Miraculous Recovery: Yeshiva Student Visits Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein to Offer Thanks and Receive a Brocha
A wave of joy swept through Beis Medrash Elyon in Bnei Brak in recent weeks, after one of the yeshiva’s distinguished students, Yoel Aharon Tzarfati of France, experienced a miraculous recovery from a life-threatening illness and returned to his place in the beis medrash.
During the past summer, doctors discovered that the young man was suffering from a severe and dangerous disease. He was forced to leave the yeshiva for an extended period and travel back to France for a complex surgery followed by a series of difficult treatments.
Throughout his ordeal, the entire yeshiva cried out and prayed for the recovery of Yoel Aharon ben Rus, as doctors had given grim predictions regarding his chances of healing.
Seeking additional merit on his behalf, a group of students traveled to the home of the renowned posek, Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein. They asked him to bless the young man and to guide them in taking on something meaningful for his recovery.
Rav Zilberstein instructed them to strengthen themselves in uninterrupted learning and to refrain from idle conversation in the beis medrash. Such an undertaking, he told them, would serve as a powerful and proven source of merit.
A few days later, the yeshiva received a special letter of encouragement from Rav Zilberstein. In it, he wrote that many people in this generation suffer from terrible illnesses, and that one who influences others not to speak during davening, during krias haTorah, or in the middle of learning, merits “supreme protection and safeguarding.”
He explained further by citing the teaching from the Yerushalmi: “Honor your physician before you need him.” The message, he wrote, is that one must honor Hashem — the Healer of all flesh — in advance, before trouble arrives. Whoever honors Heaven by refraining from talking during prayer and during learning in the beis medrash, he wrote, is granted protection from distress, harm, and illness.
Rav Zilberstein concluded with a clear promise: that in the merit of strengthening themselves not to speak idle words during prayer and learning, Hashem would send His word and heal “all 248 limbs and 365 sinews,” together with all those in Klal Yisroel who are ill.
The letter was joined by Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yerachmiel Ungarischer, who added his tefillah that Hashem remove illness from among them, especially on behalf of the young man from their group.
The yeshiva’s mashgiach, Rav Shmuel Schulman, also joined, writing that one cannot fathom the great merit in strengthening themselves in this area for their friend’s healing, and that all who do so will be blessed from Above.
Then, during the Tishrei season, the astonishing news arrived: the illness had vanished completely. Doctors were stunned by the dramatic turnaround. By the mercy of Heaven, Yoel Aharon recovered fully and returned from France to Israel at the start of the winter zman, where his fellow students greeted him with tremendous emotion.
A deeply moving scene took place when Yoel Aharon visited Rav Zilberstein to thank him for his blessings and his letter of encouragement, and to receive a new blessing for continued health.
Rav Zilberstein was overjoyed to see the young man healed, yet in his humility he refused to attribute the recovery to his own promise. Instead, he told him:
“Since you live in France — the home of the Baalei Tosafos — I am afraid that it was they who intervened on your behalf. You immerse yourself all day in Gemara, Rashi, and Tosafos, and since you live in their land, it seems they advocated for you Above. Through that merit you were granted complete healing.”
Rav Zilberstein then bentched him warmly that he continue to grow in Torah, merit strong and enduring health, and in the right time build a faithful home filled with joy and happiness.
{Matzav.com}
