The miraculous shidduch of Shira's son

THE MIRACULOUS SHIDDUCH OF SHIRA'S SON Shira[1] recently contacted us to share the amazing story of her 30-something son, who recently got engaged after Shira decided to participate in Rav Eliezer Berland’s ‘Tikkun for Singles’, under the aegis of Rav Ofer Erez. Here’s her story, in her own words: “My son was already in his mid-thirties. He’d already finished the army and graduated university with a degree, and found a good job in Tel Aviv that paid him a lot but was very stressful, and he was working around the clock. “He’d been married before, when he was much younger. The marriage ended quickly, and after that it seemed as if a brick wall rose up to keep out his soul mate, whoever she was. “A few months ago, I saw an ad for Rav Ofer Erez’s ‘tikkun for singles’, so I thought to myself, ‘let’s do it!’ But money was tight in our household, and I didn’t think that my husband had any cash for the tikkun. So I started calling my other relatives, to see if they’d contribute.” Even though Shira’s relatives were observant Jews, they weren’t interested in contributing money to pay for the tikkun. Shira explains: “It’s not that they didn’t care about my son, God forbid; it’s just that they didn’t trust the whole idea. ‘It’s a scam’, they told me. They weren’t comfortable about paying any money to the Rav. I was very disappointed;  I really didn’t have the money myself.  Then I remembered I had a Breslov friend in the States, and I asked if she’d be willing to give me a loan. “It looked like that was going to work out, but then she told me she could only lend the money if I paid back by installments through a US bank account--and I didn’t have one. So again, I was really disappointed. “I decided to pray on it, and then I asked my husband if there was any way we could make the tikkun for our son. “Sure!” he said, just like that.  So we made the tikkun at the last minute.” But the challenges weren’t over. “They sent me the prayer for my son to read but, when I tried to give it to him, he said, ‘Why did you do that?!  Why did you waste your money?  Don’t give them my email address! I don’t want them bothering me.’  To this day I don’t know if he said the prayer or not. So I said the prayer at the specified time, just in case.” Shira didn’t hear anything for the next four months. She kept waiting and hoping that somehow the Rav’s tikkun would produce some result, but there was absolutely no sign of progress. “More than once, I wondered if I should ask for the money back,” Shira said.  “So I prayed on it and thought it would be good for the Rav to keep the money. “Strange things were happening all this time, but I barely paid attention.  My son suddenly moved to a new apartment, and found a job in a different city; he suddenly seemed interested in coming to shul and talking to God,” recalls Shira. “Just before Rosh Hashanah, my son brought someone home to meet me. The brick wall fell down.  What can I tell you? She is perfectly matched for him. He admitted they had met just a month after the tikkun, but he kept it a secret until he felt absolutely sure that she was the one. "A few last words:  His name is Shalom, and her name is Reut, which is interesting--because in the grace after meals at a wedding, we bless G-d and the couple with ten expressions of happiness and love, and the last two are peace and friendship. The Hebrew translation for peace is, as you know, Shalom. And the Hebrew translation for friendship is Reut."   [1] Names and some identifying details have been changed.