When a Shabbat Timer Arrives Just in Time

About a year ago, Nir Peled began taking steps to strengthen his connection to Judaism. “I was drawing closer,” he recalls, “and before Rosh Hashanah, I decided to invite my sister and her family for the holiday. They’ve been growing in observance for the past eight years and are now fully Torah-observant.”

Two weeks before the holiday, Nir shared the plan with a friend, who was happy for him but raised an unexpected concern. “Wait,” the friend asked, “your sister has an autistic son, right? What if he turns off the lights during Yom Tov? You’d be in the dark for two days!”

The question stuck with Nir, but he didn’t do anything about it right away. Two days before Rosh Hashanah, he spoke with his brother-in-law and brought it up again. “What happens if Ido turns off the lights?”

There was silence on the other end. Finally, his brother-in-law said, “Let me check and see what can be done.”

Before hearing back from him, Nir turned to the Hidabroot website and submitted an urgent question to a rabbi: “What do you do with a 14-year-old boy who is autistic, deaf, and blind, and who always turns off all the lights in the house before going to sleep?”

The next day, a rabbi from Hidabroot called Nir personally. He asked questions to better understand the situation. “Does he turn the lights on and off by himself?” “Does he do it at a certain time every night?” Finally, the rabbi asked, “Do you have a Shabbat timer?”

Nir answered honestly: “I’ve only been observant for a month. I don’t even know what a Shabbat timer is.”

(For those new to this idea: a Shabbat timer is a simple device that automatically turns lights or appliances on and off at preset times, so that people can enjoy light and electricity during Shabbat or Yom Tov without needing to operate them directly.)

The rabbi promised to look into it and called back just ten minutes later. “There’s an organization that installs Shabbat timers at cost,” he told Nir. “Private installation usually runs about 500 shekels, but this group helps make it affordable. Call this number and ask for someone named Menachem.”

Nir was doubtful. “I live in Na’aleh, a small settlement beyond the Green Line. Who’s going to come all the way here to install a timer right before Rosh Hashanah? We barely manage to gather a minyan for weekday prayers. We have to bring five amazing men from Kiryat Sefer to complete the minyan. So who’s going to install a timer here, now?”

Still, he called the number and reached Menachem.

“Where do you live?” Menachem asked.

“In the settlement of Na’aleh,” Nir replied.

“Perfect,” Menachem said. “I’m going to Na’aleh tomorrow morning to help complete a minyan. I’ll come by your house afterward and install the timer.”

Nir was stunned. “I started shaking from excitement. I couldn’t believe my ears. Hashem had sent a good and kind Jew directly to my home, just when I needed it most. Everyone I’ve told this story to gets chills.”

The timer was installed just before the holiday. The lights stayed on, the Yom Tov was joyful and peaceful, and Nir experienced something much deeper than he expected.

He concluded with a powerful insight from our tradition: “Open for Me an opening the size of a needle’s eye, and I will open for you an opening as wide as a great hall.”

When a person makes the smallest effort to come close to Hashem, Hashem sends blessings greater than they ever imagined.