The Worth of Miracles
By Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn
My saintly maternal grandmother - the Rebbetzin Rivkah, wife of the Rebbe Maharash, told us that a certain aguna (a woman abandoned by her husband) once came to her father-in-law, the saintly Rebbe (the Tzemach Tzedek). She brought along her son, who was a lad of eleven or twelve. The boy was totally mute, and also hard of hearing.
This was during the time when agunot were only permitted to enter the antechamber, while the door (to the Rebbe's room) remained open. The Rebbe would sit there and listen to each one's petition and history. Then, he would reply to the attendant, Reb Chaim Dov, "Tell her to travel to such and such a place" or "tell her to consult Rabbi so-and-so," etc.
This aguna would come to the Rebbe several times a week, bringing her son. At the same time, she would bring food. Several weeks passed, but so many people had come that her turn to enter had not yet arrived.
Once, she placed her son under the table in the room where the Rebbe received people for yechidut, (private audience), cautioning him that when the Rebbe began to receive people, he should rise from his hiding place and hand the Rebbe her petition. The lad followed his mother's instructions, and sat under the table, hidden by the tablecloth and unseen by anyone.
The procedure was, that the attendant would stand near the table, while the other attendant- Reb Elia Leib - would assign the order in which the chassidim were to enter. Suddenly, the lad emerged from his hiding place. Reb Chaim Dov became very angry and shouted, "Sheigetz!"(non-Jewish boy)
To this, the Rebbe remarked, "Simple faith lights up the eyes; greatness is given to certain individuals only for the good of the Jewish people."
He then turned to the lad and uttered the following holy words: "Go and tell your mother that your father is still alive. She should travel to Denenburg."
"This agunah had been sitting in my home and weeping about her misfortune. Her husband had been missing for seven years. Now, several rabbis had given her permission to remarry, but only on condition that the Rebbe agreed.
"Suddenly, her son entered and cried out in a loud voice, 'The Rebbe told me to tell Mother that Father is alive, and that she should travel to Denenburg.' At this, the agunah fainted.
"This double miracle - the prophetic information about the husband's whereabouts, and the mute boy's suddenly regaining his speech - caused a great commotion. At this, my mother-in-law, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka (wife of the Tzemach Tzedek), remarked:
"'Just look at what everyone's gotten so excited about! At my father's (the second Rebbe of Lubavitch) and my grandfather's (the first Rebbe of Lubavitch) court, miracles lay scattered about, and no one bothered to pick them up. Just look at what is happening, and what's caused so much excitement! Grandfather said that he would prefer it if people understood Chassidut. As for getting excited about miracles, we leave that for the Polisher and Hungarian chassidim!
Translator's note: I heard an addendum to this story, told by elder chassidim. The Tzemach Tzedek used to admonish his sons when they sent people to him for a miracle, for he claimed that he was not a Vohlynian Rebbe who performed miracles. When they reminded him of our present story, he denied that any miracle was involved. Rabbanim and other communal officials of many different cities would visit him regularly for yechidut (private audience), and they would tell him of the recent doings in their hometown, And so, when he read the aguna's description of her missing husband, he realized that it was a man whom a recent visitor from Denenburg had described. His son, the future Rebbe Maharash, then reminded him of the mute boy who suddenly regained his speech. To this, the Tzemach Tzedek replied, "I had no idea that the boy was unable to speak!" In other words, the miracle had not been deliberate, for he had been unaware that one was even needed. But, the moment the Rebbe uttered the words, "Go and tell your mother..." that the boy automatically regained his speech.
Compiled and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from the English translation in Chayenu Reprinted from an email of KabbalaOnline.org.
