The Day My Soup Cup Broke—and Hashem Spoke to Me

Have you ever felt stuck—uncertain which direction to take with your work, unsure how to balance your career with your spiritual growth? If so, you're not alone. Yael-Devorah bat Noy found herself in exactly that place.

She had spent years using her creative talents in education and music, even developing a special method to help children with autism speak—through music, prayer, and deep intuition. She believed this method, which centers around singing everyday words to the children while maintaining eye contact, was a gift from Hashem, the result of many heartfelt prayers and a sincere desire to help.

But then she left that work behind. For fifteen years, she moved on to other things. And yet, the pull to return never really left her heart. Recently, that inner voice grew stronger. She spoke to her rabbi for guidance. His words were simple but meaningful: "Turn every obstacle into sweetness." Encouraged, she took the first step and opened a file with the tax authority—yet something still felt stuck. The drive was there, but she hadn’t yet found the clarity or the vessel to hold the blessings she was asking for.

Every day, she practiced hitbodedut, a personal prayer method taught by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, where she would speak to Hashem in her own words. She also set aside 15 minutes a day just to say “thank You”—for her life, her health, her children and grandchildren, her return to Torah, and the ability to connect with Hashem.

Still, nothing moved forward. The inner fog didn’t lift.

Then came the soup. One evening, after a Torah class, she poured hot soup into a new cup she had just toiveled (immersed in the mikveh, a ritual bath used to spiritually purify objects before use). Suddenly, the cup shattered. Hot soup everywhere. But Yael-Devorah didn’t just see a mess. She saw a message.

In that moment, she felt a deep understanding awaken: the soup was ready, the cup was not. The blessing was waiting, but her spiritual “vessel” wasn’t yet able to contain it. That’s what they were showing her from Shamayim (Heaven). From that day on, she began to give thanks not only for the blessings she already had—but also for the fact that she wasn’t ready yet. She gave thanks for the delay, for the waiting, for the unknown.

And then, one day, something unusual happened. A letter arrived in the mail—from the VAT authority. It asked about her income as a self-employed person. She hadn’t received a letter like that in fifteen years.

“What are the chances?” she said. “Just when I’m struggling to know whether I should return to being self-employed, this arrives?” She felt it clearly—it wasn’t a coincidence. It was Hashem’s quiet answer.

Her story reminds us that we don’t always need big signs. Sometimes it’s a quiet whisper. Sometimes it’s a cup breaking. Sometimes it’s a strange envelope in the mail. And when we live with gratitude and talk to Hashem every day, we start noticing those whispers. We start seeing the hints He sends us to guide us toward our true purpose—toward the work that aligns with our soul’s gifts.