Foreign Exchange
Mr. Shlomo Asseraf, z”l, was related to my host in Morocco, R’ Mordechai Knafo, may he live long. Mr. Asseraf would participate in the hilula for the tzaddik, Rabbi Chaim Pinto, zy”a, in Morocco, together with his entire family. He would generate enthusiasm, arousing the throngs in prayer and celebration.
One year, the day before the hilula, his daughter swallowed a coin. All x-rays showed the coin dangerously close to her lungs. This posed a serious danger to her life.
Mr. Asseraf hurried to phone me, relating the incident that had occurred. He added that since the coin was lodged in a precarious position, the doctors recommended she be flown to France as quickly as possible. There, specialists would perform surgery to remove the coin. Since the situation was life-threatening, they could not postpone the surgery, and his family would have to cancel their plans to join in the hilula festivities.
I was greatly pained at his words, and told him, “You always bring such joy to the event. How can you even consider not participating this year? Your absence will be keenly felt and detract from the entire atmosphere!”
“But how can I endanger my daughter’s life?” he asked.
I replied, “Come with your entire family. You will yet see Hashem’s salvation.”
Mrs. Asseraf was very worried for her daughter. She had an especially close relationship with this girl, born after many boys, in the merit of my father’s blessing. She was very concerned about delaying the operation.
Since I asked Mr. Asseraf to remain in Morocco, the family turned to various hospitals there. Maybe they could treat the girl without having to fly her to France. Maybe a miracle would occur and the coin would move to a less dangerous spot. But all of the x-rays showed the same thing. The coin was stuck in place, not budging an inch.
Suddenly, at 3:00 a.m., I received a call from them when I was at the Knafo home. They asked for permission to travel to France as the doctors had suggested, although it entailed missing the hilula.
Seeing their great distress and anxiety over the girl’s fate, I told them, “Take one last x-ray. If the coin is still in the same place, you have my permission to travel to France. But if it moved, come to the hilula in Mogador, as originally planned.”
They took another x-ray, hoping against hope that it would reveal new results. To their utter amazement, the coin was completely gone! They took more x-rays, which all revealed that the coin had disappeared.
Their joy knew no bounds, and they hurried to the hilula in Mogador. They kept their miracle to themselves, as they made their way to the cemetery. Since it was very early in the morning, the gate was still locked. The watchman handed them the key, and they danced their way to the grave of the tzaddik.
Imagine their astonishment at finding a coin exactly like the one the girl had swallowed sitting on top of the grave of Rabbi Chaim.
When the crowds began coming, the family told their amazing story. They publicized the miracle of the coin which had disappeared, only to appear once again on the grave of the tzaddik.
When I arrived in Mogador, I immediately sensed the joy in the air. Observing the family’s uninhibited ebullience, I understood that something great had occurred. Their story caused a tremendous kiddush Hashem, for the obvious hashgachah pratit that occurred pointed to the power of faith.
