As in Life, So in Death
R’ Rachamim Elbaz, who supports our institutions, once asked that I pray for a sick woman who was deathly ill. He added that this woman was not Jewish, but was married to a Jew. If I would refuse to bless her, he asserted, he would fully understand.
To his surprise, I agreed immediately. I told him, “I have no qualms about blessing a gentile woman. The prohibition against intermarriage rests with her husband, not with her. I am prepared to bless anyone who asks for a blessing, in the merit of my forefathers, Jew and gentile alike. I have a tradition from my ancestors that all are worthy of blessing, without distinction.”
I stipulated one thing, though. My berachah should not be considered any form of approval for mixed marriages. And I asked that it not be made public.
I joined R’ Elbaz on a visit to this woman’s house. We found her bedridden. I blessed her that in my fathers’ merit, her health would be restored.
The woman was very excited over my berachah. “You should know,” she began, “that I feel deep down that the truth is found only in Judaism. I am afraid of dying like a gentile. For a long time, now, I have harbored the desire to join the Jewish nation, according to Torah law. But my husband will not hear of it. Therefore, I am still a gentile. Maybe the Rav can influence my husband to agree to my conversion, thereby fulfilling my lifelong dream?”
I turned to the assembled and asked what the date was. They said it was September 1st.
I told the man that his wife would recover completely, but he must ensure that she would undergo proper conversion. The woman, with Heavenly kindness, returned to her former health.
Approximately one year later, R’ Elbaz approached me once again. He asked that I bless the woman a second time, for her illness had returned and she was once again in critical condition.
“Has she converted?” I asked.
“Her husband did not allow her to,” was the reply.
Nonetheless, I returned to bless her again. It was two days before September 1st. Sadly, two days later, on September 1st, the woman breathed her last. She was buried in the Christian cemetery.
This is not the end of the story. Her husband passed away the same year, and his children buried him next to his wife, in the Christian cemetery. Despite the protests of his Jewish relatives, his children adamantly refused to grant him a Jewish burial. He had not allowed his wife to convert to Judaism, they said, therefore, he will be buried like a gentile.
This man was punished measure-for-measure. He never allowed his wife to live as a Jew; therefore, he was buried as a gentile.
