Hidden Miracles

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Although Hashem does not reveal Himself openly to people, He has infinite ways of communicating with them. We all know He listens to our tefilot , and we all know He helps us all the time. But when we see it so clearly, it gives us extra chizuk . A woman told me, when she was about four months pregnant, she went for a standard sonogram. The radiologist detected an abnormality at the base of the baby's spine. It was shown to the senior radiologist who concluded that it was a probable case of sacral agenesis, a rare condition which affects the part of the spine just around the tailbone. The doctors recommended an MRI to establish the facts fully, and so they went for a detailed scan, and it showed indeed that it was a case of sacral agenesis. The repercussions of this are very difficult to live with. They explained that the baby, who was a girl, would be very unlikely to have any movement or feeling in the lower parts of her body, in effect making her paralyzed from the waist down. That would also affect having any bladder or bowel control. The doctors suggested terminating the pregnancy, saying it was going to have negative effects on the rest of their family. Of course, this was not an option. The specialists were not encouraging either, and the family was devastated. They started the long, slow process of waiting for the birth. Under the guidance of their rabbi, they kept the whole situation quiet to keep the possibility open for a hidden miracle to take place. They utilized the time to pray, to say Tehillim , to get berachot from tzaddikim , and to visit kevarim of tzaddikim from past generations. They received a beracha from Rav Chaim, zatzal , and believed in their heart of hearts that Hashem could do anything. The day the woman went to the hospital to give birth, she had a lot of anxiety about the unknown. They kept giving each other chizuk , saying the doctors don't make the final determination, only Hashem does. During the labor, the doctors said they were most probably going to have to operate soon after birth to relieve any buildup of feces due to the baby not being able to clear her waste naturally. That date was May 4th, 2020. While she was in hospital, she got a call from her father. He had just read a daily message on an email which many people in their family receive. He told her he wanted her to read it immediately. She really didn't feel like reading an email at that point, but she did it because her father asked her to. What she read there completely blew her away. That email was discussing hidden miracles, and it quoted an Alsheich saying, “We must believe that Hashem can create something from nothing in an instant. If a person was told, lo aleinu , that he might be missing part of an internal organ, but it hasn't been confirmed, he should pray to Hashem that He create the missing part right now because it's still hidden. The same way that Hashem can create something new, He could also remove something that was there already.” The email continued with more similar statements. Here, her rabbi told her to keep this quiet so that Hashem can perform a hidden miracle for them, and then on the day of the birth, she gets a message talking about Hashem doing hidden miracles with the body. The rest of the story is even more amazing. The baby was born kicking and screaming with plenty of movement in her legs. She was also accompanied by a large sample that showed she was very capable of moving her bowels. They were shown immediately upon birth who runs the world. The doctors did not want to withdraw their diagnosis and warned of possible future problems. Baruch Hashem, today, she is almost four years old with no issues at all. They are so grateful to Hashem for the hidden miracle He performed and for showing them how clearly He was involved every step of the way.