Although Ya'akov lived one hundred forty seven years, most of his life was in pain and suffering. His last seventeen years, however, he lived in tranquility in Egypt with all of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He saw them multiply and prosper and serve Hashem the way he had trained them.

This goes to show us that one should never give up, even when times are extremely bad, for he never knows what the future holds in store for him.

Rabbi Zilberstein shlita meets regularly with a group of doctors, to discuss medical issues according to Halacha. In his book, Borechi Nafshi, he relates a story that a Chief Professor in Tel Hashomer's rehabilitation department told.

"A soldier, who was seriously wounded by terrorists in the south of Israel, was mistakenly brought to my department. I immediately called the head of the Neurosurgery department and asked him to rush over and accept the patient who belonged to him. However, the doctor asked for a description of the patient's condition. When he heard the situation, he replied that as far as he's concerned, this soldier is dead and there is no reason to come and get him. There is simply no hope for him. As hard as I tried, I could not convince him otherwise.

"I had no choice but to work on the soldier myself, with the limited instruments I had available. With Hashem's help, I succeeded in stabilizing his condition and then other doctors took over.

"The bottom line is that today that soldier is married and has 5 children, all of them religious, and anyone who meets him doesn't notice anything wrong with him except for a slight limp.

"But the interesting thing is that within 30 days, the head of the department who refused to accept that soldier, suddenly died!

"I cannot speak for Hashem," the Professor said, "but I think the lesson is that we must always try to save someone's life and never give up. For if we neglect someone else's right to live, then we can not be sure about our own."

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