Fruits of Faith
When my son, Rabbi Refael, was yet a young yeshiva bachur, he wished to marry at a young age. But whenever he broached the subject, I rejected it, for I wanted him to remain in the tent of Torah, free of worldly problems, for a while longer.
It was Simchat Torah of the year 2002. My son Refael did not relent and kept pressuring me to allow him to marry young. Finally, I acceded to his request. “Refael,” I told him, “by Tu bi’Shevat, the new year for the trees, we will, B’ezrat Hashem, hear good news. You will become a chatan and get married within the year!”
- Rabbi Refael Meir Amram Pinto, shlita, son of the Rav
The holiday season of Tishrei passed, and my son, Refael, traveled to Lakewood Yeshiva, in the USA. He would frequently phone home, asking if there was any marriage prospect on the horizon. But I was not hurrying to do anything definite. Two days before Tu bi’Shevat, he called again, asking if I remembered my promise that he would be engaged by Tu bi’Shevat. “Not only am I not yet engaged, but there is no shidduch prospect in the wings. How could you say something so blatantly untrue?” he demanded.
I realized that the matter was serious. I had to act as a role model for my children and speak only the pure truth. I told him that there were two full days until Tu bi’Shevat.
I immediately turned to Hashem in supplication, begging Him to show me the right path to take. We had no lack of prospects, but I wanted to feel Hashem’s direct involvement in this matter, so that we felt perfectly sure that we were doing the right thing.
The next day, my son called again, in a most agitated state. “Father, tonight, Shabbat Eve, will be Tu bi’Shevat. And I am still single!”
“Refael,” I appeased him, “Tu bi’Shevat has not yet come. There is still time.”
“But Tu bi’Shevat falls on Shabbat this year!”
“You are right. But the days near Tu bi’Shevat are also considered part of that day. Hashem will help.”
A dear disciple, R’ Mordechai Taub, phoned me before Shabbat, in order to wish me a Shabbat Shalom and a joyous Tu bi’Shevat. I thanked him for his good wishes and then said, “Maybe my son’s salvation is meant to come through you. Do me a favor, and help me find him a worthy shidduch by Sunday.”
R’ Taub nearly fell off his chair. “Rabbi David, I really don’t know many peo---”
But I cut him off in mid-sentence, “There is still time until Sunday. The merit of my forefathers will stand in your stead.”
True to my request, R’ Mordechai Taub called me up on Sunday. “Honored Rav,” he began, “I think I may have found the appropriate match for your son, Refael. Last night, my wife attended a shiur. She noticed a certain young woman who made an impression of a virtuous girl and a yarei Shamayim. My wife inquired after her. According to the information she received, the girl seems to be wonderful, from an illustrious family and most fitting for your son.”
I immediately asked for details. I discovered that she was the daughter of an old friend, the Gaon, Rabbi Shimon Haleiwa, shlita. He had also learned in the Sunderland yeshiva in England after he married. I was very pleased with this shidduch. Rabbi Shimon hails from a family of tzaddikim in Morocco, great mekubalim, who wrote many sefarim.
Additionally, I had spent one Sukkot, years ago, in Nice, France, where Rabbi Shimon Haleiwa was the Rav. We had been invited for a meal at his home. I saw his little girl, Tzippora, and blessed her that she grow in the ways of Hashem and build a true Jewish home. Who would have believed that she would build it together with my son, Refael?
I immediately phoned up my son’s yeshiva and instructed him to fly home, for we had found him an appropriate shidduch. Refael returned to France and we all immediately flew to Eretz Yisrael. There we met the young lady and her family. The shidduch was finalized in an auspicious moment.
Afterward, I turned to my son, and said, “Don’t you see, you became a chatan during the week of Tu bi’Shevat. This is the power of prayer. We both prayed, and Hashem helped us!”
