sign min hashamayim

Okay. You want an account of a sign min haShamayim? How’s this:

I have lived in my community for over 30 years and for most of that time I have davened in the same shul. Over the past few years I have become increasingly dissatisfied with the kehilla, the atmosphere, whatever, to the point that it became hard to concentrate on davening because I was ticked off all the time.

I decided to leave the shul and go elsewhere so one Shabbos I picked up my talis and went to another nearby shul. I knew some of the folks there but most of the mispallelim and the Rav were strangers to me. Anyway, that’s where I went. I sat in the back, minded my own business, and davened. everything was pretty normal, no pressure, no irritation. Then the Rav gave his drasha. I don’t recall the parsha but, in the course of his drasha, he cited the Mishnah in Avos that says that one should be from the talmidim of Avraham Avinu and not like the talmidim of Bilam harasha. What was the difference? When Avraham went to daven for Sdom he was unsuccessful, yet he returned to the same place again and again to daven. Bilam, on the other hand, when he was unsuccessful in cursing Klal Yisroel from one place, he tried another and another.

Now this Rav didn’t know me from Adam and he certainly was unaware of my intentions, yet his drash was so pointed and specific that I felt that it could not be other than a direct message to me min haShamayim.

Well, of course I returned to my old shul and there I have been to this day. I’m still dissatisfied and still ticked off but, apparently, this is the place I belong for some reason only the RBSHO knows. We’ll see what happens.

What the rav was talking about was whether their tefillos were answered, not whether they liked the location!

Redleg, please talk to your rebbi/rav/rebbe about whether you should switch shuls,and don’t try to interpret “signs from Hashem” yourself.

(Also, the Mishna in Avos itself talks about what being a talmid of Avraham Avinu or Bil’am haRasha means, and that’s NOT one of the things it lists.)

So, I’ll second “coffee addict” ‘s opinion.