G’VURA TURNED TO CHESED IN SPRING VALLEY

Total chaos reigned everywhere. Women and children screamed in fear as they attempted to flee the scene. Emergency forces sent for a medical helicopter and everyone prepared for the worst. Just two days earlier, her father had received an answer from the Rebbe about “g’vura sh’b’g’vura”, which would become a source for strengthening the bracha, and how the “right approach” would transform the Divine severities into kindnesses. In an exclusive interview with Beis Moshiach, Rabbi Yehuda Kubalkin reveals the amazing miracle covered in the media throughout the New York City metropolitan area.

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

“IN REPLY TO HIS LETTER FROM ‘G’VURA SH’B’G’VURA’”

On Sunday, the 25th of Iyar, when R’ Yehuda Kubalkin of Crown Heights asked the Rebbe for a bracha in a certain matter, receiving a reply in Igros Kodesh, Vol. 19, pg. 274, he didn’t understand the profound meaning concealed within the answer.

“In reply to his letter from ‘g’vura sh’b’g’vura’ and afterward,” the Rebbe wrote, “may it be G-d’s will that the aforementioned will be as is explained in Chassidus in numerous places regarding the Divine severities, the concept of which is ‘a strengthening of the bracha,’ and according to what is written, ‘May G-d give you from the dew, etc.,’ specifically from the name Elokim, as per the expression, ‘the might of the rains’…

“With a blessing for good news, and in particular as we approach the week of the S’fira of Tiferes, which is comprised of both Chesed and G’vura, the ‘right approach’ will be the determining factor, and on the contrary, it rises more than does the ‘right approach’ on its own.”

He was happy to receive the Rebbe’s answer regarding “a strengthening of the bracha” and how “the right approach will be the determining factor.” While he didn’t see the Divine Severities, he never could have imagined in his darkest nightmares the ‘g’vuros sh’b’g’vuros’ that his family would encounter during that week, and how much they would need the Divine attribute of stern judgment to be transformed into Divine Mercy in that fateful hour…

THE GLASS DOOR SMASHED, AND THE MINIVAN ROARED IN

Two days later, as on every Tuesday afternoon, R’ Yehuda’s wife walked with their children to 770 to participate in the weekly rally organized by Mrs. Yedida Flint for Crown Heights youngsters in the women’s section of Beis Chayeinu. The children said the Twelve P’sukim, T’hillim, and gave tz’daka – all those things that protect a Jew in distress.

At that very same time, forty miles from Beis Chayeinu, their older sister was standing with their aunt near the front counter at the entrance to the Finkelstein Memorial Library in the charming city of Spring Valley, New York, just east of Monsey.

It was 7:43 p.m. They were speaking with the librarian, and behind them sat about fifty people – men, women, and children – including many Jews who had come to enjoy reading the library’s numerous Jewish books and other essential learning texts.

All of a sudden, the silence was broken by the roaring sound of a car engine. A split second later, the library’s glass door shattered with a thunderous smash, and a black Toyota RAV4 SUV stormed into the reading room, dislodged the front counter from its place, and sent it flying together with the woman and her niece. As they were sprawled on the floor, the front counter landed on top of them with a crash. Then, the SUV, weighing over four thousand pounds, slammed onto the counter. After thirty feet of total destruction, the car came to a complete stop.

On the security cameras that caught those chilling moments, you can see the vehicle entering the library parking lot, intensifying in speed, passing between two cement pillars designed to prevent such an occurrence (yet irrationally placed in a way that it left a gap large enough for a vehicle to pass between them…), smashing the glass door into thousands of pieces, pushing the counter onto the women, and finally stopping on the counter and threatening to crush them at any moment r”l.

R’ Yehuda’s daughter was trapped by the section of the counter underneath the car, while her aunt was stuck by the other half that hadn’t been crushed by the car wheels. The counter itself was quite heavy, and the aunt wasn’t able to free herself at first. She cried “Shma Yisroel” and began to think about her children… Suddenly, she felt infused with an unearthly strength, and she managed to lift the counter slightly and get out from under it. However, her niece was still pinned underneath the counter and the SUV.

