A Chanukah Story

- as told by Rabbi YY Jacobson:

A Pot of Margarine

At the conclusion of every 16-hour work day in the hell called Bergen-Belsen, the block commander liked to have some fun with his Jews.

Now, the meal at the end of the day consisted of old dry bread, filthy watery soup and a pot of something like margarine made from vegetable fat.

The margarine was scooped out of a large tub, and after the meal had been distributed and the tub was empty, the commander allowed the starving prisoners to jump into the empty tub and lick the remaining margarine from the walls of the tub. The sight of starving Jews licking up bits of margarine provided nightly entertainment for the commander and his guards.

One prisoner, however, refused to be a part of the commander's show. Though like all the rest he was a withered, starving shadow of a man aged far beyond his years, still, he would never allow himself to scavenge for a lick of margarine. The other prisoners called him Elijah. In some unspoken way, the others drew strength from Elijah's refusal to join the frenzy. Then, one night, something happened that seemed to shatter whatever spirit remained in the prisoners.

Elijah cracked. All at once he threw himself into the greasy vat and furiously rolled around like a crazed beast.

And how the commander howled. It was a deep belly laugh of satanic satisfaction. The last of the Jews had been broken.

Later, after the guards left and the Jews were in their barracks, Elijah took off his shirt and began to tear it to shreds. The others looked on in silence. Had Elijah gone mad? He would study the shirt for a moment, carefully looking it over, as if searching for some exact location, and then tear that area into a strip. He looked up. His eyes were on fire.

"Do you know what tonight is?" he demanded.

"Tonight is the first night of Chanukah." Elijah studied the shirt again, finding another choice spot to tear. A spot he had purposely saturated with grease from his rolling in the margarine tub.

That night Elijah led the others in the lighting of the Chanukah flames. The wicks came from the strips of his shirt, and the bits of margarine Elijah had furiously scavenged was the oil.

Elijah's light continues to shine to this very day. In his world, the times of plenty and times of famine were never disconnected.

3 NY Yankee Baseball Caps

Speaking of Donald Trump, here's a 1st-hand story about his son-in-law.

I had taken my kid and his two friends to a Yankees' game at Yankee Stadium several years ago one sunny afternoon. After the game, on the way out of the stadium, we passed Bronx vendors selling overpriced baseball caps. I wasn’t going to shell out $28 per Yankee-logo cap.

We climbed the stairs of the nearby subway station and got into the train. Just as I entered, I noticed two fellows hurrying up the remaining steps to make it before the subway doors shut. I held the door open for them.

One of the two saw the kids sitting next to me. Right away he came over and gave each kid a brand new NY Yankees baseball cap! He was holding 4 of them under his arm and now he was left with one. His friend smiled approvingly.

Now I happen to have a long beard, sport a Chabad fedora and wear my tzitzis out, definitely looking of Jewish persuasion. And the boys were wearing their kippahs.

Seeing an opportunity to inject some Judaism, I got up and walked over to the other one. “Are you Jewish?” I asked. My impression is these young men had no head covering.

“Not only am I Jewish”, said he, “I’m Orthodox”! That took wind out of my expected conversation.

“Where do you daven”, I asked. He mentioned a Lower East Side location, also mentioning the synagogue he davened at. I asked him what it is he does and he said he runs a newspaper, the NY Observer.

At home, out of sheer curiosity, I looked up that journal I never heard of, did a little research and discovered I had met Jared Kushner and his good friend, the one who handed the kids the baseball hats. His friend was the journal’s editor-in-chief, at the time retiring from his job to seek another challenge. I think he lived in Westchester. His name was Peter Kaplan. I never did get to speak to him. The few words I spoke were with the young Kushner.

They impressed me as two successful, smart fellows who were naturally kind. They got off in lower Manhattan; We kept going to Brooklyn.

This story happened years before Trump became a household word. I knew practically nothing of him back then.

I relay this story now only because I like Trump and, as you see, I also regard favorably his son-in-law.

Inside the 4 Cubits of the Rebbe ...

