A Hollywood movie could not have a better ending. What were the chances that a boy from a national religious background would be seriously injured in a terror attack and within a year he would be standing under the Chupa with a graduate of a Chareidi Benei Berak seminar? Only Divine Providence could bring about such a remarkable match, but in this case the circumstances themselves helped to bring the couple together.
On 21.1.15 Daniel Falach got on to bus no. 40 from Bat Yam to Tel Aviv as he did every day. A terrorist got on the bus and started stabbing passengers indiscriminately. Daniel was stabbed in the back and very badly injured. He lost a lot of blood and doctors almost despaired of his life. However Daniel fought hard to survive and even though he lost one kidney he made a full recovery.
Meanwile in the city of Petach Tikva, north of Tel Aviv Natalie Banker discovered to her surprise that Daniel ben Yaffa for whom she was praying every day was none other than Daniel Falach who had been her protégé in Benei Akiva fifteen years earlier. Natalie who gives a regular Torah lesson, shared the information with her students and asked them to pray for a speedy recovery for Daniel. One of the students, Talya Peles, took the story to heart and even began arranging special prayers and Tehillim gatherings for the recovery of Daniel, even though she had never met him.
Daniel himself who had worn a knitted Kippah until his injury and worked in an insurance company, became more religious during his recovery and decided to wear a black hat. He was also on the lookout for a wife and when Natalie Banker reestablished her connection with him he asked her if she had any ideas for a helpmate for him, as he was already 27 and not yet married. Even before he was injured Daniel had been frustrated that he had not found his preordained helpmate and it was even harder for him to believe that he would find her after he had been so severely injured. He describes it as a “battle of the mind” to persuade himself to get up and continue life as before.
Natalie told her students about the resilient boy who had recovered from his wounds and independently, one of Talya's friends suggested that she meet Daniel. The two discovered that besides the mutual attraction, Daniel was the one for whom she had been praying for his recovery. They were also born on the same day 7 years apart and had many other things in common, but it was clear that they would never have met if Daniel had not decided to strengthen his level of religious observance in the wake of his injury. Daniel feels that he has received both his life and his wife from G-d in the merit of his willingness to fulfill Mitzvot in the best possible fashion.
