This year, as we approach Gimmel (3) Tammuz, the 30th yahrzeit of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, we remember his repeated call for bringing Moshiach and witnessing the end of Exile. The Avner Institute presents a heartwarming anecdote by Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi, of blessed memory–Rav of Kfar Chabad and a central figure in Chabad Central Beis Din of Israel—on his son’s miraculous medical recovery under the unwavering guidance of the Rebbe, whose blessings and advice are assurances of happiness.
In loving memory of of Hadassah Lebovic A”h
Blessing at Four
Many people had come to celebrate the bar mitzvah the Rav of Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi, made for his son, Sholom Dov Ber. Rabbi Ashkenazi told his guests that aside from the usual joy of any bar mitzvah, this one had an extra dimension. All hushed as they listened to the story Rabbi Ashkenazi had to tell.
The bar mitzva boy was just a year old back then, on that Shavuot. His father had gone with his fellow rabbis to Crown Heights for the holiday, as was customary.
One day Rabbi Ashkenazi received an urgent call from his wife, who told him the baby had suddenly taken ill and was sent to Tel HaShomer hospital. The doctors diagnosed his situation as critical. She asked her husband to approach the Rebbe and ask for a blessing for their child.
Of course, Rabbi Ashkenazi was terribly worried. At the first opportunity he approached the Rebbe.
“Rebbe, I ask for Heavenly mercy for my son.”
The Rebbe stared at him and immediately uttered the child’s name, “Sholom Dov Ber ben Sima.” After a few seconds’ pause, the Rebbe added, “He’ll get out of it!”
It wasn’t only a blessing. It was a guarantee. Rabbi Ashkenazi was thrilled, and ready to go on his way.
However, the Rebbe continued, “It should be to him for health.” Again, it seemed as though the Rebbe had finished, but again, the Rebbe added, “And you will merit to bring him to Torah, marriage canopy and good deeds.”
There was no happier man than Rabbi Ashkenazi, for he had received an explicit promise from the Rebbe. He quickly called home and announced that the Rebbe had “promised them the world.” Indeed, within a few days the baby had recovered and was released from the hospital.
Following Advice
Six months went by and little Sholom Ber developed normally, to the joy of his parents and family. Then the illness suddenly returned. The doctors examined the child and tried to diagnose the problem without success. His situation worsened by the hour.
Mrs. Ashkenazi rushed to call her relatives in Crown Heights, asking that somebody give the Rebbe the child’s name.
“Do you know what time it is here?” one woman asked. “It’s four in the morning, and the Rebbe is not in 770.”
Nevertheless, after some deliberations, they decided that this woman would go to the Rebbe’s house on President Street, knock on the door, and try to get a blessing.
After repeated knocking, the door was opened by the Rebbe’s attendant, Rabbi Sholom Ber Gansburg.
“There’s a sick child in critical condition whose parents urgently request a blessing,” said the woman nervously.
“I’m sorry,” Rabbi Gansburg said, shaking his head. “The Rebbe is in his room and can’t be disturbed.”
After her repeated pleadings, he finally agreed to place a note with the child’s name on it under the door and to see what would happen.
Within a few minutes the door opened, and the stately figure of the Rebbe appeared. “Follow the advice of a doctor friend.”
The answer was quickly transmitted to Eretz Yisroel.
Divine messenger
Room 21 in the pediatric ward of the hospital hummed with activity. Experts in
different fields were called upon to try and see whether they could do anything to save the child.
After a brief meeting in which all the doctors expressed their opinion, they concluded—not that optimistically—that the only thing to do was an emergency operation.
In the meantime, the Rebbe’s answer arrived, and Rabbi Ashkenazi tried frantically to locate a “doctor friend.” He remembered a professor who knew the family for years, although the professor did not work in the department his son was in. Nevertheless, Rabbi Ashkenazi asked him to come and give his opinion.
Ever the loyal friend, the doctor appeared. After examining the child, he joined the other doctors. Ten of them had unanimously decided that an operation was the child’s only chance.
But the professor was adamant. “Why perform an operation? You are only endangering the child’s life further.” Instead, he suggested a course of antibiotics.
“You’re foolish!” the other doctors argued. In vain they tried to convince him of their position. The professor refused to budge. It was the parents, however, who had the final say, for without their signatures and approval the operation could not be done.
Although they faced ten determined doctors, with the support of only one, the parents knew that the doctor wasn’t expressing his own view, but the Rebbe’s. They knew that the “doctor friend” was only a Divine messenger, who expressed what really ought to be done.
The parents had to sign a form stating that they took responsibility for their son’s life. The professor agreed to take the child to his department where he would personally care for the child. The other doctors dispersed to their departments while the medic wheeled the bed into the professor’s ward.
A few hours later, the child’s condition miraculously began to improve. Within three days he was released from the hospital.
Public Guarantee
Rabbi Ashkenazi concluded the tale with the following:
“If regarding a personal instruction I followed the Rebbe’s advice, even when that course of action appeared to fly in the face of logic, all the more so when it concerns the entire generation!
“After hearing the Rebbe promise us that we are the generation that will merit the true and complete Redemption, which was not a private guarantee, but a guarantee given to an entire generation, certainly the Rebbe will be good to his word!”
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