Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Motty Iffergen on the occasion of his engagement. May he use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Mendel Raices on the occasion of his chasuna. Mazel Tov to Mendy Bronstein on the occasion of his chasuna. Mazel Tov to Dovi Saul on the occasion of his chasuna. Mazel Tov to Tzviki Volovovski on the occasion of his chasuna. May the new homes be set up al yesodei hatorah vehamitzvos, and be a keli for all brochos! Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Itzik Wolf on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Dovid Leib Perlstein on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Dovid Labkowski on the birth of their son. A belated Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Yasha Dayyan on the birth of their daughter. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be a true chayol! (If anyone is aware of any mazel tov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
In connection with what the Eibishter promises us in this week’s Parsha “VaHasirosi machaloh mikirbechoh”, I will share the following story, as told by Rabbi Yossel Weinberg, who experienced it firsthand. I am writing the story in his words, as he told it:
It was during the early years of the Rebbe’s nesius, and I came to know a family living in another country. As a result of my influence, the family decided to send their 2 sons to learn in the Yeshiva by us. I, however, was not satisfied with this, and I spoke to the parents to try to convince them to send their daughter to learn in NY as well. In Beis Rivkah at that time there was no class for her, and I was urging them to send her to America to learn in Beis Yaakov. The parents finally agreed, on the condition that the girl would stay in my home.
This girl was an excellent girl in every respect, and was extremely successful in every area, both with her schoolwork and her conduct. However, after some time passed, she suddenly began displaying signs of regression; she was falling back in her studies, and the school was expressing concern. We tried to discuss it with her to get to the root of the problem. “Perhaps you are homesick, and this is affecting your schoolwork”, I asked her, but she insisted that she was very happy and comfortable here, and doesn’t understand herself the setback in her work. She just didn’t seem herself.
More time passed, and the girl suddenly became noticeably ill. It was erev shavuos, and I worriedly called our personal family doctor for a consultation. He examined her, and said that according to the pressure on her eyes, it appears to him that there is a growth in her brain r”l. He said that it is crucial to bring her immediately to a big specialist.
We asked the Rebbe and the Rebbe said to have her examined by a Dr Wilder, who was a big professor (and who had treated the FR), and that if he says that she needs to be hospitalized we should do so. So she was brought by car to this Dr. Wilder (this was already on Yom Tov) – her brother joined her in the car on the way there, because his presence was necessary, but for the way back he refused to travel by car on Yom Tov, and he returned on foot. He walked back from Manhattan, and informed us that Dr. Wilder also said that he fears there is a tumor in her brain r”l, and that she would need to undergo tests to verify this. When he informed the Rebbe of Dr. Wilder's diagnosis, the Rebbe responded: “What? It is surely not that. They are mistaken!”
After Yomtov I went into the Rebbe and asked whether I should inform the family (who were overseas) about the situation. The Rebbe said to me: “In the end it will turn out that they are mistaken, so what is the purpose of informing the parents and causing them unnecessary anguish? Especially (the Rebbe continued) as the mother of the girl suffers from high blood pressure, as such, will receiving such information be beneficial to her health?” (There was not even anything unusual about the fact that the Rebbe was keeping track of the mother’s blood pressure. That was routine with the Rebbe).
The Rebbe continued (on a lighter note): “You want to make things easier for yourself (-by getting the mother to come, because with the parents away, the full responsibility lay on me (the brothers were both very young bochurim)), but for me (the Rebbe said with a smile) it anyway will not become easier (because even if the mother comes to NY she will still turn to me with all of the details). Wait until after Shabbos, perhaps there will be an improvement.”
In that hospital there was a neurologist who was considered to be the top in America, and one of the top in the world, by the name of Dr. Davidoff. The Rebbe wrote a letter to this Dr. Davidoff, saying that he is requesting of him to take a personal interest in the welfare of this girl, since her parents are overseas, and she is under the jurisdiction of the Rebbe.
On Shabbos they made an additional test with paint (in which they inserted a dye into her veins and then x-rayed them). On Motzoei Shabbos I went into the Rebbe’s room together with the girl’s brother and Dr. Zeligson (the Rebbe was still before havdoloh), and the Rebbe asked us what the test showed over Shabbos, so Dr. Zelikson said to the Rebbe that the test on Shabbos didn’t show anything. So the Rebbe said: “nu, if test didn’t show anything...”, so Dr. Zelikson said that this is not the only test, and they still have to do other tests on her. The Rebbe said to him “why are they stubbornly clinging to the opinion that it is a growth, why don’t they assume that it is a blood clot or a liquid in the brain that is causing the pressure?” So Dr. Zelikson said that medically speaking the only logical conclusion is that it is a growth.
They continued to do various tests on her. The following Friday I went to the hospital to consult with Dr. Davidoff, and he said to me “Rabbi, we are quite positive that she has a tumor in her brain, and she will need to undergo an operation, and it is crucial for the parents to come immediately, and neither you nor the Rebbe should take the responsibility of interfering.”
And he immediately told the hospital staff to contact the American consulate in the city in which the parents resided, in order to see to arranging visas for them. Knowing what the Rebbe had said, I said to Dr. Davidoff with a smile “Isn’t it true that even the greatest doctor sometimes errs?” So he said back to me with a smile “I wish that it were so in this case, but unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case.”
I located a phone booth, and immediately telephoned Rabbi Chodakov, to tell the Rebbe what Dr. Davidoff had said, and to receive further instructions. Rabbi Chodakov called right back with the Rebbe’s response: “I already made my position clear; furthermore, I suggest now to at least wait until after Shabbos, perhaps over Shabbos there will be a change for the better”.
They did wait until after Shabbos, and after Shabbos they were set to perform an air test. This test, done surgically, involves opening the skull and forcing air inside and then taking an x-ray, and is much more conclusive than any of the other tests. Because the test itself involves surgery, it required parental consent, and they wanted her brother to sign for it. I went into the Rebbe’s room together with her brother to ask what he should do. The Rebbe said “This is according to the Torah, this doctor is one of the greatest in the world, therefore he must be obeyed, but you may only sign a consent form for the test itself, if they want you to sign for any surgery or treatment other than this test you must refuse”.
So, the brother signed only for the test. After the test, I was with the 2 brothers in the hospital, where we were together saying tehillim, when Dr. D came down and said to me “Rabbi, I’m glad to tell you that we made a mistake. It’s not a tumor, it’s a liquid that’s causing pressure on the brain (exactly as the Rebbe had suggested), we’ll prescribe for her a salt-free diet and she’ll recover!”
We told the Rebbe, and the Rebbe said: “Now you should inform the parents, because the girl is in a weakened state, and it is important for her mother to come and provide support, and now that there are no concerns of a dangerous condition, there is no need to withhold the information from the parents”. The mother came, and the girl recovered [the Rebbe instructed her to utilize her stay in the hospital to influence other women to light Shabbos candles]. Today she is married, and has raised a fine chassidishe family of children and grandchildren!
∙∙∙
L’chaim! May we see how all of the defects that we perceive in the world, whether in health matters, material needs, or seeming spiritual defects in ourselves or in others, are in actuality nothing more than an unfortunate mistake, and we will begin to see only the ultimate Truth, when “V’Nigleh kvod Hashem”, with the hisgalus of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
