"There will be no plague among them when they are counted. This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting. (Shemos 30:12-13)
Shabbos Is the Cure
Reb Hillel from Poritch, zt"l, travelled from town to town trying to educate yidden in the ways of the Torah and Mitzvos. He would try and inspire entire communities to be more devout yidden and inspire those who were distant to become close.
When the Rebbe was in a particular town, he learned that many of the Jewish owned taverns were open on Shabbos. Extremely disturbed by this, the Rebbe organized a meeting and invited all of these Jewish owners to attend. The Rebbe wanted each of them to commit to close their taverns on Shabbos.
However, the owners explained that they were in a very competitive business. They understood how precious and important Shabbos is, but they were worried that if they closed, they would lose some of their regular customers to the largest tavern who was owned by the wealthiest owner who was not present at the meeting. If that owner agreed to close on Shabbos, they would too.
The Rebbe sent a messenger to summon this owner. However, the owner aware of the purpose of the meeting, refused. Another messenger was sent and was met with the same result. This happened a few times: the Rebbe asking for the owner to come, and the owner refusing.
The Rebbe decided to stay in this town for Shabbos and continue to reach this owner.
During Shabbos, this wealthy business owner felt a sudden pain in his stomach. The pain became so intense that he was unable to hold back his cries of agony. By lunchtime, the pain was unbearable and out of desperation his wife ran to see the tzadik, Reb Hillel, who was sitting with a large crowd of chassidim. She burst into the room, crying hysterically, she asked the Rebbe to daven for her husband.
The Rebbe was silent.
One of the chassidim who was sitting there asked the Rebbe: why doesn't the Rebbe explain to this woman that on Shabbos one is not allowed to say a specific prayer for someone who is sick and then offer her the language that is allowed, as our sages taught (Shabbos 12a), "Shabbos you shouldn't cry out and heling is soon to come."
However, the Rebbe remained silent, and woman returned home to her husband who kept becoming increasingly ill with each passing hour.
On Motzei Shabbos, the Rebbe was having a Meleva Malka with his chassidim when the door slowly opened, and the same woman entered looking exhausted from concern. She said, "Rebbe, my husband's condition continues to worsen. Please, can you give me a bracha for his recovery?"
This time, the Rebbe was not silent He blessed the woman quoting the gemara: "Shabbos you shouldn't cry out and heling is soon to come."
The chassidim were perplexed. On Shabbos, when that specific language was appropriate, the Rebbe was silent. After Shabbos, when you are allowed to say a specific blessing and prayer for someone who is ill, the Rebbe used this language reserved for Shabbos!?
The Rebbe, without being asked, explained: Shabbos feels a deep anguish and cries out in pain over every single yid who desecrates her holiness, God forbid. Even though Shabbos is the source of all blessings in one's life, it can also bring tremendous hardships to those who are careless about their observance. The pain Shabbos feels can manifest as suffering in the lives of those who trample on the respect and holiness of Shabbos. However, when someone returns to Hashem and begins keeping Shabbos once again, that anguish ceases, that suffering alleviates, and healing is close at hand. This is what Chazal's language means: "Shabbos you shouldn't cry out" – when Shabbos stops to cry, because the person stops violating the laws of Shabbos, when they stop working, driving, cooking etc. on Shabbos, then "the healing comes quickly."
The Rebbe than turned to the woman and said, "If your husband promises to keep Shabbos completely, then the Shabbos' cries will cease, and your husband will have a full recovery."
The tavern owner promised to begin keeping Shabbos, and his pain disseminated, and he was cured.
A Promise to Keep
We have seen thousands of similar stories throughout the generations people went to a tzadik seeking a blessing for a physical cure to a particular ailment or illness and that Tzadik prescribing that the yidden need to become Shabbos observant as a prerequisite of the blessing And, these yidden who became Shomer Shabbos saw their illnesses cured long after even the doctors had given up.
It is worth mentioning a story that I had once heard from a reliable source who had heard this story directly from R' Yisroel Zupnick. The wife of one of R' Yisroel's business associates in Chicago became gravely ill. Even though this couple were not observant Jews, they asked R' Yisroel to go to the Rebbe, R' Menachem Mendel of Strapkov, and seek a blessing for his wife's health. The Rebbe lived in Williamsburg and was known for his miraculous brachos. When R' Yisroel went to the Rebbe he instructed that if they want this woman to have a full recovery, they must agree to become Shomer Shabbos. They couple reluctantly agreed, and the Rebbe blessed them. The man's wife had a full recovery. After a short time, the Rebbe instructed R' Yisroel to see if they were keeping their promise. R' Yisroel called the couple in Chicago, and they told R' Yisroel that they had decided that being Shomer Shabbos was not for them. The woman's illness returned, and she became gravely sick.
Our Parsha
This is what the pasuk is alluding to in our Parsha: "..then there will be no plague among them when they are counted..." – no sickness or plague will harm the Jews as long as, "This they shall give" - The word "this" is alluding to keeping Shabbos. The Hebrew word for "this" is זה , which is numerically equivalent to 12. The Mitzvah of keeping Shabbos is mentioned 12 times in the Torah. Shabbos is the source of all blessings and cures in the world. When someone is distant from Hashem and His Torah and mitzvos, he needs to first begin with being Shomer Shabbos.
By connecting to Shabbos and protecting its sanctity with its observance, a yid can connect to that powerful source of blessings which will permeate every detail of his life.
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