Another video clip, taken from the second floor staircase, shows those first seconds after the accident. With sirens and broken glass in the background, mothers screamed hysterically for their children to be careful, trying to direct them toward the emergency exits. Several women looked on with increasing horror, as they noticed the girl’s legs sticking out from under the vehicle and desperately called for help. Total chaos.

TWENTY MINUTES OF ANXIETY

At first, the director of the library was certain that this had been a suicide attack, causing numerous fatalities. The frightening scene left little room for much hope.

Ambulances quickly arrived at the location. There was one special paramedic unit that immediately got to work on lifting the heavy vehicle, using expanding air cushions to extricate the young girl trapped underneath. As the other injured cried for help, the firefighters moved quickly and with tremendous care to raise the car.

Hatzalah teams also came to offer their assistance. Arriving within a few minutes after the call went out, the first volunteers made a speedy appraisal of the situation. After surveying the dreadful scene, including the fact that a fifteen-year girl was still trapped under a minivan, they immediately sent for a medical helicopter. The nearest hospital was forty minutes away by car, and in such emergency cases, time is of essence and every delay is critical.

Meanwhile, the paramedics treated another five injured people, including the girl’s aunt, who escaped the incident with only minor cuts and scrapes.

After twenty minutes of terrifying fear and anxiety, the rescue forces finally succeeded in lifting the huge vehicle. Those present were prepared for the worst, after the girl had spent so much time under the crushing weight.

There are no words to describe their shock when they saw the girl lying among the remains of the splintered wood-and-glass counter – completely whole and totally injured! Not even the slightest scratch – nothing!

The local media repeatedly showed the heart stopping videotapes from the security cameras at the moment of impact. They emphasized that there was only one word to describe such an event – Miracle! The stunned field reporters told their viewers about the amazing incident, interviewing witnesses who expressed their astonishment over what had happened before their very eyes.

After seeing the miraculous aftermath, Hatzalah volunteers realized that there was no need for a helicopter, and they ordered the pilot to return to the airfield. They transported the girl and her aunt to the hospital for a comprehensive series of tests. The girl remained there for two full days, while the doctor ran every form of medical examination to rule out any possibility of injury. On Friday, she was finally released, as the doctors summed up the entire incident as an incredible miracle.

THANKING G-D FOR THE MIRACLES

During those fateful moments, R’ Yehuda’s wife was escorting their children back from the rally in 770, without the slightest idea that her daughter was in terrible danger, pinned under a car that could possibly crush her r”l.

After they arrived home the children wanted to phone their sister. Mrs. Kubalkin called her sister’s house in Monsey, and asked if she could speak with her daughter. Her nephew answered the phone, and he said that she and her mother weren’t home.

From the tone of his voice, she realized that something was wrong. “What happened to them?” she asked nervously. “I don’t know exactly,” he replied. “My father came in the house, but he left right away. Everything appears to be all right…”

A few minutes later, she called her sister’s house a second time. The children answered, and they called their grandmother to the phone. She heard the grandmother speaking to someone on another extension. In a voice on the verge of tears, the grandmother cried, “My whole body is shaking…” Mrs. Kubalkin now knew that something terrible had happened. After a few seconds, the grandmother took the phone. She briefly updated Mrs. Kubalkin that her daughter and sister had been involved in some sort of accident, but she knew nothing more than that.

Mrs. Kubalkin quickly called her brother-in-law’s mobile number, and got through to him at the hospital. This was after all those injured in the accident had completed their preliminary tests in the emergency room. Thus, together with the frightening news about the incident at the library, he could also tell the worried mother about the incredible miracle that had taken place. “The Hatzalah crew couldn’t believe it. They said that they had never seen such a frightening incident end in such a tremendous miracle,” the brother-in-law said.

*

At a Chassidic farbrengen on Shabbos Parshas B’Haalos’cha at the Frankel Shul in Crown Heights, the girl’s father, R’ Yehuda Kubalkin, stood up and fulfilled the Rebbe’s instructions on publicizing miracles that we experience, and then thanking G-d for the miracle as a means of hastening the Redemption.

With great emotion, he told the story of what had happened to his daughter, emphasizing that everything was connected to the reply he had received from the Rebbe just two days earlier about transforming the Divine Severities into Divine Kindness and Mercy!