Our rabbis said: "Even if a sword is placed on a person's neck – do not despair of mercy!" We must remember that we must put our trust and desires in the One who said and created the world. Only He can help and save us from all trouble and distress.
My friend and colleague, Rabbi Oded Mizrahi, in his book Ein Roeh, recounts a wonderful event that took place in our time: "Rabbi Yehuda Yosefi shlita, the most meritorious rabbi in our generation, holds a regular shiur in the weekly Torah portion every Thursday, a shiur held in the synagogue of the Persian community of Mashhad immigrants, behind the 'Great Synagogue' in Bnei Brak. Oren, one of the regular participants in the class, tried to persuade Eyal, his friend who had not yet seen the light, to come to the class. He promised that this would be a serious and in-depth lesson in which he could broaden his horizons. At first he refused, but in the end, he agreed and agreed to come. The shiur first dealt with this week's Torah portion. The Rav spoke about the midrash from the Gemara: "After Moses saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew and hiding him in the sand, Pharaoh commanded his servants to capture Moses and bring him before him. Moses was brought before Pharaoh and executed. Pharaoh ordered one of his servants to cut off Moses' head with the sword, and then a miracle was performed... When the sword was raised around his neck, Moshe's neck turned marble, and so Moshe finally managed to escape from Pharaoh's palace. Rabbi Yehuda Yosefi Shlita concluded the midrash with great enthusiasm and said: "Even a sharp sword is placed on a person's neck, do not despair of mercy" Eyal heard the midrash and his conclusion and began to chuckle loudly, "Did I come here to hear fairy tales about a neck that has turned into marble?! What is this story about a sharp sword, he came out with demonstrable boldness, and even the rabbi noticed it.
Oren regretted that the shiur had begun with such a wonderful midrash that Eyal had escaped from the shiur before the rabbi could give explanations and strengthening, and the weekly shiur continued as usual. After about two years, Rabbi Yosefi notices at the end of the shiur a lovely young man with a beard. The young man approached the rabbi and asked embarrassedly: "Does the rabbi remember me?" ... The rabbi tried to remember. "Not so much, to be honest...", thanked I, Eyal, the guy who laughed in your shiur two years ago, about the midrash with Moshe Rabbeinu. "Oh, right... Well, what have you been through since then?" ... Eyal turned to the rabbi and said: "After a while from the shiur I went to the Far East and reached Japan, I wanted to make money there and I went into business with the Japanese mafia called 'Yakuza'. After a period of business with them, I made a serious mistake. I tried to outwit them, but they managed to outdo me.
The mafia took me and set up a 'field court' for me, what to do with me and what to punish me. After discussions, they decided to execute me with a sharp and frightening samurai sword. I was shocked, my whole body trembled until the time of the killing. And behold, the day of the terrible sentence arrived. They laid me down on a special bed, with my body tied tightly in preparation for killing me with a samurai sword. What goes through a person's mind at such moments? Our acquaintance continues, "When I lay there in all fear in front of the bloodthirsty Japanese, the same lesson that I heard from the Rav jumped into my head. The same sentence, which was engraved in my memory: "Even a sharp sword is placed on a person's neck, let him not despair of mercy." Please get me out of here! We'll see, if there's any truth in your words," I begged.
The Japanese stared at him with his narrow eyes and brandished his sword... Eyal closed his eyes... And.... Suddenly a thin sound was heard coming from the outskirts of the room. The Japanese opened his terrified eyes and noticed a Japanese woman who entered the room and started shouting: "What happened to you, why are you suddenly executing him?! After all, this guy saved my life and the lives of my children." After a few moments, it turned out that it was the wife of the head of the Yakuza, on whose orders the execution was carried out. The husband tried to find out what his wife was talking about, and she began to tell him that five years ago there was a big earthquake in their city, and that our acquaintance had saved her life and the lives of her children.
I look at her out of the corner of my eyes, my head bowed and I can't believe what I hear, the head of the mafia consulted with his people and it was decided, According to the Yakuza laws, one should be grateful to those who saved one of their men.
After I was miraculously saved, I tried to understand how this woman arrived at the last minute, and what earthquake she was swimming on, after all, she is talking about a rescue that took place five years ago, while I have been here for less than two years. I told a friend about the incident who tried to explain it by saying that apparently someone else had saved the wife of the head of the mafia and her children, but to the Japanese we all look the same, and she doesn't distinguish between me and anyone else.
Rabbi Yosefi was amazed by the story, and Eyal ended his speech by saying, "Whatever the case, my life was given to me as a gift thanks to the wonderful midrash on the sharp sword, which I threw everything at my Creator at that moment. That I trust in the Creator of the world and do not despair. After the incident, I immediately decided to return to Israel, and of course also to return to the Rav's lessons.
