When the Tables Fell, So Did My Heart

When we think of miracles, we often picture dramatic events such as an illness suddenly cured, a long struggle that ends with relief. But sometimes, a miracle happens in a quiet moment. One second everything is normal, the next it feels like the world turns upside down. And then, in the very next moment, Hashem’s kindness shines through.

That’s what happened to us.

About a year and a half ago, we traveled for a family Shabbat celebration. The meals were held in a small, welcoming hall, and the atmosphere was joyful.

I kept a close eye on my three active children. They’re especially energetic, and I knew it wouldn’t be wise to take my eyes off them not even for a moment. You never know what kind of trouble they might stir up.

Still, kids are kids. You can’t keep them sitting still forever, and they wandered around, playing and getting a little wild. At one point, I realized I hadn’t seen my son for about three minutes. That might not sound like a lot, but in our house, three minutes of silence is enough time for almost anything to happen.

I quickly got up to look for him, hoping to find him before any damage was done. At first, I had no idea where he could have gone. After a minute or two of searching, I found him on the men’s side of the hall, sitting quietly under a table set up along the wall.

I felt relieved. He wasn’t making noise or bothering anyone. He was just sitting peacefully and playing. That was the first moment, when you think everything is just fine.

But in the very next moment, everything changed.

And I don’t mean emotionally. I mean literally. The table he was under suddenly collapsed.

My son had been playing with the legs of the table, and somehow it folded right on top of him. It was a heavy wooden table with metal legs and worse, it had been supporting several other folded tables that were stacked against the wall. When his table collapsed, all the other tables began to fall too, one after the other, crashing down onto him. He ended up trapped beneath all of them.

You might think I rushed to help him. But I didn’t.

I froze. I stood there in complete shock. I couldn’t even scream. All I could do was watch in horror as the tables fell and imagine what was happening to my little boy underneath them.

Thank Hashem, one of the guests immediately jumped up and managed to stop more tables from falling. A few others ran over and began lifting the tables to pull my son out.

Those moments afterward are hard to describe. My son looked terrible. He was red, and he could barely breathe. We were terrified. We feared he might be seriously injured.

But then came the miracle.

We rushed him to the local medical center. The doctors examined him carefully from head to toe. To our amazement, he was completely fine. The only injury he had was a small cut behind his ear, which they treated right away. That was it. No broken bones. No bruises. Not even a scratch apart from that tiny cut.

It took us a while to fully absorb what had happened. One minute we were expecting the worst and then, by Hashem’s great kindness, we brought home a healthy child.

Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good. His kindness truly has no end.