On Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Noach, I came to the conclusion that my shtreimel had to be taken care of. I made a cheshbon that it had been worn for many hours during the Yamim Tovim of Tishrei, on Shabbasos and Chol Hamoed. Most of the days of the month had passed with the shtreimel on my head, under the sun and the wind, and it was bumped and squashed here and there by my dear children.
Now it seemed proper to bring it to a shtreimel-macher to renew it and to bring it back to its original glory. I immediately acted upon this thought. In the beginning of the week I brought it over to the shtreimel-macher, and he promised to complete the work for Shabbos Parshas Lech-Lecha. We made up that he would leave the shtreimel for me in shul, and on erev Shabbos I would come and take it from there to wear it in honor of Shabbos.
That Friday, I completely forgot that the shtreimel was not in its usual place at home. My friend was hospitalized at the time in Hadassah Ein Kerem, and I decided to go visit him, and from there I would go to shul to daven Minchah before Shabbos.
That was the plan.
I went over to the closet to take out the shtreimel and discovered an empty shelf! It dawned on me that I had given it in to have it refurbished, and I called the shtreimel-macher right away.
“Did you put my shtreimel in shul?” I asked him.
“I forgot about that!” he replied. “The shtreimel is with me in my car in the parking lot of Hadassah Ein Kerem. I came here to visit a relative.”
I was amazed. “I’m on the way there!” I exclaimed. We arranged to meet there so he could give me the shtreimel from his car.
What would have happened if I’d remembered and gone to shul to look for the shtreimel? If I had searched for it a minute before Minchah, I would have gone to shul and discovered that the shtreimel-macher had forgotten to leave it there, and it was in his car...
But Hakadosh Baruch Hu gifted me with the zechus of bikur cholim, and through this He also gave me the zechus to honor Shabbos properly, wearing my shtreimel.
