My name is Avraham, and I live in one of the Southern settlements. My son was traveling with a friend, and on the way back he discovered that his suitcase was not on the bus. Apparently, it had been stolen. The suitcase contained very expensive and very important items, such as a cell-phone, an I.D. card, and a wallet containing a sum of money. My son came home upset, thinking the situation was hopeless. He started talking about getting a new I.D. card and about the loss of the money as though it was a done deal, but I did not agree to join his sour mood. “Why think the bag is lost forever?” I asked him. “Believe that Hakadosh Baruch Hu can return it to you!”
Then Shabbos came, and throughout the day we spoke words of emunah. Again and again I spoke to my son about how the Creator of the world is omnipotent. He returns lost objects to their owners, and he is the Master of all deeds. “Think positive,” I asked of him, although logically speaking, the chances that the items would be returned to him were slim; the way the bags had disappeared seemed to indicate that someone had stolen them, and if the thief wanted valuable items, why would he regret stealing them and decide to return them? The reason is that no one can help or harm anyone else if it is not the will of the Creator. Everything is in His Hands, and with emunah and tefillah we can influence the outcome.
“You know, even a simple thought can have an influence,” I told my son. “Thoughts come from a high place. Let us hold on to the thought of emunah and not despair.”
On Motzaei Shabbos after Maariv my daughter came running over to me and said, “They called to say they found the bag! They discovered it at the junction near Be’er Sheva, with everything inside it. Someone must have pulled it out of the luggage compartment and left it there. You have to go to the police station to take it.”
Finding the suitcase was just a small part of this whole episode. I feel fortunate that we found the good thought and the emunah. How fortunate are we that we belong to a nation geared to think positively! “And he believed in Hashem – and Hashem considered him righteous.”
