The Hidden Message

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At the last third Shabbat meal (Se'udat Shlishit), Rabbi Mordechai Machlis told the following story:

Every Shabbat morning, Rabbi Machlis has a Minyan (ten Jewish men) praying at the Kotel (Western Wall) and serves a light Kiddush (grapejuice and biscuits) afterwards. Then the Rabbi invites all people to his home.

Last Shabbat, however, he wanted to leave the Old City via Damascus Gate and walked through the tunnel out of the Kotel Plaza. At the army checkpoint a few meters far away, he was stopped and told that he cannot take the shortcut through Damascus Gate. Due to the Israeli air strike in Gaza, a walk through the Muslim Quarter would be too dangerous at the moment.

He went back and chose taking the other way through the Arab Shuk (Market) coming out at Jaffa Gate. But the second checkpoint sent him back as well. Finally coming out of Jaffa Gate via the Jewish Quarter, Rabbi Machlis met two families from New Jersey who were looking for a restaurant. He offered them to take them to his home for a Shabbat meal instead and the people agreed.

After the meal they came up to him, thanked him and said that this had been their first Jewish Shabbat ever.. Back in New Jersey, they are members of a reform temple and had never imagined that Orthodox Jews could celebrate so nicely and even talk to them (Reform Jews). In other words, the families were deeply impressed.

At the Third Meal, the Rabbi spoke about "Hashgacha Pratit - Divine Providence". G - d constantly rules our lives even if we don't understand the reasons why this and that is happening to us or why we necessarily have to meet certain people.
If the checkpoints had been open, the Rabbi would have walked home as usual and had never met these two families. But due to the fact that this and that had happened, he met them and this particular Shabbat in his house may have an impact on those people.