Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Yehuda Zaltzman on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Herschel Spalter on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Avi Tatarka on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Motty Rosenfeld on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Doniel Gerber on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Boruch Hecht on the birth and bris of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Yossi Weiss on the birth of their daughter. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim(os)! (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.
On Chanuka, the primary Mitzvah is Pirsumei Nisa. And the Rebbe taught us that this includes, in addition to publicizing the miracle of Chanuka, using the opportunity to publicize miracles and wonders in general, as a means of strengthening our faith, and thus illuminating the darkness of the world around us. With that in mind, here are some stories:
It was a few days before Pesach, and a chosid from Arizona was passing by the Rebbe. The Rebbe, unexpectedly, stopped the chosid and remarked: “You are going to ____ (here the Rebbe named a small city in Texas), I would like you to bring these 2 pounds of Matzos to ____ (here the Rebbe named a person living in that city).
The chosid made a quick calculation. The small city in Texas that the Rebbe had named did not have direct flights, neither from NY nor to Arizona. To travel there in person would mean to lose 2 complete days, which would result in him arriving home Erev Pesach. He didn’t think that he could manage that. He did, however, attach great importance to the personal shlichus that was given to him by the Rebbe, so he decided that as soon as he would arrive home, he would go straight to the post office and ship the package to the desired destination.
(as if the Rebbe couldn’t have had it shipped without that chosid)
This chosid duly boarded his flight with the precious package, and began his journey to his own hometown. However, en route they encountered an unexpected difficulty: The plane suddenly developed engine trouble, and the captain instructed everyone to fasten their seat belts, because they would need to make an emergency landing. As the passengers complied, the captain got onto the loudspeaker again, and informed them where they would be making their unscheduled stopover for repairs. And – you guessed it – it was none other than in the small municipal airport in the small city in Texas to which the Rebbe had originally sent the chosid!
Now, we can think that, under these circumstances, the chosid would get the message to stop fighting his destiny, and to resolve, instead, to obey his instructions. But our chosid had other ideas: Now he was losing even more time, and a detour was even less feasible (even though he was already in the right locality). He still retained his initial plan, to send the package by post.
While he was in the airport with his fellow passengers, waiting for their aircraft to be declared sky-worthy, he was approached by a local Jew. “Are you Rabbi ___”, he was asked. “Do you have a package for me?”
That’s right, that person was his intended recipient, who came to the chosid to pick up his matzos!
The message is clear: When we are given a shlichus to do, we need to carry it out unconditionally. Ultimately, the Rebbe will get what he needs regardless; our choice is only whether or not we have a share in the zechus.
Which brings to mind a somewhat similar story with the Rebbe Maharash:
There was a chosid of the Rebbe Maharash, very prominent Jew, and was very successful in business as well, until he became a wealthy man. Unfortunately, he was the victim of a libel and a mesirah, and he was arrested, tried and sentenced to hard labour in Siberia r”l.
While he was in jail, awaiting his fate, he was visited by the RaDaTZ (R’ Hirshel Chein, a well known chassidisher Rov at the time). During the visit, he said to the Radatz: “If I was a chosid, I would have been spared all of the suffering that I am experiencing now, but because I was not a chosid, I have to endure this now”. And he proceeded to explain with the following narrative:
“I was once travelling by train, and when the conductor (who knew me – as a wealthy businessman – from my frequent travels) was making his rounds to collect the tickets, he approached me and said: ‘There’s an important Rabbiner on this train now, in another first class compartment. If you wish, I can let you into his compartment to see him’.
“I was interested, and he let me into a compartment, inside of which the Rebbe Maharash was sitting and learning in a sefer. When I saw the face of the Rebbe, I was filled with fear (as is known, this was the effect that the Rebbe Maharash had on people). But the Rebbe looked up at me, smiled to me and began speaking to me, and put me at ease. The Rebbe began inquiring about my family and my welfare etc., to such a point that I almost forgot who I was speaking to, and was carrying on a casual conversation with him.
“Suddenly, the Rebbe remarked: ‘I heard that they are building new train tracks in Siberia, it would be a good idea for you to get a contract with that project’. This remark sounded very puzzling; I had a good and respectable job, in a fine community, what sense could there be in my going to a G-d-forsaken place like Siberia to lay tracks!
