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This just happened. My daughter took our car to Brooklyn, as she and my other daughter had separate appointments. I had just gotten the car back from the auto repair shop, and it seemed to be working well on the drive. By accident (of course we know there are no accidents), my daughter parked the car a block further from where she needed to be, right across from another auto repair and body shop. As soon as she parked and shut the engine,s he realized she could be much closer to the curb, so she tried to start the car, and it was dead. The lights, the horn, everything was dead, no sound from the ignition. SO – because she was right across from a repair shop, she was able to go over there and ask for a boost (they were on a tight schedule), only to find out that the battery was no good.
The daughter who was driving had already made her appointment, but my other daughter was registering at Grad school and had to be there by a certain time, and it was only 15 minutes until that time. A frum older man had also brought his car there for a repair, and he saw my obviosuly frum girls glance at him and came over to ask if they needed any help. When they explained what had happened, and that we needed to wait a half hour for the battery to be replaced, but my daughter was going to miss her registration time, he immediately offered to drive her there. I left out the part where he introduced himself, and we discovered he is mishpacha to people we know in our neighborhood. Anyhow, the day was saved.
Here’s a quick story that shows how Hashgacha Pratis is not limited to the big items..
I was walking from one community to another one shabbos morning and knew I was running a bit late. I had an urge to find out the time, but on Shabbos morning at 7:30 or so, the street were deserted and the chances of my finding a clock weere kind of nil.
As I crossed a street, there was an older gentleman on a bike riding towards me. As he rode by I was able to clearly hear the radio attached to the handlebars on his bike, ” …. WCBS news time, 7:45″.
Now THAT is Hshgacha Pratis.
stevo, Nice!
stevo- if you’re on later you’ll get a grand welcome from Jax in the New Members thread. Otherwise you can make do with the welcome I just posted there…
enjoy 🙂
stevo, thats cool! and to follow in areivims footsteps, I offer you a queenly welcome. 🙂
stevo: wow that’s so awesome! & big welcome to the cr! head to the new members thread to get a proper welcome from the rest of the cr!
welcome stevo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i usually dont check out the new members thread so lucky you, u got a welcome from me bec ur in this thread!!wat hashgacha pratis!!
When I was in high school, only 17 years old, my life changed forever.
I experienced a rebirth. An awakening.
On a beautiful spring day, I set out on a fun filled shopping excursion with a couple of friends. We had money to burn and closets to fill. No better way to spend a day, right?
How did I get here?
Where are my friends?
G-d, are they crying? Why are they screaming?
Slowly, the numbness in my body began to fade and I started feeling the pain. My jaws and teeth were the first to start hurting. I guess they were clenched during the impact. Then the achiness started in all different parts of my body. I felt like I had been beaten up.
Then I noticed the blood.
Blood was dripping onto the ground in front of my face, forming a small puddle under me.
Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad!
Please let me live!
Oh why did I waste my life? What have I done?
Oh what am I going to show Hashem? What have I done in my life? I need a zechus! I need to get into Gan Eden.
Oh what will I say? What can I show?
At this point I was frantically searching through my memories searching for something special, some good deed that will save me, some defense to get me into Gan Eden. I could find none. All the things that I had always thought made me special were utterly useless to me. All the pieces of me that I thought were so important were pathetically inadequate. I realized at that moment how much Hashem has truly blessed me with. All those things that I thought I had going for me- those were gifts from Hashem. Now I needed something that I could show Hashem. Something that would make Him proud. But all I could think of were little, regular mitzvos that I did that day. Nothing special.
Why have I been so stupid?
How could I have been so blind?
Why would I sin? WHY?
Why did I argue with my father when he asked me to stay home today?
The ambulance arrived, they put me on the stretcher. My father suddenly appeared. A Jewish man had called my parents. He saw that my friends were incapable of doing it, so he called my mother and gently told her that I had gotten into a little accident. She thought he meant I scraped my knees. He also took care to pick up my bag from the ground (covered in blood and tread marks) and give it to my friends so that no one would steal it.
May Hashem bless everyone in Am Yisrael with health, strength, happiness and success, and may we meet in Yerushalyim at the Beis Hamikdash soon.
Harmony, I read your post an hour ago and my heart is still pounding. WOW! What a powerful message! Its amazing how you learnt, and grew from the situation you were in. There is so much to learn from your story. May the inspiration last on and on. Thank you so much for sharing!
harmony; thank you so much for posting your story.
