React to your troubles with Emunah

In the year 2001, a family from Borough Park with the last name Gelman was doing construction on their home. It was a difficult time period for them because, they couldn’t afford to rent elsewhere. So they had to manage living at home with all the construction going on. One day, the contractor, as well as the furniture salesman, as well as a couple of other workmen, wanted to be paid. Mr. Gelman went to the bank and took out $20,000 in cash. He put it in envelopes and zipped it up in his attaché case. While he was already out, he did a few other errands and came home holding a lot of bags in his hand. When he went to open his attaché case to take out the money, he realized it wasn’t with him. He told his family to search for it and, after they couldn’t find it, they came to the conclusion that he must have left it in a store. They went back and retraced their steps but came up empty handed. This was a huge blow to Mr. Gelman, especially since he was not a man of means. His children were all around him, waiting to see what he would do next. He smiled and said, “The Gemara tells us a person does not stub his finger unless Hashem decreed it. Everything happens because of Hashem for our best, and this is no different. Hashem wants us to react with emunah. He loves us so much. He’s giving us the opportunity to overcome this test and thank Him for this as well.” He then made a circle with his children and they began to dance until they were all actually happy. After that, the phone rang. It was a man who said his name was John. He asked if this was the Gelman residence. After Mr. Gelman identified himself, John said he found his attaché case in a store, and he saw his phone number on it, and he called him. Mr. Gelman described it, and then John said, “You know there is a lot of money here. You must be very worried. Have no fear. I’m coming to you to return it.” John came to the house and when Mr. Gelman saw that all the money was there, he couldn’t believe it. “Please let me give you a reward for this noble act,” said Mr. Gelman. John replied, “My mother told me getting a blessing from a Jew is worth more than money. Please, give me a blessing.” He, as well as each one of his children proceeded in taking turns giving John heartfelt blessings. That night, John had a severe stomach pain. He called his doctor who told him to come to his house, but he was in too much pain to move. The doctor told him what to do for the time being and said he would come to him the next day. John had to call in sick that next morning. How fortunate he was…because he worked on the 88th floor of the First Tower of the World Trade Center, and that was the morning of September 11th. He called back Mr. Gelman and attributed his salvation to the blessings that he got from his family. The lesson for us is the reaction of Mr. Gelman. Here he was with a debt of $20,000 that had to be paid, and, after taking out the money from his bank, he lost it all. He took the opportunity to respond with emunah. He taught his children a life lesson on how to respond under adversity. And he even saw a yeshua getting all the money back. Thanking Hashem is always good but when we do it when facing adversity, it’s so much greater.

From Rabbi Ashear from ITorah .com