Salvation from the Past

Participation in a Daf Yomi shiur in Talmud was an indispensable part

of the daily schedule of a respected London philanthropist. When

extraordinary circumstances compelled him one day to miss this beloved

session, he decided to take along with him in his auto a recording of

the page of Talmud learned that day so that he could listen to it while

driving.

On the highway outside of London he found himself behind a huge truck

moving at a very slow pace. As he began to make a move to bypass the

truck he heard a police siren. Assuming that a police car was

interested in passing the slow truck before him he quickly returned to

his lane and waited to see the police car pass by. But no police car

appeared nor did he see in his side mirror any of the blinking lights

of a police vehicle. Seconds later he saw a big semi-trailer coming

from the other direction and realized that it was the siren that had

saved his life.

Failing to sight any police car he realized that his near-death

experience had some mystical element. But since the momentary lapse in

listening to the tape caused him to lose track of the subject studied,

he decided to rewind the tape a few minutes back. Then he heard the

siren again. This time, however, he realized that the siren was part of

the tape and that when the recording was made 25 years earlier in a

small Beit Midrash in Jerusalem, a police siren could be heard outside.

Thus was a siren orchestrated by Heaven 25 years ago to save the life of a Jew

devoted to Torah study.