A Rosh Hashanah Lesson
An eleven-year-old boy battles a stubborn fever – not with doctors or pills, but with emuna – to make the plane in time for Uman. There’s a lot to learn here…
An amazing gift was given to me by Hashem as I watched someone and his battle to go to Uman for Rosh Hashanah this year. The person in question was quite fortunate. He had been to Uman already for a number of years, his plane ticket was booked, he had a place at the Uman Experience’s luxury accommodation. This year he had even persuaded a couple of friends to go with him. Everything was set.
Then disaster hit. The Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah he didn’t feel too good. He rested the entire day but to no avail. Motza’ei Shabbat he had a raging fever. 
With medication the fever was still over 38′ (100 Fahrenheit). First thing Sunday morning he rushed to the doctor. The verdict just a virus, you’ll be better in 4-5 days. “4-5 days! I need to go to Uman tomorrow!” The doctor understood how he felt and told him to ask his Rav what to do. The answer, “You have to be well to go to Uman. You have been before and you are below Bar-Mitzva age. Your temperature has to be 37.5′ (99 Fahrenheit ) or less, from this afternoon for you to go.” Sensible advice, even he couldn’t argue with it, but still he desperately wanted to go to Uman.
With medication the fever was still over 38′ (100 Fahrenheit). First thing Sunday morning he rushed to the doctor. The verdict just a virus, you’ll be better in 4-5 days. “4-5 days! I need to go to Uman tomorrow!” The doctor understood how he felt and told him to ask his Rav what to do. The answer, “You have to be well to go to Uman. You have been before and you are below Bar-Mitzva age. Your temperature has to be 37.5′ (99 Fahrenheit ) or less, from this afternoon for you to go.” Sensible advice, even he couldn’t argue with it, but still he desperately wanted to go to Uman.This is what he did. First, he lay on the couch and cried, a silent, deep, heart breaking cry. It looked like he wouldn’t be going to Uman this year. I gave him a hug and left him to come to terms with it. I noticed he was praying deeply and then he fell asleep.
A couple of hours later, I noticed he was standing next to our tzedaka box, with 10 NIS, praying with total concentration. After he put the coin in he called me. “Mummy, can I have a raw potato and a straw?” he asked, I presumed it was some kind of herbal remedy he learned from someone. Deciding that raw potato wasn’t very dangerous, I allowed him the items. Half an hour later, he called me. “Here is the proof, I can do whatever I really want – I just have to try. Mummy, I am going to get better and I am going to Uman” I asked him to slow down and to explain the “proof”. He showed me the potato. The straw had pierced straight through and out the other side! “I learned this in my desert survival class at school. It is very difficult to push the straw into the potato, but if you really want to, you can do it. Nothing stands against true will! You can do anything that you really want to.” He said excitedly, “Mummy I really want to get better and go to Uman – SO I CAN DO IT. We have to act as if I’m already better. Let’s go and pack!”
Anyway, not to stretch it out, as we packed, his temperature went down to 37.2′ (98-99 Fahrenheit) and it stayed down all through the night. He woke up in the morning totally healthy, rushed off to school and flew to Uman at midday! When I asked him how he did it he told me “Abba said there’s no iush (despair) and one of my favorite songs about Uman talks about begging Hashem to let you go. I didn’t despair, I begged Hashem to let me go, I really wanted to go and did everything I could. I knew Hashem would make me better and I would go”
It took me a few days to really understand what happened. Then I realized this is the answer I had been looking for. How to get anything that you really want:
1. Realize and acknowledge what you really want.
2. Cry that you don’t have it yet.
3. Pray to Hashem for it, beg for it, explain why you want it.
4. Do everything in your power to get it.
5. Act as if you already have it.
6. Don’t give up.
7. Believe that in the end HASHEM WILL GIVE IT TO YOU.
That’s it, really simple and not so tough! Uman teaches us that emuna and desire are two cogent tools in life.
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