Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
(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. A special yasher koach to all those who gave so much enthusiastic feedback about the online farbrengen. Had I thought it would be so well received, I would have done it long ago, so I have to give a special Thank You to Reb Moshe Frank, from being persistent for over a year in urging me to do this, and not being fazed by my apathy, That that he finally prevailed and succeeded in getting me to hold this Beis Nissan is to his credit. Thank you also to my son Menachem and my son Yitzchok’l for setting things up. Zechus horabim toluy bohem!
In that connection, I want to share a story (before I get to the regular email):
In the past few weeks, was printed a new volume of Toras Menachem, with the sichos of the Rebbe of 5731. In the sicha of Shabbos Hagodol of that year, the Rebbe relates the following:
“On 15 Shvat this year, I was at the ohel (like every 15th of the month), and the thought arose to make a farbrengen in honor of 15 Shvat (the Rebbe’s term was ‘I was being pushed to make a farbrengen’). I thought to myself: ‘What can be said by such a farbrengen? What maamar is there for 15 Shvat? We don’t find maamorim from the Rebbeim for 15 Shvat?’
“The end was that there was a farbrengen, and there was a maamar, and a sicha and another sicha and yet another. During that farbrengen was strongly emphasized the idea of learning Torah (in connection with 15 Shvat being Rosh Hashono for trees, and trees representing the idea of learning Torah), and about the need to conquer the world with learning Torah.
“And here we see an amazing hashgocho protis! Recently there was an emergency meeting of various askonim, activists and community leaders. The meeting was to look for ideas to annul the decree that had been made, to draft Yeshiva students to the army. The end was, that this decree was annulled, and this was a result of the increased dedication to Torah learning, that emerged from the farbrengen of 15 Shvat.
“From this I learned a lesson”, (the Rebbe concluded), “that from now on ‘when I am being pushed to make a farbrengen’ I will not entertain any doubts but will follow through on it!”
I am sending out the email early this week. Today was the yohrtzeit of my father, a”h, so I tried to get it out a bit sooner so that if I am zoicheh that anyone gets inspired by this, it should be l’zechus ul’iluy nishmas R’ Refoel Menachem Nochum ben R’ Yitzchok Eizik z”l.
Meshulach Stories and the Rebbe’s Insight
I shared with you some “meshulach stories” in the past, and here is a brand new one. In the past week or so, I had a meshulach in my house, an elderly Jew from Eretz Yisroel (I think he said he was connected with chassidus Belz), who shared with me the following 3 stories, which I would like to share with you. Here is the first:
His mother (of the meshulach) was in NY, and was in yechidus by the Rebbe. During the yechidus, she asked for a brocho for a grandchild, who was having difficulty with shidduchim due to obesity. The Rebbe didn’t respond. Then she asked for a brocho for a second grandchild, who also needed a shidduch.
The Rebbe then handed her a dollar for the second grandchild, along with a brocho for a shidduch. And then, the Rebbe handed her another dollar, for the first grandchild (for whom she had requested a brocho), and another brocho.
And that was exactly the way it happened! First the second grandchild became engaged, and then the first grandchild found their shiduch. He concluded that they realized how the Rebbe saw all the events of the future with precision.
The third story that he shared wasn’t really a story, but a personal experience, but I’ll share it with you nonetheless, as he shared it with me.
He was in Crown Heights one day, on President St., with his mother, when he saw the Rebbe walking, and he pointed him out to his mother, saying “There is the Lubavitcher Rebbe” (this was obviously before her yechidus).
“Does the Rebbe walk alone?” she wondered. He showed her that there were mazkirim and some bochurim who were walking behind the Rebbe. He stood off to the side, respectfully, with his mother, waiting for the Rebbe to enter the house. As the Rebbe neared them, he walked towards them, and nodded to his mother and then to him, and then turned to the house. He related to me how overcome they were with the greatness of the Rebbe, in coming to them to greet them.
The Story of the Belzer Chosid and the Rebbe
The second story that he told me is one that I have heard before (and is certainly printed), but I heard it from him with a bit more details (and some slightly different than what I had previously heard). He heard this story from an acquaintance of his, a Belzer chosid, who is a son in law of the baal hamaaseh (who was also a Belzer chosid):
There was a Jew, a Belzer chosid, who was seeking a source of livelihood, and opened a Kosher restaurant or café in Paris. During a certain period, there was a young man with a black beard who would come in every day.
On the first day that the young man came in, he approached him (the owner) and asked if he could go into the kitchen. He was slightly puzzled by the request, but he agreed. The young man entered the kitchen, where the wife of the owner was running things, and immediately left.
He asked him what that was all about, and the young man explained: “I wanted to see if I can be satisfied with the level of Kashrus in your establishment. When I went into the kitchen, and I saw that the cooking is being done by your wife, and I saw that she is dressed as a religious woman, and her hair is covered, I was satisfied that I can depend on the kashrus here”.
Thereafter, the young man would visit the eatery every day, and spend some time there.
One day, the young man approached him (the owner), and thanked him, and informed him that he would be leaving, and they wouldn’t be meeting any more. The owner had become impressed and intrigued by the young man, and asked him his name. The young man replied: “My name is Mendel”, adding “Du vest mir noch kennen” [You will yet know me].
