From intermarriage to emigration, nothing was too big or mundane for a blessing and guidance. The Avner Institute presents a series of warm anecdotes involving the Rebbe’s intervention in personal matters affecting family, spirituality, and other life choices; and the Rebbe’s insistence on the personal initiative, as well.
In loving memory of Hadassah Lebovic A”h
“Nu, have the Georgians Arrived?”
Rabbi Yaakov Michaelashvili of Lud relates:
It was 5727 (1967), and the Communists ruled with an iron hand over millions of citizens. The persecution of Jews intensified, making it increasingly difficult to leave the country. All requests for emigration were refused, and there was absolutely no chance that we would be able to leave Georgia.
On Simchas Torah of that year, the old Chassid, Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, a”h, implored the Rebbe for his blessing that all the Georgian rabbis be able to participate in the farbrengen that year.
Indeed, that year, to their amazement, the Georgian rabbis were allowed to leave, and in Elul they arrived in Crown Heights. At the Rosh HaShanah 5728 farbrengen, we – the new immigrants – sat facing the Rebbe and joined in the singing.
Suddenly the Rebbe turned to Rabbi Levitin. With a broad smile the Rebbe asked, “Nu, Reb Shmuel, have the Georgians arrived?”
How He Left Russia
Professor Herman Branover relates:
I grew up in Riga, where I slowly got involved in Yiddishkeit and Chassidus. Before presenting a request to leave Russia, I decided to contact the Lubavitcher Rebbe and ask for his blessing. A friend warned me that a conversation like that was likely to earn me years under lock and key in Siberian labor camps. But I stubbornly insisted on calling the Rebbe, feeling an inexplicable urgency.
I went to the post office and dialed the Rebbe’s office directly. After identifying myself, I asked to speak to the Rebbe, when suddenly I heard the Rebbe’s voice on the line (in Yiddish) saying, “Very soon, it will all work out.”
I was ecstatic, for I had spoken to the Rebbe himself! I went to the emigration office, and after presenting my request I was told, in no uncertain terms, that due to my vast scientific knowledge I wouldn’t be able to leave the Soviet Union for at least four years, likely ten!
I didn’t despair. I went home, with stubborn faith.
The miracle happened a lot sooner than I thought it would. Shortly thereafter, I heard knocks at my door. Somebody from the emigration office invited me to come to their offices, where they informed me that my request to emigrate had been approved!
I know this was only in the merit of the Rebbe’s blessing.
“You don’t Know Me, but Take My Number”
Rabbi Ben-Tzion Grossman A”H relates:
A Rav who lived in a certain city in South America also served as the shochet, ritual slaughterer, for the Jewish community. Although not a Chassid, he was familiar enough with Chassidim from his time in Russia, and he respected and appreciated them.
Like many of his compatriots, he had difficulties concerning his children’s education. There was no Jewish school in the immediate area, never mind a Talmud Torah or any other kosher institution. With no other choice, the Rav and his wife sent their children to public school. At home, they did their best to provide a traditional Jewish education.
However, the Rav’s oldest daughter, unlike other Jews her age, decided to continue at the public high school, despite her parents’ displeasure. Her next step was university, where she began her major in sociology. She enjoyed her studies and put many hours into her work.
Eventually she had to focus on a topic for her doctorate. She chose to investigate the Jewish-Arab conflict. Therefore, she set off for Eretz Yisroel, where she could observe the phenomenon up close.
She spent weeks traveling among various Arab settlements. On one of her trips, she went to an Arab village in the Galil, where she was accepted as an observer in the local school. This enabled her to closely observe the Arab education and lifestyle and their attitudes towards Jews.
She met an Arab student at the school who was studying sociology at a university in England. The two had a lot in common and their friendship quickly grew. It was only a matter of time before they decided to marry.
For days she wondered how to break the news to her parents. She procrastinated for as long as she could but then finally decided to tell them the facts, come what may. At first her father thought it was all a bad joke, but his daughter’s serious tone finally made him realize that she actually meant what she said.
The father tried to reason with her. “You’ll lose out in the end, if not now then, in the future.”
But she was adamant. Seeing this, he threatened to cut off ties with her if she went through with the marriage.
The father was beside himself. Moreover, he justifiably worried about his wife’s reaction. The mother collapsed at the very thought that her daughter was to marry an Arab. Her heart couldn’t take it, and after a few weeks, she passed on.
Now the father’s burden was too much to bear. The loss of both daughter and wife left him sorely bereft. In the meantime, his daughter was married. They had a son a year later, followed by a daughter.
Auspicious Time
Around that time, a Chabad emissary arrived in the city where the father lived. Hearing of the Rav’s tragic story from other community members left him deeply sympathetic to the man’s anguish. At his very first meeting, the emissary told the Rav about the Rebbe and about the miracles he performs.
“Write to the Rebbe and he will certainly help you,” he urged. Then he handed the Rav a slip of paper. “You don’t know me, but take my number.”
Tearfully, the Rav sat down and wrote out the entire story. At the end of the letter, he asked for the Rebbe’s blessing and advice. Then he gave the letter to the emissary, for delivery to the Rebbe.
The Rebbe answered, “Take advantage of an auspicious time when they quarrel.”
The Rav was taken aback. “How can I know when they quarrel if I don’t even know where she lives? And anyway, what does the Rebbe mean to take advantage of an auspicious time? What exactly am I supposed to do?”
The emissary, however, was confident that it would all work out. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Rely on the Rebbe and be confident that when they quarrel, you will know about it, and you will also know what to do.”
“Of Chassidic Appearance”
Before embarking on an international exhibition, the famed Chassid and artist Rabbi Hendel Lieberman had a private audience with the Rebbe, whom he asked for a blessing for success. The Rebbe asked for various details connected to the exhibition.
Suddenly he changed the subject. “Where are you staying?” he asked.
When Rabbi Hendel mentioned the name of the hotel, the Rebbe asked him to stay instead at a certain hotel elsewhere in the city. Although bewildered at the Rebbe’s request to switch hotels, Rabbi Hendel, a loyal Chassid, followed the Rebbe’s wishes.
Two days his arrival at the hotel, a Jew knocked at his door and asked whether he could borrow tallis and tefillin. The man, who didn’t look observant, aroused Rabbi Hendel’s curiosity. So, he decided to follow him.
Rabbi Hendel watched the man enter a room, laythe tefillin and daven, weeping. This same routine repeated itself day after day.
Before returning home, Reb Hendel asked the man to explain his strange behavior.
The man replied, “When I saw a man of Chassidic appearance, with beard and sidelocks, going about the hotel, it reminded me of my Jewish roots and inspired me to repentance and return to my roots.”
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