Nosson Avrohom
Rabbi Avraham Feiner, a prominent Belzer chasid, director of Beis Malka Educational Institutions for Women, and a councilman for the city of Jerusalem, is one of the more outstanding public figures of Orthodox Jewry in Jerusalem.
While he is fully occupied with work from morning until night, nevertheless, every person who asks for his help, receives a reply. "If my phone identifies the number, I get back to the caller as soon as I have time," he explains when I expressed my surprise that he got back to me within a few minutes of my own call.
"I grew up in Afula, situated in northern Israel. My parents were the only members of their entire extended families who survived the Holocaust. They chose to establish their residence in Afula, and as their only son, I decided to remain there after my wedding.
"The story I want to tell took place 36 years ago, several years after I got married. It began when our eldest son, our second children complained he was not feeling well. When his pains continued to intensify, we brought him to the HaEmek Hospital, located near Afula.
"The doctors examined and then re-examined him, and their diagnosis was far from positive. We never imagined that the situation could be so serious. The head of the department called us to his office to present us with the one and only available option: a complicated operation. The doctor added that even if the operation was successful, the child would sustain permanent damage. We were thunderstruck. The doctor explained to us that to delay the operation would literally constitute a danger to our child's life.
"The doctor scheduled the operation for the following week. In the meantime, as worries engulfed us, we continued our daily routine.
"I continued to attend the daily Talmud class held in Afula's central synagogue. Among the participants were several Chabad chasidim who had settled in the city at the direction of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. They included the Segal brothers, the Rosenbergs, and the Kaminkers, and they saw all too well my crestfallen state.
"They asked me to explain the reason for my mood. I decided to open up and tell them what was happening with our son and his serious medical condition.
'What's the problem?' they said. 'Write a letter to the Rebbe, with all of the details. The Rebbe has performed many a miracle with his holy blessings.'
"I listened to their words said with tremendous faith. Without wasting any time, I composed a letter about our son's medical condition. I added the doctors' recommendation and their opinion on the future damage that our son will suffer even if the operation goes well, and I asked that the Rebbe answer our plea with a blessing. The Lubavitchers told me not to become dejected if I didn't receive an immediate reply, encouraging me that the very fact that I sent the letter will guarantee the blessing.
"Thus, it came as quite a surprise when just three days after sending the letter, I received a reply. I couldn't imagine that an answer would come so quickly. The answer opened with, 'I will mention him in an auspicious hour at the Tzion of my holy and revered father-in-law, the Rebbe,' and then the Rebbe added in his own handwriting: 'Good news.' After the Rebbe's signature were another two typewritten lines:
'Postscript: He surely keeps the study schedule of Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya [the custom established by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe to study daily "Chitat," a section of the weekly Torah portion, Psalms and the basic book of Chabad philosophy, Tanya] and prays according to our custom.' Every day since receiving the Rebbe's answer, I have studied Chitat and prayed according to Chabad custom.
"Two days after receiving the Rebbe's answer, we arrived at the hospital for the operation. Before the doctors brought our son into the operating room, they did another comprehensive series of tests. I was waiting at the entrance to the operating room, and I noticed a sudden commotion as they called in more doctors to review the results. At first, I didn't understand what all the excitement was about. Had the situation become worse? It turned out that just the opposite was true.
"The head doctor called us again into his office, where all the doctors were standing, and he said that he had never seen anything like this before. He held the results of the new tests together with those from the first time we had come. He informed us that everything had disappeared as if it had never been there... Not even a sign of a problem remained.
"When I heard the doctor's emotional words, said by someone who usually spoke with the utmost composure, I started to laugh from the release of tension. I took the opportunity, with all the doctors present, to tell them, 'I want to tell you the real reason for this development.'
"I told them about the letter we had sent to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and the reply that followed shortly thereafter.
"The senior physician gripped my hand and said that based on his experience, ailments like this just don't disappear into thin air!
"If I would have heard such a tale from someone else - that would be another matter entirely, but this was a miracle story that I experienced for myself. All of my friends have heard this story and are closely familiar with the facts involved.
"I'd just like to add," Rabbi Feiner concludes, "that this son grew up, got married, and is the father of six children. One of the medical diagnoses was that he would be unable to have children, but there's a Great Healer who runs the world. With the help of G-d Alm-ghty, his daughter will be getting married next month."
