A Word Is a Word
Mr. César is a wonderful man who devotedly attends to me on my travels in Argentina. He takes care of my meals, escorts me on my trips, and manages the technical details of my itinerary in his country. His father is elderly and was once diagnosed with cancer.
When he discovered this, he phoned me and said that he suffered from stomach aches. He would not expound. I told him not to worry because nothing was wrong with him. My words had a calming effect. He placed all his faith in his Creator, as the Rav instructed him.
When his son heard that he had spoken to me, he phoned me up and filled me in on the truth of his father’s illness. These were no ordinary stomach aches, he reassured me. They were nothing short of cancer, finding refuge in his body, rachmana litzlan.
I immediately retracted my former words of assurance and told his son, “In that case, you must take care of the matter immediately!” But he was in a quandary. His father had already received my reassurance that nothing was wrong with him. He was happily relying on this. How could his son now go and burst his balloon of ignorant bliss?
I felt very uncomfortable and decided that the right thing was to take matters into my own hands. I called up the senior Mr. César and asked how he felt. He replied, “I am so pleased that the Rav calmed my fears by assuring me that I have nothing to worry about. I am scheduled to undergo a biopsy, and I am completely confident that the doctors will not find a trace of the illness. My pains do not bother me in the least.”
It is self-evident that after that declaration, made with such resolve, I did not have the heart to tell him about his serious illness. We all waited until the results of the tests came back. Time would tell what the next step should be.
On the day of the biopsy, I was in constant contact with the family via telephone. This was what I heard the man telling his doctor: “I am doing this only to pacify my family. I am sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I have no illness whatsoever.”
His doctor thought it best to be up-front with him and therefore said, “I don’t want to scare you, but you should know that your situation is not simple in the least.”
But the man would not be moved from his faith. He firmly believed that he was well.
I was extremely impressed by the extent of his tremendous faith, in spite of, or maybe because of, the fact that he was a simple Jew. He accepted my words of assurance at face value and had no worries whatsoever.
In contrast, I myself was a bundle of nerves. What if they found him to be at an advanced stage of illness? That would likely cause him to lose faith in Hashem, chas v’shalom. Maybe he would think that Rabbis dispense baseless blessings. That would cause a tremendous chillul Hashem.
I lifted my eyes heavenward, and said, “Ribbono shel Olam! If You don’t act for the sake of my prayers in the merit of my forefathers, whose institutions these people uphold, then act for the sake of the simple faith of this man, who trusts You implicitly.”
B’chasdei Shamayim, to the amazement of the doctors, nothing suspicious was found. He still lives today, like an ordinary person.
This is the power of faith, which can spare a person from the jaws of death.
