Wings Of Prayer

By: Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox

Another early morning flight, another foreign airport. Actually, I had passed through this airport once before. I was catching a flight on an airline I had never flown before to a city I had never visited before, where I was to catch a connecting flight to my final destination. I had arrived early and made it through security when there was an announcement ordering everyone to get off the plane.

They told us the plane had a mechanical issue and the crowd of irate passengers attacked the hapless gate agent, demanding to be rebooked immediately. Like them, I also needed rebooking, but was thousands of miles away from my connecting flight and I knew I would never make the connection because of the delay.

As people yelled and pounded on the agent’s desk, their hysteria approached rage when a tall, dignified pilot exited the plane and explained to us in heavily accented English that he was sorry about the inconvenience, but the aircraft was unsafe and needed repairs. He assured the passengers that the airline would do its best to accommodate everyone. The momentary hush was replaced once again by an angry roar as the irate passengers demanded to be rebooked. Since I knew that no words or promises could make a bit of difference, I distanced myself from the angry crowd.

I remembered then the words of my great Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Simcha Wasserman, who told us that the Torah reminds us that “we travel and arrive by the word of Hashem.” So, I sat down at a distance from the angry crowd and said my daily Tehillim. As I finished, I felt a sensation in my pocket. I was getting a text message. I reached for the vibrating phone and to my mystified delight, there was a text message from the foreign airline (which I had never flown before) stating that I was now rerouted and they directed me to the new gate with still another airline, and included a boarding pass for that flight that connected at another location with a third airline, one that would hopefully get me to my final destination more quickly than my original itinerary. Indeed, we travel and arrive by the word of Hashem!

This morning, I was again back in that same airport, waiting to pass through to my next connection. I had arrived early, trekked through the massive sprawl, and studied the signboard. As often happens in international airports, no gates are posted until boarding time approaches.

My flight was listed, but the only instructions they gave us (rather than giving us the gate number) was to tell us to “relax.” As I looked around, I saw that no one was relaxing. Boarding time came—and went. Nobody moved. The clock ticked. The flight was scheduled to depart in less than an hour yet there was no gate. For all I knew, there was no plane. Maybe, once again, there would be no flight.

Then I remembered the words of my rosh yeshiva that “we travel and arrive by the word of Hashem.” I quickly retrieved my small Tehillim and chose three psalms. What better way to use idle time! I finished one of the psalms and casually looked up at the massive electronic signboard. This time, it listed my flight and the digital message no longer told us to “relax.” Instead, it said: Gate A-5.

Of course it did. We travel by the word of Hashem! 

Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox is a forensic and clinical psychologist, and director of Chai Lifeline Crisis Services. To contact Chai Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis helpline, call 855-3-CRISIS or email [email protected]. Learn more at ChaiLifeline.org/crisis.