Every Moment a Treasure

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Every moment of life that Hashem gives a person in this world is the greatest chesed . Rabbenu Yonah writes, with a moment of life, a person can make teshuva and go from being in the deepest darkness to the greatest light. The Gemara tells us how, on different occasions, people utilized the final moments of their lives to acquire eternity. Rav Aaron Dov Gellis related that he once had a relative who had a severe illness and the doctors were periodically treating him with blood transfusions in order to lengthen his life. It got to a point, however, where those procedures were only capable of granting him a few more days, possibly just a few more hours of life, and each time he underwent a transfusion he endured pain all over his body. Deeply troubled by the pain his relative was going through, Rabbi Gellis went to ask the Chazon Ish if it was worthwhile to continue those transfusions for just a small amount of life. The Chazon Ish immediately replied, “Every moment that a Jew lives is extremely valuable to the Ribbono Shel Olam . He should most definitely continue getting the transfusions.” Many years ago a man named Rav Yitzchak was told by his doctor in Mount Sinai Hospital that the results of his tests were terrible, as the disease spread all over his body. Tears began streaming down Rav Yitzchak's face as he asked the doctor if there was anything he could do to cure it. The doctor replied there was a surgery that could be done that would extend his life for about six months, but the entire six months would be filled with pain across his entire body. The doctor then suggested it would be better for him to pass on sooner with as little pain as possible. Rav Yitzchak said he wanted to speak to the Gadol HaDor Rav Moshe Feinstein about it. His son took him to the Gadol's house so he could personally ask the question. After hearing the entire situation, Rav Moshe empathized with him and then told him to go back and do the surgery. And he explained as follows, “Most people in the world at large live for the pleasures that life has to offer. If the only choice they had would be to be bedridden and inflicted with agony for six months, they would surely rather die. But a Jew knows what life is all about. It's about grabbing mitzvot at every opportunity possible.” Rav Moshe's voice then grew stronger and he exclaimed, “Rav Yitzchak, you're a Jew. You will still be able to put on tefillin . You'll still be able to daven. You'll still be able to do teshuva . You'll still be able to learn more Chumash and Mishnayot . Is that not all worth the pain? Imagine how many mitzvot you could do in half a year. These six months can be converted into eternity in Olam HaBa . Is that not worthwhile?” Rav Yitzchak went back to the doctor, and told him what the Gadol had said. The doctor began tearing up himself. He said he was a Jew who moved from Israel many years before to study medicine and eventually became the chief surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital. He never knew what it meant to be a Jew, to truly value life and recognize that every minute is given for a purpose. The surgeon then asked if he could meet Rabbi Feinstein and he did. The surgery was done and it was a success. Rav Yitzchak ended up living for three more years and amassed a fortune of mitzvot during that time. Although he was in a lot of pain, he cleaved to HaKadosh Baruch Hu the entire time. At one point during a visit to the hospital, he saw the chief surgeon who was then wearing a big kipa on his head. “Rav Yitzchak,” he exclaimed, “that day that I met you and the Rabbi changed my life. You went through a surgery and so did I. You had surgery on your liver and I went through a heart transplant. I got rid of my previous lifestyle and rededicated my heart to my Creator. Starting that day, I began to live with a new heart.” Indeed, every moment of life is a treasure. We have to value it and thank Hashem for every breath that we take.