The Right Route
A man from Brazil once approached me and asked for my advice on various subjects. I tried to give him sound advice, and asked him to do as I said, without deviating an iota from my words.
A few days later, he phoned me, eager to inform me of the great miracle that had happened to him.
After he had seen me, he entered a cab with his brother, headed homeward. The driver asked whether they wanted to take a shortcut over the bridge, or the regular route, which took longer. The brothers thought for a moment, and then told him to go over the bridge.
The driver began following that route, but for some unknown reason, changed courses before they got to the bridge and followed the longer route. The brothers immediately asked the driver why he switched courses.
“It’s a better idea to travel this way,” were his cryptic words.
After an hour on the road, the passengers heard that the bridge they had contemplated crossing had collapsed, burying many victims and injuring untold more. The driver, shaken to the core, turned to the brothers and said, “Do you see why I was guided to take the other route? Had we traveled over the bridge, we would no longer be among the living!”
This was the man’s story. He added, “When the driver originally changed his mind, I told my brother, ‘Everything is Heavenly-ordained. I was just visiting Rabbi David Pinto, asking him for advice in certain matters. I promised him that I would fulfill his word to the letter. Certainly, we will be safe.’ And, indeed, we experienced a fantastic miracle. I have no doubt it is in the merit of the Rav.”
I would like to make it known to one and all that all of the advice which I dispense, and the berachot which are actualized, are only in the merit of my holy fathers, the tzaddikim of the Pinto dynasty. Without this, I am nothing at all. It is only their merit which effects wonders and great miracles.
