The Legs Hashem Gave Him

Rav David relates that about thirteen years later he was in Los Angeles when he heard that his father was in severe pain and in danger. Rav Moshe Aharon had been badly burned on Shabbos when he spilled a pot of hot water on himself. Rav David took the first flight to Tel Aviv and went straight to Hadassah Hospital, where his father lay almost unconscious. The doctors had just told him they had to amputate both legs, which had become infected with gangrene.

That night Rav Moshe Aharon told his son, "There is no reason to worry. The doctors will never be able to take the legs that Hashem gave me at birth. These legs always helped me do Hashem's will. They brought me from Morocco to the Holy Land and let me walk to shul day after day."

At the time of the operation, the surgeon noticed that the legs had improved. He turned to Rav Moshe Aharon and saw that the tzaddik's face was shining and an extraordinary light came from his eyes. The surgeon asked for all the test results, the newest and the oldest. The tests had been taken with great care and clearly showed severe gangrene in both legs, yet now the legs seemed completely healthy. The doctors called it a miracle.

Rav Moshe Aharon was brought back to his room, and when he woke he rose and paced the room, singing the hymns of Rav Chaim Pinto. He proclaimed the glory of Hashem, who had not let his legs be buried before him.

Rav David adds that Hashem is close to all who call upon Him in truth, and that He never left his father's prayers unanswered. It is well known that Hashem protects a person who is occupied with a mitzvah, and all the more so the mitzvah of Shabbos, for these were legs that had carried his father to shul on Shabbos.