Setback or Salvation?

My husband just told me an incredible story that he heard from Rabbi David Ashear’s “Daily Emuna” online series. His stories are truly phenomenal, and they are excellent examples of how Hashem is guiding and watching over us when we don’t see or understand the big picture.

I’m sharing this story with you because it is a wonderful example of how our apparent setbacks are actually the opportunities that bring about our salvation.

There was a Russian woman who was Jewish, but secular. She lived in Communist Russia. Circumstances led her to want to learn more about Judaism, but Jewish practice and learning were prohibited. Eventually she found a rabbi that gave Torah classes and helped others secretly lead a Torah-observant life. She started attending his classes, and sure enough, she began to want to live a Torah-observant life.

When the Russians discovered that this rabbi was running a Jewish underground movement, they were on a mission to arrest him and put him in jail. Luckily, he managed to escape to Israel before they could find him. This woman felt that she would be lost without him, and soon after, she decided to go to Israel as well.

Everything was great for this woman in Israel. She was growing in her Torah knowledge and observance, and eventually felt ready to look for a husband. Much to her dismay, she found out that she would need to obtain a get (bill of divorce according to Jewish law) from her husband in Russia. This was impossible, as she left without knowing his whereabouts.

Amazingly, her rabbi decided that he would go back to Russia and try to find the husband. Although she knew that she had better odds of boarding a first-class, ‘round-the-world cruise (sorry, I couldn’t help myself,) she didn’t stop him from going.

How in the world did this rabbi think that he would ever find her husband? It’s not like he was a KGB agent that had the means of tracking him down. But he didn’t worry about the details. He knew in his heart, with pure and simple emuna, that Hashem would help him somehow.

As soon as he landed in Russia, there were officers waiting for him. They immediately arrested him and threw him in jail. The rabbi wasn’t fazed by this setback. He still believed that Hashem has His plan, and that everything would work out for the best.

His cellmate was not a nice man, to say the least. But this rabbi was a true tzaddik, and he did his best to befriend the man. After several conversations, the man opened up to the rabbi and told him all about his life.

Shocked and amazed, the rabbi quickly realized that this was the man he was looking for! Miraculously, he was able to obtain the get, and even more miraculously, shortly after he got it, the Russian authorities kicked him out and sent him back to Israel, with a warning to never come back!

What an incredible story of Divine providence! What seemed to be the worst setback was actually the key to this woman’s salvation! Hashem saved the rabbi potentially months and months of time, effort, and aggravation by putting the rabbi exactly where he needed to be!

I hope we will all be able to apply this example to our lives, when we suffer from setbacks that seem to take us away from our desired goals. We must always remember that Hashem knows what He’s doing, especially when His plan does not match up with ours! Next week, we’ll discuss exactly how to go about doing that.

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Feel free to send Racheli your questions, particularly in the areas of marriage, dating, child-rearing and women's role; write her at racheli@breslev.co.il