From Narrow Straits to Wide Places
On one of my visits to my fellow Jews in the Diaspora, a wheel-chair bound woman came to me. With a bitter heart, she sobbed, “Rabbi David, bless me that I become healthy. My husband left me due to my infirmity. He ridicules me and even took another wife in my place. Only on rare occasions does he come to visit. When I once expressed my desire that he should stop the visits, he countered, ‘But you are paralyzed, and I have pity on you.’
“I don’t need his pity. All I want is that he will divorce me according to Jewish law. I’ll manage quite fine without his pitiful gestures of piety. What I do seek, though, is Hashem’s compassion. I pray to Him that He heal me and restore me to health.”
At hearing these heartfelt words, I encouraged the woman, telling her, “Continue to pray. With Hashem’s help, you will be saved, in the merit of your faith.”
After some time, I found myself once again in that locale. A woman approached me and asked if I recognized her. As I did not, I asked who she was. She reminded me that she was the handicapped woman who was bitter over her husband’s infidelity. She was now, with Heavenly kindness, completely healed. She walks on her own two feet, like a regular person.
I then turned to the woman and told her, “See just how far your faith has reached. Look how effective your prayers were in Heaven. They took you from shame to glory, from narrow straits to wide places.”
I was very happy to observe the salvation of Hashem which this woman merited by the power of her faith. He has all of the tools necessary to rescue those who firmly believe in Him from all their difficulties.
