Hashem is Watching Over My Son
A Story about Yitzchak Meir, told over on the occasion of his 13th Yahrzeit:
My son was born with scarring on the brain on September 28, 1999, in the now defunct Misgav Ledach hospital in Jerusalem. By October 5, the doctors wanted to get a better look at what was going on in his brain, so they brought him to Shaarei Zedek hospital for a CT scan.
I did not like the care my son was getting at Misgav Ledach hospital, as it was really just a birthing hospital with only the basic medical equipment available. Therefore, when they transfported my son to this second more advanced hospital, I wanted him to remain there. I therefore put on my best “TOUGH AMERICAN” act and “demanded” that my son be admitted to the hospital and not return to Misgav Ledach.
Some of the doctors, nurses, and administrators listened, but none of them was interested in my plan. I finally found an administrator who said they would admit my son, but it would cost 11,000 shekels a day. That is nearly $3000 USD – PER DAY. I spoke with my mom on the phone, and there was no way the family could cover such an expensive cost. After my son completed his CT scan, he was returned by ambulance to Misgav Ledach hospital.
Jump forward to October 30, and Misgav Ledach felt there was nothing further they could do for my son. He was stable and didn’t need any hospital care. So we brought him home. The video attached to this post was taken on November 2, 1999.
But on Shabbos, November 6, 1999, my son became dangerously cold. My wife called a Magen David Adom ambulance, and after a very long wait (there was no GPS; there were no street signs in our new neighborhood; and these proud ambulance drivers refused to purchase a paper street map), they picked up Yitzchak Meir to bring him to the hospital.
Which hospital? Ambulance drivers are given a list each day telling them which hospital (Hadassah, Shaarei Zedek, Bikur Cholim, etc.) to bring certain types of patients. On this Shabbos, young infants were to be brought to…
Shaarei Zedek hospital.
So a month after I was told it would cost nearly $3000 per DAY to admit my son to Shaarei Zedek, he was admitted this time for FREE!
What did I learn from this?
I learned first not to be a TOUGH AMERICAN who says, “I am going to make a scene until I get my way, because it is in my power to get whatever I want if I am tough enough.”
I learned instead to be someone who has faith in Hashem (G-d). I saw that if my son needed to be in this better hospital, Hashem would arrange it for me at the right time, and he would even be admitted without any charge!
For the next 11 years I tried to have this more relaxed attitude, knowing that Hashem was watching over my son. While my wife and I had to go through certain motions, the bottom line was that Hashem had everything in His control.
May the Neshama (soul) of my son Yitzchak Meir have an Aliyah (rising up in Heaven to an even higher level).
