The following story occurred a few years ago in Eretz Yisrael. Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the families involved.
One day, Mrs. Yisraeli wanted to call Mrs. Cohen but dialed the wrong number and accidentally called Mrs. Levi. They were complete strangers, but they spoke a little and enjoyed each other's company.
A week later was Erev Pesach, and Mrs. Yisraeli called Mrs. Levi again. "I enjoyed our conversation last time; I decided to call you again to wish you a happy holiday."
Mrs. Levi mentioned to her that her husband had just been taken to the hospital due to heart trouble.
Three weeks later, Mrs. Yisraeli called again to hear how Mr. Levi was faring. Mrs. Levi told her that her husband is getting better, and just today, the hospital is sending him to a rehabilitation center. "The problem is that the best rehab center is full and cannot accept him." She told her the name of the center she wished she could send her husband to.
Mrs. Yisraeli shouted excitedly, "When I accidentally called you a month ago, I wanted to call Mrs. Cohen. Mrs. Cohen is responsible for accepting patients to the rehab center you just mentioned. I will call her now and see if she can arrange a place for your husband."
It was arranged, and the hashgachah pratis wasn't lost on the families. Mrs. Levi and Mrs. Yisraeli became friends under the most interesting circumstances, so Mrs. Yisraeli should be able to help them get into the best rehab facility.
And the story isn't over yet.
During that time, Hamas terrorists were sending hundreds of missiles into Eretz Yisrael. A siren went off in Mrs. Levi's neighborhood in Bnei Brak. As she ran to a bomb shelter, she fell and broke her shoulder bone.
On the way to the hospital, Mrs. Yisraeli called again to hear how things were progressing with Mr. Levi! Mrs. Levi told her about her fall.
Mrs. Yisraeli got to work again. She called Mrs. Cohen and arranged for Mrs. Levi to recover from her fall in the room where her husband was staying. The facility even provided a room for their children.
A couple of days later, Mrs. Yisraeli visited her friend in the facility and said, "Now I know there is a G-d." Mrs. Yisraeli wasn't religious, but after this episode, she acknowledged Hashem’s Omnipresence and began lighting Shabbos candles.
Everything was arranged from Above (a) to help the Levi family and (b) to help Mrs. Yisraeli come closer to Hashem.
A member of our chaburah from Bnei Brak told us that his wife hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks, and doctors suspected that she might have 'the machlah,' the dreaded disease r‑l. They ordered tests, and indeed, they found a growth. This was on erev Chanukah.
The husband arranged an appointment with a renowned specialist. He asked for a night-time appointment. He wanted the merit of Chanukah lecht before going to the doctor. The doctor conducted some more tests and determined that there was no growth at all. He claimed that the first doctor was mistaken, but we know that the רופא כל בשר, the Great Doctor, healed her in the merit of Chanukah lecht.
The son of a member of our chaburah from Elad was in a car accident and was brought into the hospital in serious condition. This occurred at the beginning of Kislev. On the first night of Chanukah, he opened his eyes and spoke for the first time. He awoke from his unconsciousness in the merit of Chanukah.
We mention these stories to remind us that miracles also happen in our times. And when we remember the wonders Hashem does, this gives us strength to believe that Hashem will continue helping us. It strengthens us to place our trust in Hashem and rely on His kindness.
A couple of weeks ago was the shloshim of Reb Chaim Yissachar Breitstein z'l, a long-time melamed in the Belzer cheder, Bnei Brak. In honor of the shloshim, hespedim were delivered at his graveside. The hespedim began a half-hour late, and one of the melamdim of the cheder said in his hesped that Reb Chaim Yissachar always sought to do chesed with others, and it is known that whoever does chesed in his lifetime continues to do so after his petirah, and therefore, he will be a meilitz yosher in heaven.
As he spoke, a truck with workers arrived to deliver a matzeivah for a kever nearby. After the matzeivah was in place, the truck backed up and bumped into the tomb they just set. People began shouting to get the driver's attention so he would stop backing. Then, the people who attended the shloshim went over to see the knocked-over matzeivah and the commotion that it caused.
The melamed who had just said his hesped read the name on the matzeivah and began shouting, "I was by this woman's levayah, but she wasn't buried here! I remember that she was buried a hundred meters from here."
He called his daughter because his daughter was a relative of this woman, and she agreed that her burial place wasn't the location where they placed the matzeivah.
As the melamed had said in his hesped. When one helps others in his lifetime, he continues to do so after his petirah. In this niftar's merit, the woman received her gravestone at the correct location.
It was also a chesed for the alman, the niftarah's past husband. This is because the minhag in Eretz Yisrael is to put up the matzeivah either at the shloshim or at the first yahrtzeit. There is also a custom that the alman, widower, shouldn’t become engaged for marriage before the matzeivah of his first wife was established. It was in the middle of the year, and their original plan was to put up the matzeivah at the end of the year. However, they were putting up the matzeivah now because the alman planned to get engaged that night. So, it was a chesed for the alman and the niftarah.
This is a story of hashgachah pratis. The hesped was held a half-hour late, and the matzeivah was delivered precisely at the time and date when someone would be there and recognize that it was being set at the wrong place. The gravestone was knocked over by the truck to draw people's attention. It was all arranged by Hashem's wondrous hashgachah pratis. Such stories of hashgachah pratis strengthen our hearts to trust in Hashem. We say, "Just as Hashem was there, He will be with us to help us."