Last shabbos I was privileged to spend some time with Rabbi Shmuel Wagner shlita, from Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim, who related the following amazing story, which just happened a few months ago.
There is a young family living in Har Nof, Israel. The husband learns in Yeshiva and the wife was making a living and supporting their family, until recently, when she lost her job. Weeks went by and they literally had no money. Their credit cards were maxed out and they had no one to go to for help.
The wife said to her husband, “Enough of this, I am going to daven and pour my heart out to Hashem, but while I am praying, I want you to go to the grocery store, “Rami Levy,” and buy us food for the next month.” The husband said “Okay, but with what money?” The wife said, “Don’t worry, something good will happen.” She then proceeded to give him a very long shopping list that would fill their pantry with food for the next month. The husband was baffled but listened to his wife and went to the store. He had no idea how he would pay for any of it, but proceeded to fill up 3 carts with the food that his wife requested. He then got on line and started putting the food on the conveyor belt while the cashier started scanning the items. There were several people behind him on line. He still had no idea how he was going to pay for any of this but was just trusting what his wife told him, that something good will happen.
The cashier was finally getting to the last few items, 5 items left…4 items left…when suddenly his phone rang. Hoping for some good news, he picked up his phone and it was his wife. “I forgot to put ketchup on the list” she said, “Can you make sure to get a bottle?” The husband nervously said “sure” and hung up the phone. He then told the cashier and everyone on line that he would be right back. He then ran off the line to get the ketchup while the cashier and everyone on line stood there waiting. When he came back, one of the men on line lost his patience and started yelling at the husband. He just couldn’t believe that he had the audacity to leave the line to go back and get a bottle of ketchup. After apologizing to the impatient man on line, the cashier said, “The total is 1900 shekalim.”
The husband then started feeling his empty pockets to see if by some miracle, he had any money to pay for it. Suddenly, the man who a minute earlier was yelling at him, came from behind him, reached out and swiped his credit card, while saying “It’s on me.” When the husband looked at him in disbelief, this man told him that he felt very bad that he embarrassed him a moment earlier and wanted to make it up to him.
But that is not the end of the story…
A few minutes later, the two of them were walking out of the store and the man asked the husband, “So what’s your story?” He proceeded to tell him how he learns in yeshiva and everything was going well until his wife suddenly lost her job, and that it has been really rough lately. After talking a little more and hearing the whole story, the man took out a checkbook and proceeded to write out 11 checks in the amount of 1900 shekalim each, handed them to him and said, “now you don’t have to worry about food for the next year.”
Again, this is a true story that just occurred a few months ago.
