A Deep Breath
By Rabbi Baruch Lev
This story occurred during hol hamo’ed Succot. Our entire family was in the car and we were on our way to Yerushalayim, where we planned to spend the day. We wanted to go to the Kotel for Bircat Kohanim, after which we would visit relatives.
About halfway to our destination, two-year-old Chezky began coughing and wheezing. A rattling accompanied each breath, and it was clear that Chezky felt as if he were choking. The toddler’s breathing sounded as if there were something obstructing it. We began to worry that a foreign body was lodged in his throat, so as soon as we arrived in Yerushalayim, instead of heading for the Old City, we went directly to Terem, the urgent-care center at the entrance to Yerushalayim.
The children waited in the lobby while my wife and I took Chezky to the emergency room. The doctor ordered a series of X-rays and, when nothing was found, a fluoroscope. Needless to say, the procedure took quite a while, and the other children were becoming increasingly restless. They had planned on enjoying a hol hamo’ed outing at the Kotel, not sitting for hours in an emergency room. We understood their disappointment, but explained to them that although we thought that the best place for us to be was at the Kotel, evidently Hashem had different plans for us. If it was ordained that we spend this time in an emergency room, then that was what was good for us. A Jew should never complain about how things turn out, for everything is planned from Above.
Two hours later Chezky was discharged healthy and whole. The doctors had found an obstruction in his windpipe, a tiny piece of apple, which they removed, and Baruch Hashem, his breathing had returned to normal. Despite the late hour, we decided to continue with our original plan to visit the Kotel, even though Bircat Kohanim was long over. We phoned our relatives to tell them of our delay and were surprised by the anxious tone of voice on the other end of the line.
“What happened? Is everyone okay? Where are you?”
“At Terem.”
“What? Were you hit by stones at the Kotel?”
After a minute or two we began to get the picture. Hashem, in His great mercy, had led us to Terem instead of to the Kotel where, during Bircat Kohanim, Arabs had thrown stones and other projectiles upon the worshippers below. I shuddered to think how we, with eight small children in tow, could have managed to escape the great danger.
Despite our personal salvation, we were greatly distressed to learn that Jews were forced to run for their lives from our holiest site. Our compassion went out to those who had been injured, and we prayed that they would have a complete recovery. As for us, our family had the merit to learn firsthand that a Jew never really knows what is best for him. (Excerpted from the Feldheim book – “There is No Such Thing as Coincidence 2”)
Reprinted from the Parashat Hayye Sarah 5786 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
