WE were directed to a certain professor at a Tel Aviv hospital. He reviewed our daughter’s case and met with us to give an assessment.

“Here’s the thing,” he said. “There is really nothing to do about this. Your child is suffering from an incurable ailment. Mark my words — this is going to be part of her life until her final day on earth.

“That said,” he continued, “I have two suggestions. One, you should bring your daughter to a professional who can help her learn to live with her hardship and learn how to react when children or adults make fun of her.”

He paused. “From a medical perspective, there isn’t really anything to do. A second idea is that she take a certain medicine normally used for other problems, but whose side effects might help improve her situation. I don’t recommend that you follow this course of action, since it will mean that she’d be taking lots of medicine for no reason. But if you feel there’s no other choice, then at least you now know of one possible option that could improve her muscle issues.”

We couldn’t possibly make such a decision on our own. We decided that this was a question for the gadol hador. We went to Bnei Brak and knocked on the door of Rav Aharon Leib Steinman on Rechov Chazon Ish. Eventually we were standing before Rav Aharon Leib in the incredibly austere apartment he called home. We laid out the situation and told him everything the doctor had said.

Then we asked if we should give our daughter the medication or not.

“Do not give her the medicine,” said Rav Aharon Leib.

He gave us his brachah, and we left the apartment and returned home, secure in our decision. And while we were happy about receiving a clear directive, we were still unhappy because our daughter was suffering, and there didn’t seem to be any way out. We needed a miracle and we needed it fast.

And then it was Elul, and we were staying in Sanhedria for Shabbos. On Friday night in shul, one of the most famous maggidim in the country, Rav Asher Druk, rose to speak between Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv. His message changed our lives .

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av Druk focused on the idea of teshuvah and davening. He explained that this time of year — and especially the time just prior to Rosh Hashanah and during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah — was especially ripe for davening to Hashem.

“Everyone sitting here is carrying a bundle on his back,” he said. “Everyone has something very hard for them, or a challenge they just don’t know how to deal with. I want to give you an idea.

“I know you’re davening to Hashem to send you a yeshuah. But there is a difference between davening for help once or twice a day, and davening for help over and over. During this time of year, one should daven to Hashem for help whenever he can. You and your wife should ask Hashem for help not once, not twice, but whenever you have an extra minute.

“If you’re walking to the bus stop, use that time to storm the heavens and ask Hashem for help. If you’re sitting on the bus and have some time, do it again. You and your wife are a team, and you should utilize every extra second to request a special dose of siyata d’Shmaya. Rabbosai, don’t be satisfied with a hundred tefillos. Go for ten thousand. Do it over and over again, because this is the time of year when you will very possibly see results.”

Rav Druk then shared the story of a bochur who had no cheishek when it came to learning Torah. Then he heard about this eitzah, and he decided to implement it in his own life. From that moment, increasing his tefillah became the focus of his life. He knew it was a temporary opportunity, and he went for it.

To his great surprise, when he returned to yeshivah after Succos, he found that he was actually looking forward to spending time with his Gemara. Everything had changed for him.

“The bochur called me to let me know what happened,” Rav Druk said, “but I can tell you that I speak about this idea every year during Elul, and every year, people call me to let me know what happened afterward.”

I left the shul that Friday night in a brand-new state of mind. Since I’d had the siyata d’Shmaya to hear the right message from the right person, I understood this was something that I needed to do. I shared Rav Druk’s words with my wife, and we decided to implement the idea immediately.

From that moment until Yom Kippur, my wife and I entreated Hashem to help our daughter at every free moment — on the way out of the house, in the elevator, on the way to the bus, and on the bus. We asked Hashem to help our child when we rose in the morning and at the end of Shemoneh Esreh and before we went to sleep at night. It was an eis ratzon, and we took full advantage.

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few weeks before Chanukah, my wife realized things were different.

“Did you notice she’s not making the kinds of faces she used to make?” she asked me. “They’re still there, but much less noticeable.”

In the weeks that followed, our daughter’s condition improved by leaps and bounds. By the time we were lighting the menorah on the first night of Chanukah, there was no sign of it at all.

I looked at my little girl and I recalled what the professor at the hospital in Tel Aviv had told us. Mark my words — this is going to be part of her life until her final day on earth.

In truth, he hadn’t been lying. Al pi derech hateva, her condition should have remained with her for the rest of her life. But we had asked Hashem for help over and over, during a time of great eis ratzon, and He had heard our prayers and acceded to our request.

Today, my daughter is an adult. If you met her, you would never dream she once had such a problem. She is baruch Hashem healthy in every way. But we know what happened. And we will always remember that Elul, and how we davened, and how we merited to break through the wall.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1078)