By Baruch Lev
Once on an intercity bus ride toward Jerusalem, I noticed a highly respected rosh mesivta and maggid shiur making a request of the bus driver. “It is now 2:15 P.M. At exactly 3:00 I have to give a class to some boys, at a yeshivah right near the entrance to Jerusalem. If I go with you all the way to the Central Bus Station and then go back to the yeshivah, I’m afraid that I will be late to the class and I will cause my students to lose valuable time from their Torah study. So could you please stop first at the bus stop right at the entrance to Jerusalem so that I can go straight to the yeshivah and start the class on time?”
The driver, however, answered, “I’m sorry, sir. There are no stops between here and the Central Bus Station.”
But it’s on the way. You won’t have to do anything other than stop for a moment to let me off,” the rosh mesivta pleaded. “Listen,” he tried a different tactic,” do it for the sake of the Torah, and may this merit help you and protect you. Please.”
“Sir,” the driver said emphatically, “will you please be seated.”
The rosh mesivta went back to his seat, sat down and in moments was deep in a sefer. He had made every effort he could, and whatever would be would be. You could see on his face that he had decided that it would be a waste to spend another moment of thought on the subject.
For my part, I wondered who was right. On the one hand, I understood the driver. He had to follow procedures faithfully, and couldn’t make changes for every passenger, no matter how spiritually motivated the request might be. On the other hand, my heart contracted to see the distinguished, honorable Rabbi defeated.
But there was no point dwelling on the issue. The driver had stood his ground and the rosh mesivta was deep in his sefer. The argument was over.
A few minutes later I was witness to the end of the story. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed it.
At the entrance to Jerusalem, right in front of the bus stop where the Rabbi had wanted to get off, the bus crashed into the back of another bus which had stopped short in front of it. With a startlingly loud noise, the windshield of our bus cracked as we braked to a sudden stop.
The driver immediately opened both front and back doors and the passengers, a bit flustered, got off, each heading in his own direction. It was a few minutes before 3:00 P.M. The Rabbi gathered his books and strode briskly to the yeshivah to begin his class on time. (Excerpted from the book – “There is no Such Thing as Coincidence.”)
Reprinted from the Parashat Pikudei 5785 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