It’s truly inspiring. May HB”H in his infinite kindness
continue to watch over his wonderful Nation. Amen!
harmony, amazing story. I read through kapital 34. There are so many pesukim, I was going to quote a few but one after the other…
mrs. 72 and some of the jr-72’s read your story and are also inspired by the lessons that you imparted.
Wow, harmony, what an amazing story!
thank you everyone for your kind words 🙂
Writing my story was a very difficult and emotional experience for me, and it took me several days of constantly thinking about it, writing, and rewriting. There’s no way to really give over what it was like for me, but I felt the responsibility to at least give over what I could, you know what I mean?
Not much can top a story like that (both in terms of content and writing style).. except for the daily miracles we all experieince, but fail to see them for what they are. Your story helps us see things a bit clearer. So if any good can come from your accident, its knowing that you help others see the gift of life for what it truly is.
My parents are BH in good health. Yesterday, I visited them, not because it was yom tov, and not because there was a problem. I visited them just becuase. And it made them feel like they hit the lotto. CR members, ask yourselves: Why wait till the ER do wish you could have? Do the nice things NOW.
I’ve been meaning to post this for a really, really long time. I’ll try not to get too technical.
Several months ago, my phone was stolen. For various reasons, (one of them being that I’m the youngest 🙂 but there was more), it was decided that I would get a new one. I wasnt able to for a few weeks, and then I had pesach, so it took a long time until I finally got it.
I went down to a verizon store (not very close to me, that also took a while) and one of their “customer service” reps, decided for whatever (totally unvalid) reason, I couldn’t get it then, and I would have to come back. My mother called this and tried calling verizon to see what she could do. Anyway, they said my phone in a different color would be $40 cheaper. the cheapskate in me decided that getting a different color wasnt worth the extra money, and I settled for the cheaper one. (Which was also cheaper than it would have been in the store). The rep checked and saw that the one I would be taking ($40 less) was out of stock. He told me I could have the better color for the same price. Had the rep in the store decided to give me the phone, as he “should have” I would have paid about $100 extra.
Wow! What hashgacha! Is it a cool color at least? (the one you got in the end?)
harmony, like 72, I recently checked through perek 34 and as I was reading through the pesukim, my jaw was dropping lower and lower. Each and every passuk was so apropro. Then I hit the pasuk, “Rabbos raos tzaddik, umikulam yatzilenu Hashem”!! Oh. My. Gosh. Those words fit right in! As if that passuk was written just for this situation. I couldn’t help but share that amazing thought!
Thanks again for sharing your amazing story!
mepal, silverish. cool enough for you?
harmony, do you have a tissue?
BPTotty, thanks for reminding me to visit my parents yesterday 🙂 And I love what you wrote about every day miracles. We should look for Hashem in every day miracles, because you can find Him wherever you look.
kapusta, great story! That’s finding Hashem in every situation! You saved $100 here and you acknowledge it’s from Hashem. How many times in business do we see Yad Hashem? What about every time we shop, whether it be for food or clothes, or even luxuries? It’s so comforting to know that He’s the one controling the cash. A rich father gives a sense of security, even when he witholds allowance.
mepal, among my favorite pesukim in that perek are Tza’aku vaHashem shamea umikol tzarosam hitzilam and <Karov Hashem lenishberei lev ve’es dackei ruach yoshea. And especially, Zeh ani kara vaHashem shamea umikol tzarosav hoshio. In my tehillim it also says that this perek is good “leylech laderech”. I also noticed that the perakim are in alphabetical order. I wonder if that has any significance. One thing I’ve definitely learned from this, is the timelessness of the pesukim in all of tehillim. You can say any perek and feel like it’s exactly what you want to say.
da, sorry, no tissues, but here’s a smile instead 🙂
Wow harmony! So true! I remember learning that David Hamelech put different ‘important’ perakim in alef-beis order so this way they’ll be easier to remember.
So many times, when I say tehillim, I feel like the words were just written for my particular situation. Its amazing.
kapusta, cool! Mine’s sleek silver too! Yes, cool enough for me 😉
mepal, its not silver silver, more like grayish. I really wanted that color cuz I originally got it, and I wanted an exact replica of my other phone which was silver. I also heard that it was an updated version with better battery life etc. I dont think it is, but thats what people told me anyway. I still like it, its a good phone B”H.
Good! As long as its easy to text with it…:)
harmony-
B”H you’re OK.
I’ve had a couple of job-search-related hashgocha protis stories, but nothing nearly as amazing as yours.
icot: Please share your hashgocha protis stories.
