"Dad Will Walk Again": The Dream That Gave One Family Hope

It was Sunday morning, March 23, 2014 (21 Adar II, 5774). My parents were driving along Highway 4 toward Morasha Junction to take care of a few routine errands. My father was behind the wheel. At one point, he pulled over briefly to the side of the road before carefully merging back into traffic.

At that very moment, a distracted truck driver failed to notice their car and slammed into it from behind with tremendous force. The impact sent their vehicle tumbling several times before it crashed into the guardrail. The car was completely crushed. Its fuel tank was destroyed, and the roof collapsed inward.

When paramedics arrived, the wreckage was so severe that they initially feared no one could have survived. Both of my parents were unconscious, trapped inside the mangled vehicle.

Then, in the middle of the chaos, my mother's phone began to ring.

It was my brother calling. Somehow, the sound woke her from unconsciousness. She opened her eyes to find herself badly injured, bleeding from her head, which was pinned beneath the crushed roof. Around her, firefighters, police officers, and paramedics were desperately working to free them.

Then she looked toward the driver's seat and saw my father slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious and covered in blood.

Summoning what little strength she had left, she cried out to the rescue workers, “Leave me! Save my husband!”

Firefighters had to cut through the driver's door to free my parents. Both were rushed to Beilinson Hospital.

We, their children, received the devastating news and hurried to the emergency room. From outside the treatment area, we could hear our mother's cries as doctors stitched the wound on her head. Despite her own injuries, she kept begging them to save our father.

After hours of agonizing uncertainty, a senior physician finally came out to speak with us.

Our mother had suffered fractures to her nose, back, and ribs. But our father's injuries were far more serious. Several of his ribs were broken, his arm was shattered, and his left hip joint was severely damaged.

The doctors explained that he would need a complicated operation lasting more than six hours, during which metal plates would be implanted in his arm. They warned us that he was unlikely to walk on his injured leg again and that even regaining the use of his arm would require an extraordinary recovery.

We were devastated.

And there was something else weighing heavily on our hearts. My brother was getting married in just six months. More than anything, he wanted our parents to stand beside him and walk him to the chuppah (wedding canopy) on their own two feet.

At that moment, it seemed almost impossible.

Holding On to Faith When Everything Seemed Lost

In the midst of our fear and uncertainty, we turned to Hashem, praying for mercy and searching for ways to strengthen ourselves spiritually.

My sister immediately took upon herself the commitment to fully cover her hair and removed clothing from her wardrobe that did not meet her standards of modesty, dedicating this commitment as a merit for our parents' recovery.

Our family also gave generously to charity, and a group of ten avreichim (married men devoted to full-time Torah study) prayed for our parents every single day.

Then, while clearing our parents' belongings from the wrecked car, we discovered something that deeply moved us.

Inside the completely destroyed vehicle was a beautiful lulav, the palm branch used during the festival of Sukkot. In our tradition, a lulav is sometimes associated with a segulah, a spiritual practice or object believed to bring protection and blessing.

Finding it amid the wreckage felt like another reminder that Hashem had been watching over our parents.

But the moment that would remain etched in our memories came several weeks later, during the Hebrew month of Iyar.

Our father was scheduled for a crucial medical examination. The doctors would assess his recovery and determine whether he would ever be able to walk independently or would remain dependent on a wheelchair.

The night before the appointment, my sister had an extraordinary dream.

She dreamed of our late grandfather, who appeared to her, blessed our father, and told her, “Dad will walk on his own two feet.”

The next day, as we arrived at the hospital, something unusual happened. A light rain began to fall, despite it being Iyar, a time of year when rain is uncommon in Israel.

Remembering traditional beliefs about the special significance of rain during this season, we stepped outside with tears in our eyes and gently washed our father's injured leg with the rainwater.

Then we entered the doctor's office, our hearts pounding.

The doctor carefully examined the new X-ray. He studied it, looked up at us in surprise, and said words we will never forget.

“He can get up and walk on his own two feet.”

We could hardly believe what we were hearing.

After everything we had been told, after the terrifying accident, the surgery, and the warnings that our father might never walk again, the news felt like an extraordinary miracle.

And six months after the accident, our father did exactly what we had prayed he would do.

He walked his son to the chuppah, standing proudly on his own two feet.

The Miracle Our Father Wanted Everyone to Hear

For years afterward, our father never stopped speaking about what had happened. He wanted everyone to know the story of his survival and recovery, and he looked for every opportunity to share it with others.

He believed that publicizing the miracle would strengthen people's faith and remind them that even when a situation appears hopeless, salvation can come in ways no one expects.

But about three years ago, our father lost his ability to speak. To this day, we have no explanation for what happened.

The man who once told his story so passionately can no longer share it in his own voice.

And that is why we, his children, are telling it now.

We want to fulfill our father's wish and share the extraordinary kindness we believe Hashem showed him. We want others to hear how a man whose car was crushed beyond recognition, whose injuries seemed devastating, and whose future appeared so uncertain was able to stand beside his son on one of the most important days of his life.

Above all, we pray that the merit of sharing this story will stand in our beloved father's favor.

May Hashem, the Creator of the world, restore his ability to speak, return him to his former strength, and grant him a complete and speedy recovery.

Amen.