This past Shabbos, we read in Parashas Beshallach about the amazing miracle of the splitting of the Yam Suf, the Red Sea. This has to be one of the most profound and extraordinary miracles of all time, and it is a yardstick for how we judge other miraculous events. That said, let me tell you what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks.
As you’ve noticed, I haven’t written my column. But I was not on vacation, as many of you were during winter break. I was doing “Bubbie duty,” which included some 24-hour hospital shifts.
First, on the Wednesday night before winter break, we received a middle-of-the-night phone call from our son that our daughter-in-law was going into labor and they had to go to the hospital. Could we watch the other kids? Of course I would watch the kids. So I woke up my husband and away we went into the frigid night to Kew Gardens. The kids were sleeping and my husband conked right out, leaving me with a “second wind” and wide awake.
I ended up resting on the living room sofa when I heard Moishie, the almost-three-year-old, in the kitchen looking for his parents. I looked at him and he saw me. He didn’t cry, just asked very matter-of-factly, “Where is my Mommy and Totty?” I told him to come into the living room and I would tell him. I lifted him onto my lap and told him that they went to the hospital to have the new baby. “Why?” he asked. “Because the baby is ready to be born,” I answered. “Why?” he asked again. “Because the baby wants to meet you!”
Again, “Why?” so I just let him play for a while and then he joined me on the sofa until Rivkie woke up, and then it was breakfast and dressing them and getting them to the babysitter. By the time I picked them up in the afternoon, we still didn’t have any news, but when my son finally called to tell us “Mazal Tov, it’s a girl,” I could hear in his voice that something wasn’t quite right. The baby would need surgery the next day.
This was all taking place just days before another granddaughter was scheduled for heart surgery. When it rains, it pours.
That evening, I was checking my e‑mails and received one from one of my clients that his wife gave birth to a baby boy. He invited me to the shalom zachor and told me when the b’ris would take place. I just stared at the e‑mail thinking, “so normal, so ordinary, and so regular.” And then it hit me how we take the normal and ordinary for granted when really a normal, healthy, uneventful delivery is a neis.
And that takes me back to Parashas Beshallach. The extraordinary miracles are amazing and easy to recognize, but the everyday events that seem so normal and ordinary are just taken for granted. But these are also nisim, possibly even greater than the extraordinary ones.
Aside from checking their fingers and toes, we must recognize that for nine months a baby is developing, everything in perfect order, every body part working correctly. This is nothing if not extraordinary and miraculous!
Now that everyone is home, b’H, and doing well, I thank Hashem for our miracles and for all the “everyday” miracles that will not be taken for granted anymore.
As a family we all pulled together, taking shifts, cooking for Shabbos, and giving each other chizuk. I want to wish a mazal tov and thank you to our mechutanim, Rabbi and Mrs. Guri Shmidman, for all their help watching the kids so I could stay in the hospital. We should share many more simchas in the future!
Events And Announcements
Siyum at Yeshiva Ketana. We just returned from attending our grandson Eli’s kitah gimel siyum on Sefer Bereishis, today, February 5, at Yeshiva Ketana of Queens. As always, we shepped nachas from Eli as well as from the entire class. The boys did a great job saying and explaining the final pesukim of Vayechi, giving divrei Torah, and presenting their “ten makkos” projects. Yasheir kochachem!
New minyan. There is a new Shacharis minyan Monday–Friday at 7:50 a.m. at Cong. Tikvas Israel Sholom, 141-25 70th Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills, Nusach Ashkenaz.
CPR course. There will be an adult CPR/AED course to be given at Congregation Ohr Moshe, 170-16 73rd Avenue in Hillcrest, on Sunday, February 12, 4:00–8:00 p.m. Pizza from Benny’s and light refreshments will be served. Licensed instructor. Total cost is $50 and includes certification card. For information or to register, please call Ross at 917-682-3413 or e‑mail GoodCPR@aol.com.
New sefer by Rabbi Ilan Meirov. Chacham Yosef Haim, z’l, better known by his classic work Ben Ish Hai, is recognized as one of the greatest halachic authorities of the past century. On the 100th year of his petirah, Rabbi Ilan Meirov, director of Chazaq outreach in Queens, published a book entitled Pri Ilan, providing sources, explanations, and insights on the Ben Ish Hai, in a thorough yet precise fashion. Recently, Rabbi Meirov had the merit to publish the second volume of Pri Ilan, and, like the first, this book was received with much praise by the leading Torah sages of our generation. Divrei berachah on the sefer is given by leading Torah authorities, including Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Shalom Cohen, Rav Shlomo Amar, Rav Yosef Efrati, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, Rav Noach Isaac Oelbaum, and others.
Avos u’banim. Coming up in a few more weeks is the gala siyum for the Ohr Hachaim avos u’banim Motzaei Shabbos learning program that draws fathers and sons from all over the neighborhood. Run by Reuven Kesherim and sponsored each week by another donor, the boys spend time learning, eating, and in the gym. There are raffles and prizes, too. For more information, call Reuven Kesherim at 732-730-1000, ext. 6055 (work) or cell 718-404-5355. v
Chanita Teitz is a real-estate broker at Astor Brokerage, with offices in Kew Gardens Hills and Fresh Meadows. For all your real-estate needs in Queens, call her at 718-263-4500 or e-mail chanita@astorbrokerage.com.