The extraordinary chesed of one Yid to another

When a chassidish family of eight from California headed out for a summer road trip, they planned a stop at Lake Tahoe. Straddling the Nevada and California borders, it’s considered one of the most picturesque lakes in the United States. They arrived on a Thursday afternoon and were enjoying the long, scenic drive around the lake when they heard a sputter and a groan coming from their van’s engine. Apparently their trusted Honda Odyssey wasn’t really up to the odyssey. They found themselves stuck in an area with spotty service and sparse traffic, and while they managed to pull over to the side of the road and place a call to emergency services, they were unsure how to proceed from there.

Fortunately, Hashem had planted the seeds for their salvation a few hours earlier. Two frum businessmen from the East Coast had been on a sprint around the West Coast, running from meeting to meeting, and the last leg of their journey brought them to Nevada for a tour of a site they were considering purchasing. When their meeting ended a bit earlier than expected, they decided to take advantage of the four hours remaining until their flight home to take a drive around Lake Tahoe. While driving, they noticed flashing emergency lights — and a chassidish family stranded beside it in the blazing Nevada sun.

The two men exited their car, and immediately offered their assistance. One stayed with the disabled vehicle, while the other took the family to a convenience store nearby and treated them to cold drinks and ices. A mechanic finally showed up with a tow truck to haul away the van, but the family’s relief was short-lived when he said that he probably wouldn’t be able to look at the van until Monday. Immediately, one of the men pulled out his wallet.

“Here’s my credit card,” he said to the mechanic. “Please do whatever it takes to make sure this family has their van ready today.”

Surprisingly, the mechanic was suddenly able to find the time, and later that afternoon, a very relieved family had their van back on working order.

They’d set out to witness niflaos haBorei, but the chesed they experienced was testimony to a far greater wonder — the extraordinary chesed of one Yid to another, which burned with even greater intensity than the heat of the Nevada desert.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 926)