Excerpting: “Miracle Baby” by Rabbi Yehoshua Frankenhuis. ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications. 2024. Hardcover. 284 pages. ISBN-13: 9781422642429.

(Courtesy of Artscroll) In 2017, Rochel Brandeis was 50 years old, with seven children. She never would have guessed that one year later she would become the rebbetzin of the venerated rosh yeshiva, Rav Zvi Keshelevsky, certainly not with the hopes of having another child. Here is her story, in her own words:

I was a single mother with seven children, only two of whom were married. It wasn’t the easiest time in my life; in fact, it was exceptionally challenging. However, I had already learned so clearly that the foundation of our avodah in this world is “va’ani, kirvas Elokim li tov — and as for me, being close to God is my good” (Tehillim 73:28), and I was constantly working on my emunah and bitachon. I would listen to shiurim that inspired me to not only keep going but to constantly strive for a higher level of avodah. I also focused on supporting Torah and talmidei chachamim.

Although I was able to give monetary support to talmidei chachamim, I yearned deeply to support and serve a talmid chacham as a wife. At my stage in life, and with seven children of my own, to most people this seemed an impossibility, an unreachable dream. Yet I was determined.

Towards the end of 5777, I was still doing everything I could to support the study of Torah, yet my dream of marrying a talmid chacham was simply that, an unreachable dream. Then one night, I was listening to a shiur delivered by Rabbi Mordechai Sitorsky, a talmid of HaRav Moshe Wolfson who spoke about the tremendous power of the upcoming year, 5778.

I was tremendously inspired by this shiur. It gave me hope that I would merit a great miracle in the upcoming year.

I increased my efforts to develop my bitachon but despite my hishtadlus and tefillos, I was not getting the suggestion I longed for. People were telling me to drop the dream.

Intellectually perhaps I heard, but my heart in rebuttal assured me, “Hayad Hashem tikzar — is the hand of Hashem limited?” (Bamidbar 11:23).

The year went by, and it was getting very close to the end of 5778, yet no yeshuah was in sight. In fact, I wasn’t redt even one shidduch. It took immense effort to keep going, to not give up, and to maintain emunah in Hashem.

The day before Rosh Chodesh Av was a Thursday, and it was quite an overwhelming time. Among other things, I was overloaded with laundry that needed to be washed before Rosh Chodesh. I also had to take my then ten-year-old son to have a cast removed. In my haste to get there, I tripped and fell down the stairs leading to the doctor’s office.

I sat up in a lot of pain. The orthopedist said I had torn a number of ligaments in my foot and probably had a few hairline fractures as well.

Somehow, I made it home. It was now Rosh Chodesh Av. It was also Erev Shabbos Kodesh, but with a serious injury I wasn’t able to prepare for Shabbos myself. I sat at my kitchen table with my foot elevated as my bar mitzvah bachur cleaned the house. I sighed at my fate and turned to look at my calendar, which was open to the week of Tu B’Av.

Some time before I had written in the square for Tu B’Av day, “B’ezras Hashem Yisbarach, Chasunah.” When I wrote it, I was pumped up with bitachon but now I laughed. It was Rosh Chodesh Av. There was no way that I would be married to a great talmid chacham in two weeks’ time!

Then I caught myself. “If you think that Hashem can’t marry you off to the biggest talmid chacham in the course of fourteen days,” I berated myself, “then you are an apikores! You may have worked hard on mussar, emunah, and bitachon, but do you still think that Hashem can’t make anything happen?”

I took my self-delivered mussar shmuess to heart and began working even harder on my Emunah, spending the entire Shabbos strengthening my belief in “Ein od milvado,” that there is no other besides Him and emerged from that Shabbos a different person.

That Motza’ei Shabbos, I received a phone call from Rabbi Paysach Krohn’s first cousin, Rabbi Yosef Krohn, and his wife, Ruthy. They shared with me that there was a rosh yeshivah who had expressed an interest in a shidduch, but he wasn’t willing to hear more about it until after Tishah B’Av.

However, things began to move more quickly than I or the Krohns imagined. I had recently added Rabbi Daniel Travis, a close talmid of Rav Zvi’s, to my shidduch resumé (though at the time I had no idea there was any connection), and Rav Zvi called him to inquire about me. Among other things, Rabbi Travis responded by showing Rav Zvi the preface I had written to his book “Praying With Joy.” Upon reading it, Rav Zvi declared, “This is my zivug!” (Of course, I only found out this part of the story afterwards.)

Though the prospect was incredible, it was a huge step to take, and there were many factors to consider. I was extremely passionate about marrying a great talmid chacham, yet it had never crossed my mind to consider a shidduch with a gadol b’Yisrael.

The following day, Sunday, I received a call from Rabbi Travis.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity that I know you have been waiting for,” he told me. “The Rosh Yeshivah is on a very lofty level. Among other things, he was the chavrusa of the Brisker Rav.”

I responded that I needed some time to think about it. And I wanted to speak with the author of “Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh,” Rav Itamar Schwartz. “Anyway, the Rosh Yeshivah doesn’t even want to look into it until after Tishah B’Av.”

Rabbi Travis replied, “No, he wants to meet sooner.”

“When?” I inquired.

“Tonight!” was the reply.

Read the book to learn more about their marriage less than two weeks later, the birth of Eliyahu a few years afterwards, and of the incredibly inspiring lives of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Kushelevsky.

Reprinted from ”Miracle Baby” by Rabbi Yehoshua Frankenhuis with permission from the copyright holder, ArtScroll Mesorah Publications.