I do.
#StoriesThatStayWithMe #RabbiOnDemand #Shofar #RoshHashanah #JewishMiracles #Connection #AmYisraelChai
