Power of a Mitzvah
Leah’s Story as told to Sara Klarberg
Our Brachos Campaign had been going strong for months now. As a zechus for a Yid in jail, high school girls all over the US committed themselves to saying brachos out loud, reading them from a siddur or a card, and trying to get as many people as possible to say amen.
Each day, we also got a call from a hotline, teaching us a new halacha regarding brachos so we could keep doing better.
I was at home with my 8-year-old sister, Shevy, and about to eat, so I asked her if she would say amen to the bracha I was about to make.
“Sure,” she said, “I can do that. But, does it actually help? Will my amen really help this person get out of jail? How do you know it works?”
“Every mitzvah helps,” I reassured her, knowing all that I had learned about the incredible power of brachos, amens, and mitzvos in general. “Hashem is watching and listening to everything we do.”
I made the bracha, and Shevy answered “amen.”
And then my phone rang. It was the hotline with the daily halacha… but tonight the call began differently.
They were sharing amazing news! The sentence of a particular Yid had just been shortened. Baruch Hashem! Such amazing news.
I quickly shared the news with Shevy, wanting her to feel the incredible impact of the mitzvah she had done.
I know it’s not always like that. Mitzvos don’t usually set off phone calls that show results a minute later. But Hashem is always keeping track. And this was a gift from Him, the chance for me and Shevy to witness the incredible power of a mitzvah!
What I learned:
Hashem listens to every amen and every word we say to Him, and He sees every mitzvah. When he occasionally sends a clear message that shows He is there, that is Hashem’s way of saying “I am ALWAYS here, even when you don’t see Me.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 80.
