The Night Our House Caught Fire—and Why a Torah Class May Have Saved Our Kids

In the magazine 'Hashgacha Pratit,' a kollel scholar shared the dramatic event that took place in his home, and the miraculous twist that followed. This is how he tells it: "I live in a mixed city in central Israel, and there are many teenagers from families that don't keep Torah and mitzvot who are thirsty for even a drop of Judaism. Some of the city's kollel men give of their time to bring these precious teens closer to their Father in Heaven. I, too, find myself standing in front of a group of teens and giving them a class in the Gemara. The class meets every Monday, from eight to nine in the evening, and, thank Hashem, I've been giving this class consistently for several years."

"The dramatic incident I'm about to tell you happened four years ago, on a Monday. I went out with my wife to shop in Bnei Brak. It's a necessary trip we make from time to time, because our city doesn't have the selection we need. My wife asked her twelve-year-old sister to babysit our five children, who are between two and seven years old, and we set out."

"The road is long, and it takes time to find the right items. It felt like a time jump, and suddenly it was seven in the evening—well before we'd finished our shopping list. And if it's seven now, that means we need to head out right away to make it to the class on time. There was also the option to get a substitute, and I mulled over who I could call to fill in for me. My wife noticed I was distracted and asked what I was thinking about. 'The class,' I answered. 'At eight there's a class at the synagogue, and I'm thinking of calling someone to replace me.' 'Why should someone replace you?' my wife asked. 'It's your class. It's your mitzvah. Why give up that merit? I think it's better to head home now.'"

"She was determined; she cared if I would miss teaching the class. I understood she felt it as a personal loss, so we did as she advised. We hurried to wrap up at the store and hit the road. The drive went smoothly—no traffic, no delays. Ten minutes before eight we were already near the house. I didn't even go upstairs; I went straight to the synagogue, two blocks from home. The teens had no idea how much I hustled to get there on time. I set up for the class, the boys gathered, and we began."

"Suddenly, in the background, we heard sirens. Not one ambulance and not two. We didn't get worked up about it; we're close to a main road, and ambulances and fire trucks pass by often. A minute later, someone walked into the study hall and said to me, 'There are a lot of ambulances near your house. May it be good news.' He said it in a calm voice, and we still didn't get excited. But after two or three minutes, someone burst into the study hall, agitated, and said urgently, 'Rabbi, your house is going up in flames!' At that point I understood my family needed me, and I ran home for dear life."

"Police stopped me in the stairwell. 'Who lives here?' one of them asked. 'I do—I just now heard what happened. What's going on?' I asked, panicking. 'A fire broke out in the apartment, and the firefighters already put it out,' one officer updated me. 'And where's my family?' I asked, and he answered that they'd gotten out.
I went to look for them and found the kids sitting on the sidewalk across the street—barefoot, shaken, scared—and completely safe and sound."

"My wife told me, 'When we got home at ten to eight, I sent my sister on her way, and then I suddenly saw thick white smoke coming out from under the closed living-room door. I immediately gathered all the kids from their beds, and we went out. I also alerted the neighbors to get out and called the fire department.' I started thinking about what would have happened if I'd given up today's Torah lesson... Most likely the script would have looked completely different: the twelve-year-old girl would have noticed the smoke and opened the living-room door to find its source. She could have been harmed by inhaling smoke—and who knows if she'd have had the strength to save my children..."

"We experienced a miracle! Hashem saved my children from death to life—literally! The house was a total loss; what the fire didn't consume was damaged by smoke and water. That night we stood there with nothing—but healthy and whole. A whole family saved in the merit of learning Torah," he concludes, moved.