{"id":99011,"date":"2022-11-20T05:07:47","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T03:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/?p=99011"},"modified":"2022-11-20T05:07:47","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T03:07:47","slug":"adopting-a-policy-of-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/adopting-a-policy-of-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Adopting a Policy of Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adopting a Policy of Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

A woman from France informed me that she was expecting a baby. But since she did not want a child, she was contemplating aborting. I was shaken at her words and told her that aborting with no medical justification is a terrible sin, considered murder. I continued to encourage her to keep her baby, promising to extend her financial help until the birth. The woman was finally convinced not to take such a terrible step. I rented a house for her and made sure that she was sent food on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

A short time before her due date, the woman returned, stating that she was not interested in raising her future child. She decided she would give him up to the French government for adoption. I realized the ramifications of such an act. \u201cIf you give up your child to the government authorities, it is most likely that he will be adopted by a gentile family and be completely severed from his Jewish roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman remained silent. I continued, \u201cSince you are Jewish, your child is a Jew. You therefore are obligated to make sure he is adopted by a Jewish family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can I do that?\u201d she cried. \u201cThe government recognizes only adoptions done through their agencies.\u201d I advised her to undergo the adoption process through a lawyer in order to legalize it.<\/p>\n

Her baby boy was born at an auspicious time, and I was asked to be his sandek. The mohel was the dayan, Rabbi Yaakov Poltorak, zt\u201dl. Rabbi Yosef Tzeruyah, shlita, the Rosh Kollel in Lyon, was present at the brit.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. With HaGaon Rabbi Yosef Tzeruyah, shlita<\/li>\n
  2. The Dayan, HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Poltorak, zt\u201dl<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As planned, the boy was adopted by a Jewish family, but the adoption was not done through a lawyer. The woman thereby violated the law of the land. I was kept in the dark about this.<\/p>\n

    A few months later, the mother experienced fierce pangs of longing for her son. She truly regretted sending away her flesh and blood and pleaded with the adoptive family to release him. The family, of course, refused to return the baby to his mother. At this point, the police entered the picture. After questioning, it was revealed that I had recommended giving up the baby for adoption by circumventing the French authorities, in an illegal manner.<\/p>\n

    That day, I was arrested, along with the two other Rabbis who were at the brit<\/em>. The next day, we were to be brought before the judge who was to decide our fate. That entire night, we spoke in words of Torah. We wondered aloud as to why we were being punished in this way.<\/p>\n

    The next day, I was asked how I could advise the woman to do an illegal act. I replied, \u201cJust as France has laws, so does our holy Torah have a set of laws. In my capacity as Rabbi to my people, I am obligated to dissuade my co-religionists from any act which contradicts Torah doctrine. For this reason, I first and foremost discouraged this woman from aborting, as it is considered murder. I then advised her to transfer her child to a Jewish home. But I stipulated that she must do this legally, with the aid of a lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Baruch Hashem<\/em>, the judge accepted my words and sent me off in peace. But I was not satisfied with this. In order not to ever have trouble from this case again, I asked for a letter from the courthouse that the entire case was closed and I was perfectly innocent.<\/p>\n

    A few days later, I traveled with my wife to Eretz Yisrael. When I visited the grave of Rashbi in Meron, I prayed that this entire matter be completely closed. Afterward, I told my wife that I had a good feeling about the matter. B\u2019ezrat Hashem<\/em>, within a short time, we would receive a letter regarding the closed case. I added that we would receive an omen to prove this. If, on our way to Ashdod, we would meet two people named Shimon, the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, it would be evidence that our prayers were accepted. The Torah tells us in Devarim (19:15), \u201cAccording to two witnesses\u2026 shall a matter be confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. I turned in the direction of the voice, and who should I see but Mr. Shimon Dehan, z\u201dl, who asked how I was doing. He asked for my blessing in the merit of my fathers. I was very happy to meet him. In his merit, the first half of the omen was realized. I embraced him and kissed him.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAnd what about the second Shimon?\u201d my wife asked.<\/p>\n

    \u201cRabbi Shimon bar Yochai is the second one,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n

    But my wife did not accept my answer. \u201cYou said that we will meet two Jews named Shimon. The matter must be actualized literally.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cHave no fear,\u201d I responded. \u201cWe will yet meet the second Shimon.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In the meantime, we visited the Ari\u2019s grave in Tzfat. As I was leaving the cemetery, who should I see but my nephew, Shimon, who had flown in from Canada for the express purpose of visiting the graves of tzaddikim buried in Eretz Yisrael. I was so happy that the second half of my prediction had materialized that I hugged him ecstatically. I felt assured that the entire matter back home was completed.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. At the Arizal\u2019s grave in Tzefat<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      That was exactly what happened. Upon our return to France, we found a registered letter waiting for us. The case was closed, and I was free of all suspicion. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Adopting a Policy of Prayer A woman from France informed me that she was expecting a baby. But since she did not want a child, she was contemplating aborting. I was shaken at her words and told her that aborting with no medical justification is a terrible sin, considered murder. I continued to encourage her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":27814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-at-the-grave-of-the-tzaddik"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}