I Pledge Allegiance to Hashem
I was once invited to a large event in Eretz Yisrael on behalf of a tzedakah cause. When I arrived at the venue, I noticed numerous prominent rabbanim, who could each deliver rousing speeches of inspiration and chizuk to the assembled. Sensing that my presence was superfluous, I turned on my heel, planning to attend another function where other people were waiting to hear me speak. Just as I was about to leave, a wheelchair-bound woman approached me and asked if she could have just a few moments of my time to tell me her story. I agreed.
The woman related that before she had become an invalid, she used to deliver shiurim of chizuk for Jewish women on the topics of yirat Shamayim and mussar. She would bring them back to their Heavenly Father. But now that she was physically limited, she could not continue this practice. This pained her very much.
She added that she had ten children at home, bli ayin hara. Her handicap hindered her in raising them. She also felt deeply disappointed that she could not lecture to the women anymore. For this reason, she asked that I bless her in my fathers’ merits, that she should have a complete recovery.
Just then, I heard an announcement that the organization was still short of approximately twenty thousand dollars, which they needed desperately. I made a silent vow that if this woman would recover, I would raise this sum on my own.
After some time, with great Heavenly kindness, the woman stood up and began walking on her own. I turned to the issue at hand – how would I collect the money that I had promised? Hashem saw how important it was to me to raise these funds and how distressed I was in my predicament. He sent His salvation in a most astounding way.
A wealthy individual contributed Sifrei Torah to a Beit Hakeneset in Yerushalayim and invited me to the hachnasat Sefer Torah. Of course, I complied. The man was so overcome with gratitude that he handed me a closed envelope and stated that it contained money for tzedakah purposes. It felt like a check was inside. I asked him, “Is it true that this check is written for the sum of twenty thousand dollars?”
The man was stupefied at my declaration. “How does the Rav know that?”
But I just smiled to myself and transferred the envelope to its correct destination, just as I had promised. I clearly felt how Hashem had answered my prayer by honoring my pledge.
