Under Hashem’s Watch
It was the evening of the hilula in Morocco. My watch was broken, so I turned to my companion, R’ Mordechai Knafo and asked if he happened to have a spare one that I could borrow. He replied in the negative, but suggested that I pray for Hashem to send me a watch.
I replied that I didn’t feel it was right to bother Hashem, so to speak, with such an insignificant request as a watch. But R’ Mordechai insisted that nothing is too small for Hashem. Upon his insistence, I lit a candle in memory of the tzaddikim and set to praying for a watch.
Immediately afterward, R’ Mordechai Knafo’s father asked me to help him fill out a lottery ticket. I suggested which two numbers he should choose, stipulating that if either of them was the winning number, we would split the winnings. I pledged to contribute my share toward covering the expenses of the hilula.
With great kindness, Hashem arranged that one of the numbers won. Each of us received twenty-two thousand francs (approximately six thousand dollars).
When R’ Mordechai heard about our winnings, he said, “Don’t you see, Rabbi David? We are in need of Heavenly mercy in every single aspect of our lives, including lottery tickets. Nothing is too small or simple for Hashem. We must turn to Him in prayer for every little detail of our lives.”
R’ Knafo’s father later came back to me, this time bringing a watch. He told me that as he was resting on the beachfront, Rabbi Chaim Pinto had appeared to him in a dream and told him, “You have two watches. Give the one you just received to my grandson, Rabbi David, who needs one desperately right now.”
I was dumbstruck at the turn of events. After I had won such a substantial sum, people advised me to buy myself a new watch. But I replied, “Heaven forbid that I should touch a franc of the money I won. This money was consecrated for the hilula expenses. When I saw how a watch was arranged for me on High, I realized that the merit of the tzaddik had a hand in this.”
