Stirring: The Deceased Visited His Granddaughter in a Dream with Five Words

Rachel, a resident of Petah Tikva, awoke with a start: she had seen her grandfather, Reb Yuval Yosef, in her dream, months after he had passed away. In the dream, her grandfather appeared thin and frail, his face sad and worn. He was holding a belt strap, signaling that he needed help.

"I didn't understand the dream – why was Grandpa holding a belt strap, and what did he mean by it? I felt the dream was a message sent to me from heaven, so I shared it with my family," Rachel recounts.

One of the uncles recalled an incident from the last months of the grandfather's life: "In his final months, Grandpa grew increasingly frail, losing weight each day. He became so thin that his belt had to be tightened a lot. He regularly prayed at the famous 'Itzkowitz' synagogue in Bnei Brak, where prayer meetings are held almost around the clock. One morning, as I took Grandpa to pray at Itzkowitz, I noticed his pants were about to fall off. I immediately went into a nearby cobbler's shop and asked him to make more holes in Grandpa's belt.

"The cobbler made five more holes in the belt and asked for three shekels in return," added the uncle, who recalled that he didn't have any cash on him at the time. He apologized to the cobbler and promised to settle the debt once he had some small change. "I completely forgot about it," he said, embarrassed. "A few months later, Grandpa passed away, and here he was now in the dream with a sad face, signaling about the belt..."

The uncle hurried to the cobbler's shop, shared the story, and was joined in astonishment. "I wholeheartedly forgive the debt, so your father can have peace in the world above," said the cobbler. The uncle immediately paid the debt and apologized for delaying the payment.

"That night, I dreamed of Grandpa again, and this time his face was radiant and happy. He said to me the following words: 'Thank you for giving my soul comfort,' and then he vanished from the dream," says Rachel.

It's important to remember how strictly the heavens regard every shekel and penny taken from another, as ruled by Maimonides (Laws of Theft and Loss): 'He who robs his fellow of a small coin is as if he took his life, as it is said: 'So are the paths of all who seek gain; it takes away the life of its owners.' For a person gives of his life to earn money, and now you have robbed him of this, hence partly of his life. 'A penny's loss is as a hundred,' say the sages (Sanhedrin 8.) one should be careful not to rob a friend, even of a penny, and if one transgressed and doesn't remember whom he wronged – one should engage in public needs and donate to public institutions, and the heavens will atone for him."

Rabbi Zamir Cohen – The Critical Importance of Avoiding Theft: