Hear O Israel

From chabadworld.net

Rabbi Moshe Stern, Rabbi of the Shaarei Tefillah congregation in

Toronto, Canada, related the following story.

 

"One of my first rabbinic posts was in Birmingham, Alabama. While living there my curious two-year-old daughter managed to reach the container of cotton swabs and inserted one deeply into her ear. We were devastated when the doctors informed us that she had apparently suffered permanent loss of hearing. She underwent two compli­cated, but unsuccessful operations to repair the damage. 'There is nothing more we can offer,' the specialists said.

"We asked the Rebbe for a blessing. Surprisingly, he suggested that we check our mezuzos, especially the one in the child's room. Only a few weeks earlier I had purchased excellent new mezuzos for nearly every room in our house.

"I removed the mezuzah, but there was no need to have it checked professionally. The very first word, Shma – translated as 'hear' - was defectively written."

"The Rebbe also advised us to search for a doctor in a different city to continue the treatment. We discovered a doctor of interna­tional renown in Memphis, Tennessee.

"After the 'hearing' of the mezuzah on my daughter's door was repaired, the doctor performed an operation that enabled her own hearing to improve."