By Mica Soffer, Publisher and Editor of COLlive.com
The past few weeks have been gut-wrenching and difficult for all of us.
Here at COLlive, we have been speaking daily with so many who are dealing with their loved ones infected by coronavirus, as well as unfortunately suffering with loss, and it has been heartbreaking.
COLlive.com, a place which is usually full of joyous occasions, many simchas, and happy milestone events, was suddenly weighed down by much sorrow with the loss and illness of so many of our Chabad family from around the world.
One day, during a particularly gloomy time, I was going through my wallet, cleaning out cards and papers from the pockets which I never use.
I reached into a particular slot and pulled out a dollar bill folded into 4. I remembered that about 6 or 7 years ago, my father OBM had been going through all of our family members’ dollars from the Rebbe, which were in his home, and he had prepared each of ours in a packet to take to our own homes.
I had taken my dollars, quite a large stack, since living in Crown Heights we merited to have many opportunities to receive them. When I got home, I had carefully hidden them in a safe place, but when I did, I randomly selected one from the pile, folded it up, and put it inside my wallet, to carry with me.
Now, I took out that dollar, smoothed it out, and couldn’t believe what was written on it.
On the bottom, my father had written (in his unmistakable handwriting), my name, and Yud Tes Menachem Av, the date when I had received the dollar ahead of my birthday which is on Chof Beis Menachem Av.
What really shocked me was what my father had written across the top of the dollar, where he usually wrote what the Rebbe had said when we received it.
Across the top of the dollar is written in English: “Good News and Mazal.”
Now, I have no recollection of receiving the dollar and I don’t remember the Rebbe saying those words to me. It wasn’t uncommon for the Rebbe to wish Besuros Tovos, but I don’t know whether it was said in English, and if not, why my father wrote it in English.
Seeing it, I found tears streaming down my face at those words. All these years later, seeing that bracha from the Rebbe, all I could think about was that the Rebbe is with us. And he wants us all to know that.
COLlive.com is therefore proud to launch the Good News Project that will bring to light positive news and uplifting developments in Crown Heights and Chabad-Lubavitch communities around the world.
We already have begun sharing news of individuals who survived and returned home from the hospital, the appreciation of Hatzalah members and medical professionals, and the educational offerings by teachers of both children and adults.
We encourage you to share with us good news of any kind – whether articles, tips, photos and videos, so that we may continue to uplift and inspire:
Online: https://collive.com/Submit-News
WhatsApp: +1-718-679-9450
Email: [email protected]
Facebook.com/COLlive
Twitter.com/COLLiveNews
Instagram.com/COLliveOfficial
P.S. Needless to say, sharing good news with COLlive.com should be done in addition to sharing the good news with the Rebbe ([email protected]).
BS”D
Nothing as powerfull as keeping a positive mindset and focusing on the good side …it even helps our mental and therefore physical health!
May the day will come where there will be only good news to share IYH!
A beautiful and touching moment with the Rebbe. Thank you for sharing.
I love this!!
Keep up the great work / news.
Love this!
👍🏻
Nice!!
Thank you collive for always lifting us up
its nice to hear good news but medical updates etc are also important. pls keep posting that too
Beautiful story!
Thank you for being such a wonderful website that anash can rely on for a steady flow of news and ideas
So special! thank you for sharing!
May we see the fulfillment of the Rebbe’s Bracha!
Some good news in killal yisroal
Thank you for the little window into your beautiful heart!
And thank you for all your hard work!
May you see the Rebbe’s brochos of good news and good mazel revealed in your own life always 🙂
Thank you!
This is badly needed after seeing what frum publications have morphed into– virus, virus, and more virus! It’s gotten so bad that, in the suspense serial in the children’s section of a frum magazine, one of the child characters worries that they had contracted the virus. Before you came up with the Good News initiative, I thought of an idea for a new magazine and Web site called Yiddishe Magaifa, with slogan “ALL virus news– ALL the time.”
Beautiful!
B”H
amazing! may this begin a ‘tsunami’ of good news in all publications…thanks for leading the way!