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Maase Shehaya - Hashgacha Pratis Stories - From Hashgacha Pratis Hotline
Daddy, Please Give Me!
Twenty years ago, I was learning in the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. My father’s business had hit a rough spot. It was so bad that he was forced to freeze his tuition to the yeshiva. “Son,” he called me one day, “You can continue learning in the yeshiva, but I can no longer send you the hundred dollars for the dormitory. You’ll have to figure that out yourself.”
Up until then, I had been a worry-free yeshiva boy. I had no idea where I could get money, and I wasn’t prepared to leave the yeshiva to find out. How did leaving the yeshiva to work to pay for yeshiva tuition make sense? I decided I would continue learning Torah and allow the One who gave the Torah to pay my stay.
The time passed quickly, and suddenly it was three days before the end of the month. I had not a penny to my name. Not in dollars, nor in shekels. And I needed one hundred dollars for the dormitory administrator, but where would it come from? I put my head down on my shtender and told Hashem, “Please! Only You can help me. Give me the money so I can go on learning in the yeshiva.” I prayed for a few more minutes. There was no other way. I needed Hashem to save me.
When I lifted my head, I glanced down, and -- I kid you not – there was a hundred-dollar bill sitting under my shoe. I lifted it up and looked around. The only person who could have dropped it was a tzedakah collector carrying a wad of bills, but he claimed he had nothing to do with that note.
I went over to the Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l, and asked him if I had to return the bill. He said the yeshiva was public property, and if I wanted to go beyond the letter of the law, I could hang a sign announcing my find and see if anyone would call. I hung the sign up, but nobody called. I understood that the money was meant for me, and it covered my tuition for the month. The next month, the money was sent to me via a friend. He told me he had received a donation and had some extra money. Did I have anything to do with $86? “Certainly,” I told him, and that’s how I had most of the money. The rest I got pretty easily.
Every single month I received money for tuition directly from Hashem. This went on until my father’s financial situation got back on track and he was able to cover my living expenses again. Twenty years have passed since, and every time I experience financial difficulty, I recall those special days when I saw Hashem’s helping hand clearly. The recollection strengthens me and reminds me that Hashem will send me just what I need, exactly when I need it. There’s no need to worry.
(Bitachon Yomi, Hashgacha Pratis Hotline, Monday, Parshiyos Bamidbar, #90)
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