Real Miracles

I said thank You Hashem and saw miracles. Yes, miracles. I saw miracles upon miracles, day after day, year after year. Hashem has blessed me in unbelievable ways; ways I didn’t even recognize.

 

Like so many people, I complained about the challenges life had thrown at me. Then the English Editor of Breslev Israel arranged for me to meet Rabbi Arush, shlita. I started reading his books, particularly The Garden of Emuna, Say Thank You and See Miracles (my personal favorite) and The Garden of Education. I had always had a deeply religious soul with a strong belief in Hashem but I was clueless about the concepts of emuna and gratitude.

 

I would like to share three of the most miraculous ways Hashem has saved me. The first was on September 11, 2001. I was scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to New York and then on to Washington DC on a business trip. My plan was to arrive on September 10th, meet with customers for dinner and depart the next morning with my customers on a 9:30am flight on Tuesday September 11th from New York to Washington, D. C. On September 9th my customers called to tell me my trip would be delayed a week. I complained about all the rescheduling of flights, hotels, meetings, etc. but went along with the plan. Little did I know I should have been saying “thank You, thank You, thank You Hashem.” I was sound asleep, safe in my home, on the morning of September 11, 2001. If I had been in New York as scheduled I would have been at the airport, or worse, in the air, when the planes were crashing into buildings. I would have been stranded for days or weeks in New York and witnessed unspeakable horror. My family and I were spared all that because Hashem arranged for my meeting to be cancelled. My inconvenience was in fact a miracle. Thank you Hashem.

 

The second time was 6 years ago. My daughter was pregnant and about to give birth to a precious little girl when the doctors told me I had a very rare and potentially fatal brain infection. I knew I was in trouble when all the radiologists were conferring and pointing to the MRI. The doctors weren’t quite sure how to cure this very rare disease. The massive doses of antibiotics had their own risks. All I could think about was “Hashem, please let me live to see my granddaughter.” I was terrified but turned to prayer, to Hashem, to help me. Hashem answered my prayers, the antibiotics worked, and I met my wonderful granddaughter just a few months after she was born. My recovery was a miracle. I am still thanking Hashem every day.

 

The third miracle occurred last year. My parents became gravely ill and alternated stays in the emergency room, hospital and nursing homes. I was with one or both of them almost every day, taking off Shabbat to recover and pray. I saw one miracle after another where Hashem sent me into their room just in time to save them from a nurse or doctor making a grave error in their treatment. I had a total miracle last Shavuot when I had no food for the holiday and through my daughter’s efforts and a blessing from Hashem, all my yom tov meals were prepared for me.

 

That was just the beginning. The biggest miracle was yet to come.

 

My parents updated their will and trust during their illness. My mother insisted on being cremated. She was so firm in her belief she wrote her wishes in writing as part of her final wishes. Rabbis, friends, everyone tried to give me sound ideas to change my mother’s mind. I read books on Jewish burial practices. I told her that a bone-crusher would be used to pulverize her skeletal remains into the appearance of ashes after the burning of the body. She would not relent.

 

I told her that the Nazi’s tried to cremate all the Jews and that if she allowed herself to be cremated she was aiding and abetting a Nazi wish. She would not relent.

 

I told her if she was cremated I would not be allowed to mourn, sit shiva or say Kaddish for her. She would not relent. She was being cremated and there was nothing I could do about it.

 

Finally, in desperation, I spoke to the English Editor, RT Avrahami, about my problem. She recommended that I follow Rabbi Arush’s advice to thank Hashem for the problems with my parent’s illness and specifically with my mother wanting to be cremated. I prayed for my mother, I prayed for my father. I prayed for the strength and wisdom to honor them and revere them as per Hashem’s commandments. I prayed for Hashem to soften my mother’s heart. I prayed and I prayed and then I prayed some more.

 

My father a”h passed at the end of June. I arranged for Chevra Kaddisha to provide a proper Jewish burial. My mother was devastated as was I. They had been married over 70 years. She was already very ill and her health began to quickly deteriorate. Her heart was broken. She was back in the hospital only 30 days after my father passed with a serious infection.

 

I took her hand and started to cry. She asked me what was wrong. I told her I wanted with every fiber of my being to honor and revere her but when her time came at 120 years, I simply could not cremate her. She would have to find another trustee and make other arrangements because I could not do that to her, to her precious soul. I could not knowingly deprive her of the opportunity to spend eternity with her beloved husband.

 

To my surprise, she asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I wanted her to have the same Jewish burial as my father. She hesitated and softly said OK. She just wanted to be at peace with her beloved husband. I couldn’t believe it. After years of trying everything, Hashem softened her heart and she agreed to a proper burial!

 

We immediately called my sister to be a witness. My prayers had been answered. It was nothing less than a miracle. My mother passed a few months later at the end of October and the Chevra Kaddisha arranged for her to be buried with my father. May they both rest in peace.

 

Only recently did I realize the extent of the miracle. The facility that had cared for my father and then my mother was inundated with the coronavirus only a few months after my mother passed. Over 35 patients (half of the patients!!!) and 35 staff were infected with the virus. Many, many have died from the virus. The facility is in total lock down with no visitors allowed even if a patient is dying. Can you imagine the suffering of the staff, the patients and the families? I say thank you every day my parents passed with family and friends surrounding them in their final days and at their final resting place. I say thank you that I sat shiva without medical restrictions and that I could honor all of their final wishes. Thank you Hashem!!!

 

Now I see pestilence, pandemics, unemployment, food shortages, food lines, school closures, and kids running wild at home. I see it all. I hear all the complaints but I say thank you Hashem.

 

Thank you for everything that is happening right now. Thank you I am alive and don’t have a brain infection or corona (I just tested negative). Thank you my children and my grandchildren are alive and healthy, and don’t have corona. Thank you my financial losses are manageable. Thank you for the food on my table and the roof over my head. Thank you for my parents, may they rest in peace. Thank you for every breath and every step I take without corona.

 

Thank you for emuna. Thank you for Rabbi Arush. Thank you Hashem, for all the miracles You do for me day after day.

 

Vicky, Los Angeles, CA, USA