Seeing Is Believing
Mr. Sidney Elchadad is one of the leaders of the Jewish community in Montreal, Canada. He is the principal of the Yavneh School, where children are educated in Torah and yirat Shamayim.
The school outgrew their quarters, necessitating the purchase of a larger building. Mr. Elchadad found the perfect place, but the price was much too steep for his budget. Moreover, other schools sought the building and were liable to snatch it before he came up with a payment plan.
- Hachnasat Sefer Torah in the Kollel Yismach Moshe, Toronto
Just at that time, I was visiting Montreal, in honor of a hachnasat Sefer Torah on behalf of the kollel, Yismach Moshe, named after my father, the tzaddik, Rabbi Moshe Aharon Pinto, zy”a. A large dinner was arranged, which was attended by many, including the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, shlita.
During the celebration, Mr. Elchadad approached me with his predicament. “Our school in Montreal educates hundreds of pupils to a Torah-true lifestyle. It is the only religious school in the area. But we are bursting at the seams. We need to purchase a new building.”
- With the Rishon L’Tzion, HaGaon, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, at a dinner in Toronto
I asked what he had in mind.
“There is a large, new building up for sale. It can house our student body comfortably. But its price is very high, and I cannot afford it.”
“Do you have faith in Hashem?” I asked.
“Certainly!” came the immediate response.
“Do you do everything l’shem Shamayim?” was my next query.
“Of course,” he replied with conviction.
“If so,” I then said, “Remove all traces of worry from your heart. The new building will be yours. B’ezrat Hashem, I myself will deliver a shiur to your students there.” I slapped him on the shoulder in a gesture of encouragement and added validity to my words.
Hashem’s kindness never ends. Mr. Elchadad merited acquiring the building for his school.
On Rosh Chodesh Elul, with the opening of the new school year, I joyfully arrived for the dedication ceremony. I delivered my promised lecture in this new building. The hall was filled to capacity. Mr. Elchadad opened the event by narrating the Heavenly intervention which had allowed them to purchase the building. Originally, he told his students, he didn’t even dream he would manage to acquire this building. But due to my urging, and his unflagging faith, he had succeeded in acquiring it.
I was then invited to say a few words. Afterward, as is my practice, I conducted a kabbalat kahal. Mr. Elchadad approached me, accompanied by his mother-in-law, who had lost her eyesight. He asked me to bless her, in the merit of my forefathers. I told him, “This coming Motza’ei Shabbat, the 5th of Elul, will be the hilula of my holy father, zy”a. Keep this in mind. And may it be Hashem’s will that until then, my holy fathers will continue demonstrating the power of their merits, and we will merit hearing good news.”
On Motza’ei Shabbat, Mr. Elchadad participated in the hilula ceremony. With tremendous joy and excitement, he relayed to me that already on Friday of that week, his mother-in-law regained her sight. This was indeed a medical miracle, for the doctors had lost hope of her ever seeing again. It was the zechut of the tzaddikim that restored her vision.
