A Release of Faith
R’ Moshe Gopez, an acquaintance, was sitting shivah in Eretz Yisrael for a family member. I arrived to perform the mitzvah of comforting the mourning, and also delivered a shiur in Mishnayot for the elevation of the soul of the deceased. I intended to travel to Yerushalayim after the Ma’ariv prayers. Mr. Yechiel Ben-Moshe, manager of a branch of Bank Mizrachi, offered to drive me. His friend, Mr. Nachmani, from Mexico, joined us. He wanted to ask my advice regarding an issue he was dealing with.
During the course of our trip, Mr. Nachmani related that a relative in Mexico had been kidnapped. His captors had been holding him for the past month, demanding the astronomical sum of ten million dollars for his release. Due to the complicated situation, there was a real danger to his life.
After a few moments of thought, the following words came from my mouth, of their own accord, “B’ezrat Hashem, your relative will be released by the end of this week.” I myself was shocked at my words.
Mr. Yechiel Ben-Moshe joined me for a most uplifting Shabbat in Ashdod. After Shabbat, he packed up his belongings and turned on his cell phone, which had been off all Shabbat. Suddenly, a call came in from his friend, Mr. Nachmani. He tripped over his words in his excitement at relating that my words had come true. During Shabbat, the level of security slackened, and the abducted man snatched the opportunity to escape to home and safety. The joy of his family and friends knew no bounds. They all witnessed the actualization of my berachah, in the merit of my holy forefathers, zy”a.
When I was notified of his release, I turned to those around me and said, “See how great it is to believe in Hashem. One who places his trust implicitly in Hashem is helped in a supernatural way.”
Hashem allowed me to invoke the merit of my ancestors and bless the captive with freedom in their merit.
