Chaim Schechter was dreading his upcoming family trip from Denver to Cleveland. Long-distance travel with five children under 8 was never enjoyable. With no direct flights available, he had been forced to book tickets that included a two-hour layover in Atlanta, with a total travel time of seven hours. To make matters worse, he was suffering from a severe stomach virus, and the thought of trying to wrangle his children made his stomach lurch even more.
Recently, his friend Moshe had flown with his own family, and his children had made such a ruckus that the flight crew given free vouchers to all the other passengers. Moshe had been mortified. Chaim had a sinking feeling that a similar fate awaited him.
The morning of the trip, Chaim focused intently on the words “asei l’maan Shemecha” in Shacharis. “Hashem,” he pleaded, “please help me for Your sake. Let us have an easy trip, so that no chillul Hashem comes from my family.”
Two hours before the family was scheduled to leave for the airport, the telephone rang. “Mr. Schechter, this is Brenda from Delta Airlines. Your flight was overbooked, and we had to transfer you to a direct flight to Cleveland with Continental. We apologize for the inconvenience. You will be compensated.”
The best “compensation,” though, was the shortened travel time and the children’s stellar behavior, which evoked admiring remarks from their fellow travelers. Apparently, davening to avert a chillul Hashem is a powerful tool indeed.
Reproduced from Living Kiddush Hashem by Rabbi Shraga Freedman with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
