From the minute Reb Zevulun left the Rav’s house, he began to think about what to do next. Aware of the reality, he knew that the path ahead would not be easy, and he offered up a tefillah in his heart that his efforts would bear fruit and that his children would merit the best chinuch that they were worthy of, as he aspired to do.
Reb Zevulun was blessed with three sons, gentle, sweet children. Because their parents were new to the city where they had decided to settle and raise their children, and were not familiar with the place and the people, they were sent to learn in a cheder that wasn’t suited for their spiritual level. It was a cheder attended by children of all kinds, on many levels, and naturally, it was a different atmosphere than what the children of Reb Zevulun were used to.
When Reb Zevulun’s children began to come home with concepts that had, until then, been very far from their world, Reb Zevulun began to feel that this cheder was not suited for his children. As the days went by, he resolved that there was no choice but to switch his children to a different school.
After receiving the brachah of his rebbi for this step, he hurried to make some inquiries among friends in the know, and quickly reached the conclusion that a certain cheder was most suited for his sons. Children from homes that were similar to Reb Zevulun’s attended the cheder. However, there was one big obstacle: it was a prestigious and highly sought after mossad, and it would not be easy to get into it.
He was well aware that he was a young man, not well-known, and did not come from the community that most of the families who sent to this cheder did; he knew from the start that he’d have to fight to get in, but he was determined to see it through.
He didn’t have connections with askanim, but he did have a connection with the One who managed all of them, and he decided to employ on that connection, with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Hamelamed Torah l’Amo Yisrael. Reb Zevulun traveled to Har Hamenuchos to pour his heart out at the tziyun of his rebbi, z”l.
He davened and pleaded to Hashem to have mercy on him and on his children; he expressed his aspirations for his family to serve Hashem sincerely and to learn His holy Torah in kedushah and taharah. He also explicitly requested that his children should be easily accepted to the cheder he wished to send them to.
When he finished the tefillah, he was calmer, and was ready to make his hishtadlus – a phone call to the principal.
The next morning, he called the cheder office, introduced himself, and asked to speak with the principal. To his surprise, he got a courteous response: “What would you like?” the principal asked respectfully – much to Reb Zevulun’s surprise.
“My name is Zevulun and I’d like to switch my three sons into your cheder.”
“Alright, certainly,” the principal stunned him with his quick reply. “I’m waiting for you today in my office.”
Reb Zevulun did not believe what he was hearing, but he didn’t delay and quickly made his way to the office. The principal waited patiently and welcomed him with much respect. After he asked about the details of the three boys, he said right away that they were accepted, and then added: “Moishy will join Rabbi Fein’s class; Yisrael Meir will be in Rabbi Frank’s class, and Yanky will go into Rabbi Levy’s class.”
The principal wished him all the best, and all Reb Zevulun was left to do was digest that it had been done. His tefillah had been accepted faster than expected. He had so many questions, and had no idea how the principal had agreed to accept them without even an interview – but decided not to ask. Instead, he thanked Hashem for this tremendous goodness that He had bestowed on him.
A short time later, when his children were already in the new cheder, and had gotten used to it, he received the astonishing answer to the question that had never been resolved: how had his children been so effortlessly accepted to this cheder.
A few days after that short interview, the phone in cheder rang again: “Hello, this is Zevulun,” said the voice. “I would like to put my children in your cheder.”
“The classes are full,” was the laconic answer offered by the principal. “And we also don’t usually accept children in the middle of the year.”
The principal expected the call to end at this point, but for some reason, the caller insisted:
“How can you reject me? The gvir, Reb Moshe Leib, said he spoke to you and already received your agreement.”
“Whaaatt??” the principal gasped. “You are the Zevulun that Reb Moshe Leib spoke to me about? How can that be? A minute after my call with him, a person named Zevulun called me, and his children were admitted right away to the cheder.”
And then the unbelievable truth emerged: It was completely Hashgachah pratis that Reb Zevulun, of our story, called the cheder at exactly the right minute, just after that Reb Moshe Leib, one of the biggest donors to the cheder, had called. And thus, his request that should have been rejected right away, was accepted with such graciousness.
Ultimately, the other Reb Zevulun’s children were also accepted, but the difference was clear: Our friend Reb Zevulun had exercised connections in the real place, he did not put his faith in other people, and chose to turn to the One Who created the world. He davened and pleaded from the depths of his heart, and merited to have the doors opened to him in a way that only few merit.
Hashgachah Pratis – Tetzaveh 5784