Dr. Ira Weiss

This is simply fascinating! The longer he talks, the more you want to hear:

See here!

The USS Missouri - And the Rebbe

The USS Missouri was the platform upon which World War II ended. Not on land - but on a gunboat of the United States. That's where General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, held the solemn ceremony, where the enemies formally surrendered.

Who was responsible for wiring this huge battleship? The Rebbe of Lubavitch.

I already recalled one story I heard about this work the Rebbe did back then, circa 1944, which I related here: Escorted by Generals.

Now I came across another such story. Here's the transcript of the video. At the end of this narrative I leave you with a link to the video to see 1st hand, and because of slight changes from the transcript.

(Interview of Milton Fechter with "My Encounter With The Rebbe".)

I worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard from January 1943 till June 1945. A retired admiral came to City College and said that they were desperately in need of engineers for the Navy Yard. They were building the battleship Missouri there - that's the battleship on which afterwards General MacArthur accepted the surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo Bay after the war - and they were also working on a smaller battleship, the Idaho, and one of the aircraft carriers, but I forget the name for that one.

So they gave me my diploma early and I came to work there, in Building 3, on Flushing Avenue and Vanderbilt. The building, it's a giant building, is still there. It was a huge operation - there were 77,000 people working there - and our section had about fifty engineers and craftsmen, evenly divided between Jews and Gentiles. I mention this because at the time, that was one of the things that was on the Gentiles' mind, always to look who is a Jew.

New York City in 1943 wasn't like today. Up in the Bronx, for example, was an Irish man named Joe McWilliams, he was a big anti-Semite and he had an organization called the Christian Front. Half the New York City police were Irish, and many belonged to the Christian Front. And they created a lot of trouble for Jews in the Bronx. In Brooklyn, Ridgewood, you had the Germans, and before the FBI broke up what they called the "Bund," they used to march at night in Hitler uniforms on Bushwick Ave.

There was this guy I went to school with for 5 years - I was 3 years with him in high school and then 2 years with him in City College. A fellow from a good family, with money. I'm sitting next to him in class. It's Friday, June 1940, the professor comes into the class, and he had a long face. Gentlemen, he says, I have some very sad news to report, it just came over the radio, that France had surrendered to Hitler. My heart fell all the way down.

This guy sitting next to me, turns around to me and his eyes are blazing hate. And here is what he says to me: "You'll get yours next." I tell you, I couldn't say a word. I was so stunned. Five years I go to school with him, and didn't know what was in him.

I'm trying to give you a picture of the times. It's different today. It's completely different today. Then, you're in a room with 50 people, everyone knows who the Gentiles are and who's a Jew. The fact that people were so busy working on the war effort had dampened a bit the anti-Semitism that had raged in New York City for a number of years prior to the war, but it was still there.

Our section was separated from the electrical section by a wooden fence about 3 feet high. And that section had about 300 men sitting at drafting tables. So I turn to the man next to me, and I said, what are they doing there? And he said they are all doing wiring diagrams for the ships, mostly the Missouri. So much electrical wiring goes into a ship, you have no idea.

I take a look, and you have 300 people in white shirts, because in those days most people wore white shirts. And in the middle is sitting a guy with a black beard, earlocks, a black hat and a black suit.

So I turn to the guy next to me, I said who is that? He says, "He's a rabbi, and he is also an electrical engineer, a graduate of the Sorbonne." I looked over there and I said to myself, boy I've got to give this guy credit. If I were sitting among all 300, I couldn't wear earlocks and a beard and feel comfortable. He sat there serene as if he was sitting amongst his chevra, and that really struck me.

So, I went over and introduced myself. He told me his name is Schneerson. But he didn't tell me he was the son-in-law of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and I didn't ask him. Nobody knew, as far as I knew.

He spoke quietly, he was a gentleman and he had two very smart eyes. He was a very self-contained individual. He wasn't interested in what someone on the left thought of him, or someone on the right thought of him. He was content with himself and he obviously had a lot of inner strength. It was very illuminating to me, to see a person in a hostile milieu to be so serene.

