R' Pesach Krohn
Akiva and Naomi [not their real names], a young couple who live in New Jersey, called seeking advice and encouragement as they were going through trepidation and anxiety at a time when most couples feel euphoria and joyous expectations. Naomi was expecting in a month and she was afraid because of what had happened a year before. She had entered the hospital to have her first child, and all indications were that the birth was proceeding well. However, much to the young couple’s shock and distress, their baby was stillborn. The doctors were equally confused and confounded; they could find no reason that the delivery did not end with the birth of a live, healthy child as everyone had expected. Now that she was about to have this second child, they were looking for reassurance that what had happened before would chas veshalom not happen again.
They called various people for counsel and encouragement, as was understandable. I listened to their anguish and offered a suggestion that I felt would give them reassurance and hope. I suggested that they recite daily two specific chapters in Tehillim, 127 and 128, because of the pesukim therein. In 127:4, David HaMelech writes, Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of youth; in Chapter 128:3, he writes, Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the inner chambers of your home; your children should be like olive shoots around your table. I wished them well, recommended that they give tzedakah to a children’s cause, and encouraged them to keep davening that Hashem help them.
Not long afterward, Akiva called excitedly to inform me that, baruch Hashem, his wife had given birth to a healthy little girl; they were grateful and thrilled. As we spoke, Akiva, who was now more relaxed than when we first spoke, told me that he wished to expound on what had transpired after the baby’s death the year before. It was Shabbos morning; he was devastated and told his wife that he would daven in a nearby shul and return after davening. After davening, the shul hosted a Kiddush in honor of a new daughter born to Yaakov Shwekey, the popular singer who is a regular mispallel in that shul.
Despite being despondent, Akiva mustered his inner strength, walked over to Yaakov, and warmly wished him mazel tov. Akiva asked Yaakov if he could have a private word with him. Yaakov replied, “Of course.” When they were alone, Akiva told Yaakov what had happened the night before. “You can understand how broken we are,” he said. “My wife asked me to ask if there was any way we could both come to your home tonight, on the way home from the hospital, and you would sing for us, ‘Mammeh Rachel, Cry ….’ We need to cry and get out our tears. If you sing that song for just the two of us, it would help us so much.”
Yaakov embraced Akiva for a long moment and assured him that he and his wife could come after Shabbos as late as they wished and he would sing it for them. Akiva told me that Yaakov not only sang the moving song of, “Mammeh Rachel, Cry,” but afterward sang the touching song, “Racheim” from the Friday night zemiros, and other songs as well. Yaakov gave them some of his CDs and wished them well. Akiva and Naomi went home, encouraged and empowered to move on with their lives. Deeply moved by the chessed and the chizuk of Yaakov Shwekey, I wanted to use this story on one of my chessed recordings that I make for Rabbi Mordechai Groner’s Yeshiva Ateres Shimon.
However, I felt I could not do it without Yaakov’s permission. I called him, and despite his obligations and responsibilities, he returned the call within the hour. We discussed the incident and then I asked for permission to use the story for my recordings and this book. His reply was humbling and perceptive. Yaakov explained, “I do these things with the hope that I will get reward in the Next World. If, however, they become public, I could lose some of the reward for the mitzvah and that will minimize my eternal reward. I don’t want that to happen.” I was awed by his humility and perception. I complimented his sincerity but then said, “Yaakov, the reason you do beautiful things like this is because you heard and saw marvelous people like Mordechai Ben David, Avrohom Fried, Shlomie Dachs, and others do these same wonderful things. If I record and write about this episode, others will learn from you and do similar things for others in need. It can be a lesson for thousands that we should take the talent with which we are blessed and use it to enhance the lives of others. If others learn that from you, then I believe you will be assured of your abundant reward in the World to Come.”
If you heard the recording or are reading these words, you realize that he agreed. We are fortunate to have role models such as Yaakov Shwekey in Klal Yisrael. May Hashem grant all our families only simchah and nachas.
