{"id":3823,"date":"2017-01-04T12:34:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T17:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=3823"},"modified":"2017-01-04T14:40:18","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T19:40:18","slug":"emissaries-or-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/emissaries-or-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"Emissaries or Angels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cell-phone-300x300\"<\/a>It\u2019s erev Shabbos on a winter Friday. They thought they were already frantically busy but then a call came in on What’s App. The remainder of their personal lists fell by the wayside with nary a thought. It\u2019s an emergency and they are \u2018volunteer soldiers\u2019 in the \u2018Ezer Mizion\u2019s Linked to Life army\u2019 (the real reason What’s App was invented). It may be a Shabbos meal to prepare, together with other volunteers, for a family whose mother was suddenly hospitalized. Perhaps it\u2019s medication available only at his neighborhood pharmacy that must be delivered before Shabbos to an ill child in a more remote area or maybe it\u2019s a desperate\u00a0\u00a0 search for a missing Alzheimer\u2019s patient. Within moments there are enough volunteers. Each mission is accomplished. Each person is cared for. Each volunteer glows with satisfaction. And they know they are appreciated.\u00a0 As the candles are set up moments before candle lighting, a message from the Ezer Mizion coordinator is received on What’s App by all volunteers: Yaakov sent malachim\u2026” \u00ad\u2013 Some explain this to mean literally “angels”; others interpret it as “shlichim,” emissaries.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Tzemach Tzaddik asks: According to those who maintain that these were actual angels, why would Yaakov employ divine angels for a mission to his brother Esav??<\/em><\/p>\n

He answers that these were mortal emissaries. But since the mission was so difficult, by agreeing to do it, they were elevated to the level of divine angels\u2026 because one who makes a great effort for another per<\/em>\"Shabbos\"<\/a><\/em>son and bears difficulties for his sake, is considered “literally an angel.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026And you, who respond to Linked to Life requests with s<\/em>uch joy and readiness, even on these short Fridays \u2026 you are truly “angels.” <\/em><\/p>\n

Have a tranquil and joyous Shabbos!<\/em><\/p>\n

The job is never done. Unfortunately, requests continue to pour in. Over Chanukah, it was two Bar Mitzvahs. The first was for the son of a cancer patient who was recently niftar. The very security of the boy\u2019s home was shaken. No longer would father and son daven (pray) side by side. \"l2l<\/a>No longer would he see the sheen of pride in his father\u2019s eyes as they reviewed the week\u2019s learning on Shabbos. The very pillar of his life had shattered but \u2018thirteen\u2019 was fast approaching. Was he also to miss out on what every boy looks forward to for years? His mother did not have the emotional energy to plan a major event. He understood that. But did that mean that the day would be just a day like every other?\u00a0 He swallowed hard. He had accepted his father\u2019s death. He\u2019d grown up fast, this young man.\u00a0 He would accept this, too. He would. But Ezer Mizion would not.\u00a0 It\u2019s Linked to Life Division got to work. A venue.\u00a0 Invitations. Food-only the nicest would do. And suddenly there it was. The Bar Mitzvah he was sure would never be.<\/p>\n

That same week of Chanukah, a second Bar Mitzvah was born. This one was in answer to the timid, whispered request of the Bar Mitzvah boy whose medical condition was not very good. Cancer. As desperate as he was for what every boy dreams of, he felt hesitant to ask, what with everything else that Ezer Mizion was already doing for him. \u00a0The faint whisper- no louder than the movement of a butterfly\u2019s wings- reverberated throughout the Linked to Life membership producing a resplendent\u00a0 affair which brought a grin to the face that hadn\u2019t smiled \u00a0in weeks. Was he surprised? Lets listen in on a conversation between the mother and a Linked to Life volunteer:\"l2l<\/a><\/p>\n

My son asked me: “Maybe we should ask the people from Ezer Mizion’s Linked to Life to daven for me to get better?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Why?” I asked.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Very simple\u2026”, he replied, “Because everything we ask of them \u00ad\u00ad- comes true\u2026 So let’s ask them for this too, and maybe it will also come true and I will get better\u2026”
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The volunteer adds:<\/p>\n

Dear friends!<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t know about you, but I’m writing this with tears in my eyes\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

How many zechusim (merits) this sick child has given us \u2026!
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Let’s pray today at candle lighting for the refu’ah (well-being)\u00a0 of the child <\/em><\/p>\n

Chai Yehuda ben Rachel<\/em><\/p>\n

B’soch she’ar cholei Yisrael (among all those afflicted with illness) .<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s erev Shabbos on a winter Friday. They thought they were already frantically busy but then a call came in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[545],"tags":[64,4,14,723,347],"class_list":["post-3823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-app","tag-bar-mitzvah","tag-cancer","tag-hospital","tag-linked-to-life","tag-whats-app"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3823"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3828,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823\/revisions\/3828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}