Friday he left early because of the Shabbos. And Saturday he didn't come in, Jewish holidays he didn't come in. He was the only guy that got that accommodation. Nobody else left for Saturdays or Fridays or holidays. Only one man - him.

I came up there a couple of Sundays to see some people there and I'd see him sitting there all by himself in that vast hall. Oh, it was more than a block long, that building. You take a look at it. It was quite a building.

He came in Sunday, I guess because he didn't come in Saturday. And he worked all by himself Sunday. And, I'll tell you one thing, the rabbi had a lot of courage, to be there all alone on Sunday. The rats that ran around there were about that big. And he sat by himself, drawing the wires for the various electrical wiring that goes into a ship. You couldn't give me a million dollars to sit there by myself on Sunday.

I didn't see him very often, because he never came to the cafeteria. He wouldn't go to the cafeteria; it wasn't kosher. So I didn't speak to him that much, only about three times altogether. But as I say, I was very impressed with his serenity. You see, if he'd sat among three hundred guys with beards and he was perfectly at ease that would be one thing. But to sit among three hundred goyim, completely oblivious to everything around him, that was something that struck me.

Later, when I read in the paper that he became Rebbe, I wasn't surprised because I saw that he was a very bright man and he obviously he had a lot of inner strength. He could have continued working as an engineer. He had the capabilities, the math he knew more than most of us there. Sure he was an engineer but that wasn't his life, he didn't make it top priority with him. His life was rabbinical and not engineering. He had hobbies, and engineering was one of them, but he was a rabbi at heart. Sometimes he was an engineer, but the Rebbe was always a Rebbe.

---- ---- ----

(LINK to interview with above person.)

---- ---- ----

Here's a LINK to another person's encounter with the Rebbe -- this time when the Rebbe was Rebbe.

And here is part II of what the engineer was saying.

Rumor re: 5775

A discussion is brewing online within the Groner family, שיחי''ו (Rabbi Leibel Groner was one of the Rebbe's secretaries).

The story is that the Alter Rebbe was once reading from Pekudei 38:28, which mentions the sum of 1775 talents collected.

ואת האלף ושבע המאות וחמשה ושבעים

Instead of reading the "hei" of "ha-elef" (the thousand) with a "patach", he read it with a "tzeirei" (which turns the letter "hei" into 5).

When the Alter Rebbe read it as “5775” his Gabbai corrected him. The Alter Rebbe then said again “5775”, to which the Gabbai once again corrected him. This repeated itself 4 times. Thereafter the Alter Rebbe went into deep meditation. When he quit his meditation he opened his eyes and whispered to the Gabbai that “5775” had something to do with the coming of Moshiach.

Rabbi Groner verifies the authenticity of the Rebbe previously revealing this story to at least one of his secretaries.

It is believed this story's source comes from an as yet unknown "Polish" sefer.

(And, as a blogger Rafi points out, here, 5775 = תשועה
and "every time the word תשועה is mentioned in Tanach, it always has to do with David. No exceptions.")

That's David as in "משיח בן דוד".

Let's hope the Alter Rebbe's prophetic story is confirmed.
---
This link, however, says the 5775 issue best!

The Rebbe, Rav Ovadiah - and a Pope

Here's a Rebbe story from 1964 (as per a Teshurah from a Simcha of Shlomo Giladi who recorded his Rav's anecdotes of an interlude at 770 [LINK]).

"... About that time, the protocol in Israel was that the Chief Rabbi of Israel served a life's tenure.

"At that time an event occurred that brought upon the entire country a public storm. The pope arrived in sovereign pomp to visit Israel.

"The Knesset very much wanted that the Chief Rabbi of then, Harav Nissim, should also come to meet with him and offer him his respects.

"He refused full-heartedly. Under the heavy pressure on him from the administration and from all members of Knesset who came to call to persuade him, he refused whole-heartedly.

