Reb Yankel from England relates:
Sometimes I hear Yidden from Eretz Yisrael speaking about how good life is in England, as though conditions there are so much better than in Israel. You can get rent subsidy from the government, you don’t pay for all sorts of things that you pay high prices for in Israel... And it seems like they have the impression that we don’t have to deal with parnassah at all.
I live in England. I’m a father of a large family, kein yirbu, and baruch Hashem, I’ve already married off several children. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is here with me, and it seems He wants me to daven to Him with all my heart, because indeed, here in England as well, I have nisyonos. I am a maggid shiur in a yeshivah, and the salary comes very sporadically; I cannot rely on it at all. Sometimes we get a third of our salary at the end of the month, sometimes less. There are months when they don’t pay at all, and there are months when suddenly we get a few thousand pounds. Being in a constant state of not knowing when my salary will come brings me to always daven from the depths of my heart to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Who provides for and sustains everyone.
What keeps me going is learning Shaar Habitachon from the shiurim of Rav Dovid Kletzkin shlit”a. Each time something is stuck — and it happens often — I strengthen myself with the knowledge that everything is for the good and that Hashem is Kol Yachol and that He will send me exactly what I need, and at the right moment. And indeed, each time anew, I am zocheh to miraculously cover my expenses by the end of the month and to see tangibly the hashgachah pratis involved.
Lately, several more difficulties piled up regarding my income: The government started making problems and holding up monies they are meant to give me. Suddenly the stipend isn’t coming in, and suddenly I need to fill out all sorts of difficult-to-acquire forms we’d never known about before. The government stipends are delayed, but at the same time, life moves forward. The children need food and clothing and other necessities, each day anew, without any consideration for the state of my bank account. Shabbos and Yom Tov come our way, and what am I to do?!
One day in the beginning of Adar, during the week of Parshas Vayakhel, my wife asked me to go shopping. There were several urgent matters that had to be taken care of, and things we simply had to buy. “There’s no money in the account,” I told her, “but I feel that the yeshuah is close by.” It was clear to me that it had all become too much, and it had to be that Hashem would help me now.
That same day, when I walked out of shul after Shacharis, right there in front of me was an acquaintance who davens in the next minyan. “Oh, Reb Yankel,” he said, greeting me amiably, “We haven’t met in a very long time. I was just thinking about you. I have 5,000 pounds, and I thought you would surely be happy to borrow them from me.”
I nodded my head, and he gave me the money as a loan on the spot. I saw this as a sign of salvation. First of all, I now had the means to prepare for Purim and for the coming Yom Tov of Pesach.
A short while passed, and a family member contacted me. Although I had not asked him for anything, he told me, “I want to help you for Pesach,” and he deposited a nice sum in my account.
In the months that followed, instead of paying a third of my salary, the yeshivah deposited a large sum, larger than my regular monthly salary. Then suddenly, we also realized there was money in the house that I had not known about, and at the same time, the government was kind enough to transfer some of our stipends.
That’s how it happened that within three days I had more than 100,000 pounds available! This was more money than the entire debt the yeshivah owed me.
Relief had come. It looked like a cloudburst: All a once, tremendous shefa came down upon me from Shamayim.
But this did not come easily. It was after a lot of tefillos, a lot of thoughts of emunah, a lot of shiurim in Shaar Habitachon, and a lot of chizuk, again and again and again.
When the yeshuah came, I knew I had received a gift from the Creator of the world. A gift is not given for no reason. A gift is given to one with whom we want to strengthen our bond, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave me such a gift so that I would be zocheh to recognize the One Who had given it to me, and to come closer to the Creator of all worlds.
Last winter, my family members suffered terribly from winter ailments. There was almost never a day that someone was not feeling well, whether it was the flu, a cold, pneumonia, or something else. I decided to donate toward the dissemination of emunah as a zechus for my children’s health. Since my donation, over a month ago, baruch Hashem we have all been healthy and well.
I want to thank you for your wonderful newsletter. The content is excellent, and it is formatted in such a pleasant and easy way. Each time I receive the newsletter I read it from beginning to end and feel tremendous inspiration. It gives me so much chizuk. I especially like the quotes on emunah and bitachon from the sefarim hakedoshim. Thank you. May you continue with much strength!
