An avreich from Yerushalayim relates: I wish upon all of Am Yisrael problems like mine, with a family that is, baruch Hashem, growing and that includes a baby who grew up, threw away his pacifier and bottle, and still sleeps in a crib.
Actually, his younger brother was more flexible, and he joined an older sibling on a mattress on the floor. But we found ourselves wishing for a yeshuah in the form of a youth bed, which would allow everyone to sleep normally through the night.
I checked into it and found that a bed like the one we wanted cost 3,000 shekels. It was the month of Nissan, when business is booming in the furniture stores. There are no discounts at this time of year; at most they might agree to lower the price just a bit. And we could not wait any longer. The new bed was not in the realm of luxuries, but I did not have 3,000 shekels.
I didn’t want to borrow, and the solution was to order the bed with an arrangement by which I could pay for it only once it was delivered to my home. We found a store willing to sell this way, and we ordered the bed in the beginning of the week.
When would it come? Before Shabbos.
I davened to Hashem, davened from the depths of my heart: “Ribbono shel Olam, You are kol yachol. You make people sleep and slumber, and You arouse them from their slumber. You know how much we need these beds for the children You gave us. Gold and silver and trees all belong to You; please send me 3,000 shekels.”
On Wednesday the furniture store called to inform me that on the following day – Thursday – the bed would arrive. The next morning, I checked whether any money had somehow been deposited in my bank account, but the automated response did not have any news for me.
At 2 p.m. I called a friend with whom I often discuss matters of emunah. I said to him, “Now is the time to strengthen ourselves. Let us speak about emunah.”
He told me several good things, I said some things to him, and we were mischazeik together. At 2:45 the delivery man arrived. I had 1,000 shekels at home, which were meant to be used elsewhere, and I decided to use them now. I called a friend and asked him to lend me 2,000 shekels through a direct deposit into my account.
While speaking to him, I made my way to the ATM to withdraw the money. I put my card into the ATM, but the account was empty.
I called the friend who had promised to make the transfer, and he told me apologetically that he did not understand what was happening, why the instructions he was giving the automated phone system were not going through. A process meant to take several moments was not succeeding.
While we were talking, behind me waiting in line for the ATM was the rosh kollel of my evening kollel. I told him succinctly about the bed and the payment, and I asked if he could lend me 2000 shekels.
He answered that he could, and he wrote out a check not for 2,000 shekels but for 3,000 shekels, and he said, “I’m lending you 2,000, and take 1,000 as a gift!”
I was amazed. Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent the delay in my friend’s transfer so that I would receive 1,000 shekels that I would not need to return. Afterward, my friend made the transfer, and that evening the money from the check came in, so I was able to return everything, baruch Hashem.
I am grateful and emotional, thanking Hashem with all my heart for the processes and delays He arranged for me, and for the great chizuk in emunah this experience left me with. May Hashem help us all from this point on, with expansiveness and much shefa for every household of Am Yisrael.
