Rav Binyomin Pruzansky shared a story about a young man from Yerushalayim who was diagnosed with liver failure, R”L, and he needed an urgent transplant. Doctors advised his parents to bring him to Brussels, which was considered a world center for liver transplants.
But there was a serious obstacle. Citizens were given priority over noncitizens for organ transplants, and there was a long list of local patients who were already waiting. The doctors in Eretz Yisroel did not believe that this young man had much time left.
In despair, he went to see his Rebbe, and he said, “There is a strong chance that I will not live long enough to receive a transplant. Why should I bother to go to Brussels? I would rather remain here in Eretz Yisroel and spend my final days surrounded by family.”
The Rebbe responded with unwavering clarity. He said, “Hashem runs the world. He can do anything. You do your part. Let Hashem do His.” Strengthened by those words, the young man traveled to Brussels.
As expected, he was placed at the bottom of the transplant list. The doctors told him to find a residence near the hospital. They told him that if a liver became available and no citizen matched, he would need to be ready within twenty-four hours. This young man spent his days learning Torah and pouring out his heart in Tefilah.
At that time, a volcano in Iceland erupted, and it sent massive clouds of ash across Europe.
The Eyjafjallajokuil volcano that erupted in Iceland on April 14,2010, resulting in the closing the European air space for ten days.
The dark skies turned the continent into a wide no-fly zone. All flights were grounded, and air travel came to a standstill. The next day, in a nearby hospital in Brussels, a liver became available for transplant. Every person above the young man on the list needed to fly in for the procedure. Under normal circumstances, they would have arrived within hours.
But with European airspace shut down, no one could reach Brussels in time. There was only one candidate who was nearby. It was the young man from Eretz Yisroel who was at the very bottom of the list, and he received the transplant.
After surgery, the doctors told him that his own liver would not have lasted more than a few days. The timing was precise beyond comprehension! An entire continent was brought to a halt so that one Jewish neshamah could live. Hashem moves mountains and stills skies for His children!
Reprinted from the Parshas Ki Sisa 5786 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah
