There was a young man in his early forties who was very sick. He had a wife and children, and his condition was critical. The doctor told his worried wife, “I cannot risk operating unless you get approval from a higher authority. I fear he may not survive the procedure.”
The doctor expected her to consult a more experienced physician, but she had a different idea. She recalled that her husband had studied under Rav Moshe Feinstein in his youth and decided to seek his guidance.
When the doctor asked if she had consulted a higher authority, she replied, “I’m going tomorrow.”
“Which doctor are you seeing?” he asked.
“He’s not a doctor—he’s a rabbi,” she explained.
Shocked, the doctor said, “A rabbi? How can he decide on a medical matter?”
Confident, she responded, “You asked for the highest authority. To me, this is it.”
Intrigued, the doctor asked to join her. The next day, they visited Rav Moshe, who listened carefully to the details of the illness and the operation. When the wife showed him a photo of her husband from his yeshiva days, Rav Moshe recognized him and wept.
Moved by the rabbi’s genuine compassion, the doctor turned to the wife and said, “Now I understand. Someone who cares so deeply will be guided to the right decision.”
Rav Moshe advised that the operation proceed but added a spiritual prescription: the man should commit to saying every bracha aloud so others could answer amen. He explained that the gematria (numerical value) of amen is 91, the same as malach (angel). Every bracha answered with amen creates an angel, and these angels provide protection.
The operation succeeded, and the man recovered, fulfilling his commitment to say brachos aloud and encourage others to do the same.