A Blessed Misunderstanding
I was once engrossed in a phone call. A woman suddenly burst into my office. She cried that her husband was in the throes of death, rachmana litzlan, and in dire need of salvation. Since I was on an important call, I asked the woman to wait a few moments until I finished, then I would be able to give her husband a complete, wholehearted blessing. But instead of waiting, the woman said, “Thank you, thank you,” with relief written on her face. With that, she left as suddenly as she had come.
I was quite surprised by her reaction and asked those in the room if they had any idea why she had thanked me. They, too, were astonished at her words and hurried to find her and ask for an explanation. When they reached her, she stated, in all innocence, that she understood that I had blessed her husband with a refuah sheleimah, and he would shortly get up from his sickbed.
At this, I was really stumped. I had not offered her any blessing at all. I had not even said anything which could be understood as a guarantee that her husband would live. All I had done was ask her to wait patiently until I could hear her out. But she left so fast that I could not clarify her husband’s condition or offer him a blessing.
The poor woman was assured that I had promised her that her husband would be well. What if Hashem decided to take him from this world? What a chillul Hashem would result!
I asked my secretary to call her up and straighten things out. She should be told that I was not guaranteeing her husband’s recovery. But when my secretary reached her, she did not let him speak. With great emotion, she said, “Relay my thanks to Rabbi David. My husband miraculously came back to life!”
The miracle that happened to this man was undoubtedly in the merit of his wife’s perfect faith. She thought I had blessed him with a refuah sheleimah and was therefore calm. How powerful is simple faith! It can literally bring people back to life!