“Shortly after this puzzling remark, the Rebbe indicated that the conversation was over. I inclined my head, in greeting, and the Rebbe did the same, and I left the compartment. I mulled over the strange remark that the Rebbe had made, and was very perplexed, but it didn’t go any further.
With tears streaming down his face, the chosid exclaimed to the Radatz: “The Rebbe obviously saw that I need to get to Siberia, and he tried to get me there in a respectable way, as a free man. Had I been a real chosid, I would have obeyed him then, without any questions, and I would be “yoitzeh” with that. Because I was not a chosid, I now need to be brought there in chains, as a prisoner!”
The story speaks for itself, no commentary is necessary. But we may point out that this ties in very well with the interpretation that the Rebbe Maharash once said to a group of balebatim (who were unhappy about the way that they were being treated etc.): ריוח והצלה יעמוד ליהודים ממקום אחר - the Eibishter will carry out His plans and take care of His children, but if you don’t take advantage of the opportunity, you will lose this chance!
And speaking about stories in which no commentary is necessary, here’s another one that I just heard recently (apparently it just took place – the last chapter – sometime recently):
There was a young teenage girl who went to the Rebbe for a dollar. When she passed by, as the Rebbe handed her the dollar he said "הריון ולידה קלה".
Now, if there are any of you who don’t know what that means, I’ll let you in on a secret: The girl didn’t either know what the words meant. In fact, she was surprised that the Rebbe had spoken to her in Hebrew, when all she understood was English (this was because she didn’t understand what the words meant; - had she any idea what they meant, she would have had something to be much much more surprised about than the Rebbe’s choice of language!)
She went over to Rabbi Leibel Groner, and asked him what the Rebbe had said to her. But he was, understandably, uncomfortable about sharing with her precisely what the Rebbe had told her, so he merely informed her that the Rebbe had given her a brocho.
[Which raises the question: What would you do? The Rebbe said something that is – in your eyes – unbelievable, puzzling, preposterous. You would be most embarrassed, or at least uncomfortable, to have to explain to someone what the Rebbe said, because you can’t begin to understand it yourself. So what do you do? Do you give over the Rebbe’s words as they are, despite your inability to fathom them? Or do you perhaps try to “cover up”, to hide or withhold the parts that you don’t know how to deal with? (And, undoubtedly, in the story the 2nd approach worked beautifully in the end). Something for you to farbreng about over Shabbos!]
Years, in fact many years, passed. The girl grew up, got married, and started growing a fine Chassidishe family. One day (recently?) her husband decided to get her a gift: he would purchase for her all of the videos of her with the Rebbe (you hear, anyone looking for an original gift idea). He contacted JEM, and made the necessary arrangements.
After a while, he contacted them again to finalize the deal. “We have all of the videos that you requested, except for one”, they informed him. “Why except for one?”, the yungerman asked. “There is one video that we can’t release, the Rebbe discusses sensitive, personal matters, and it is confidential”, he was told.
But the husband was adamant: he must have all of the videos of his wife. He did whatever was necessary (probably got her involvement or consent), and got the video released. Now, after all these years, the woman was finally able to watch the video and understand what the Rebbe was saying to her.
At around that time, this woman was, in fact, expecting, and there were complications. The doctors instructed her to abort, in order to save her life. But she decided that the video, the words that the Rebbe had spoken to her that she’d finally understood, were the Rebbe’s directive to her. And she continued the pregnancy.
And it turned out (how could it be otherwise!) that it ended up being (from there on) a הריון ולידה קלה, exactly as the Rebbe had said!
As I said, no commentary needed (but if anyone could provide more details/corrections/verifications for the story, it would, of course, be appreciated).
L’chaim! May we all take advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves to us, to fulfill the shlichus of the Rebbe exactly as intended and exactly as he instructed, and may the Eibishter, in turn, do His part to finalize the primary and most vital and crucial and urgent shlichus; - to illuminate the entire world with the revelation of G-dliness, through the immediate hisgalus of Melech haMoshiach TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
