SALVATION FROM DEPRESSION

Seized by a feeling of tremendous panic, I started to scream. Then, with a mother’s instinct, I jumped under the wheels of the tractor…

Mrs. Ahuva Cohen is a longstanding resident of the Galilee settlement of Yavne’el, near the Holy City of Teveria. She’s been living on this yishuv for decades and has seen it in the best of times and the worst of times. There were leaner days when the local population consisted of only a few dozen families, while today the settlement has expanded exponentially and has grown far beyond anything ever imagined.

In recent years, the Chabad shluchim, R’ Shimon Schneersohn, and his wife Nechama Dina, came to live in the new Smadar neighborhood located nearby, and they immediately established a special connection with Mrs. Cohen and her children. She has become a vigorous supporter of the shluchim and their activities on the yishuv and in the surrounding area – and with good cause. When we asked her to tell us about the great miracle that she experienced with the Rebbe’s bracha, she began to tremble as she tried to find the right words. She admits that it’s not easy to remember those sad and difficult days. Yet, she tells this story at every opportunity, particularly to those Chabad chassidim with whom she meets and also to her friends and neighbors on the yishuv.

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“The Rebbe saved me, and who knows where I would be without his bracha? This story took place more than thirty years ago. My husband and I were a happy and content young couple. We already had two sons, and we raised them as any other young couple would care for their first children – with a lot of love and patience. What more could we ask for? I would spend several hours each day with our children, taking full responsibility for their educational needs, while my husband went out to work. Each evening, we would go out together and play with them in the courtyard.

“Around this time, we moved into a brand new home in the settlement’s new Smadar neighborhood. The land still looked like a big construction site. The building and renovations continued to press forward, as tractors and other construction equipment rumbled by carrying stones and gravel. The roads were still unpaved as the neighborhood slowly came into being.

“One evening, as we went out into the courtyard, the children began playing near a large tractor. I wasn’t overly concerned since the tractor was parked and its engine was not running. Thus, I felt that there was no reason to worry that something untoward would happen.

“Suddenly, the tractor started to roll in the direction of the children. Everything happened in a matter of seconds, and it was clear to me that if I didn’t do something immediately, the children would be crushed. Seized by a feeling of tremendous panic, I started to scream. Then, with a mother’s instinct, I jumped under the wheels of the tractor and pulled the children out. They were no less startled than I was, and they began to cry uncontrollably. I soon understood that my quick action had saved the children’s lives.

“Afterwards, I realized that G-d had made a great miracle for us. The gravel and large stones had stopped the tractor from rolling further down the hill. In the meantime, I had sustained some serious injuries all over my body. Boruch Hashem the children had been saved, but I was in deep pain. Neighbors and friends who arrived at the scene didn’t waste any time, and they quickly transported me to the hospital.

“That night, the doctors wrapped me in bandages from the waist up. I lay in bed, incapable of moving a muscle. I needed the help of family members and nurses just to eat. It was only during the period of my hospitalization that I truly realized what a tremendous miracle I had experienced. During my first weeks of convalescence, I accepted the physical suffering with love as I was thankful that my children had been saved. I knew that I had done what I could to protect them. I tried my best to deal with the situation, passing the time by reading. Numerous people – friends, neighbors, and family members – regularly visited me so I wouldn’t feel alone. However, as time passed, I became more and more depressed. I was in the hospital for seven months, virtually immobilized.

“What broke my heart more than anything else was that I desperately wanted to embrace and hold my children, but I was unable to do so. They often stood near me and cried bitterly. They wanted to get closer to me, but this was simply not possible because it might have aggravated my injuries. I became even more sad and downcast. Friends and family tried their best to cheer me up and get me to smile, but their efforts were not successful. Even when I wanted to laugh or be happy, I couldn’t seem to open my mouth. They eventually removed my casts, and my physical condition began to improve dramatically. However, my emotional state inexplicably worsened. I felt that I was getting further away from my children. I couldn’t love them the way I did in the past, and this deeply frustrated me. The great joy of life that I had prior to my injury had disappeared as if it had never been there. People hardly recognized me.

“Then one day, one of my friends in the neighborhood, Mrs. Sara Yuzan, heard about my situation and told me about her sisters who were married to Chabad Chassidim, one of whom lived in Kfar Chabad. She suggested that I let her write a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe on my behalf in request of a bracha. As I had heard much about the Rebbe’s greatness, I naturally agreed.

“She put me in touch with her sister, to whom I told everything what had happened. She faxed a letter to the Rebbe detailing all that I had gone through and asking that the Rebbe give me a bracha. If I hadn’t experienced it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it: The results were more powerful than anything I could have possibly imagined. As soon as the letter was sent, I started feeling better and my overall mood continued to improve. As the days passed, my long-lost joy for life slowly began to return. The symptoms of depression disappeared as if someone had awakened me from a deep slumber.

“Naturally, a letter with the Rebbe’s bracha eventually arrived, but the fact is that I had begun to come back to my old self long before then. I get chills every time I remember the story. Incredible as it may sound, even before the Rebbe answered my letter, everything started getting back to normal.

“Soon my most fervent prayers began to come true. I wanted to have another child and breathe some new life into our family. Then, a short time afterwards, I became pregnant and gave birth to our third child, a beautiful baby boy. We named him Eliran – as an expression of thanks to the Creator for giving us reason to rejoice with the birth of this child and sending us His messenger, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to perform these great miracles and wonders.”

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As Mrs. Ahuva Cohen concluded her story, she talked about her son and the great privilege that had come her way. “I speak about Torah and mitzvos to everyone I meet, and they all say that there’s nothing in the world like Chabad. I take care of senior citizens living in Kfar Tavor, located not far from Yavne’el, and I see the activities there conducted with great devotion and self-sacrifice by the local shliach, Rabbi Sholom Ber Freiman.

“Chabadnikim have a rare form of good heartedness. They are truly joyous people and they are for real. If only the Smadar neighborhood where I live would be filled with Chabad chassidim.”