“You have to hear this story of Hashgacha from this Jewish man”, Moreinu HaRav shlit”a said to me when we were together at a wedding. As we approached the man Rav Gamliel whispered in my ear that he was referring to a Jewish man who was elevated and truly devoted to the service of Hashem. I leaned towards him and with the request of the Rav he began his story:
“I was walking from my house to the Bais HaMedrash on a very busy street. At the traffic light I saw a wallet lying on the street that had fallen from the pocket of a man crossing the street. Traffic started to move and he continued on his way. Without a choice I called out to the man that he had dropped his wallet. He heard me quite well and immediately returned to get his wallet.”
Until this point the man related the story calmly, from here on his facial expression changed and he lit up with a glow and he said:
“I was filled with profound joy that Hashem had seen fit to let the mitzvah of ‘returning a lost object’ fall into my hands, as if I had won the lottery! A Jew has to know that every mitzvah is truly a lottery! Regarding the mitzvah of charity it is written that if Hashem wants to benefit a person he arranges for an upstanding poor man to approach him. This is true for each and every mitzvah and this is how one must approach life and rejoice with every mitzvah that Hashem arranges for a person.”
Here he became emotional and said, “If a mitzvah is arranged to fall into your hands it is not coincidental, but rather, it is that Hashem is revealing His love for you. This is to say that it is as if Hashem is saying to you in this fashion that He loves you! If you look at every mitzvah this way, you will merit to fulfill it with much joy and it will be accomplished with love!”
His words burrowed deep into my heart and made a lasting impression! Now I understood the excitement of Moreinu HaRav when he was referring to the truly elevated Jewish man.
ה.ק.י.
