STORY
Now here comes a wonderful story which we received from one of our readers (in the Hebrew edition, the original text of his letter appears below). Here is the story, in his own words:
I just met a person from France, while visiting in Eretz Yisroel, who told me the following episode. Around 35 years ago, this person had made a Bar Mitzva for his son, and “Rabeinu” (this is how the Jews in France called R' Gerson Liebman) had come to join the Simcha. On the way back, the driver got confused, and started driving in precisely the opposite direction!
“Rabeinu” noticed that some time had passed, and they hadn’t reached their destination. So he asked the driver: Why aren’t we there yet? The driver replied: I have gone the wrong way, literally in the opposite direction! “So where are we now?”, asked “Rabeinu”. “We are next to the airport near Paris, called Orly” (ORY).
Said “Rabeinu”: “If Hashem brought us here, it is certainly not for nought! Park your car in the terminal parking area, and enter the station. Look around; maybe there is a Yid in distress!”
The driver did as he was told, and entered the terminal. It was already the wee hours of the night, and he started circling about the area. All of a sudden, he was approached by a Yid! This Yid came from Eretz Yisroel to visit his son learning in Bussières (the Novardok Yeshiva in France) but he didn’t understand a word of French! He had been searching the airport for hours, to find a fellow Jew to help him find directions. It was so late, and he still had no idea where to go!
Now the driver “understood” the words of “Rabeinu”. Indeed, there are no “mistakes”. Aderaba, Hashem deliberately brought them here; in this case, in order to help a stranded Jew in distress! The driver told him that he can come along, and he took him to his destination, along with “Rabeinu”.
In this story we see the greatness of “Rabeinu”'s Emunah, that there is no concept of a mistake, but everything is guided by Divine Providence, and if Hashem brought them there, there is certainly a purpose for it.
