A member of a Chabad house who was getting more religious was very surprised when the rabbi said that they were $100,000 behind in rent on the Chabad house. He set up to meet with the rabbi. When he arrived at the rabbi’s home, the rabbi first served him a whole meal. Then he said that first they will learn Tanya for 15 minutes, and then they will talk about what he came to talk about. When they finished the learning, the congregant said that he has a yes or no question for the rabbi. If he says yes, he will continue coming to the Chabad house, and if he says no, he will stop coming to the Chabad house. The question was: He wants the rabbi to stop renting and to buy land and buy a new building. Is he willing to do this? The rabbi said yes. The congregant told the rabbi that he should spend a week designing plans for a building with one of the Chabad house members who is an architect, and then he would help fundraise. At one fundraising event they had the prime minister of the country come. They got a lot from that event, and the prime minister (who is not Jewish) pledged 820,000 towards the building. A local Jewish day school sold them a piece of land on their property. They built a magnificent building for the Chabad house. The way the government works is that they don’t give the whole amount at once; they give a percentage of each bill incurred in construction costs. When they finished the building, they realized that the government had actually given only 770,000, but there were no more expenses. 770,000 is like 770 Eastern Parkway, home and synagogue of the Rebbe King Moshiach Shlita! The total cost was 7.7 million, also a multiple of 770!
