Tatte, Tatte! | Avi Schnall

The Vilna Gaon had a dream his entire life of moving to Eretz Yisroel. Unfortunately, he was never able to fulfill his dream, but he encouraged many of his Talmidim and family members to go. And many of them did. One of the Vilna Gaon’s grandchildren decided to make the trip. In those days, making the trip from Vilna to Eretz Yisroel was a treacherous journey, and in many cases, the families would split into two. One parent going ahead with some of the children, and the other parent going afterwards with the rest of the children. The Vilna Gaon’s grandson was traveling with him and a son and a daughter. They’re on the boat, traveling in the great ocean, and a massive storm came and the boat capsized, throwing all of the travelers into the ocean. This grandson of the Vilna Gaon was swimming in the ocean, treading freezing cold water, with his son and his daughter that did not know how to swim. He grabs on to his son, he grabs on to his daughter and he begins to push with his feet towards the shore. After a few minutes, he realizes, no way he'll be able to make it holding on to two of his kids. And he has to let go of one. He makes a Goral in his mind and it falls on his daughter. She's the one he has to let go. He tells his daughter: Mamale, I love you, and we just have to do this. And right as he lets go of his daughter, she gives a scream, Tatte, Tatte! Save me! He hears his daughter screaming and he grabs her back and he says, Let's try one more time. Maybe I have a little bit more energy. And he pushes and pushes, and eventually, they make it to the shore. And the daughter and the brother and the father they all grab each other and they cry. And the daughter tells her father: Tatte, you saved my life. And the father tells the daughter: I didn't save your life. You saved your life. Because when a child screams: Tatte, Tatte! how could a father ignore it? We are faced today with challenges that are unprecedented. How do we survive? How do we make it through? Wherever we look in the world are temptations, enticements, things that lure us in. How are we going to make it? It's impossible. We just have to scream: Tatte, Tatte! and our father helps us, with Siyata D’Shmaya. We daven for it every morning, ולא לידי ניסיון that Hashem should protect us. Without it, we drown in the water. With it, we make it to the shore.