Unconsciously Answering Amen
Mrs. Yakot Fahima, a relative of a friend of mine, was suddenly stricken with a brain tumor, rachmana litzlan. Her family members were terribly concerned and turned to me to ask that I pray on her behalf, in the merit of my forefathers.
When I came to visit her in the hospital, her sister, Aishah, was there. She pleaded of me, “Please, Rabbi David, go into my sister’s room and do not emerge without good tidings! Stand in prayer before Hashem, until my sister regains consciousness! I have full faith that the tefillah of tzaddikim does not go unheard.” She spoke with strong faith, certain that the merit of my ancestors could reverse the harsh decree.
I entered the room and began reciting Tehillim. Her son, Yehuda Fahima, stood over her. When he saw me, he called out, “Mother! Rabbi David arrived! Wake up!” I noticed that photographs of giants of our nation surrounded her bed. She had pictures of Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira, Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hakatan, and others. I remembered the injunction of her sister, Aishah, who would not allow me to exit her room empty-handed. I believed that the simple, pure faith of this family would surely bring salvation to this woman.
I continued praying at her bedside. Suddenly, the woman’s lips quivered, and the word Amen was heard after I said a blessing. Her condition steadily improved before the eyes of the onlookers, in spite of the doctors’ dire predictions. The incident made a great kiddush Hashem.
Mrs. Fahima merited a complete recovery, in the merit of her family’s simple faith in the power of the tzaddikim.
