From Anash.org Inbox: A Crown Heights resident describes a small miracle that happened to him recently, and the connection he saw between it and the way he spent his morning.
By Yosef M.
After hearing for so many years about what learning Torah means for the soul, and having experienced it myself, I always appreciate a ‘good moment’ with a sefer.
Even my non-Jewish friends speak of how toxic all the news is. All of the catastrophes we all hear about. Opening up a sefer is not news, no scandals or triggering gossip. It is ideas and thoughts completely above all of the ‘noise and static’ of the world. It lifts you up ‘beyond reach’ of the toxicity.
Lately, I really appreciate Gemara with Rashi. It takes time and effort, sometimes more than others. Life is by no means perfect or easy, and yet I feel privileged to be carrying around this sense of purpose and meaning within myself in this world, in my own way.
My family is away for a little bit this summer. I knew on my daily schedule I wanted to do some stuff in the office and exercise. It suddenly hit me that I could fit in at least an hour of uninterrupted learning. And I also knew that nothing bad would come out of spending some time learning.
On that day, I ended up learning Gemara and Rashi for about two hours. (Lately, I try to understand each Rashi, word by word.) After learning, I went into the office for a bit.
Then I got inspired to go to the gym, which is down the block from the office in Crown Heights. I made a quick stop in my car to get my headphones and water bottle.
When I came back to my car after a 20-minute run on the treadmill, I found my car door completely wide open! I had run so hastily from my car to the gym without thinking. (Like many men I imagine, my heart and mind are a little unsettled when the family is away.) Yet, everything was untouched exactly as I had left it!
I remembered a story from the Gemara about how Torah learning protects people’s property. I don’t plan on making this a habit, but I just couldn’t help but think about how it transpired directly after dedicating extra time to learning Hashem’s Torah.
It was a worthwhile endeavor – for my mind and for my wallet.
Amazing hashgocha, and R’ Yosef sounds like an amazing person. It’s not just that he learned; he made time to learn. IMHO, we should not just read this and think, gee that was nice. We should follow his example, especially those of us like R’ Yosef who are baalebatim, of having such chashivus for learning. That is something from which we can all learn. Thanks for posting this beautiful story of chizuk!
Beautiful story! Want to set up a chavrusa with another “baal habus” – email me – [email protected]