ICOT, that’s not true! Hashem’s incomprehensible genius runs everything- sometimes it’s clearly unnatural, and sometimes it’s seemingly natural, but it’s always amazing! I like to look at nature to find the wonders of Hashem’s creations, it gives me comfort to know He’s looking out for me 🙂 Please share your stories of hashgocha protis with us!
Joseph-
harmony-
B”N I will, after Shabbos.
I’ll tell you in advance though – they’re not that interesting.
Welcome back, Joseph.
Whenever a poster disappears for a while the assumption is they just lost interest or changed IDs, but it’s still good to see confirmation that they’re OK.
I hope poster “The Queen of Persia”s son had hatzlocha finding a yeshiva suited to his requirements.
Thank you ICOT. Looking forward to your hashgocha protis stories. Gut Voch
First story:
Many years ago I was looking for my first job. The economy was not in great shape, and interviews were tough to come by. I had gotten married only recently and had a wife and newborn to support.
Most of the interview went well, but at one point a personnel dept. person asked a question that I gave a foolish answer to. As soon as I spoke I realized that it was the wrong thing to say but it was too late. My friend got a job offer and I did not.
I was extremely upset over what had happened, but there was nothing to be done.
Second story:
Two months later, my entire group transferred to a boss who is still one of the best I ever worked for. The first group? Their project was canceled.
Lessons learned:
3) I really need to practice my interview skills beforehand. 🙂
icot: Thank you. Now figure a way to tell us your third hashgocha protis story with a minor alteration to avoid the personal details. 🙂
ICOT, wow! What amazing stories! I love the lessons you learnt at the end…;)
One also has to always realize that even if you dont get the job, and there does not seem to be a plausible reason for it, and you dont ‘see’ (like ICOT did) the reason why you didn’t get the job, it is still Hashgocha! Hashem knows what’s best for us!
Joseph-
I would if I could.
mepal-
Thank you.
(know anyone looking to buy a slightly battered briefcase?)
ames-
I wish my teachers had given extra credit as willingly as you do 🙂
ICOT, if it comes along with a job, maybe. 😉
My family was driving home from a Shabbos in Tosh. Suddenly the 15 passenger van (with every seat occupied) started going back and forth (sideways) and then FLIPED three times. The van landed with the drivers side on the ground! B”H, WE WERE ALL WEARING SEATBELTS!!! Ever since my mother started driving, she ALWAYS enforced that EVERYONE wears a seatbelt. If not for that, I may not be sharing this story with you now. I am a witness that seatbelts SAVES LIVES! Many of my siblings and my mother had seatbelt marks across there stomach! WEAR A SEATBELT!!! THE HASSLE OF PUTTING ON A SEATBELT IS 100 TIMES BETTER THEN THE PAIN AND SUFFERING IF C”V . . .
Everyone started getting up and going out. The driver (my sister) went out her window. My brother went out the front windshield. My sister climbed up onto the side (which was now the top). My mother, my 10 siblings and myself all went out the back window.
The only one who was really got hurt was my father who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Somehow his head got a big cut and his hand got badly damaged. EMS and the fire department were on the scene in minutes. Using Jaws of Life the took my father out.
Now for the really amazing part: My sister (then 5) was having difficulty with Kriah. So over the summer, every day, my mother read with her Tehillim. She was getting better and better. During our trip (which was right after Sukkos) my sister was saying Tehillim non-stop. Her goal was to finish before we came home. Throughout the trip she would say to my mother, “Mommy, do you want to know what I’m up to?” “Were?” “I’m not telling you, its a secret!!!”. When the accident happened she was up to around ??”?!!!
Another miracle was that when we went thorough the van afterward we saw that the back seat was not locked in place properly. Jammed between the seat and the floor was a pocket siddur! Imagin if that seat would have moved during the accident! On the seat wer 4 people including two kids in car seats. How much damage that seat could have caused???
Tehillim and seatbelts THEY ARE LIFESAVERS. Use them, and use them often!!!!
WOW! Amazing story, da. Baruch Hashem you are all alive and well!
da-
B”H you’re all OK.
da, great story!
on the subject of seatbelts:
aside from the simple reasoning that its always better to wear a seatbelt, keep in mind you get schar for putting it on.
Baruch Hashem, after a number of operations and tons of therapy, my father is much better! BTW, on the way home from the hospital (it was a very long drive), my father kept on singing ?????????? ??????? ????????. ???????? ?????? ??????????? ???????. ?????? ???????? ??????? ?????? ????????? ?????????. ?????????? ????????? ????????? ?????. ??? ?????? ?????? ????????? ????? ????? ?????. ?????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????? ?????????
da-
My earlier post should say “B”H you’re all alive”.
