They Make it Happen
An inside look at those who spread emunah and bitachon
Where do you distribute the newsletters?
In the beis midrash. I had to decide whether to bring them in the middle of the week or for Shabbos. If you distribute them for Shabbos, they might be read during davening. So I prefer to distribute them in the middle of the week.
What made you decide to get involved?
I always listened to the phone line, and it gave me so much chizuk and did so much for me.
Is there a story of hashgachah pratis that you can share with us?
I was thinking about beginning to write down all the hashgachah pratis I experience constantly in my life, in order to become more conscious of it. One Thursday, I told my chavrusa about my idea, and on Sunday, he told me about the incredible hashgachah pratis he'd experienced that Shabbos.
Now, his chavrusa came on the line to tell the story.
My daughters' school gave out the book Living Emunah by Rabbi David Ashear, and I started reading a chapter every week at the Shabbos table.
One week, I realized that the chapter where we were holding was geared more for adults, because it discussed business and money matters, so I decided to go to the next chapter.
Among other things, Rabbi Ashear wrote in that chapter about the greatness of recording the hashgachah pratis we see in our lives. He wrote about a Yid who would write down all the instances of hashgachah he saw in his life for over two decades. After he passed away, one of his children read through all his notebooks and realized that his father's writings came to exactly 613 pages. He understood that this was a sign that, as the Gra says, when one strengthens his emunah in Hashem, he is in fact strengthening himself in all 613 mitzvos of the Torah, because the foundation of everything is emunah!
It was tremendous hashgachah pratis that I skipped a chapter and ended up reading all that chizuk about the idea of writing down instances of hashgachah, exactly on the Shabbos after my friend shared his idea with me. On Sunday, I was able to give him chizuk to carry out his plan!
And back to the distributor:
It gave me so much chizuk. It made me realize that Hashem was pleased with my idea, and with this "wink from Above," I got right into it.
I started writing one story after another. I must tell you, it has changed my life and the life of my family, too. We live with hashgachah pratis, and it continues to this day.
What do you want to tell others about distributing the newsletters?
When you're involved in spreading emunah, it strengthens your own emunah, too. It's worth making the effort!