"The Dog Bit Me and Wouldn't Stop Barking"

Lital Shem Tov from Holon shares with us her moving journey to solve a problem that arose in her life, and along the way, strengthens us all in simple faith and love for the tzaddikim.

"We live in Holon in a mixed neighborhood, and one of our neighbors has two very aggressive dogs. I thought that by showing affection toward the dog, the response would be mutual, but I was wrong."

"The incident I am telling you about occurred half an hour before the onset of Shabbat. One of the dogs surprised me from behind and bit me on the leg. I was overcome with fear of the dog and decided to look into the books of Rebbe Nachman in the hope of receiving a message from Heaven as to what I needed to rectify and improve, because we understand that everything is Hashem!"

"I understood what I needed to improve, but every time I passed by the neighbors' area and the dog would go absolutely wild at me from behind the fence, the feeling was that the dog really wanted to devour me. I decided that I am no longer afraid of any flesh and blood or any animal, only of Hashem! Everything is Hashem, and I need to strengthen myself more in faith and trust in Hashem!"

"I began to pray to Hashem that the dog would like me and stop fearing me; after all, I love animals very much and have never harmed them. For a period of time that I prayed, the dog continued in his ways, and in fact, from day to day, his madness only worsened."

"One day, it slipped out of my mouth quietly: 'In the merit of Rabbi Eliezer ben Atiya Berland, you will stop this madness toward me.' In those very seconds, while he continued to bark, no sound came out of the dog! He continued to bark before my eyes, but no sound came out at all!"

"I was stunned and continued to call out to him: 'In the merit of Rabbi Eliezer ben Atiya, you will be struck with fear and we will not hear you anymore.' When he heard me utter the name of the tzaddik, I saw with my own eyes how the dog fled toward his home—since then, every time he sees me, he runs away from me."

Lital concludes with a strengthening message from her personal experience: "Know that just by mentioning the name of the tzaddik, one sees revealed miracles."