I was in Bangkok, Thailand when, Ronit, my husband's cousin, told me her
personal story. Before there was a mikvah in Bangkok, women would have to
travel down to the seaside and tovel themselves in the sea. Over 20 years
ago, the Lubavitcher Rebbe had instructed the four Jewish families living in
Thailand to construct a Mikveh. They took a long, long time obeying his wishes,
because they reasoned, "who would want to go to the Mikveh in this foreign
country?" Presently, thank G-d, the little Mikveh that is in the Chabad House in
Bangkok is used by immigrants, Jewish visitors, and many Israeli
families.
Anyway, going back to her story, Ronit would have to prepare
herself at home, travel down with her husband to the nearest seaside town called
Pattaya about 2 hours away, and with her husband driving the "Water-scooter", go
out into the sea and tovel herself, then make the return two hour journey.
This went on for a couple of years, until one day something very amazing
happened.
Ronit's time to go to the Mikveh came. As usual she prepared
herself at home, and with her husband, drove down to the seaside town. They
rented a water scooter, and went into the sea, a good way out to ensure
privacy. Ronit immersed herself into the sea, and then got on the scooter. Her
husband turned the key on the scooter, but the engine did not "take". He tried
again and yet again, many times, until they both realized - the motor was
dead, totally! They decided to try to swim for shore with great apprehension,
for as anyone who has ever swam in the Andaman Sea knows, the current is
extremely strong, and sweeps you out to sea without you even realizing it. "It
still did not register with us", she told me, matter-of-factly, "That we were
going to die! Suddenly, we saw that the current was driving us inexorably
towards a big, craggy rock formation in the sea. We realized that it was
basically all over for us. All I could think about was how my Mother's face
was going to look when they told her that her daughter was smashed to pieces on
the rocks!"
Faced with certain death, they both lifted up their faces,
raised their voices, and in unison, instinctively screamed out to Hashem "SAVE
US HASHEM!!! DONT LET PEOPLE SAY THAT WE GOT KILLED DOING YOUR
MITZVA!!
Suddenly, a strong wave came out of the blue and just brought them safely back to shore!! Hashem listened to their cries and saved them! "That was the month that I conceived", Ronit told me quietly and emotionally. "After two agonizing years of trying to have a baby, THAT month, Hashem finally let me conceive. The son I gave birth to, we called Doron "a gift". According to the pain is the gain.
Thank G-d, today, we do not have
to go into dangerous waters, with fear of the unknown, or travel 2 hours each
month to do Hashem's will. We can go to a warm, clean, safe Mikveh, with
inviting waters just ready for us with all the modern conveniences, and even
luxurious surroundings. But even if we had to go to a muddy hole in the ground,
we would do so in order to do Hashem's will, because He is our maker and He
knows what we need and what benefits us and our relationship with our spouse,
our children and Himself.