This
story was related to me by a Chasidish young man called Fisher, who lives in
Haifa. He runs an organisation to help special needs children in that city.
Some
months ago he was very short of funds and needed to pay out monies and
eventually the day of reckoning was only one day away.
In
desperation, he decided and he and his wife would travel from Haifa to Kever
Rochel and ask the Mama Rochel to intercede. The sum required was in the tens
of thousands of shkelim, I believe around £8,000 or so.
He
and his wife arrived at Kever Rochel in the early evening and by 8.00pm they
were busy davenning and pleading that Mama Rochel should intercede on their
behalf. By 9.00pm they were out of Kever Rochel.
They
travelled back to Haifa that evening, and Mr Fisher felt relieved.
He
got up in the morning and went to daven, still with this feeling of relief and
ease, even though he had no idea where he was going to find the money that
every day.
After
davenning, a young man approached him and gave him an envelope. Mr Fisher asked
what it was all about, and the answer was “it’s from Mama Rochel”. Mr Fisher
nearly passed out. Asking the young man, what this was all about, it was explained
to him that his mother, or grandmother, had died five months earlier and had
left money to give in her memory, לעלוי נשמתה.
When
Mr Fisher asked, “why five months after her death?” and continued “I can
understand if it was at the end of the shiva or the shloshim or at the
yahrzeit, but five months is strange.” The donor replied that there had been discussions
among the family as to whether they should give the money for learning Torah or
for chesed and they could not reach a decision. The night before, they had
travelled to Nahariya to Reb Dovid Abuchatzeirah and promised to abide by his
decision.
Rabbi
Abuchatzeirah said to them that it was never good for the neshomo that there
should be arguments and, therefore, he suggested that they should take half the
money and give it to a Yeshiva and the other half should be given for chesed. Rabbi
Abuchatzeirah suggested that the organisation run by Mr Fisher would be
appropriate, as the lady had lived in Haifa.
Mr
Fisher asked at what time had they seen Rabbi Abuchatzeirah. “Around 9.00 pm”
was the reply.
When
Mr Fisher counted the amount in the envelope, it was precisely what he
needed to cover the money for that very day!!
My
son, Avi Sugarwhite, related the following story.
A
gentleman, let us call him Mr B, was waiting in line impatiently at a grocery
shop, a makolet in Eretz Yisroel, to pay for his goods.
In
front of him was another gentleman, let us call him Mr A, with a trolley. When Mr
A reached the check out, he said to the cashier, just a minute and went to take
something else from the shelves and put it in the trolley. Mr B became rather
upset when this happened twice. When it happened a third time, he remonstrated
with Mr A saying “could you please stop running backwards and forwards, pay for
your purchases and let me get served.” The answer he got was “Just one minute”.
Mr A ran off again to the shelves and Mr B lost his cool. He let Mr A know what
he felt about the matter.
However,
when he noticed that Mr A was very upset, Mr B felt that he had overdone it. Mr
B turned to the person at the till and said “add up how much is there and I will
pay for all the goods.” Mr B turned to Mr A, and said “You see I am sorry, I
should not have been so harsh and want to make up for it.” But Mr A was crying.
After
Mr B paid, not only for the other person’s purchases, but also for his own, he
asked Mr A what was going on.
The
story was the following:-
For
the last two or three months, Mr A had no money and gradually all their food
and rations dwindled until they had nothing left. His wife suggested, in
desperation, that he should go to the grocery shop, the makolet, and buy some
goods and she would say tehillim and Hashem would help.
Mr
A went to the grocery shop and filled up the trolley with what was desperately
needed. When he got to the till, with no money to pay and knowing that the
makolet would not give him credit, in desperation, he went back to the shelves
to take another item and another, hoping for a miracle. Mr B was the “miracle
man”.
When
Mr B heard this story, he asked Mr A how much his normal monthly grocery bill
was and was given a figure.
Mr
B then wrote out 11 monthly post dated cheques covering the whole cost for the
next year.
מי כעמך ישראל
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