Marcel Sternberger
It was January 10, 1948. Marcel Sternberger boarded the 9:09 am train on the Long Island Railroad, as he did every day. While en route to work, he decided to visit a sick friend in Brooklyn, so he got off that train and boarded a different one. He remained in Brooklyn until noon, when he took a Manhattan-bound train to his Fifth Ave office.
The train was crowded; no seats were available. As soon as he entered, someone jumped up and got off. Mr. Sternberger raced to take his seat. The man sitting next to him was perusing the classified section of a Hungarian newspaper. Mr. Sternberger understood Hungarian.
“Excuse me,” he inquired politely, “are you looking for a job?”
Hoping to Find His Wife
The man replied, “No, I’m looking for my wife.” He explained that he was from Debrecen, Hungary, and during the war, he had been taken by the Russians to bury the German dead. By the time he returned, his city had been liberated, but he had no idea what happened to his wife. He came to America to search for her, hoping she had been liberated and brought to the US. Now he was in New York, beginning his search.
Marcel recalled that just a few days ago, he was at a large gathering where he met a woman from Debrecen. She related that she had been liberated by the Allies and brought to the US, and her husband had been taken by the Soviets to bury the German dead. Her story moved him deeply. He wrote down her name and phone number, intending to connect her with the women in his family. Perhaps they could help alleviate the terrible pain in her life.
“What’s your wife’s name?” he asked his seatmate, who replied, “Marya Paskin.”
Mr. Sternberger pulled a slip of paper from his wallet and read the hastily scrawled name. Marya Paskin.
“What is your name, sir, if I may ask?”
“Bela Paskin,” the gentleman replied. Struggling to maintain his composure, Mr. Sternberger said,
Wants to Make a Phone Call with You
“Please get off the train with me at the next stop; I want to make a phone call with you.”
They got off the train and went to a phone booth. While Mr. Paskin waited outside, Mr. Sternberger called the number, and Mrs. Paskin answered the phone. He reminded her of their meeting days earlier. Then he asked for her husband’s name.
“Bela Paskin,” she replied. “Please hold on,” Mr. Sternberger said. “You are about to experience the biggest miracle of your life.”
He handed the phone to Mr. Paskin and, moments later, watched as the man slapped his forehead and screamed in joy and disbelief. With tears in his eyes, Mr. Sternberger began to reflect on the chain of events leading up to this moment.
First, he had spontaneously decided to go visit his sick friend in Brooklyn. Afterward, he rode a subway he never traveled. The single seat that became vacant was next to a man who “happened” to be reading a Hungarian newspaper. This caused him to start a conversation with a total stranger. And he had just “happened” to meet Mrs. Paskin a few days before and was moved enough by her story to take down her contact information. A re-united shidduch is also bashert. (Living Emunah on Shidduchim)
Reprinted from the Parshas Kedoshim 5784 email of The Weekly Vort.
