Recently I have been in the market for an external hard drive for my computer. Last week I received an email from a local computer store for 66% discount on a 2 terabyte drive. I thought this was great and a few days later, I went to the store to buy it.

When I got to the store, I grabbed the last drive they had and went to the cashier with my coupon. The manager came over and said the coupon was no good, that it was sent in error. I became a little upset and the manager told me that I was the 5th person that day to be upset. The other 4 walked out without the drive. I asked to talk to her boss, the regional manager. She called him on the phone and we talked. After a few minutes, we figured out that there was a misunderstanding. The reason the coupon was no good was because the company had decided to discount the drive 66% as a clearance item – essentially saying that one did not need a coupon to get the coupon price.

Once it was clear that I was not asking for a discount on a discount, and that I just wanted to pay the coupon price regardless of how they wanted to ring it up, everything went smoothly.

After I bought the drive and was getting up the nerve to go out into the pouring, cats and dogs, rain that was coming down in big buckets, I marveled about the little miracle I had just received: 4 other people had shown up that day to buy that last hard drive. And somehow, haShem (god) had set things up so that they were unable to buy it, and gave me the key to purchase it. How unlikely is it to have 4 other people come into a store to buy the last item, the item you want, and not buy it, and leave it for you? When was the last time such a thing happened to you or to someone you know?

Does such an event not qualify as a miracle? Could anyone else but haShem have orchestrated it? I think not, and so I am only left with believing that god exists and that god is active in this world, even today, and is looking out for me.

And that is a warm and cozy feeling. Shabbat shalom everyone, and many blessings. 🙂

About the Author

Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.