On the first night of the holiday, after the prayers, they decided to visit the neighborhood where the newly arrived immigrants lived, in the hope of encountering relatives or acquaintances. While walking through the street, something attracted their attention. Through the window of one of the shacks they saw a woman lighting Yom Tov (festival) candles. They noticed that next to her a man with a radiant, joyful face was lying in a bed.
"We saw the presence of G-d hovering over their house," they would say later. This was the reason they decided to knock on the door.
When the strong emotions of the reunion had calmed, Mrs. Sabo turned to Rabbi Chaim Moshe. "Why didn't the rabbi go to the synagogue on the night of Rosh Hashana?"
"To my great regret I cannot walk," answered the rabbi softly, with quiet acceptance of the bitterness of his fate. "I do not have the means to hire people to carry me to the shul."
Seeing Rabbi Chaim Moshe laying on his sickbed broke Mrs. Sabo's heart. She immediately decided she would do all in her power to help him and cheer him up.
The couple's faces became somber. "What can we do for you?" Mrs. Sabo asked generously. The rabbi's answer surprised her.
"I know that if I can go to Meron to pray at the tziyun (burial place) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, I will be healed."
The decisiveness with which these words were said convinced Mrs. Sabo to fulfill his request. She asked her husband to pay for the ride to nearby Meron [15 minute drive]. "We will make every effort, even if it is only to make the rabbi feel better!" she stated assertively.
The couple arranged the trip with alacrity. The day after Rosh Hashana, on the Fast of Gedaliah, they hired an ambulance with four male nurses who would assist the Rabbi in reaching the tziyun.
When Mr. and Mrs. Sabo together with Rabbi Chaim Moshe, Pearl and the others arrived in Meron, emotions were high. "Please bring me to the holy tziyun and leave me there by myself," requested the Rabbi.
He spent a long time there, praying to the Creator of the world. He spilled out his heart and begged G-d to send him a speedy recovery. At a certain point he felt sure that his prayers had been answered! He called the nurses and asked them to lift him out of the wheelchair. "I don't need this anymore," he said to the incredulous men.
His second request struck them with utter astonishment. "As soon as I get up, take the chair and throw it down the mountain."
His determined instruction amazed everyone. And when Rabbi Chaim Moshe stood up on his own, they were even more amazed.
All present watched as the wheelchair was pushed off the mountain, breaking into pieces along the way to the bottom. They stood in wonder as the rabbi took several steps. None of them had ever seen such a miracle.
"In your merit I was healed," Rabbi Chaim Moshe said to Mr. Sabo, his voice shaking with emotion. "I bless you with long life till ripe old age."
To Mrs. Sabo he said, "I know that all this is because of you. I bless you that you will live as long as the numerical value of 'l'chaim' [98], and that you will have the strength and health to practice kindness with G-d's creations till your last day, with a clear mind."
This heart-felt blessing was fulfilled in its entirety. Mrs. Sabo died on her 98th birthday. Several years before that she became very ill. It seemed that her end was near. Her son, who was taking care of her, heard her whisper, "Master of the World, I'm not giving up on the blessing of the tzadik (pure, righteous person)."
Immediately after that her health improved. She recovered and lived out her years according to the wondrous blessing of Rabbi Chaim Moshe Mendel. Till her last day she occupied herself with charity and helping others, among them many elderly and lonely people.
Reprinted from an email from Sichat HaShavua
