Encounter at Hotel Triggers Memory of Miracle With the Rebbe

By Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie

Bea didn’t realize the National Jewish Retreat was happening at the same resort she was vacationing at in Miami, but it was hard to miss the crowd of 1,000 people and the numerous black hats.

“Is this a Lubavitch event?” she asked Stella, a woman from our community in Orange County, CA who was joining the retreat for the first time with her husband.

“Yes,” she responded. The five days of learning, inspiration, and camaraderie were elegantly orchestrated by Rabbi Ephraim Mintz and the staff at the Jewish Learning Institute and the official program was just about to start.

“I have to tell you a story,” Bea said.

In the 1980s, Bea was a reporter with a New York magazine, and she was assigned to cover a unique cookbook being published by N’shei Chabad in Crown Heights. The project had started as a way for women to share their family recipes, but the Rebbe had pushed the writers to use the opportunity to add information on kosher observance and Jewish traditions. It shouldn’t be just another cookbook, he said, but a pathway for readers to deepen their Jewish knowledge.

“I spent a few days in Crown Heights, talking to the local Lubavitch women and getting a feel for their way of life,” Bea said. She absorbed herself in the atmosphere and deepened her own understanding of Judaism.

Sunday rolled around and some of her new friends suggested she join the line and go receive a dollar from the Rebbe, and she agreed.

Soon, Bea was standing before the Rebbe. She took a dollar from his holy hand and started walking away when she heard the Rebbe tell her, “Your marriage will be fine.”

It was out of the blue and she stood there frozen in shock. She hadn’t said anything to the Rebbe, but in fact, her marriage was not in good shape. She and her husband had recently decided to separate. They hadn’t told anyone—not either of their parents, or other friends and family.

The line continued moving and she managed to walk out. The Rebbe’s words touched her deeply and right then she committed to taking another look at her marriage. Indeed, she and her husband rebuilt their relationship and they lived happily together until his passing a few years later.

“I still remember those piercing eyes,” said Bea. The sight of a hotel lobby full of Lubavitcher Chassidim prompted her memory. “I haven’t thought of the story for a long time. Until now.”

Stella invited Bea to join some of the programs and it turned out that her schedule did have an unexpected opening after a museum she had planned to visit was closed. She headed to the registration desk and signed up for a few days at the Retreat, joining Stella at some sessions.

“My husband and I were worried about fitting in,” Stella said. “But it turns out that we met many wonderful people and in the end, we even prompted someone else to join.”

 

Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie is the author of “Undaunted-the life of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson” the first ever comprehensive biography of the Friedeke Rebbe to be published soon by Koren Publications.