Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
SholomU’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Moshe Gitlin on the occasion of his engagement. May he use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! A double Mazel Tov to Rabi & Mrs. Shimon Dashefski on the birth of their twin boys. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Levi Rabiski on the birth of their daughter. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Yitzchok Lerman on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Dovid Leib Silberstein on the birth of their son. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim/os! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
The following story was recently shared with me by Rabbi Choneh Perman, who heard it directly from the baal hamaaseh:
In Ellul of the year ח"תשל (5738), the Gerrer Rebbe (R’ Simcha Bunim Alter, the Lev Simcha) was in America, and had a yechidus with the Rebbe. During the yechidus a group of bochurim (one of whom was Rabbi Choneh Peman) were sitting downstairs in 770, when a Gerrer chosid - who had been part of the entourage of the Gerrer Rebbe - approached them. ‘I have for you fresh regards from your Rebbe’, he told them, and proceeded to relate the following:
“My name is Yitzchok Meir Alter, and I am here today accompanying my Rebbe, to whom I am related. In 5717 I wrote a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe with a question, and received a response. At the time the Rebbe inquired about the spelling of my last name, and why I used a ט instead of a ת (or vice versa, in the spelling of “Alter”). [Note: Seemingly the letter being referred to is the one printed in Igros Kodesh chelek 15 page 345, of 23 Av 5717, although there is nothing in the printed letter there about the spelling of the last name].
“Today, in the course of the yechidus (with the Gerrer Rebbe), the Rebbe said that in honor of his guest (the Gerrer Rebbe), he will give “sholom” to all those present. Each one of us gave the Rebbe our hand, and stated our name and mother’s name.
“When my turn came, and I identified myself saying ‘Yitchak Meir ben . .’, the Rebbe continued to grasp my hand, and said with a smile: ‘Nu, so is Alter with a ט or a ת!’
“Imagine”, exclaimed the Gerrer chosid, “over 20 years have passed since I wrote the letter to the Rebbe, and in that time the Rebbe has received thousands and thousands of letters. And yet, as soon as I passed by, the Rebbe instantly continued the discussion where it had been left off as if we had been in the middle of a conversation”!
After a moment, however, the Gerrer chosid calmed down, and said (perhaps by way of disclaimer): “But don’t think it’s a moifes, (it’s just that) the Lubavitcher Rebbe has ‘a gitte kop’ (a good head)”.
I will not address whether it was a moifes or “merely” the Rebbe’s brilliance, because I’m sure the bochurim can fight that out with the Gerrer chosid. But the main point of the story is – not how the Rebbe knew, but rather – the fact that after 21 years the conversation of all those decades before was still important. For the Rebbe, he was still in the middle of that conversation, and it was the most natural thing to carry on where he had left it (there was an amazing story with R’ Pinchas Menachem Alter bringing out a similar idea, about a mikva in Brazil, that I’m quite sure that I shared in a past email).
