Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam, the Shineva Rav passsed away 6 days of Tevet 5659—son of the heilige Reb Chaim, the Sanzer Rav, who passed away 25 days of Nissan 5636, author of the Divrei Chaim, and more—traveled a lot to his chassidim, and this uplifted the many lost souls and neshamos of Yidden who were hungry to connect to Hashem.
Once, when he was returning from a trip, he was standing in the train station when he suddenly heard the sound of someone crying. "Who is crying?" he asked Berel, the tailor, a chosid of the Rebbe, who was also waiting for the train. "It's a little girl," answered Berel. "Why is she crying?" the tzaddik asked. "I don't know," said Berel. "I'll go ask her." After a few minutes, he came back and said, "The little girl's purse is lost. She has no money to buy a ticket to get home, and the conductor will not allow her on the train."
The tzaddik looked at him strangely, and he suggested "Perhaps you should help her out, Berel." "One day it might stand you in good stead in a time of need."
Berel paid for a train ticket for the girl with his money and gave it to her. She thanked him profusely as she wiped away her tears. She asked for his name and address, as she would have her parents repay him. However, the train arrived, and they both had to board, leaving the girl behind. When Berel reached the station of his tailor shop, he got off.
A short time later, a general came into the shop and ordered new uniforms for all the soldiers under his command. Berel was very happy because the large job would ensure him a good income.
As soon as the general left, Berel set to work. He brought the material, measured it, and cut it. Then he sewed the pieces together to make uniforms. Berel was excited at receiving this large order but got carried away and made a drastic mistake. The uniforms were sewn a bit shorter than they were ordered! After finishing the order, Berel noticed his blunder and prayed to Hashem that the general would not notice his mistake.
But the general did indeed notice. When he received the uniforms and inspected the order, he saw that they were short. He became very angry and suspected that Berel did it intentionally to defraud the army. Berel pleaded that he was innocent, but the general was furious at Berel, who was a Yid, and sent for some soldiers to arrest the Jewish tailor.
Berel saw the soldiers coming. Frightened, he sneaked out through the back door, running as fast as his legs could carry him. "The Shinever Rav will surely help me," he thought desperately. "I'll go to him."
He ran and ran. Finally, he reached the home of the Rebbe. "I am in terrible trouble," Berel cried out. "Rebbe, please help me!" "What is it, my son?" the Rebbe asked, concerned.
Berel told the Rebbe his whole story. The tzaddik promptly advised him to go to Vienna and speak to the officer who was in charge of his case. Berel didn’t waste a minute and dashed off to catch the train to Vienna. It turned out to be very difficult to find out who the officer was that he needed to see and where to locate him. Finally, he met someone who said he knew which official it was and where he lived, and he wrote down the information for him. But then, when the friendly man handed Berel the slip of paper with the name and address, he warned him, "This officer is mean. And he does not like Jewish people."
Berel was scared, but he had emunah in the Rebbe and knew he must follow the Rebbe's instructions. He went to the officer's house and knocked on the door. The door opened. A little girl stood there—the same little girl who had cried at the train station. She ran inside, excitedly calling, "Father! Father! Come quickly! It is the man who was nice to me when I lost my purse and gave me money to buy a train ticket."
Berel was amazed. "This is a miracle from Hashem," he said.
The girl's father appeared. "So you are the man who saved my precious daughter," the officer exclaimed, taking Berel's hand in his. "I have wanted to thank you all this time, but I did not know your name or where you lived. How can I ever thank you and show you my gratitude?" "I am in danger of being arrested, and you are the officer in charge of my case," Berel said. "You can help me by pardoning me for making the uniforms short; after all, it was only a mistake."
"Of course, I will pardon you," the officer promised. "I always thought the old uniforms were too long, anyway. The soldiers used to trip on them when they ran. And I will make sure you are paid in full for the work, as well."
Berel left Vienna with a light heart and pockets full of money. Sitting on the train on the way home, Berel thought about how he had been saved because he had been kind to a little girl in need. Suddenly he remembered the strange look that the Shinever Rav had given him at the train station when he told him to help the little girl. "The Rebbe knew from the beginning what was going to happen," Berel said. "And then later, when I was running away, he knew just where I should go.
