Shield of Protection
Mr. Siboni and Mr. Bitton are business partners. They have the custom of arranging a festive celebration commemorating the hilula of the tzaddik, Rabbi David Moshe, zy”a, an emissary of the holy city, Yerushalayim. After his death, he was buried in Morocco. This tzaddik was known as a holy Kabbalist, well-known for performing miracles. Thousands ascend to his grave annually.
When they came to invite me to the hilula celebration one year in Paris, Mr. Siboni related that a short time ago, he had been involved in a terrible car accident in which his car crashed into a huge truck. The car was smashed to smithereens. Only after strenuous effort, was he miraculously extricated from the wreckage. His rescuers declared that it was his tzitzit, which had somehow protected his head, which saved him from certain death.
This was a very curious phenomenon, which no one could explain logically. How could a simple piece of cloth save someone from having his bones crushed?
But I was not surprised in the least. I told him that this is hinted at in the words of Tehillim. (119:164): “Seven times a day I have praised You.” Our Sages (Menachot 43b) point out that seven specific things protect a person from all harm. They are: the four corners of one’s tzitzit, the tefillin of the head, the tefillin of the arm, and the mezuzah. It was the tzitzit that he wore which served as a shield, protecting him from all harm.
