Snowstorm On Fire

The year was 1956 in New Haven, Connecticut. And the great blizzard of 56 had hit the city. 25 ines of snow buried the streets and shut down schools and stopped traffic in its tracks. And you could imagine there were kids that were thrilled and sleds were flying down every hill and snowballs were being thrown. And even the adults ended up enjoying the unexpected time off from work. But inside one house, there was no joy, only worry. There was a woman named Beverly Liboitz. She had just given birth to her first and only son, and today was the day of his bris. And she had waited so long for this moment. And all night she had cooked and she baked and she set up her home. And she prepared every [music] detail for what should have been a joyous celebration. But as she peakedked out the window at the just endless white snow, her heart sank. would anyone be able to make it through the snow? Would anyone come at all? And she dove and then she hoped and she begged and please someone, anyone, let someone come. She didn't really have any family. Her closest friends lived very far away and the streets were all nearly impossible to navigate. The men she knew might make it for the minion. But but what about the women who would be there to share in her sim? The bris was called for 8:30 and it was 8:35 [music] and there's no one in sight. 8:40 and Beverly is still looking nervously out of the window. And 8:45 Beverly goes outside to see if [music] perhaps someone, anyone, was walking down the block as she squints her eyes and she does not believe it. Is that Judy Herman trudging through the snow? Judy, you live a mile away? I can't believe it. And Judy laughed with the snow clinging to her hair and her coat. Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss your son's bracelet. 100 ft of snow fell. And minutes later, Sarra Glick appears in the doorway. [music] Sar Glick, I don't believe it. You just had surgery and you walked in this weather. Are you serious? You walk? Nothing would keep me away from this bris. Sarah says. And then a minute later, Miriam Seagull walks through the doorway. Miriam Seagull, I don't believe it. You walked all this way. You live 2 and 1/2 miles from here. It's 12° outside. It's a blizzard. And Miriam [music] grinned. Beverly, I'd walk halfway across the world for you. And Beverly just stood there overwhelmed, and there's tears streaming down her face. And she embraces each friend that she waited so long for this son. And yet here were her friends sacrificing and risking discomfort and battling the storm just to be there for her. And her heart swelled with gratitude and love and awe. But the [music] story didn't end there because exactly 9 months from that day, the miracle of that snowy brisk unfolded in a way no one could have ever imagined. All three of those women had a baby boy on the exact same day. And that day, Beverly Leewitz that morning was repaying their kindness with attending three separate bristim of [music] the three women that showed up for her. Incredible that these three women who happened to have been the three women that [music] walked miles in the snow to attend their friend's bris remarkably all had a baby on the exact [music] same day 9 months later. Incredible. Now, listen to something else [music] even more incredible. These weren't just regular women who had baby boys on the same day. These weren't regular Bristen. Judy Herman, the woman who walked a [music] mile in the snow, had only girls, and had been longing for a son for years. Surlick, who just out of surgery walked to the bris, had two children, then struggled with second term infertility for 8 years. Miriam Seagull, the woman who walked [music] over two miles to the bris, was celebrating the bris of her first child after waiting and hoping [music] and crying for 10 years to have a child. 10 years, she says, [music] childless. And today was the bris of her child. You hear that? Each one of these women had endured struggle. [music] Each had their challenge. Yet, each one had chosen to act with love and loyalty and faith. [music] And in return, Hashem rewarded them with unimaginable blessing. Because that's the truth. Hashem isn't stingy with blessing. He's not hiding it. He's not holding it back. He wants [music] to pour it onto you more than you want it for yourself. But sometimes he needs [music] one thing from you first. Show up in the storm. Take one step [music] when it's freezing outside. Choose the right move when it's the hardest move. Prove to yourself that you're ready for what he's waiting to give you.