Word From Yerushalaim
Simantov Allaloufsimantov@wordfromyerushalaim.com
www.wordfromyerushalaim.com
There is goodness in the courts of the Lord!
Following is a miracle story from Galilee area of Israel, my wife Linda and I are now living in this area and just love to see over and over again the faithfulness of the Lord. Amidst all the stories of pain and evil in our land, it is so good to know and still see the goodness of the hand of God in our midst.
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story from; Tamar Yonah blog
A completely secular farmer whose produce is bananas decided that he would undertake to keep Shmitah (Sabbath rest of the land) this time (2008) around. He approached the Keren HaShviis for assistance and they stipulated that he would be registered in their program if he would also undertake to be personally Shomer Shabbos ( Refers to one who observes the Shabbat and follows the Jewish laws relevant to it) throughout Shmitah. He agreed.
Israel has suffered a significant cold spell over the past 2 to 3 weeks. Bananas don’t like cold. Cold doesn’t like bananas. Needless to say, they don’t get along. When bananas are still growing and get hit with frost, they turn brown and become rock-solid hard.
The hero of our story, Gibor Koach the banana farmer, knew he was in deep trouble when the relentless cold hadn’t let up for over a week. He lived a distance from his orchard and hadn’t yet seen the damage with his own eyes. He began to receive calls from his neighbor farmers, who have orchards bordering his, complaining bitterly that their entire banana crop had been destroyed by the frost. He decided it was time to inspect the damage up close, no matter how painful it may be.
He drove up close to Tverya (Tiberius) to inspect his orchard, as well as those of his neighboring farmers. As he passed from one orchard to another, he was overwhelmed by the damage. Not a single fruit had survived, no tree was spared. His neighbors took quite a beating. All the bananas were brown, hard as a rock.
Standing amidst the destruction of thenon-observing fields where everything is brown.
He could only imagine how bad his trees must have gotten it. Yet when he finally got to his orchard, he was awestruck! ALL of his bananas were yellow and green. It’s as if his orchard was not part of this parcel of land. His orchard bordered those of his neighbors, but not a single tree of his was struck by the frost. It’s as if a protective wall kept the damage away. At first he thought he was imagining it, and as he rushed from one section of his orchard to another, the realization that more than the farmer keeps the Shmitah, the Shmitah keeps the farmer hit home.
Rabbi Bloom with rabbis from the Otzar Bet Din standing next
to yellow and green bananas of the field that sanctified Eretz Yisroel and the Shmitah year.
He immediately called his contacts at Keren HaShviis and yelled into the phone, “Karah Nes, Karah Nes!” ( A miracle happened, a miracle happened!)
A miraculous modern-day manifestation of “V’Tzivisi Es HaBracha”.
Good, unharmed bananas from the Shmitah observing field
There is no way to explain this other than that HaKodesh Baruch Hu ( The Blessed Holy One) keeps His promises. He says keep Shmitah, and I’ll take care of you. He sure does!
Keren HaShviis reports that farmers that until now refused to keep Shmitah, have been turning to the Keren following the losses suffered as a result of the frost, they are now ready to commit to Shmitah observance.
And so, Rabbi Bloom took the time to travel all the way to Tverya (Tiberias) and back to witness this awe-inspiring phenomenon.