Just a few weeks ago, a respected Jewish businessman from the United States called – visibly shaken and deeply distressed – Rabbi Menachem Binyomin Paskasz, shlit”a, one of the leaders of the World Organization for the Dissemination of the Torah of the Zera Shimshon. During the call, he expressed his wish to donate a substantial sum of money to strengthen Torah study, and added an exceptionally urgent request:
“Please do everything within your power to increase merit and prayer, drawing on the spiritual strength of the Zera Shimshon, so that I may emerge victorious in the court case scheduled to take place on the 18th of Tevet.”
He then went on to describe the difficult situation in which he found himself. These were his words:
“I am the owner of a delivery company. Some time ago, one of our drivers struck a pedestrian, causing him severe injuries. The injured man’s family hired a top-tier attorney and filed a lawsuit against the company for no less than twenty-two million dollars.
“Such a lawsuit could completely destroy my business and – G-d forbid – transform me overnight from a successful and well-established man into someone ruined, burdened with debt for the rest of his life.
“Several hearings have already taken place, and now the final session is approaching. I live under unbearable tension and anxiety, utterly overwhelmed. I do not know how to calm myself in the face of this immense pressure, and the closer the court date draws, the more intolerable my anxiety becomes.
“Of course, I did my part: I hired an attorney who is highly experienced in this field. But instead of calming me, this only increased my distress, for I know all too well the financial power of the plaintiff’s family and the immense influence of the prestigious lawyer they retained against me.
“In recent days, a thought occurred to me: believing Jews know that faith is paramount, but we are also obligated to engage in hishtadlut – practical human effort. That I have done. But where is my spiritual hishtadlut? On the spiritual plane, I am a thousand times stronger than my adversaries, who have no understanding or awareness of such matters.
“So I decided to turn thought into action and to call you, Rabbi Paskasz, in order to fulfill the segulah of the Zera Shimshon and merit its great promises. I wish to become a partner in all your efforts to disseminate the Torah of Rabenu, the Zera Shimshon, and to increase the number of its students.
“I humbly and earnestly ask that my name be mentioned and that prayers be offered on my behalf during the study of the book Zera Shimshon, especially in the classes and kolelim held with large participation at the Hejal Hayeshuot, the Bet Midrash Zera Shimshon, which is renowned throughout the world as being especially auspicious for salvation. I place my complete trust in the power of that tzadik to stand by me in such a difficult hour.”
And indeed, from that very day until the date of the trial – the 18th of Tevet, 5786 (January 5, 2026) – his name was mentioned daily during the regular study sessions at the Hejal Hayeshuot, the Bet Midrash Zera Shimshon.
Rabbi Paskasz concludes:
“A few days later, I received a call from the Gaon Rabbi Israel Zilberberg, shelita, one of the rabbinic leaders of the organization, asking whether he could already announce the good news of salvation to the students of the Bet Midrash, since the participants in the classes and the members of the kolelim were eager to know how the court case had ended.
“So confident was I in the power of that righteous one that I replied with a Talmudic maxim: ‘Chazakah al chaver she’ein devarav shavin reikam’ – ‘There is a firm presumption that the words of a Tzadik never return empty [from Heaven].’ There is nothing to worry about; the words of the righteous are always fulfilled.”
And indeed, a week later that same Jew called me again, his mouth filled with songs and praises. He said:
“With the help of Heaven, the final and decisive court hearing has taken place, and here I am, thanking Hashem for His wondrous mercy and kindness. Against all expectations, the court dismissed the family’s claim for twenty-two million dollars and reduced the compensation to three million dollars – exactly the amount for which our company is insured in the event of damages.”
Thus, nothing was lacking in the fulfillment of the promise of Rabenu, the Zera Shimshon, which he etched with tears in the introduction to his book: “Both wealth and honor.”
