On the Wings of Repentance
A man told me that a very strange thing happened every morning, as he left his house for the synagogue. A bird would fly in front of him, flailing its wings violently. Then it would smack into the window and fall to the ground, bleeding profusely. Eventually, it died. This incident had repeated itself for the past few days, and he felt it contained a lesson for him.
I immediately remembered reading a similar story about the Arizal. A man told him, terribly shaken, that he dreamed he was being slaughtered and blood spurted forth from him. The Arizal instructed him to check whether his bed sheets touched those of his wife when she was in the niddah status. He found that this was the case and hurried to correct the situation.
I told this man, too, to be more stringent in the area of taharat hamishpachah. The blood of the bird might symbolize the blood of the niddah.
He accepted my advice. After a short time, he returned, in a happy state. The bird still circled his house but, as it reached the window, it turned away, as if to say that the sin was gone.
