Mind-Boggling Hashgacha

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

The hashgacha of Hashem is mind-boggling. There are so many things going on behind the scenes that we are completely oblivious to. We don't realize how far-reaching every deed we do goes. We don't realize the ramifications of every action and thought that we have. All we need to know is that we must try our hardest to follow the will of Hashem in every situation He puts us in, and everything will turn out perfectly. I heard a story on Stories to Inspire that was told over by Mr. Don Ghermezian. He was traveling somewhere, and his good friend Jeff was supposed to meet him. In the end, Jeff did not end up making his flight, because his Crohn's Disease was acting up and he had to go to the hospital. The doctor said his intestines had rotted and he needed to have two feet of them cut out and would then have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. The news was extremely difficult to deal with. It meant Jeff would have to have a bag on him to collect his waste, because he would no longer be able to go to the bathroom normally. When Don heard what was happening, he was heartbroken. He immediately called one of his rabbis, Rabbi Eliyahu Netaneli, to seek counsel. After hearing what happened, the rabbi asked Don to call him back in twenty minutes. When Don called back, the Rabbi said, “Your friend Jeff, he was on a flight a few weeks ago, and that's when his Crohn's started flaring up. On that flight, someone did something to Jeff that got him so upset he wanted to kill the man, but he ended up holding himself back. Please call Jeff and verify that what I said happened.” Don called Jeff and told him what he heard. Jeff was in awe of how Don knew that, as he hadn't told anyone of the episode. Jeff then said he was on an airplane with his wife, and he was in row 9 seat A, and his wife had 9C. There was a man in between them in 9B. He politely asked the man to take the aisle seat so he and his wife could sit together, but the man refused. Then he offered him the window seat, and he refused that too. Jeff got very upset, but his wife calmed him down and he left it. When they finally landed, this man was taking his carry-on out of the overhead compartment, and it landed right on Jeff's wife's head and injured her. Now Jeff was livid. He pushed the man, and again his wife calmed him down and he held himself back. Don heard the story and called back Rabbi Netaneli, saying he was right about what happened. What Rabbi Netaneli said next completely blew Don away. The Rabbi said, “That man on the plane is a gilgul of a man named Reuven who lived 80 years ago, and your friend Jeff is a gilgul of a man named Levi who lived at the same time. They both lived in the same city in Israel. Levi was a shoemaker and Reuven was a tanner. Levi became much more successful than Reuven. They were friends for their entire lives, but towards the end of their lives, in a moment of anger, Reuven cursed Levi. This curse manifested itself in Levi, or Jeff now, getting Crohn's disease. When Jeff held himself back from hurting the man on the plane, the one who cursed him in the previous life, his neshama forgave Jeff for half the curse. He was supposed to have Crohn's for his entire life, but now the Crohn's acted up and they were going to remove the intestine part that had the Crohn's, and it was going to end. But he was going to have to have this colostomy bag.” Rabbi Netaneli then said, “Tell Jeff, we're going to take care of the other half of the curse in a different way. He was going to ask three people in Israel to go to the kever of Reuven and ask him to forgive the rest of the curse, and then Jeff would be totally healed.” Don said to the Rabbi, “There is no cure for Crohn's.” The Rabbi wasn't fazed. He said, Tell Jeff he isn’t going to need the surgery.” Don then said Jeff was scheduled to go into surgery the next morning at 6 a.m. with the head of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation in Canada, Dr. Richard Fedorek, doing the procedure. They weren't about to cancel the surgery at this point. Nonetheless, he called Jeff to tell him of the revelation that he had just learned of. Jeff was hopeful, but he wasn't going to cancel the surgery. The next morning, Dr. Fedorek came in with three others to do the surgery. But before they started, they did an ultrasound and it showed the Crohn's had improved significantly. The doctor said he wanted to wait 24 hours before operating. Jeff was already under anesthesia and when he woke up, he was so happy to hear the news. The next day, they did another ultrasound and this time, the doctor could not believe what he saw. He told Jeff, “The Crohn's is gone.” He had never seen anything like this in his entire career and his only explanation was that it was a medical miracle. Jeff was immediately discharged and celebrated with his friends and family. We can't possibly fully understand anything that goes on in this world because we know so little. Hashem is orchestrating meetings even between people who lived together in previous lifetimes to make their tikkunim . The hashgacha of Hashem is beyond our comprehension. But if we do the best we can, in every situation Hashem puts us in, we will surely accomplish what we need to accomplish.