Rabbi Shlomo Landau shares a story about R’ Yechiel Bar Lev who moved to America to take a teaching job in Chicago. When he moved, he promised himself he would always daven with a minyan for every prayer of the day. He was working on getting his green card, and for months he waited for a meeting with a federal immigration representative.
One day he received the call, and R’ Yechiel made sure to arrive early to this very important appointment. The meeting was called for 4 pm and it was only supposed to be a few minutes. R’ Yechiel was told the representative was running late, and he and his attorney waited patiently. When the clock struck 4:30 pm R’ Yechiel stood up and started heading for the exit to catch the last minyan. His lawyer stopped him and shouted at him, “What are you crazy. If you miss this appointment, you will not have a chance of getting a green card. The representative will probably be here any minute!”
R’ Yechiel respectfully replied that the green card was important, but prayers were even more important. As he left the office the attorney muttered to himself that he would need some prayers. R’ Yechiel returned from praying with a minyan at 5:15pm and was disappointed to see the immigration office was closed.
The next day R’ Yechiel received a call from his lawyer who was all emotional. The attorney told him, “You would not believe it. Just a few minutes after you left the representative called us in. I told him you went out to pray, and that I tried to convince you to stay but you stuck to your guns. Then unbelievably the representative invited us back for another appointment. He was impressed by your conviction, and he said we need teachers like you in America.” He explained that this has never happened in history, and that this was a miracle. R’ Yechiel knew this was not a coincidence. It was from Hashem smiling back at him for his dedication.
Reprinted from the Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei HaChodesh 5786 email of Jack E. Rahmey based on the Torah teachings of Rabbi Amram Sananes.
