My dear friend, Rabbi Avraham Krupnik, a prominent posek and author of From the Desk of Rabbi Avraham Krupnik, once shared with me an extraordinary story. It illustrates how one who strengthens himself in Torah is granted remarkable, even visible, Heavenly protection.
His father, Rabbi Eliyahu Krupnik, was a fixture in the Montreal kollel. From the moment seder began, he remained in the beis midrash. But he did not allow himself to plateau. Remaining stagnant was not an option.
Where was there room to grow? He resolved that whenever an errand or interruption was absolutely necessary, he would leave only at moments when his chavrusa was already stepping away so that not a minute of learning would be wasted.
And so it was. One summer afternoon, in the late 1990s, when his chavrusa stepped out to take a brief break, Rabbi Krupnik seized the opportunity and tended to something quickly outside the beis midrash. When he returned, he was met by a startling scene. Bochurim were gathered near his seat, visibly shaken. When he approached the front of the beis midrash, he noticed that the tall glass window over his chair had shattered into thousands of jagged shards.
Only then did the story emerge.
Adjacent to the kollel was a school. A group of boys had been playing a spirited game of baseball outside. One energetic boy hit a clean home run, and the ball soared straight toward the kollel’s building — smashing through the large stained-glass window that exploded into a shower of glass... directly onto the seat where Rabbi Eliyahu had been learning moments before.
It was obvious to everyone what had occurred. Had he remained in his place, he would have been seriously injured — perhaps worse.
Yet he wasn’t there. Because of his unwavering commitment to Torah — adjusting even his breaks to preserve every possible second — he merited a clear shield of Divine protection.
There are countless segulos in the world. But sometimes, Hashem shows us openly that Torah itself is the greatest protection a Yid can shelter beneath — both in the Heavens above and in the events that unfold right here on earth.
