by Mushka Chanin
My great-grandfather, Reb Itchke Gansburg, and great-grandmother Gita Gansburg went on shlichus to Natzeret, Israel. They rented out their house, which they owned in Kfar Chabad, to the Brook family.
One day in the month of Teves the house was very cold so Mrs. Brook lit the furnace to give some heat. The furnace exploded and the curtain next to the window caught on fire. Mrs Brook tried taking it out, but the fire spread through the entire house. She sent her kids outside and when she made sure all her children were safe she tried to leave the burning house. Since the doorway was on fire she had no choice but to jump out the second-floor window. Her life was saved but she broke her spine, and her hand was burnt, she was brought to the hospital. She was afraid to tell the Ginsburg’s about the fire and to see their reaction.
My great aunt lived in Kfar Chabad then, and she phoned my great-grandparents and told them what had happened. They came to Kfar Chabad to assess the damage. The house, furniture and all their seforim were completely burned.
(There was nothing left and there was no fire insurance in those days in Kfar Chabad so they needed money to rebuild the house.)
My great-grandparents were told that Mrs. Brook is very stressed about the damage she caused and it is worrying her.
My great grandfather- Zaide Itchke – said to his wife, “let’s go visit Mrs Brook.”
When they arrived at the hospital my great-grandfather came into her room saying, “what good mazal that our house burnt down!”
“What did you say- what great mazal you have?” Mrs. Brook asked. She thought he went crazy from all the stress.
He said, “Yes that’s what I said, how lucky I am.”
Why? I don’t understand, what do you mean? she asked.
He answered as if telling a secret: “I am always busy with mivtzoim and I don’t have a lot of time to learn Torah. I always worried what I would say after a hundred and twenty when they will ask me why I didn’t learn a lot of Torah. Now I have a good answer. I will say that my seforim were burnt so I couldn’t learn. So they will forgive me.
I’m coming here to say thank you because this is in your zechus (that my seforim burnt and I have this excuse).”
Hashem gave him a test to see if his simcha will be broken after his house burnt down and everything in it, and he overcame it.
Instead of him getting upset that the Brook family wasn’t careful, my great-grandfather accepted it with joy and even joked about it. Not only did he not get upset at them he even went to visit the lady in the hospital and cheered her up. She felt really bad about it and he made her feel better. He even found humor in a difficult situation.
He was a great man — and so much of what we do today was initiated by him! May he be a meilitz yosher for all of us. He cared about every Jew.
He was ALWAYS happy – and always doing things to spread the Rebbe’s words. A Lamplighter – a Real Chossid! He is not giving up on working upstairs demanding MOSHIACH, how do I know? Because that’s what he told us!
Though we miss him, We grandchildren LIVE Zeide (and Savta) all the time! Our role models forever.
What a story how treat someone else.
This is what a Chosid is all about.
I heard this story from R Gansburg himself . Years ago ,but I still remember how he said it lightheartedly.