Paths of Faith: Miracles Through Strengthened Belief in 'There is None Besides Him'

Many miracle stories are told as a result of strengthening faith that there is none besides Him. Here are some of them:

The Rabbi of Brisk, known as Beit HaLevi, was sitting in his home in Russia studying Torah, when suddenly he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to find a distressed Jewish man. 'What has happened?' he asked. The man replied, 'I have a shop on the main street, and Russian soldiers are going from shop to shop. If they find out the owner is a Jew who hasn't paid taxes, they banish him to long-term hard labor in Siberia, and none of us are paying taxes. What should we do?'

Beit HaLevi remained calm and invited the man inside, closing the door behind him. He took the book 'Nefesh HaChaim' by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin from his library and started reading to him the teaching of 'there is none besides Him.' The man absorbed the understanding of this belief, and just then, his wife reported that the officers took a break in front of their store. After the break, they mistakenly thought they had already checked it and skipped over, proceeding to other shops! Thanks to his faith in 'there is none besides Him,' they could not harm this Jewish man. Through his strong faith, he eliminated their power and was directly protected by Hashem. Had he continued to fear and believed in the soldiers' supposed power, Hashem might have let events unfold naturally. But since he stepped out of the natural realm, he received miraculous salvation.

Another story is told about the Rabbi of Brisk. When fleeing from the Nazis, he fortified his belief in 'there is none besides Him,' and thus witnessed many miracles. Miraculously, the soldiers didn't see or capture him; he walked right through them, visible yet unseen. When he came close to the Russian border, feeling relatively safe, he briefly relaxed his thoughts. At that moment, a Nazi soldier stopped and demanded his money. The Rabbi recalled 'there is none besides Him,' and miraculously, the soldier left him alone.

Another thrilling and true story involves the sage Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth, ztz"l, a revered, learned figure loved by Israel's great rabbis, and who served as the Rabbi of Antwerp, Belgium, where I grew up. He also officiated at my wedding. This story, which I, like most of Antwerp's Jewish residents, heard directly from the Rabbi himself, illustrates the power of 'there is none besides Him.' Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth, ztz"l, told of how he was saved during the Holocaust—a story his daughter, Rebbetzin Zalivansky, confirmed hearing from him. He would recount it every Sukkot, to show how Hashem protected him.

It happened when the Rabbi was a young 22-year-old man, after five years of hard labor in a concentration camp. At that time, he was under threat of death, as the Nazis suspected him and others of espionage. Could one argue with the Nazis?! He stood in a room with the other suspects, facing seven armed soldiers. Each prisoner accused of espionage was immediately shot. It was a nightmare. Rabbi Chaim stood in line, a pile of bodies before him as he awaited his turn. Normally, there was no chance of escape.

When his turn came, he faced the Nazis, who accused him of spying and collaborating with the Americans. Rabbi Chaim asked if he might have one last request before execution, and they consented. He asked for three minutes of silence. The Nazis agreed and set an hourglass to ensure he didn't get an extra second.

The Rabbi recounted that he started shouting, 'Father, I am not overwhelmed by the Nazis, nor by the gun or those who shoot it; I know there is none besides Him and no force in the world acts without Your consent! You, Hashem, are above all worlds and all creatures, and all this is hidden! I want life!'

After three minutes, the Nazis ordered him to face the wall for execution, and the Nazi 'court' shouted 'Fire!' All aimed their rifles at him. Suddenly, the commanding officer started trembling. He called Rabbi Chaim aside and whispered, 'You are so handsome... you remind me of my son. I can't see you as another corpse on the ground, can't do it!' The officer instructed him on how to escape and personally covered for him, firing into the air as though carrying out the execution. Thus, he was saved to live a good life.

And not only the righteous can act through this special merit.

A woman once told me that a family was persecuting them for no reason and threatened to harm them in various ways. At first, they were very afraid because these were tough people. But then they decided to strengthen their belief that there is none besides Him and neutralized the power of those heartless people. Suddenly, that couple seemed to forget them and stopped bothering them, not keeping a single threat.

Another woman shared that after hearing in my lecture, she decided to enlist the belief in 'there is none besides Him' to her aid. She was approaching her daughter's wedding, and financially, things were very tough. They had already married off several children, and their bank account was limited. She needed money and went to the bank, although there was no chance she'd get a loan. Nonetheless, she applied for a vast sum of 150,000 shekels. Initially, they refused entirely, but then miraculously agreed to 50,000. She continued to iterate, with steadfast faith, that there is none besides Him, and requested a meeting with the bank manager. Days passed, as she vividly imagined all the clerks and managers at the bank as puppets in Hashem's hand. Suddenly they called her from the bank and told her to come because there was a possibility for a larger loan. When she arrived, they approved 100,000 shekels, and then said she could meet the manager. She entered the meeting, working in her mind to feel that Hashem was present and conducting the meeting. At the end of the meeting, they joyfully told her they would approve a loan of 140,000 shekels. It was entirely beyond the natural.

Indeed, those who believe that Hashem runs the world merit that Hashem runs the world in a way tailored precisely for them.

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