This moving story was reported in the Yated Neeman newspaper. It flashes upon the power of a Jew's thoughts of repentance, even moments before his death.

"To the editor of the column, a warm hello! After discovering your column, I decided to share this moving personal story, which will hopefully bestow merit on your readers. As I write these recollections, my eyes fill up with tears.

This story took place less than a year ago. In the middle of the night, I picked up a call from a dear Jew and close friend of mine who loves to do good deeds. From the tone of his voice, I realized there was an emergency. He asked me to go to Tel Hashomer Hospital at once." What’s going on? I asked. "An elderly and very sick woman is hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Her mind is still lucid but her condition is critical and she is enduring acute pain. The doctors decided, in agreement with her daughter, that they would administer strong doses of morphine to alleviate her suffering, but they warned the daughter that the high potency drugs might cause her mental disorders and loss of lucidity.

The girl asked her mother: "Mom,  as long as your mind is lucid, do you have any special request to make?"The mother replied: "Yes, I would like a Rav to visit me and bless me. This is my last request and it is important to me" "

The daughter, to our great regret, was not Torah and Mitzvot observant and did not know any rabbis, except this kind-hearted friend, who said to me: "You are a Torah observant Orthodox Jew. This is why I am asking you to visit this sick lady’s bedside, as the doctors are waiting for your visit before administering the treatment," he informed me.

I left all my occupations behind and quickly took the road to Tel Hashomer. On the way, I called my Rav for advice and asked him to guide me. What should I say to this woman on the verge of death? How should I behave?  The Rav answered: "As we know, nothing compares to a dying man’s thoughts on Teshuvah. Therefore, try to lead this lady in that direction, with kindness and inspiration, so she may earn the privilege of cultivating thoughts of regret and repentance."

He advised me to encourage her loved ones to ask her for forgiveness on behalf of the family. Then to suggest she do the same. Then, encourage her to ask forgiveness from the Master of the Universe, recite the Shema Israel, and if possible, also the Vidui verses.

As I arrived at the hospital, I was assailed by the strong smell of drugs and the sound of various machines. Besides, the sick woman's bed were her daughter, accompanied by her own son, a young secular man. They looked at me as if I had just landed from another planet, not really grasping what was transpiring around them. Nonetheless, they cooperated, to honor their mother’s and grandmother’s last wishes.  

The old lady was very happy to see me. She asked me to bless her. After the Bracha, I suggested to both daughter and grandson to take advantage of this crucial moment to ask forgiveness on behalf of the whole family. The grandmother granted a complete pardon. At that moment, I said to her: "I am persuaded that your entire family loves you very much. But nonetheless, in these moments, it is important that you too ask for their pardon, listen to their generous forgiveness, and be persuaded that they have nothing against you."

She accepted. I took the opportunity to inform her that at moments like this, the Divine presence dwells at the patient’s bedside. We are very close to Him, and it is really critical to seize the opportunity to ask forgiveness and express one’s regrets to God, praised be He.

You could almost feel the physical suffering she endured. In her agony, she began to cry and turned to the Master of the Universe to express her regrets and ask forgiveness. The daughter and grandson stood together in tears.

They were baffled to realize how close a person can be to the Master of the Universe in their last breathing moments and last remnants of lucidity. Then, she proceeded to recite the Shema Israel, and the verses of the Vidui with me, before finally asking me for a blessing.

Suddenly, the patient addressed her daughter and grandson and tearfully asked them to return to the Master of the Universe and amend their ways. Her eyes were inundated with tears. She bade farewell to her daughter and grandson. I was broken-hearted when I left the hospital, but happy to have had the merit of saving a Jewish soul.

I could not imagine the events that followed.

One week went by after another. After a month had transpired, I forgot that incident. One day, the same friend who had given me the responsibility to visit a dying lady at Tel Hashomer hospital called me. "Do you remember the old lady at Tel Hashomer hospital?” he asked. "Of course," I replied. "She died two weeks ago," my friend informed me, "I am now calling to ask you for another favor. Another friend, whose daughter is about to marry the old lady’s grandson, can use some help., The grandson had so far categorically refused to marry according to Jewish law, to the Kallah’s family great chagrin.

When it came to wedding his fiancee in a religious ceremony, he showed adamant opposition. After what happened during his grandmother’s final moments, he requested to be married by a Rav and would like to be coached on the Halachot of marriage,  but only through the Rav who witnessed his grandmother’s last moments at the hospital ... Here’s a new mission for you ", added my friend.

I was pleasantly surprised. The strength of a Jewish spark had impacted the grandson to start his married life and future family on a clean kosher slate, thus saving his future offspring and the generations to come.  

During the following weeks, I began to teach the laws of marriage to the young Chatan. Simultaneously, the young man was attending a framework of Torah study several hours a day. The light of the Torah was beginning to influence his style of life. The Kallah was also being coached by my wife. She introduced her to a wonderful Rebbetzin who taught her how to build a home according to Jewish law.

Finally, the wedding day arrived. So, on that fateful afternoon, I arrived at an elegant wedding hall in the center of the country to lead the Chuppah for the first time in my life. I also organized that a Rav, specializing in the laws of Kiddushin, stand with me under the magnificent Chuppah.

The heat was intense. The sun was starting to set and stars were beginning to appear in the sky. I stood in front of an unknown public, apart from the Chatan and his mother, and I got ready to speak before the actual religious ceremony.

I could hardly contain my emotions as I spoke. I told the family, most of whom donned disposable white Kipot, about the events that had transpired at the grandmother’s bedside in the hospital, her last wishes, how she had taken advantage of her last moments of lucidity to repent and get close to the Master of the Universe.

I added that thanks to the dying grandmother’s tears, her grandson had been impacted to agree to marry according to Jewish law and raise G.d-fearing descendants.

Despite the sweltering heat, a rain of tears had fallen on the assembly. The older guests could not restrain themselves and moan in a muffled voice. The Chatan and Kallah shed tears, and so did I.

Even now, as I write this story, I can’t hold back my tears. I thank Hashem for choosing me as the messenger for this prodigious act of loving kindness:  the last living moments of a Jewish grandmother, setting the cornerstone for the foundation of a Jewish home. Thanks to the merit of the eternal Jewish spark that never dies, thanks to the merit of a Jewish grandmother on the verge of death. Thanks to the merit of an act of loving kindness. "