A young man and 12 of his friends went to Kever Rachel to daven for his very sick mother. She had leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant. The mother’s family was tested to see if someone was a match. One relative’s marrow matched with 9 out of 10 factors. This was good, but the optimum was 10 out of 10 factors.
After this young man poured his heart out to Mother Rachel, his mother received a call that a perfect match had been found. The donor lived in Eretz Yisrael. Needless to say, the mother was overwhelmed with joy, and felt fortunate that her personal redemption had been found in the Holy Land.
Before the transplant took place, the mother’s rabbi advised her to add a name, as people do when they are very ill.
The mother discussed this issue with her family and, after a few days, they decided on the name Leora, meaning, “To me, there will be light.” She hoped that the transplant would bring her from darkness to light, from illness to good health. When she called her daughter-in-law to let her know about her new name, the daughter-in-law exclaimed, “Ma, I just thought of the same name!”
The fact that both had independently thought of this name made them feel secure that Hashem was overseeing everything, and that He would bless Leora with a full recovery.
Today Leora is home, recuperating from her long illness and feeling very positive.
All mothers make extraordinary efforts for their children. And Mother Rachel did the same for Leora, her special great-great-granddaughter.
