Mrs. Fried was uneasy about her newborn baby. His breathing seemed labored and unnatural, but all the doctors and nurses she asked about it had played down her fears, saying there was nothing to worry about. What she perceived as a breathing difficulty was perfectly normal for day-old infants, they said.
“You’re just overtired and weak. Don’t worry. Your baby is in the best of hands.”
She didn’t know what to think. True, she was fatigued and drained, and yet she trusted the sixth sense that Hashem gives to mothers – and that intuition was now sounding the alarm. Having no other choice, she turned to the Healer of all flesh and prayed for the health of her newborn son, barely a day old.
At the same time, Dr. Nachmani, a pediatric surgeon, was tossing and turning in his bed at home. For some reason, tired as he was, he could not fall asleep. Two hours later, he gave in to his “nerves” and went into the kitchen to have a soothing drink.
Kept Thinking about the Newborn Goldman Baby
His thoughts kept returning to the newborn Goldman baby upon whom he had that day performed complicated surgery. He knew that it had gone well, and he had checked with the hospital before retiring. The nurses had reported that the baby’s condition was stable and that he was doing very well.
Still, the doctor felt an irrepressible urge drawing him back to the hospital. Perhaps he should go and check the baby himself. Ten minutes later he was in his car, heading for the hospital.
Dr. Nachmani hurriedly donned his sterile coat, scrubbed his hands, and entered the nursery. To his great relief, he found the Goldman baby sleeping peacefully in his bassinet, his chest rising and falling in a steady, undisturbed rhythm.
The Doctor Cried Out to the Nurse
But his eye was drawn to another bassinet nearby, in which a baby seemed to be struggling to breathe. Dr. Nachmani gave a closer look and cried out, “Oxygen! Nurse, set up the oxygen immediately!”
The struggling infant, whose breaths were coming in gasps, was rushed to the newborn intensive care unit. The Fried infant had fluid in his lungs and they discovered it not a moment too soon.
Later, when the baby was out of danger, Dr. Nachmani went to see Mrs. Fried and explained to her that her baby was now fine and had suffered no ill effects – thanks to the fact that he had come just in the nick of time. The bare-headed doctor remarked in wonder that it could only have been Divine intervention that had prevented him from sleeping that night. (Excerpted from the book – “There is No Such Thing as Coincidence 2)
Reprinted from the Parashat Ki Tabo 5783 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
