Drinking It All In
I once had to spend time in the hospital as a patient. One day, I was notified that the wife of my dear disciple, Mordechai Azulai, had had a stroke. She was admitted to the same hospital that I was in, unconscious. I was in a terribly weak state and therefore could not pray at length for her recovery. I merely blessed her with a refuah sheleimah. I also gave her family members the water bottle that was resting near me, with instructions that they should give her to drink from it.
Her family was very surprised at this request. The woman was unconscious – how could she drink anything in this state? She would likely choke if they poured it down her throat. But since they were saturated with perfect faith, they did not challenge my words and simply did as I had asked.
The truth is that I was not aware of her critical condition. Had I known her situation, I would never have instructed them to endanger her in this way. Her family members, armed with the water bottle and faith in Hashem, turned to do as I had bidden.
They came near her bed, approaching their mother, who was connected to all sorts of respirators and tubes. They began offering her the water. When the doctors got wind of this, they were aghast. What was her family doing to her? They merely answered, “We want to give her some water to drink.” But the doctors wouldn’t hear of it.
“You are endangering her life!” they shouted. But her family was made of stronger stuff. They paid no heed to the doctors’ warnings. They opened her mouth and poured in some drops of water.
The doctors stood there open-mouthed, completely baffled at their boldness. They immediately approached the one who had fed her the water. If she would die of choking and they would be accused of murder, they wanted to know they had the right man. But the man refused to follow them. Instead, he continued feeding her the water. At this, the doctors hurried to call in the police to halt this man’s rash behavior.
But then the incredible took place before their unbelieving eyes. The woman opened her eyes and began showing signs of life. Slowly but surely, she completely regained her former health.
Pure, simple faith overcame the bounds of nature. Although the act was hazardous, and I myself would never have recommended it had I known the woman’s true condition, the family acted upon firm faith and therefore Hashem performed a miracle before their eyes.
This was in order to cause a kiddush Hashem and avert any chillul Hashem due to my unusual instructions.
Of course, I have learned to never order people to give a sick person a drink of water against the doctors’ orders. But in this instance, faith prevailed and saved the day.
