A Nun's Rebbe Story

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A Chabad developer buys nursing homes gone broke, turns them into multiple-unit dwellings and sells them. During the purchase of a nursing home affiliated with a church, he went into one of the church's offices to negotiate a deal. While sitting there in an office waiting, a nun in the office approached him and asked him,
"Are you Jewish?"
"Yes," he said.
"Do you know of Rabbi Schneerson?"
"Of course, I'm a chassid of his."
"Well then, let me tell you a story about him.
"I was one of our church's representatives at a convention held in Ireland. During the talk by a bishop, the bishop asked to be excused for 15 minutes to go pray, after which he'd continue his talk. Because he didn't return after 20 minutes, I walked out and began walking up and down the extensive grounds of that Irish church, just looking around to bide my time. I looked into one of the doors that happened to be ajar - and was surprised to see the bishop sitting in a prayer shawl and Phylacteries, praying.

"I walked over and asked him what he was doing. He told me he'll explain when he soon returns to continue his talk.

"When he returned, he told the audience of a dream he had that repeated itself several times. A bearded old man would appear and tell him he must pray from a Jewish prayer book because the prayers he now is accustomed to are unfitting. 'I dismissed the dreams at first', he said, 'until one time I asked the old man 'How do you know I'm praying the wrong prayers?'' The old man told him that he was a child when first placed in a foster home during WWII and because his parents never returned to take him back he remained with the foster religion - but that he was Jewish.

"The bishop did some historical research and discovered that indeed he was placed in a Catholic foster home by Jewish parents, when he was about 4 and a half. 'So I began to learn about the Jewish prayers, began to pray from a Jewish prayer-book, and I will be leaving the church soon.'

"I asked him who was that old man. He said once he saw an article in a newspaper with an old Jewish rabbi that looked exactly like the old man of the dream. His name is Rabbi Schneerson and lives in New York.

"I myself, a resident of New Jersey, did my own research into Rabbi Schneerson and found him to be the Rabbi in the House of the Jewish Messiah, in Brooklyn. I wanted to meet him. I did more research and found out I could get to see him by going on Sunday, when he hands out to all vistors a dollar bill. Of course I knew I could not wear my cross and nun's outfit so I just dressed up in usual lady's clothes.

"When my turn arrived in the dollar-line, the Rabbi gave me a dollar. I was walking away when he called me back to give me another dollar bill. 'This is for Ireland', he said. Of course I was stunned."

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Moral of the story: It happens this Chabad entrepreneur doubted the veracity of the Rebbe as Moshiach. One way or another, he'll learn the truth. If a Jew doesn't get the story from the side of kedushah, he'll get it from another direction. In this case, the Lubavitcher had to get the association of the Rebbe and Moshiach from a Catholic nun.

"Where does the Rebbe say he's Moshiach?", this Chabadnik once adamantly asked. In Kuntres Bais-Rabbeinu ShebeBavel the Rebbe says that 770's gematria is "בית משיח", among scores of other such allusions.