Band Member Quits, and Sees a Sign at Rebbe’s Ohel

By COLlive reporter

Professional trumpet player Michael Bogart tours with the world-famous American R&B and funk band Tower of Power. In recent years, Bogart has become closer to Judaism, having connected with Chabad of S. Diego led by Rabbi Yonah Fradkin and his personal Rabbi Eli Fradkin of Chabad of Coronado.

Bogart is also friendly with renowned lecturer Rabbi Shais Taub whom he informed of a difficult decision he had to make. As Bogart has been learning more about Judaism and advancing in his journey to becoming more observant, one major obstacle to becoming fully Shomer Shabbos was his job in the band, which performs many shows on Shabbos.

“Michael is very friendly with the band members and loves being part of the band, but for some time now, he has been conflicted about having to perform on Shabbos,” Rabbi Taub told COLlive.com.

Last week, Bogart informed Rabbi Taub that he had taken the plunge and had decided to resign from the band that he loves so he could fully keep Shabbos.

Bogart made a trip to the Rebbe’s Ohel in New York to mark the Rebbe’s yartzeit on Gimmel Tammuz. Bogart said he wrote to the Rebbe to inform him of his decision to keep Shabbos fully.

“I, along with thousands of other Chasidic Chabadniks as well as Jews and non-Jews of all walks of life, visited the Ohel (resting site) of our Rebbe on the 29th anniversary of his passing yesterday,” Bogart wrote on social media.

“I asked for strength in my decision to leave Tower of Power in order to keep Shabbos. As I was exiting the Ohel, I looked down to my left and spotted this. Thank you, Rebbe,” he wrote.

Bogart included a photo of what greeted him as he left the Ohel and had led him to thank the Rebbe. On the ground was a wedding invitation. Some have the custom of leaving an invitation by the Ohel and graves of grandparents.

What Bogart found remarkable about this invitation was the gold monogram on the front. It was shaped like a golden trumpet, the instrument that Bogart is famous for playing.

Agreeing that this was a very meaningful “answer” from the Rebbe, Rabbi Taub asked Bogart if he could share his story with others. Bogart replied: “After watching the incredibly moving speech from the Gimmel Tammuz Farbrengen, I believe it’s my duty.”

Bogart was referring to the now famous miracle story of how the Rebbe cared for a bullied Jewish boy on the island of Curacao and now played a role in the shidduch of the boy’s daughter. The story was told by Rabbi Taub, her future father-in-law, at a Gimmel Tammuz Farbrengen.

After Rabbi Taub posted Bogart’s story on social media, even more wonderful details of Divine Providence came to light.

First, it was determined that the wedding invitation belonged to Arye Dov Eidelman of Crown Heights and Leah Wilansky of Elizabeth, NJ, who were married this past week.

The kallah’s mother Mrs. Sara Wilansky commented that the trumpet invitation was chosen as the monogram for her daughter’s wedding in honor of Shnas Hakhel. “I put the invitation on my grandfather’s kever, and the wind must have blown it over to the Ohel.”

Bogart did not initially know that the paper he saw was a wedding invitation, but when he found out, he revealed something more about the significance of this story.

As a divorced father, he has been thinking about getting remarried for a while. In his letter to the Rebbe on Gimmel Tammuz, he not only wrote that he was quitting his band to become fully Shabbos observant but also that he had decided to begin actively looking for a shidduch. He was asking the Rebbe’s blessings for that.

The paper Bogart discovered as he left the Ohel thus had a double meaning. Not only was it an image of the instrument he plays, which he took as a sign encouraging him regarding his decision to leave the band. But furthermore, the image was a wedding invitation, a sign of encouragement to him about his decision regarding marriage.

“It’s important for us to know that even after 29 years, those who connect to the Rebbe with sincerity are still receiving clear answers,” Rabbi Taub commented. “I eagerly await watching the rest of this story unfold. I look forward to hearing great news from Mike, both in music and his personal life.”