I am an avreich from Yerushalayim. I want to talk about the wonders of Hashem, and also about the wonders of His dear, beloved children, people of chessed, who uphold the world with tznius and simplicity, who truly care about a Yid whom they don’t even know, and who are ready to make tremendous effort in order to prevent agmas nefesh.
B’shaah tovah, we merited to marry off our dear daughter with her chashuveh chassan on the second of Nissan this year. Both my family and the family of the mechutanim live in Ramot. We decided to make the Shabbos sheva brachos in Kiryat Sefer, which is not so far away. We found a place for everyone to stay there, and a pleasant hall to fit all the guests from both sides. We prepared for the Shabbos sheva brachos, excited and filled with joy for our young couple.
Everything was ready. The hot plates in the kitchen had large pots of soup on them, the meat, and the cholent, and trays of fish. In the fridge there were boxes of salads, drinks, and mezonos. The whole oneg Shabbos was ready, and the guests – about ninety in all, knew that a special experience awaited them.
Just how special it would be, we had yet to discover. A bit after sunset, when the skies were painted in an orange-purplish hue, the light in the hall went out. In the adjacent shul as well, darkness reigned. Both these buildings were connected to one generator. The electricity had shorted out, and only the light of the candles somehow mitigated the darkness.
Again, “It’s all for the good, it’s all for the good. Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows exactly where we are. He always did and always will do everything. This Shabbos is probably a special Shabbos, a great Shabbos, within which there are rare brachos and tremendous zechuyos hidden away for all of us.”
During those very confusing moments, when I had no idea what to do, an avreich I had never met before came over to me and said, “I live across the street, three floors down. I have a huge dining room and a yard, which could hold all of you. Come to me.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “But it’s Erev Pesach now. How could we come to you with all our chametz?”
“That doesn’t matter,” the avreich said. “Come on down to me.”
I was totally unprepared for this idea. I couldn’t imagine people coming to my house a week and a half before Pesach and spreading chametz all over the place. I tried to hold back, although I had no possible alternative solution. If I didn’t accept his offer, what other option did I have?!
He saw me deliberating, and he told me, “I promise you that our joy in having you eat in our home will be greater than your joy. Please come and make us happy. Let us rejoice with the chassan and kallah.”
I believed the baal habayis, that he meant this truthfully, and we let everyone know that we were going to eat across the street. Immediately, bachurim and avreichim from among the guests came over and started moving the tables and benches in the direction of the house. Within a short time the tables were set up in his dining room, which was much nicer than the hall where we were supposed to be. When I saw how nice it was, it highlighted for me his and his family’s mesirus nefesh in giving us their home. We had young, mischievous children with us, and the big family simchah brought a great deal of dirt and mess along with it.
In order to give me a good feeling, he initially said he would eat with us, but when it came down to it, he and his family quickly disappeared. The baal habayis stood outside the hall for a while, directing the latecomers among our guests to his house. “It’s here, across the street by the X family. Go down three flights.” He didn’t tell any of them that it was his house.
Later, when he came in, and we thanked him and asked how we could possibly express our appreciation for the tremendous chessed he had done for us, he said, “I have a daughter in shidduchim, and I’m asking you to give her a brachah that she find her proper zivug speedily.”
The entire crowd blessed him, obviously with all their hearts.
One of the guests looked at our host’s Shabbos clock and came over and told me, “The clock is set to turn off at 11 p.m. Soon the lights will go out and we’ll be in darkness again.”
We discussed it and reached the conclusion that we could ask a child to move the time on the clock, according to a psak brought in sefer Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah, which generally follows the rulings of Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l. It’s not so simple to do this, because a child could easily touch something a part that will cause it to turn off altogether. I was not comfortable with the heter, but on the other hand, there was a public need here, and the joy of a chassan and kallah to consider.
They went over to the clock, and moments before the child was about to do what he had to do, the lights went out! This was special hashgachah pratis. Ultimately, the early lights-out didn’t bother us, because one large central light fixture stayed on, and in this magical atmosphere, the zemiros and the songs and praises rose up to Hashem along with the joy of the sheva brachos.
Once again I felt that this was no one if not Hakadosh Baruch Hu watching over every step of ours, ensuring that we would merit to keep Shabbos kodesh with special hiddur, along with experiencing amazing, rare hachnasas orchim.
The next day we ate in the hall, in daylight, and after Havdalah we mentioned our host’s request regarding his daughter. One of the people there began a “Mi shebeirach,” and everyone said a perek of Tehillim in her zechus.
Two weeks later, on Motzaei Shabbos Chol Hamoed, Erev shevi’i shel Pesach, on the day that the sea was split, I got an emotional phone call. Our host was on the line. “Baruch Hashem, we’re drinking l’chaim now. My daughter is getting engaged!”
He related that they got a positive response from the chassan’s side on Sunday, the day after our Shabbos sheva brachos. Someone on the chassan’s side had heard the story and was amazed by the special hachnasas orchim. This, along with his daughter’s good qualities, pushed them to close the shidduch. They were also amazed to hear that the kallah’s mother did not tell her mother anything about her massive hosting. She had seen no reason to talk about this. What could be simpler than inviting a group of ninety people, when you see they are in such a quandary?!
We needed a special zechus,” their mechutan, father of the chassan, claimed, “the zechus of Shabbos and the zechus of hachnasas orchim, and especially in such a huge, beautiful way, with mesirus nefesh.”