"They fumed against the Chief Rabbi and legislated him out of office tenure, for he served out his "term" in office, thereby setting the rabbi out to pasture on retirement.

"The Rebbe railed and wailed against this political maneuver. He said it was huge chutzpah that they compromise the service of the Rabbi in Israel, etc. and therefore - it is forbidden for any rabbi to offer his candidacy for the Chief Rabbinate position.

"Nevertheless, two rabbis offered their candidacies, the Rav Ovadiah and the Rav Goren.

"Thereafter, when Rav Ovadia took office of the Chief Rabbi, etc., and in line with his position he wanted to visit the Rebbe, the Rebbe refused to see him ...."

What "Converted" this Reform Rabbi?

A successful commercial once had as its main line, "Try it, you'll like it!"

This is the precise formula by which to understand Judaism. This formula launched, and therefore characterizes, the Jewish nation. The Jews, emancipated from Egyptian diaspora in 2448, became a nation by defining their existence based on this principle. When asked whether they could commit to G-d's demands, Jews exclaimed (Ex.24:7),
"We will do and we will understand!" "נעשה ונשמע"
The Jews determined steadfastly, first of all, to accept G-d's Torah blindly! They will unquestioningly take it upon themselves to do as it prescribes. Then, and only then, will they also seek to understand. This conditional statement demonstrated their full trust in G-d.

One might argue that the discovery of a hidden benefit can first be investigated before committing oneself to certain conduct. Maybe one can first try to understand Torah, and then, based on a new understanding, commit to it.

Not with Judaism! The life of an observant Jew cannot be appreciated or understood WITHOUT relevant activities to serve as pre-requisites. Behavioral "input" of Mitzvot offers the mind a new dimension by which to appreciate and comprehend Jewish tradition. The key is doing first, and then grasping its value. Not the other way around. There are some things that you can never like unless you first try them!

Need proof of this Jewish phenomenon? Look about you and see how orthodoxy and "ultra" orthodoxy thrives among Jews. What these Jews believe in outsiders may well consider patently absurd - like Jews wearing strings on a 4-cornered cloth, praying with boxes on their arm and forehead, fasting 24 hours twice a year, believing a Messiah will "redeem" them, always covering their heads with caps, eliminating all form of work one day a week, considering some foods or combination of foods forbidden, and many other "weird" behaviors and beliefs.

Yet, many such "lunatics" abound. Even among people who are generally considered by the world to be rather smart!

How could such absurdity prevail when it makes more common sense to throw off all shackles, to abandon what appears to be ancient practices and blend in with "modern" society!

The answer is simple. Torah truth can be appreciated only when actualized in practice!

This reform rabbi's story is a case in point (LINK). Hear him explain his "conversion" to orthodoxy and you will note he cannot really pinpoint what actually changed him or what had been missing in earlier years. I'm pretty certain he himself hasn't yet discovered that what really changed him was his "Let me try it" attitude. And then, of course, after he tried it, he liked it, in characteristic, authentic Jewish fashion.

Bridge Problem - Rebbe Story

I recall many years ago hearing this story in 770 from someone who spoke to many of us at a Shabbos farbrengen. Because the Rebbe served as an electrical engineer in the U. S. Navy during WWII, and happened to know much about bridges, he once was approached for advice by people who had trouble with the structural design of their bridge. This particular bridge had some of its cables continually loosen up because of directional wind gusts. No matter how many times they would tighten the cables, eventually the wind's forces would loosen their grip.

The Rebbe handled the matter quite simply. He told them to reverse-thread the cables. This way, the wind, if anything, tightened them.

The Rebbe Confides in a Little Girl

Rabbi S. Jacobson tells of a letter he received from a lady in Pennsylvania who many years earlier had been raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Here's what she said:

In the year 5706 [1946] she attended the public school on Schenectady and Eastern Parkway, where her grandfather used to pick her up. Once, the Rebbe was walking down the street and the grandfather, pointing out the Rebbe, said to her, "This is a great rabbi; He's the son-in-law of the [Previous] Rebbe; You should go over to him and receive his blessing."

