The driving fine that disappeared
Over the years, there’s been so many miracle stories told about Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, first-hand from the people who actually experienced them. Some of those miracles are enormous – like THIS ONE from earlier in the year, which tells the story of how a security guard who was stabbed in the heart at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station literally came back from the dead when his family performed a pidyon for him with the Rav.
And then, there are the smaller, every day miracles, like the one we’re about to share with you now, which in their modest way also demonstrate the tremendous benefits of believing in the tzaddkim’s abilities to help us.
[You can hear Natan Eli giving over his story in the original Hebrew for yourselves by clicking HERE.]
“Shalom, my name is Natan Eli, and I’m from Tzfat. Around six months’ ago, I was caught driving with one too many people in my car, and no-one was wearing a seatbelt, either. I was stopped by a policeman, who gave me a fine of 1000 shekels, and docked eight points from my driver’s licence.
“I was also given a court hearing in the Nazereth District Court [where they would confirm the fine and penalty]. Last Friday, I went to court, and in front of me there were a bunch of people from the army and from the police, even – people who were considered to be good, law-abiding people usually – but the judge never took so much as one shekel off their fine, and of course never reduced the amount of points they’d been docked.
“So, see what a miracle happened for me, in the zchut (merit) of doing a pidyon with the Rav [Rav Berland, shlita]: As soon as I came before the judge, she took off all the points on my licence, and she also reduced the fine to 750 shekels, instead of the 1000 shekels I’d received initially. Usually, it’s only the people who come to court with a lawyer who even have a chance of getting the points removed, and their fine reduced. But I didn’t come with a lawyer!
“I merited to have that miracle done in the zchut of the pidyon I gave to Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita. It’s a miracle of the tzaddik.”
IMHO, the most important lesson to take home is the importance of wearing a seatbelt while driving. I’ve been told many times that “wearing a seatbelt is a mitzvah d’Oriytah”.