A Striking Message
A wealthy French Jew owned a flourishing clothing store. It was famous for its excellent service. One day, criminals walked into his store. They beat him up and even struck him in the head with a hammer. Leaving him nearly dead, they ransacked the place and then fled.
The man was brought to the hospital in critical condition. The doctors said he was on the brink of death, as a result of the strike to his head. Moreover, his heartbeat was faint and nearly fading. They could not treat him. They merely attached him to a respirator. They instructed his family to remain at his bedside, for within a few hours at the most, he would breathe his last.
The hours came and went. The man was hovering between two worlds, but he continued living. His family members were believing Jews. The entire time they stood vigil at his bed, they did not cease from praying to Hashem that the zechut of the tzaddik, Rabbi Chaim Pinto, should protect him, and he should recover completely. They sent a messenger to me asking for a blessing for a refuah sheleimah. Of course, I immediately complied. In order to allow my blessing to be most effective, I asked that they do some introspection and do complete teshuvah, while strengthening their commitment to Torah and mitzvot.
The brother of the injured man lived in Miami. He, too, rushed to France to be with his brother. He asked that I come to the hospital, as well. At first, I politely declined. How would my visit help this man’s condition? On the contrary, it might very well cause a chillul Hashem. If the man were to die, the family would say that the tzaddik came to visit and did not succeed in helping him heal. I therefore told the brother that it would be preferable to wait a week or two and then re-assess the situation.
A month passed. The man was still alive. I decided the time had come to visit him, as his family had requested. As I stood with my escort near the man’s bed, we recited chapters of Tehillim. Then I turned to his family and said, “If, after a month, your loved one still lives, in spite of the doctors’ predictions, it is a sign that there is still what to correct.”
I showed them which tikkunim they should make. I suggested they reinforce their observance of taharat hamishpachah as well as other mitzvot. These mitzvot had the power to revitalize their ill father. “If you truly resolve to make inroads in these areas, the merit of the tzaddik, Rabbi Chaim Pinto will protect the sick man, and he will recover.”
A number of doctors stood off to the side, listening to my words. After I finished speaking, one of them approached me. “Honored Rabbi,” he began. “Do you really believe that prayer can help in such a situation?”
“Why do you ask?” I countered.
“Because, according to our logic, this man was meant to breathe his last long ago.”
Now I decided to knock some true logic into his head. “We both see that the man continues to live. This is the best proof that recovery is solely in Hashem’s hands. He is the One Who allows doctors to be His emissaries to cure a person. But when He does not want a person to be cured, they are helpless. The fact that this man lived until now is a sign that Hashem wants him to live. When his family will increase their merits, you, his doctors, will be permitted to heal him.”
A Jewish doctor nearby responded with a resounding, “Amen!”
Two weeks later, the miracle occurred. The man opened his eyes and showed signs of life. The doctors were finally able to tend to his injuries. An x-ray indicated that his head was perfectly fine, in spite of the wound it had sustained.
The man began to heal from his wounds. On the eve of the hilula of Rabbi Chaim Pinto, zy”a, his family phoned me and said that he had left the hospital on his own two feet.
Until today, I am awe-struck by this wonderful miracle. When the man had first arrived at the hospital, his doctors filled out the forms stating that he was as good as dead. This was why they did not bother to tend to his injuries and only connected him to a respirator. This, too, did not make any sense. Why attach a dead man to a breathing machine? But the dead man surprised everyone by walking out of the hospital, hale and hearty.
The merit of the tzaddik, as well as that of his family’s reinforced mitzvah observance, stood by him to grant him a complete recovery.
