Praying with Shimon Pachimah

By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives

Solikah and Chaim Pachimah watched in horror as a small discoloration on their three-year-old son Shimon‘s face began to spread. He lost sight in one eye; his lips began to swell. Soon he was completely blind. The family, new immigrants to Israel from Morocco, were at a loss.

When doctors were unable to help, the Pachimahs adapted to their new situation as best they could. They spent extra time reading to Shimon and teaching him at home, and, when he was a young adult, enrolled him in a school for the blind. In 1980, however, his health began to deteriorate once more. He decided to travel to the United States to look for a cure.

He eventually settled in Crown Heights, where he became a regular at 770 Eastern Parkway – Lubavitch World Headquarters. The yeshiva students there befriended him and assisted him whenever he visited. They enjoyed his company and appreciated the skills he had acquired despite, or because of, his disability. He had a very keen sense of hearing, and could recognize voices he had heard years ago.

Shimon also attended the Rebbe‘s gatherings, known as farbrengens. Though he understood little of what was said, he felt uplifted by the niggunim, Chassidic melodies, sung in the intermissions between the Rebbe’s talks.

The Rebbe noticed his presence and often turned to him as he was leaving the large study hall, waving his hand in encouragement. Shimon, of course, could not see, but when his student friends told him about the gesture, he was deeply touched.

Not everyone was equally welcoming, however. Small children were often frightened of him, and some people were so repulsed by his face, which looked badly burned and deformed, that they avoided looking at him.

On weekdays, the Rebbe joined the afternoon and evening services in 770’s small upstairs study hall. He would sit at one of the tables, facing the crowd, and usually, he would place his hand on his forehead, looking down while following along in the prayer book.

When Shimon was present, however, those who watched carefully noticed that the Rebbe would refrain from putting his hand on his forehead. They speculated that perhaps the Rebbe did not want even to appear as if he were trying to avoid looking at Shimon’s face.

Moshe Dikstein arrived in New York from Israel during the time when Shimon was often in 770. His young son was traumatized by Shimon’s appearance, and Moshe wrote to the Rebbe asking for a blessing for his son. He also noted the discrepancy in the Rebbe’s behavior during services when Shimon was present.

Next to this observation, the Rebbe wrote in the margin, “For the love of a Jew.”

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