Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

"G-d make His face shine upon you…." (6,25)

“There is nothing else except Him”.

A wonderful story of the extent of confidence a person must have that "there is nothing else except Him" (that appears in the sefer Tuvcha Yabiu):

 "A man went with his wife to give birth. Since all the births until now had gone by without problems he was not particularly worried. This time he also thought that the birth would go smoothly. After they told him about the birth of his son he thought he would go home. Suddenly the doctor came out and told him in a trembling voice that a very serious problem had been revealed by his wife and that she must be transferred to the operating room; he also prepared for the worst."

"By nature," the avreich continued, "he has great confidence (bitachon) in G-d. In other situations of pressure that he has had he was known to take control of himself nicely and encourage himself and others. But now his wife's life was in danger and she was brought into the operating room!"

"He was sent several times to bring units of blood again and again until his heart was bursting in fear! This was for an hour and a half or two hours. Once when he was sent to the blood bank to bring more units of blood he remembered the segulah of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin and he strengthened himself very much in the knowledge that "only G-d is G-d and there is nothing else except Him"; He has all the powers and wills and no one is able to harm or benefit him or my wife – everything is in His Hands! He reviewed the Rabbi's idea several times and he planted the idea deep into his heart!"

"When he came back from the blood bank with the blood the doctors were standing at the entrance of the operating room with shining faces and good news: "You should know that we have no idea how we succeeded in overcoming your wife's serious problem but it was truly a miracle and the danger has passed completely without leaving any traces. We have no explanation for what happened – you have received a wife as a gift!"

"He could not stop the flow of tears that streamed down unabated. If only the doctors knew the great secret…."

 The young man continued his story: "Several days after the birth of his son, his son developed very strong jaundice and the doctors said that his blood has to be changed. Even though that is not dangerous, it was certainly better to do it. The doctors decided that if in another hour there was no improvement, they would change the baby's blood."

"Again, he went into a side room and strengthened himself in "There is nothing else except Him". Ten minutes later he came out of the room and went to clarify the situation. The story repeated itself: The doctors were waiting for him at the entrance of the baby's room with wonderful news: "A few minutes ago the jaundice began to go down significantly. This has never ever happened by us!"

 "Therefore, the advice to all our friends and acquaintances," the avreich sums up, "is to keep a copy of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin's words in their pockets and read through them, especially at times of distress that we hope will not come to any Jew."

 "In any situation when a person feels he needs Heavenly Assistance he should call out "Ein od milvado" and the minute a person relies only on G-d and not on any other power – he causes all the damaging forces and all the forces that delay salvation to be immediately canceled out – and then he merits great salvation!"

SHABBAT SHALOM!!