Rabbi Pinchas Taylor of Chabad of Plantation, Florida
Last week, our family’s minivan was stolen from our driveway in the middle of the night. We were shocked, of course, and felt quite violated. We filed a police report and opened an insurance claim, made a list of the contents of the car, and hoped the money from the claim would cover a new vehicle.
Incredibly, the very next morning, the police contacted us to let us know the van was found, abandoned on a road about an hour away, with only some minor cosmetic damage.
We were relieved, excited, and truly grateful to Hashem. We immediately went to pick up the van from the tow lot, no longer worried about our insurance claim, finding a new vehicle in this crazy market, etc.
As grateful as we were, when we picked up the van from the tow lot, we found that everything had been taken out of it. We had had no items of value in the car, but literally everything had been removed: backpacks, car seats, tissue boxes, strollers, children’s Jewish story CDs, and zoo vouchers, the list went on and on.
Two of the items on the list were two of our “Chitas” prayer books. These books contain the Five Books of Moses, Psalms, Tanya, and daily prayers. They are used for daily study, and we own about twenty or so. The two that had most recently migrated to the car happened to both have sentimental value – one we had bought and personalized for our two year old daughter when she was born, and the other was gifted to me when I was a rabbinical student.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged people many times to put Psalms, prayer books, and charity boxes in their car as an added layer of protection on their journeys. When we are involved in Torah study and good deeds we are afforded an added layer of protection.
Several days after we got the car back, we were shocked to discover both Chitases safely tucked into a seat pocket in the back of the car. All the other seat pockets had been emptied, literally every item in the car had been removed, but the two Chitases survived unharmed.
I’m not sure what the ultimate cosmic purpose was in this incident, but we will go forward using it as an opportunity to increase in our own study, and to encouraging others to strengthen their study and good deeds. More light should always come from darkness.
Baruch Hashem, we are so grateful the van was returned. May each of you likewise be blessed with unexpected surprise blessings.
yes b h many thousands of true happenings ; wherein lives are saved via advise of the rebbe . like too many to ever figure out = rebbe neesim , the advice for autos , home , vehicles , kitchen . one should have a sefer chitas in the auto so one can learn it . also a pushka of colel chabad meyer baal ha ness. and added was one prot due to a story , wherein i heard the people were in the office of the rebbe . and the rebbe told these people that their car was held… Read more »