Visiting My Father In the Hospital
After a series of tests, prompted due to memory loss symptoms, on Thursday, June 8th my father was unfortunately diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Needless to say, this hit my family and me like a ton of bricks.
Several days later, my father underwent surgery at New York Presbyterian - Columbia Hospital. The surgery was very successful, and Thank G-d, they were able to remove nearly 98% of the tumor. After recovering for several days he was moved to Rehab, where he was expected to spend anywhere between 10 to 14 days.
During a visit to see my father at Columbia, I struck up a conversation with one of the therapists – Matthew. As it turned out, Matthew was Jewish, but had never put on Tefillin in his life, though he was Bar Mitzvah’d on Long Island! After he was done working with my father, Mendel and I helped Matthew wrap Tefillin and we wished him a hearty ‘Mazal Tov’!
A few days later he shared that the night after he put on Tefillin, he had a dream of his grandfather showing him his own set of Tefillin… Matthew was deeply moved and thrilled by the whole experience.
After several days, the doctors were so pleased with the speed of my father’s recovery and he was able to return home to Brooklyn, earlier than expected. Thank G-d, my father continues to receive excellent medical care and we are delighted to see his daily improvements!
A few days after my father got home from the hospital, I ‘randomly’ heard the following story:
Back in the 80’s, Gershon Jacobson, who was the publisher of the Algemeiner Journal, suffered a minor stroke and was admitted to the hospital prior to Rosh Hashana. The following week, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was distributing sweet honey cake to many hundreds who lined up to meet the Rebbe and receive his blessings for the New Year.
When Gershon’s son, Simon, approached, The Rebbe said to him: “Please bring this honey cake to your father and tell him that he’s in the hospital with a mission. As soon as he accomplishes that mission, he will be discharged.”
As soon as Gershon got this message, he began speaking to the Jewish doctors and nurses about Yiddishkeit, offering Shabbat candles to women and Tefillin to the men, and generally helping those around him. Soon after, Gershon was discharged from the hospital and for years later, the family heard from people who were positively impacted by Gershon’s outreach efforts in the hospital.
This got me thinking about my father’s therapist, Matthew. Perhaps as soon as he was able to fulfill the Mitzvah of Tefillin for the first time, my father’s ‘mission’ at the hospital was completed, and therefore was able to return home earlier than expected… Who knows? 
Friends, it’s at times like these, that all the petty things that tend to create distance between people, melt away.
I encourage all of you to cherish the loving relationships in your life and take a minute to reach out to a parent, a sibling or friend and tell them how much you love them.
Thank you very much to all those who reached out with calls, emails or text messages. The friendship and the love means a great to deal to us.
Thank you as well to all who joined in prayer for my father, please continue to have him in mind as he proceeds with treatment, his name is Moshe ben Matil. 
Please G-d we will continue to see blessings and a complete recovery very soon!
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky