ה"ב יום ק"ועש 'פר זאת" חוקת ,"התורה 'ה אלף ושבע מאות וחמשה ושבעים
Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
We join together in begging, beseeching and demanding of Hashem to send an immediate and instant refuah shleimah to Chaya Mushka bas Perla, and continued good health לאויוש"ט.
With tremendous gratitude to Hashem for His amazing brochos to us, and humbled by His infinite kindness, I wish a Mazel Tov to our dear son Yitzchok on the occasion of his engagement to Miriam Rochel Osdoba of London England. Mazel Tov to Yosef Kasle on the occasion of his engagement, and a special Mazel Tov to the family of the Kalla Benny Traurig and family. May they use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Yehuda Shomer on the birth of their daughter, and a special Mazel Tov to the Zeide Rabbi and Mrs. Moshe Shomer and family. May they bring her up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be a true chayol! (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. I especially want to thank all of you for the many Mazel Tov wishes, may we always share simchos!
Recently, Boruch Hashem, I had the great zechus to marry off my daughter Itty to Menachem Mendel Lieberman. After she was engaged, one of the first things we did (together with our mechutanim and the chosson and Kallah), as is always the case, was to choose a date for the chasuna.
Now, as some of you may be aware, there are numerous factors that need to be taken into consideration when choosing a date for a wedding. The halls are only available at certain times. Services are only available on certain dates. You want to make it when the caterer won’t be out of chicken and the photographer won’t be out of film. You want to accommodate your great aunt Shpritzale and not make it on the day of her dentist appointment and you don’t want to make it when your favourite cousins are having their squash ball tournament.
In short, when you’re done narrowing down the possibilities by eliminating all of the dates that don’t work, you’ll be lucky if you’re still left with a day on which you are able to schedule the chasuna. In our case, the one date that worked (taking into consideration all the scheduling conflicts and the availability of the halls and the packages etc.) was Tues 15 Sivan. Which was fine.
To be honest, it was only afterwards that I remembered that it is in fact a very auspicious day for a chasuna. 15 Sivan is after all the date on which the Frierdige Rebbe was arrested and imprisoned (in the year 5687). It is a day that – the Rebbe later explained in sichos – was subsequently revealed to be the aschalta digeula, - the beginning of the Frierdige Rebbe’s liberation and a very special date. Either way, we can easily find the connection with the wedding taking place then (and it provides great material for the speeches).
But, whatever. That’s the background.
As is customary, my nephew was putting together a teshura for us to give out at the chasunsa, that consisted of a number letters of the Rebbe that were received by various members of the family. About a week and a half before the chasuna I received a whatsapp from the chosson (that was when I still had whatsapp . . ), pointing out that while looking through the draft of the teshura, he realized that the chasuna letter that the Rebbe sent to my wife and I was dated the 15th of Sivan!
Indeed, our chasuna took place on the 11th of Tamuz, but the letter that the Rebbe sent us with his brochos for the chasuna was dated 15 Sivan 5751. Or ו"ט סיון תנשא!
To me this is incredible! I feel as if 24 years in advance the Rebbe had already given his brocho not only for our own wedding, but for that of our daughter and son in law as well. From all of the possible dates on which the letter could have been written (and this was almost a full month before the actual date of our wedding), the Rebbe dated it on the day of our children’s wedding!
Had I received an envelope in the mail with a letter from the Rebbe with a brocho for our daughters chasuna, it wouldn’t have been more incredible and inspiring!
Of course, that’s not completely true. If we had received an actual letter from the Rebbe in the mail for our daughter’s chasuna, that would have been an open miracle. Whereas, with regards to the date on our chasuna letter, there is the voice of the cynic and skeptic within me that says: ‘What’s the big deal, why are you exaggerating what happened? There were only a limited number of days on which the letter could have been written. It had to be written on some date. It has nothing to do with the event 24 years later’
But that’s just the skeptic. And deep down I know that it’s wrong. There is another voice, the voice of a simpleton, a naïve believer, who says that there is only one true interpretation for what happened. And while the second voice is much smaller and less vociferous, it is the one that is more real and more relevant.
Which brings me to another story:
Recently, Boruch Hashem, we celebrated the engagement of my son Yitzchok. The young couple were going out, meeting each other, and taking their time coming to a final decision.
BACKTRACK: A number of years ago, my wife’s dollars from the Rebbe went missing. There was an envelope containing a bunch of dollars that she had received from the Rebbe over the course of a number of years, on various occasions, and – despite having searched for it extensively – it was as if it had disappeared into thin air. For years we had no idea what had happened to them.
This past Thursday, which was the second day of Rosh Chodesh Tamuz (1 Tamuz), we were preparing for our trip to NY. We were going to spend Shabbos gimmel Tamuz by the Rebbe. And we also expecting a l’Chayim some time in the very near future (once Yitzchok and the young lady he was meeting would finalize their plans and get the Rebbe’s brocho).
While packing for the trip, in one of the clothing drawers, my wife suddenly discovered the elusive white envelope with all of the dollar bills! It was a drawer that we had both been through numerous times, but suddenly the envelope was just sitting there waiting to be discovered!
As my wife was excitedly flipping through the pile of dollars, she noticed one that was dated 'ד תמוז , the 4th of Tamuz. A quick calculation showed that that would be Sunday. “The l’chayim will be on Sunday” she declared to me resolutely.
After she explained to me her reasoning, I was doubtful (remember, I am host to all of these prominent voices of skeptics and cynics!). After all, the mechutanim would still have to fly in from England (and they wouldn’t be leaving until after Shabbos, at the earliest). And (perhaps most importantly), the young couple still had to reach a final decision. But my rebbetzin wouldn’t be swayed. To her there was no question.
And – as the date came closer – and (after some back and forth negotiations) it turned out that the mechutanim would indeed arrive Sunday afternoon, and the tentative plan was to go to the ohel late Sun (and try to make the l’Chayim that night, to accommodate some family who would be leaving), my wife continued to be convinced (and gently try to persuade the other parties) that we would schedule our meeting at the ohel for before the shkia (and not at night as originally thought). Her reasoning: She was certain that the matter would be finalized on 4th of Tamuz (since that was the date on the dollar from the Rebbe), and after shkia would no longer be the 4th of Tamuz.
To me (and all my live-in cynics and skeptics) that was rather a preposterous expectation, since we had to consider first and foremost what would work for the mechutanim (who would only arrive that afternoon from overseas) and the kalla (who also arrived from out of town that afternoon).
But to my rebbetzin these factors were irrelevant. There was a dollar from the Rebbe with a date on it, who needs the mechutanim, or even the kalla or chosson?!
And sure enough, they went into the ohel (with everyone present) at about 7:30 Sunday afternoon, with more than enough time to spare until shkiah. The date was 'ד תמוז , the date on the dollar of the Rebbe that had been (re)discovered just 4 days before!
In case of any doubt, we had very clear indication of who we needed to thank for this shidduch!
Once again, the cynics and skeptics don’t see what there is to get excited about. The dollars were lost, and happened to be found just before the simcha. And the date on one of the dollars happened to be the date of the simcha. Do you have to blow everything out of proportion?
But the more sane and sound voices in me see this as another clear example of how the Rebbe’s brochos are guiding us and nourishing us in a most tangible and visible manner!
Which brings me to another story:
As some you know, I suffer from gout (or, as the gemoro in Sota calls it, Padagra). This past Sunday afternoon (the day of the l’Chayim), it started acting up. On the way back from mincha, I was limping, and by late afternoon, when it was nearing the time to go to the ohel, I could barely limp. I sent my son out to buy crocks, because I could no longer get my shoes on, and every step I needed to lean on my son for support.
All afternoon, I had been overdosing on all the medications I had (I hope my doctor doesn’t read this . .), but, nonetheless, by early evening I was in terrible pain. I went into the ohel, at 7:30, leaning on my son’s arm and the gate. I had already been in the ohel that morning, at which time I said the maaneh lashon and wrote a letter, and this time I merely said a few kapitlech tehilim and exited.
Immediately upon exiting the ohel I noticed that I was now walking on my own! During my few moments inside, my foot had taken a sudden drastic turn for the better!
To be sure, I was still limping, and even when I entered it wasn’t at it’s worst. Nonetheless, this was an experience that was unlike any other I had ever had. I literally experienced a drastic an immediate change in my health while standing for a very short time in the ohel!
[And it wasn’t with any special hachonos or procedure, not even the usual maaneh lashon , I just stood there, said some tehillim, and exited].
Once again, predictably, the “rational” voices of the cynics and skeptics within me were unimpressed. After all, the medications would have to start taking effect at some point, that was why I was taking them. And it wasn’t as if my foot became completely cured on the spot. I still continued (and continue) to experience the symptoms of gout. Nor was it at its worst before I went in.
But to me this was the most undeniable and open miracle imaginable!
The point of all of this is that I want to acknowledge the brochos and nissim that I’m experiencing, and to express my heartfelt appreciation for them. And we all have to make a conscious effort to recognize and appreciate the many miracles that we constantly experience, as we say in davening "ועל ניסיך שבכל יום עמנו ועל נפלאותיך שבכל עת".
In this week’s Parsha, Moshe is instructed to place the copper snake, the נחש הנחושת , on a “ness”, - an elevated stand. Rashi points out that the term “ness” refers to something elevated. Chassidus quotes this Rashi to illustrate the idea that a “ness”, a miracle, is a manifestation of that level of G-dliness that is “elevated”, - that is above and aloof from the world. And the objective of every miracle is to elevate the person and elevate the world. It is a tool and a means to rise above our mundaneness and to refocus on our ultimate goal and purpose, which is our connection with the Eibishter.
We are going to celebrate, in a few days, the tremendous nissim of 12-13 Tamuz. We should take this opportunity to be more aware of all of our own personal nissim and experiences of hashgocho protis. The tool that we have to help us focus is learning more Chassidus. And together they should help us live our lives more in a manner of “nissim”, to rise above the pettiness that usually preoccupies us, and to be immersed in the elevated life of Torah and mitzvos and Moshiach. Ultimately this will enable us to elevate the entire world from the lowliness of Golus to the ultimate miracle of Moshiach NOW!
L’chaim! May we all do our part to recognize, acknowledge and appreciate the miracles that we constantly experience, and may Hashem immediately perform the ultimate miracle, with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
לזכות 'ר שלום מרדכי הלוי בן ,רבקה לגאולה וישועה קרובה ושלימה י"תומ ממש ג"בטוהנוהנ
