A Yid from Manhattan told me an amazing story. Sometimes, he explained, it seems to you that you can’t get what you want, that you have no chance of getting it, but if Hakadosh Baruch Hu helps, even a tough Gentile will soften his mode of behavior for your sake.
I work during the day, he related. At 2 p.m. there’s a minyan for Minchah in the shul located across the street from the store where I work. This is a main street and it’s very wide, unlike anything you’d see in Eretz Yisrael.
One day, close to 2 p.m., I wanted to cross the street so I could daven with a minyan, and I saw that the entire street was blocked. Uniformed guards were walking around importantly, barriers were set up over the entire width of the street, and there were no vehicles on the scene other than a police car.
I tried to cross the street, but one of the security guards stopped me immediately. “No crossing here!”
“Why?”
“The president is going to be passing here now!”
Nu, if the president has to pass on this street that is indeed important, but I had something even more important to do. I needed to daven with a minyan! Two p.m. was approaching, and I had to cross that street! I had to!
I could have said, That’s the situation; there’s nothing to do. The president needs to pass here, and I will daven biyechidus, because I have no way of getting to shul.
But, I thought, while the president is the most important Gentile in the United States, and he is certainly an influential person, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the King of all kings, and His influence is far greater than anything imaginable. I am going to daven to Him, and He will certainly help me get to shul.
I told the officer, “I want to speak to the man who is in charge here” – the head security guard. The policeman pointed to a huge soldier and said, “There he is.”
I went over to him and asked, “How long does this street need to be closed?”
“Until the president passes by,” he said.
“I want to cross the street,” I told him.
“There is no entry.”
“But I must!”
“What do you mean, you must? There are many people who want to pass here now. You aren’t different from any of them.”
“But I must cross, because there, across the street,” I pointed at the shul, “there is a synagogue, and I must go to pray there at two o’clock.”
The Gentile’s expression shifted, and he told me, “Okay you can go, but only for prayer! Not for anything else!”