May your father have a refuah shelaima bekarov.
going back to seatbelts, in a 15 passenger van, there are rows of seats with 3 people in a seat. I was sitting in the 3rd row, right outer seat. When the van landed, it was on its left side. That means that I was IN THE AIR. I still remember my seatbelt holding me up. There is no way that we could have got out of the van the way we did without our seatbelts.
Another thing that is very amazing is that when the van landed, the motor was still on. My father reached out and turned the motor off. My father was so weak that he couldnt even reach into his shirt pocket to take out his cell phone and call for help! Only with Hashem help was he able to reach out and turn off the motor!
I know I’m a couple of months late in reading these, but wow!
BS”D
Last night, my hosting company suspended my account and informed me one of my sites was “too hot to handle” and had to be moved to a separate server with more resources that the company did not have available. No big deal; I was planning to separate that one from the rest which are just development sites.
So, I called my friend who has a large PayPal balance and asked if he wanted to trade cash for part of it so I could use PP to pay for the new hosting. I had to call him because his E-mails were bouncing. Sure enough I found out he had also been thrown off his hosting because a hacker had abused his account and the poorly run local hosting firm would not assist him in getting rid of it but instead got rid of him. He is the director of a chessed and chinuch moisad for whom every penny counts in this lousy economy and he was looking for the lowest possible price for good service.
I told him I would let him know which option I was about to choose was best for him. I had planned to direct him to my original host as I still use them for my other sites and they are reliable and reasonable, but not great.
Then, I signed up for a special deal on a major host – which accepted me and then suspended me soon after, mysteriously returning my money. I was not thrilled with the speed of my site on the new host, and I hardly cared. I then checked out a smaller, specialized company I had dealt with before and had been pleased with – and found out they had an AMAZING deal which I took immediately as it was about an 80%! beginning of 2010 discount.
What’s more, once I had the deal, I was eligible for an EVEN BETTER deal, HALF the price I paid, which I could also pass on to a friend, and pass it on I did.
I later saw that the first company had sent me a request for ID after I had set up my new account. The request had landed in my junk box and I did not notice. Since I did not respond, they threw me off and refunded my money as my account had come from Ukraine where there is a lot of fraud. Had I noticed it and responded as I would have normally (I am always asked to verify new hosting and related accounts), I would have stayed with the first company and ended up paying 8 times as much as I do now for service that is nowhere near as good. My friend would not have gotten his offer which is almost 90% off regular price! What’s more, had I waited ten more minutes, I would not have gotten my deal either as it was about to expire.
While the soul of this thread is the Harmony story, it is the lighter moments of wow! that we should be sensitive to, and as her story tells, it is that sensitivity we gain from the big events. Here is a hashgocha lite story a little out of season, and a little long, but one of the favorite ones I tell, so I hope this doesn’t blow my cover. I like very large esrogim, and while in NY I would scour the avenue in Brooklyn asking the vendors for etrog hatzi kilo.In the course of time, I came across the maamar of Rav Ovadia Yosef, loosly translated as “most of EY’s etrogim are murkavim, and thus one should only buy from a known source and yere shamayim. This was a precious example of the broad shouldered fearlessness that only a posek can have, and I filed it away in the depths of my head. Also stored in one of the back files is the factoid that all citrus freely cross pollinate.
One year, I had gotten my prized lunker esrog, but my shul was selling that year as well, and after one maariv, the guy selling waved me over and held up an esrog, perfectly tapered, all bumps, and a lovely green fade into yellow– it was love at first sight. Now with two esrogim, I decided to use the little one for the bracha, and the large one for Hallel.
Another little habit of mine was to recycle the esrog into a cordial or into candy for Pesach to connect the chagim. This is before I knew THAT COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED ESROGIM ARE POISON, that they are sprayed mercilessly and that an organic esrog is indeed a very ugly thing. ( This is the H.P. for those of you still making jelly out the collected esrogim.) That year, I was intent on making esrog whisky, so at closing time erev yom tov I got 5o or so unwanted esrogim from a worn out seller for $10. To my mild surprise, cutting them up to process, I found about 2 percent had full fruit centers, identical to a sliced lemon. Then I cut open my large beauty and the maamar of Rav Yosef came back to me like a hit on the head. This was the largest lemon I had ever seen, as full and developed as a grapefruit. With tears, I mouthed the morning bracha ( without shem umalchus) “blessed be he that guides the steps of man” that I was motivated to use this unfit esrog for Hallel and not for the bracha
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