The Parking Ticket That Saved Him

Ariel, a devoted son living in central Israel, made the long trip north to visit his elderly father. Honoring one’s parents—kibbud av va’em—is a deeply important mitzvah (Torah commandment), and Ariel tried to fulfill it with love, even when it required sacrifice.

One time, after the long drive, he parked his car near his father’s home and received a hefty parking ticket. Hundreds of shekels. He had only come to visit his father—why should that end with a punishment?

He tried pleading with the officer. “Please,” he explained, “I came to help my elderly father. Can’t you make an exception?” But the officer refused. Ariel was bitterly disappointed. He had tried to do something right—and it felt like he had been slapped in return.

The next day, he visited Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky zt”l, one of the most respected Torah sages of our time. Ariel told him what had happened, hoping for a word of comfort.

Rabbi Chaim’s answer was brief but full of meaning. “The ticket,” he said gently, “was for the good.”

It was hard to believe. How could that be?

But not long after, everything became clear.

One of Ariel’s neighbors had been spreading lies about him—false claims that he was violent, even that he had broken into the neighbor’s home. Ariel had already been dealing with this person’s harassment for a while, but this time the neighbor filed an official police complaint.

Ariel was arrested and brought to court. The main accusation? That he had broken into the neighbor’s home—at a specific time and date.

Ariel calmly told the judge, “That’s impossible. At that time, I was far away in the north, visiting my father.” And then he handed the judge a piece of paper: the parking ticket.

The timestamp on the ticket showed that Ariel had been in another city—exactly when the neighbor claimed he had been committing a crime.

But the judge asked a good question: “How do we know you were there? Maybe someone else drove your car?”

Ariel replied, “The officer who gave me the ticket spoke with me. I asked him not to give it to me—he can confirm it.”

The officer was called to testify and confirmed every word.

The judge was shocked by how clearly the neighbor had lied. He dismissed all charges and even fined the neighbor 50,000 shekels for false accusations. He also warned that if the man ever tried to file another complaint, it would be thrown out immediately.

Ariel left the courtroom shaken—but grateful. “Hiring a lawyer would have cost me a fortune,” he later said. “But Hashem (God) used the parking ticket—the very thing that upset me—to save me. And it all started with my effort to honor my father.”

Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, who shared this story in his book Commandments with Joy, added an important lesson: “Of course, it’s easier to believe everything is for the good after we see the result. But the real goal is to believe it even before. To trust that Hashem is guiding every detail of our lives—even the annoyances.”

He continued: “The great Torah sages of Israel were full of joy, even when life was hard. Even when they lacked physical comfort or time to study Torah, they didn’t fall into sadness. Because sadness is one of the most dangerous things—it can drag a person down, make them feel helpless. But our greatest rabbis always encouraged people, lifted their spirits, and helped them see the light in dark moments.”

And sometimes, that light comes from the most unexpected place—even a parking ticket.