ויאמר אסתירה פני מהם…(האזינו לב:כ)

And He will say, “I shall hide My face from them…”

The Alexander Rebbe zt’’l once went to spend some days to rest in the countryside near his hometown, Alexander.  One day, he became suddenly ill to the point that his situation became so critical that he was in grave danger.  Since they were in a country with no doctors to assist, the Alexander Rav was extraordinarily anxious and feared his fate, crying bitterly to his son, the Yismach Yisroel zt’’l, who was with him.

Seeing his father so agitated and in pain, the Yismach Yisroel grasped his revered father’s hands and said: “Father, father, the situation isn’t as grave as you think.  I promise that nothing will happen to you!”

The Yismach Yisroel left his father’s room, went outside onto the mountains, and cried out to Hashem: “Ribbono Shel Olam, how can the Alexander Rebbe pass away alone in a distant countryside? Alone, without people? Chazal say that Hashem watches over a tzaddik’s honor?” With his sincere prayers to Hashem, he evoked mercy from Above, and his father, who was literally on his deathbed, slowly started to recover and feel better and better.

The Alexander Rebbe asked his son, “How could you promise me that I’ll be able to survive my dire condition?” The Yismach Yisroel replied, “My heart was filled with Bitachon in Hashem – that only He can help. So long that a person relies on others or his ideas to help himself,   אסתירה פני מהם – Hashem’s face is hidden.  But when you rely solely on Hashem, He is there for you.  And since I was so dependent on Hashem – I knew that He, and only He, would send you a refuah shleima – a complete recovery.”

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