6 | MARCH 9 • 2023
1942 - 2023
Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week
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PURELY COMMENTARY
L
ast summer, I participated
in a CTeen (Chabad Teen)
Israel program. The trip
was created to bring Jewish teens
together from all around the
country to travel to Israel. It last-
ed a whole month, and, oh, was
it fun! I met so
many new friends
from across the
USA and we made
a lot of memories.
Ironically, this trip
might not have
been something I
was initially excit-
ed about, and yet it became the
greatest vacation I ever had.
It was on this trip that I heard
an interesting story from one of
my counselors, PK. (Whether
it was true or not I cannot say,
since the story is not mine, but
it did have a very meaningful
message.)
The story is about PK’s rela-
tive, — Uncle? Grandfather? I
don’t remember — who lived in
Russia long ago. When he was
about 18 years old, he was draft-
ed to fight in the war. One time,
he was sent to the front lines,
ordered to operate a machine
gun and tasked with firing on
enemy lines. Some time passed,
and then he heard a gruff, strong
voice behind him saying, “Hey,
you!” The poor and afraid Jewish
boy turned around to see a tall
and young fellow Russian sol-
dier. This man must have been
referring to him since their eyes
connected like magnets.
The words: “You stupid Jew,
that’s not how you use a machine
gun. Get off there and let me
show you how it’s done!” came
out of the soldier’s mouth.
Hearing these words of hate,
PK’s relative could have held on
to a feeling of pride and rejected
the Russian soldier’s proposal.
How could someone dare to
scoff at his methods, allegedly
because of his heritage? It was
insulting, to say the least. The
temptation was itching at his
tongue and hands to do some-
thing about it. However, he
decided that there was no good
outcome from escalating the sit-
uation and allowed the soldier to
take his place.
What followed seemed like it
came from a movie. PK’s rela-
tive walked some distance from
the soldier and the gun, when
he heard an object fall onto the
ground and then some kind
of rolling sound. Every soldier
knew not only what this sound
came from, but also that an
ear-piercing explosion followed
it. Somehow, PK’s relative was
able to turn around and witness
the aftermath of the explosion
without sustaining a single cut.
There, he saw the soldier who
took his place at the machine
gun, now heavily injured and
yelling out in terrible pain.
Call it Divine providence,
karma or crude timing, but
many people would agree that
this sudden ending would have
no chance of happening at all,
right? But it did. It must have
happened. The fact that this
story could have no chance
of being believed means that
nobody would have imagined it
in the first place, let alone told
it to a live audience. And yet I
heard it.
Judaism believes that there
is a Divine justice that exists
in the world, one that is not
affected by differences in time.
Knowing that every action has
a consequence, it can be fur-
ther deduced that behind every
consequence and action, there
is a reason behind what caused
it and why it happened, and it
has a lot to do with the morality
of the action. However, like this
story, some consequences come
around coincidentally.
Eliyah
Fradkin
student’s corner
My Opinion on Divine Providence