Some years later, the owner, the Belzer chosid, was in NY, and had a health problem for which he had to be hospitalized. The doctors treated him and prescribed various medications, but, unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working.
One day, he met a Lubavitcher chosid there, and they got into a conversation. When the Lubavitcher chosid heard about his situation, he urged him to write to the Rebbe for a brocho, telling him that many people have been helped in that manner. The man was happy to comply, and the Lubavitcher helped him formulate it.
The next day, a professor came into his room to check him. “What medications are you currently taking?” he asked. When the man told him, the professor reacted in shock. “What?! You shouldn’t be taking any of those medications. You are to stop immediately”. The man protested that he was following the instructions of his doctors, but the professor didn’t back off, explaining that he headed the whole medical division, and all of those doctors were his students, and he had the final say.
In the end, the man had to comply, and within a few days he was being discharged from the hospital! Before leaving, he asked the professor what had caused him to take such a personal interest in him, and he told him that he received a correspondence from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, asking him to take an interest in this particular patient.
After being discharged, he travelled to 770 to thank the Rebbe (still not making any connection between the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the “Mendel” who had frequented his restaurant in Paris). When he met the Rebbe and thanked him, the Rebbe replied “Nu, didn’t I say that we would meet?”!
The Message for Yud Aleph Nissan
It is one week until Yud Aleph Nissan, and we are all thinking about renewing and strengthening our connection with the Rebbe. Many of us are contemplating what we could offer as a “gift” for the Rebbe in honor of this auspicious day.
At this time, I think this story contains an important message for us.
We tend to look for sensational, impressive and glamorous activities, to be able to consider ourselves to be preparing for Yud Aleph Nissan. An international mivtza. A global achievement. Otherwise we have difficulty seeing it as an adequate and appropriate hachono.
But, what about the basics? Aren’t there ample areas in which we know that we are not – yet – meeting the Rebbe’s expectations? Are there not more than enough points that we can – and should – work on, both in סור מרע and in ועשה טוב , to bring ourselves up to par (or, at least, somewhat closer to up to par)?
We often have the sense that something global, something massive, something huge and extraordinary is something that makes you feel connected with the Rebbe, something that you feel is meaningful to the Rebbe. But the plain old responsibilities, - being a frum Yid who adheres to shulchan aruch, saying krias shma on time, davening with a minyan, being koiveia itim laTorah etc. – these don’t make you feel like you did something for Yud Aleph Nissan.
[In the haftoroh of Parshas Tazria – which doesn’t get read most years (including this year) because there is usually a different haftoroh that overrides it – we read about how Naaman, the powerful general from Aram, learned about the powers of the novi, Elisha, and came to him to ask him to cure him of his leprosy.
Elisha sent a message to him, saying that he should dip in the Yarden river 7 times and he will be cured from his leprosy. Naaman left in a rage. ‘Did I need to come to be novi to be told to dip in the Yarden? If I needed to dip in a river, why, we have much cleaner and purer rivers in Aram than the Yarden!’ (I guess the Yarden would be comparable to the Schiff shul mikva (or, in our days, Union), in contrast to the rivers in Aram which would be comparable to, perhaps, Mikva Meir).
His adjutants, however, disagreed with him. “You came with faith in this prophet, ready to do his bidding, certain that it would bring you relief. If he would have demanded of you something difficult, something challenging, you would have obeyed him unquestioningly, being sure that it is the supernatural means of achieving your cure. So because his instructions seem plain, can you no longer believe that they contain the supernatural powers?! Try it!!”
He listened, and was, indeed, cured (and the rest, as they say, is history).
He was ready to do something dramatic, something sensational, and would have an easy time believing that that would be the conduit for the powers and blessing of the novi. But he had a hard time believing the same about something plain and commonplace].
But, like in the story, these basics, in which we don’t, currently “recognize” the Rebbe, are what we have to focus on (first? also?), because they are what the Rebbe expects and demands of us, they are what connect us with the Rebbe. Even if now they don’t seem especially chassidish and “Rebbe’dig”, ultimately we will recognize the Rebbe in them, ultimately we will recognize how they are what the Rebbe derives nachas from, what strengthen our hiskashrus with him.
Let’s work on the basic סור מרע and עשה טוב , on eating and sleeping and davening and learning like a Yid and like a chosid. Besides trying to do global and spectacular projects, you need to rethink if you’re saying brochos properly, if you’re spending time learning as would be expected of you, if your dealings with others are with basic ahavas Yisroel and basic mentchlichkeit.
It’s Nissan, about which the Torah tells ראשון הוא לכם ישדחל הנשה , - even the chodshei hashonoh, even those seemingly mundane and worldly aspects of our Yiddishkeit, even those parts of our connection with the Eibishter that seem more plain and regular, need to be imbued with Nissan, with the sense of being free of our limitations and connecting ourselves with the Infinite.
Let us “know” the Rebbe even in those areas where it is initially less obvious, and do our part in ensuring that we are strengthening ourselves in all areas, and that should be the final step to make this Shabbos a true Shabbos hagodol, with big nissim and big brochos (and a big farbrengen), and – most importantly – the big and ultimate and final geulah through Moshiach Now!
L’chaim! A shturemdige and miraculous chodesh nissim, filled with nissim and nissei nissim in every area, especially and beginning with the ultimate ness with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu NOW!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
