Call upon Me-The Power of Prayer The prophet Yirmiyahu says, "Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3). When I first heard the following story from my student Shani Borg Lavi, I was speechless. It brought to my mind the power of tefillah that I witnessed throughout my grandmother's life. Certainly, whenever you daven at the Kotel, you leave with this esoteric feeling that your prayer has been answered. Even though we don't know the day or the hour, we know that Hashem hears and answers all prayers. However, in this instance it was what we would call a direct hook-up with instant results. The Power of Tefillah A young man was driving from Brooklyn to Monsey, New York at two-thirty in the morning when he saw a pickup truck in his rear view mirror, racing towards him. He immediately sped up to avoid being hit, but the truck was approaching too fast. Before he could take a deep breath and brace himself, the truck hit the side of the car, causing it to swerve across two lanes of traffic and smash into the side rail barrier. The car bounced over the barrier, then slid across three lanes to the other side of the highway. After the car came to a stop, the young man saw that the engine was smoking. Frightened and not yet fully cognizant of what had taken place, he kicked opened the door, jumped out of the car, and ran into the middle of the highway. In shock and oblivious to his surroundings, he saw headlights shining directly in his face. There was a loud bang, and he was flung ten feet into the air. As he flew through the air he saw the Verrazano Bridge (between Staten Island and Brooklyn) before passing out. He regained consciousness a few moments later on top of his car, where he had landed. He rolled off his car and hit his head on the ground. He only realized what had happened when he heard everyone screaming, "Call 911! Is he okay?" The young man slowly got up and limped to the side of the highway. Everyone was quiet and stared at him as if he were a ghost. Not even in your worst nightmare would you have imagined this scenario. What happened next is a miracle! He was rushed to the emergency room, where they took every test and x-ray that exists. Unbelievably, they could find nothing wrong with him, Baruch Hashem, aside from the muscle spasms that he would have for a while after his accident. The doctors gave him medication for the pain. Several days later he was on the telephone with his sister, who was learning in seminary in Jerusalem. He related the entire story to her. After a moment of dead silence, she told him that at the exact time of the accident, she had been davening at the Kotel. She explained to her brother that she was rarely at the Western Wall at ten-thirty in the morning, but her school had been on a tiyul (tour) in the Old City that day. As you may have surmised, she had davened for her brother at the Kotel that morning. Her brother concluded their conversation with these words: "Thanks for your prayers, Sis. All I can say is that God has a purpose for my still being around. So whatever the reason, I had better make the most of each day." What a profound lesson in hashgacha peratis. And what a wonderful motto for each of us, "To make the most of each day," with Hashem's help! Shlomo HaMalech says in Koheles 3:1 "To everything there is a time and a season to all things under heaven." He also states in mishlei 4:7: "Teach me to number my days that I may apply my heart to know wisdom. Wisdom is the principle thing get wisdom but in all your getting get an understanding." We don't know why this incident happened to this young man, but what we do know is that through the power of his sister's prayers at the Kotel his life was spared. As David HaMelech said in Psalms 119:5 "These are my prayers: may my ways be firmly guided to keep Your Statues."
About the Author: Ahuvah Gray is a world renown author of five books. "Call Upon Me," is her sixth book. This book describes in Ahuvah's own words how the power of the Hebrew prayers have transformed her life. Born in Chicago, the granddaughter of sharecroppers from Mound Bayou, Mississippi, raised as a Christian, Delores Gray followed a highly unlikely path from airline stewardess to minister, then tour guide, and finally to Orthodox Jew now living in Jerusalem. How does one make sense of this journey? What were the spiritual pushes and pulls along the way that could explain this radical metamorphosis? When African-American Delores Gray says she feels she was present at Mount Sinai and was one of the original Jews to receive the 613 mitzvos (commandments), her Christian friends are bewildered. Originally a born-again Christian who was first licensed as a minister at the Strait-Way house of Worship in Los Angeles and ordained as a minister at the international assemblies of God in San Diego, Delores now prays in Hebrew three times a day, keeps kosher and lives in Bayit Vegan, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. Ostracized by many of her born-again Christian friends, denounced by others for "trafficking with the devil," Delores has not wavered from her course. Once a nonbeliever, as her mother described Delores as a young girl, today her life is informed and affected on the most intimate level by her belief in the Creator. She prays daily for vision and clarity, as a Jew to perform God's will. The first time Delores visited Jerusalem, she knew instantaneously that it would become her home, and that she would leave everyone and everything behind if necessary to fulfill that vision. How could a person so sheltered by family and friends take such a perilous step that would cut her off forever from her roots? How could she abandon her religious heritage and her home-land? Unlike Ruth of the Bible, Delores had no Naomi to cling to, no Naomi to lead the way as she changed her home, her people, and her God. What she did have was her God and the people He provided for her - strangers who became her guides, her friends and ultimately her new family. "Journey to the land of My Soul," is the story of Delores's amazing journey to Zion, a journey full of thorns and nettles; a story that ultimately transformed Delores to Ahuvah, a daughter of Israel. Ruth Broyde-Sharone Journalist, Documentary Filmmaker, Interior Decorator