She Thanked Hashem—and the Cancer Was Gone

Sometimes, Hashem (God) tries to teach us important lessons through the ups and downs of life. One of the greatest of these is the power of gratitude. But if we don’t recognize the message, Hashem may send it louder—through something that shakes us. That’s what happened to Zahavit Venk.

Zahavit had gone to meet with a leading professor. The news she received that day would have crushed most people: she needed to undergo a long and complicated surgery to remove her uterus and ovaries. There would be chemotherapy directly into her abdomen. To make things even more difficult, her large intestine had stopped functioning, and she would need to wear a colostomy bag for six months.

She returned home overwhelmed. But something inside her shifted. She remembered a book she had once read—“In the Garden of Faith” by Rabbi Shalom Arush. In it, he teaches about hitbodedut, a form of personal prayer done in your own words, where you speak with Hashem like a child to a parent. Zahavit made a decision: she would begin this practice right away.

Hitbodedut, as described in the book, has three parts: first, thanking Hashem for everything; second, looking inward and asking forgiveness; and third, heartfelt prayer. Zahavit sat down to begin—and didn’t move past the first stage. She began thanking Hashem for all the blessings in her life... and something amazing happened.

“I thanked Him for my parents, my husband, my children,” Zahavit recalls. “For the first time, I paused the race of life and really saw all the gifts I’ve been given. I suddenly realized how much good I’ve always had. Everything flowed, everything succeeded. I was in awe.”

That shift—choosing to see the good—sparked a powerful inner joy. “When a person is stuck in fear or pain, it’s easy to forget the blessings,” she says. “But gratitude reminds us of what’s still good. And when the good becomes bigger in our hearts, the pain shrinks.”

With a full heart, Zahavit did something most people wouldn’t dream of. She thanked Hashem not just for her blessings—but for the cancer itself. “In that moment, I deeply understood that Hashem is only good. There is no evil from Him. I felt it with every part of me.”

This wasn’t denial. It was clarity. “I looked up to Heaven and said, ‘Hashem, You brought this illness, and You will take it away. For me, it’s cancer. For You—the One who created the whole universe—it’s like the flu.’”

Then she handed over the fear. “I took all my worries and told Hashem, ‘This is too much for me. I’m giving it to You.’ And it was like He caught my basket of fear. It disappeared.”

She kept going to medical tests. But now, she felt Hashem walking beside her. “With each test, I took on more spiritual growth,” Zahavit says. “It was as if Hashem was placing His hand gently on my head the entire time.”

Then came the day of the surgery. Or rather, what should have been a seven-hour surgery. Instead, it lasted just one and a half. The professor walked out, visibly shaken. The cancer had vanished. No organs needed to be removed. No chemotherapy required.

“It was an open miracle,” Zahavit says. “Gratitude didn’t just give me strength. It saved me. I said thank You—and Hashem answered.”