I opened the book and began reading, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It said, “When Rabbi Shimon was sick and bedridden, all his main students stood by his bedside and declared, “Pillar of the universe, what will be, now, that you lie sick?”
Rabbi Shimon answered, “Don’t worry about me. Because when most people get sick, there is a court in session and there are accusing angels and defending angels, but by me, God himself is healing me. And regarding him it is written, ‘For you are He that Forgives.’ ”
These were the same words my father had uttered before stopping right there in Psalm 130!
I knew then that dad, just as Rabbi Shimon had in his crisis, would survive.
And he did. He went on to live another 12 years, expiring at the ripe old age of 89. This past Shabbos I told this story in my father’s shul in Efrat – and received a great postscript.
Everyone gave me the traditional Yasher Koach, but one man came to me and said, “My brother-in-law is an anesthesiologist who worked with the doctor on your father’s heart operation. And my brother-in-law told me that when they reattached the valves to your father’s heart, it didn’t beat; basically, he was dead.
“They tried again, to no avail. Then the doctor did it one more time and your dad’s heart began beating. My brother-in-law asked the doctor what he had done differently and he replied, “Nothing. It’s unexplainable!”
Hearing that story I could only ask myself, “Was that the moment I prayed my prayer?”
Just a little story – a charming story of God’s charming nation – that occurred during the holiest week of the Omer, when we can see the majestic beauty of the kingdom of Hashem.
Dov Shurin is a popular radio personality and the composer and producer of several albums of original composition. He lives with his family in Israel and can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears in The Jewish Press every other week.