I flew with my two older sons on a trip to the holy places.
We were in Hungary, in the city of “Mád,” where the Kol Aryeh is buried. We planned to travel to daven Shacharis by the Tzaddik R’ Yeshaya ben R’ Moshe, a distance of about a fifteen-minute drive. But one of my sweet boys delayed, until we missed the regular minyan that takes place at the site of the Tzion.
My children know that minyan is something that is the very essence of my soul, and for me, there is nothing before davening with a minyan. They prayed that I would find a minyan, because if not, the whole trip would be meaningless to me.
I thought to travel to R’ Yeshaya and see what was happening there, but something pulled me to go instead to the shul of the Kol Aryeh to check what was happening there, even though to my knowledge there was no chance of a minyan. I followed that inner pull, drove, and parked near the Kol Aryeh.
I went inside and found a huge minyan of bochurim from the United States who had decided to daven Shacharis precisely there. After the Tefillah, they were in a great hurry, and the organizer asked me to return the key to the gentile who was responsible for the key to the shul and the Tzion. We rejoiced greatly over the salvation, and in particular, my son who had caused the delay was especially happy that I now had no complaint against him.
My son said: “I see that indeed, in the path a person wishes to go, he is led! Already many, many times HaKadosh Baruch Hu arranges minyanim for you in the most unexpected ways!”
And then he reminded me of a story when we were caught in a huge traffic jam due to an accident on Highway 6. Everyone told me to stop at the side of the road where there was a shoulder, to daven Minchah alone, with the logical reasoning that there was no chance of finding a minyan. But I insisted that I had never missed a minyan and did not intend to miss one now, and I continued driving until close to sunset. With no other choice, I stopped the car on the side of the road. As soon as I stopped, I heard a call: “Minchah! Minchah!” We joined a group of men who were waiting by the roadside—a minyan—and we davened with tremendous joy. מ.ק.
