Earlier this week, as my wife, children and I were driving back from LA, we experienced a miracle.
We were driving along HWY 5, enjoying the family time together in the car, when suddenly we saw a dead cow in middle of our lane, just a few feet ahead of us. I hadn’t seen it earlier as the sun had just set and it was not quite dark. I quickly swerved to avoid hitting the cow, but we were going too fast. Our van jumped violently to the right, then jerked back to the left, spinning around in the process. We hit the embankment on the side of the road and finally came to a stop with our van perpendicular to the road, jutting out into oncoming traffic.
I was shaken and in complete shock; after a quick check that everyone was safe and not hurt, I managed to straighten out the van so that we wouldn’t get hit by the approaching traffic, coming towards us at 80 miles an hour.
We were extremely shaken, to say the least, but thank G-d, miraculously no one was injured. I continued driving slowly with my hazards flashing until the next exit, where we pulled off to catch our breath examine the damage to the van. After inspecting the van, I was pleasantly surprised to observe only minor nicks and dents and no serious damage.
As we continued to drive, the miraculous nature of what had just occurred began to sink in. Most of the way there had been vehicles next to us, but just at that time there were no cars or trucks next to us or behind us. Who knows what would have happened had there been... The median was raised unlike much of the way where it is flat or lower than the road. This prevented us from rolling over... In a car with five children, who all like to sit in various positions, many times they adjust their seat belts in potentially unsafe ways. At that moment, everyone was sitting securely. Other than being a little shaken (quite literally), everyone was safe and sound.
This Shabbat I will say the special blessing “hagomel la’chayavim tovot,” which is customarily recited if one was saved from a mishap while travelling. After the tefillah, we will be sponsoring a special kiddush to thank Hashem for this miracle. Please join me to say L’chaim and let us use this opportunity to thank Hashem for all the miracles in our lives, the dramatic ones and the seemingly regular ones, like waking up in the morning. (Interestingly, this theme is reflected in today’s daily portion of Tanya, click here to read).
One more thing - when my second to youngest child, Zalman, had calmed down he asked me, “Tati (Daddy), please don’t do that again, I didn’t like it.” I assured him that I do not plan to.