When Rabbi Shaya Shagalow and Rabbi Shneur Majeski visited an unconscious girl in a New Jersey hospital, with her two heartbroken parents by her bedside, neither they nor the parents could have imagined that an incredible miracle was about to take place. “This is a clear Purim miracle that happened to us!” the father later said.
By Anash.org reporter
This past Purim, shluchim at Chabad of Rutgers, New Jersey, Rabbi Shaya Shagalow and Rabbi Shneur Majeski, visited a nearby hospital to bring the joy and mitzvos of the day to Jewish patients and their families.
One of the rooms on their list belonged to an Israeli family who had flown in from Israel with their 11-year-old daughter. The young girl lay unconscious in the hospital bed, while her parents sat beside her, hoping for a miracle. The atmosphere in the room was heavy with emotion.
“They were two regular people whose lives had just been turned upside down,” Rabbi Majeski shared with Anash.org. “I myself had a hard time controlling my tears as I read the Megillah for the unconscious girl and her heartbroken, melancholy parents.”
Rabbi Shagalow spoke with the parents about the power of simcha even in the face of hardship, explaining that bitachon can itself be a source of miracles. The parents listened intently but expressed their feeling that ‘halevai’ – if only it could be true for them as well.
While Rabbi Shagalow continued to visit other patients, Rabbi Majeski remained in the room, reading the megilla and helping the family fulfill the mitzvos of Purim. He also gave them a pushka and emphasized the special nature of Purim: “Whoever stretches out his hand, we give him.” Together, they held a small farbrengen where they shared brachos and davened for good news.
The father shared that his first stop upon arriving in the U.S. had been to visit the Rebbe’s Ohel to daven for his daughter. Rabbi Majeski gave them a picture of the Rebbe, which they placed under her pillow.
“As I turned to leave the room, I overheard the mother anxiously asking the nurse about her daughter’s legs moving,” Rabbi Majeski recounted. “The nurse reassured her that it was a good sign, and I left the room.”
Rabbi Shagalow shared what happened next. “I went back to the hospital the following week to check on them and as I walked in he hugged me and told me that right after Rabbi Majeski had left the room, his daughter had opened her eyes! The girl had told her parents that she had heard the entire Megillah reading.”
“They read the megillah for her, we put the Rebbe’s picture under her pillow—and two minutes later, she woke up!” the father exclaimed. “This is a clear Purim miracle that happened to us!”
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– a proud Rutgers student