It happened at a later date, when she saw this dignified-looking rabbi, that she mustered courage and approached the Rebbe. The Rebbe opened the conversation. "What are you studying?" the Rebbe asked. "Asimov", she said. The Rebbe then said, "You know that Asimov, when writing science-fiction for children, wrote a series based on the concept of 'Foundation', where in the future planets will be civilized by being connected to their source on Earth."

"I have a similar vision," continued the Rebbe, "where one day there will be Jewish outposts all over the globe, all connected to one source."

Dad's Dad - One of 6 Million

  אהרן מאיר אייכענשטיין  הי''ד

This father of 10 lived in Czechoslovakia during Germany's WWII occupation. He had left Poland, where his surname was פרידלנדר, and adopted his wife’s surname as a precaution against Poles who might pursue him to draft him into their army.

All his children lived in Europe except for one daughter who lived with her husband in America.

This was during a troubled era for European Jewry. Much of his offspring gravitated to the lure of a bankrupt, secular "Zionism", but several held tightly and mightily to live the Torah life.

He went to the Germans to ask what they required for documentation in order for him to leave for America. They provided him with a list of requirements. His daughter in America sent him all that he needed. When he showed up again at the German office with his documentation in hand, they said, “You have, in fact, everything required – except for one thing: You need to shave off your beard!”

Because he refused they shipped him off to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they burned him.

The above was probably his passport picture.

About 10 years ago, at a simchah in Boro Park, an elderly gentleman approached me and asked if my name is אייכנשטיין. I said Yes. He said he knew my grandfather because he had been “shipped” to Auschwitz in the very same cattle-car as was my grandfather. My grandfather, he said, told everybody inside that cattle-car they should know that this “trip” they were on – will be the last trip of their lives. He said, when they were unloaded onto the platform at Auschwitz, my grandfather actually started dancing!

I bring this anecdote to your attention because Jews in the Holocaust offered their lives in self-sacrifice to Hashem for being Jewish, and proud of it.

I'd venture to say that very deep down every Jew who gave his life, in the face of then European "humanity", had to have harbored even a slight touch of happiness.

This is Torah and This is Its Reward? The Rebbe's Explanation

One bold chassid had a problem with a story related in Yom Kippur's service, so he asked the Rebbe for an explanation.

It's the story of 10 topmost sages brutally murdered by a Roman ruler. He schemed as follows. He knew Torah's punishment for selling a kidnapped victim. He collected sages and asked them what Torah's punishment was for stealing a human and then selling him. They responded, as he wished, implicating the death sentence. Then he reminded them that Joseph had been stolen by his 10 brothers and sold for a pair of sandals, yet the brothers received no death punishment. Accordingly, he was going to make judicious use of that law and kill 10 sages for that still-unpunished crime.

Rabbi Yishmael, one of the sages, said, "You read the Bible's verdict correctly, but allow me 3 days to determine if deeper insight into this edict exists." The Roman agreed. During those 3 days, Rabbi Yishmael ascended the upper world and inquired of the angels. The angels said, "We hear from behind the curtain that your verdict is - to die." [They heard a divine voice - because Angels cannot see God]

Rabbi Yishmael accepted this decree. He descended and told this to his peers, then conveyed his submission to the Roman. The latter proceeded to brutally torture and kill the sages.

During one such horrific atrocity, an angel on high complained to God, "This is Torah, and this is its reward!? [For sages who most purely reflect Torah, by following, studying and immersing themselves in it - this is their recompense!?"]

Said God, "Don't ask me again lest I turn the world into water, into emptiness and darkness."

Said the chassid to the Rebbe, "Finally some angel who could no longer countenance this evil and savagery stepped up to complain, and to this God responds saying "I'll destroy the world"? Why did this dauntless angel, who was fully justified, get knocked down by God? Why the strange answer by God?"

The Rebbe said, "I'll answer your question with a tale".

A King once commissioned his ministers to find an impeccable tailor to sew for him an exquisite robe. They were given a most expensive and beautiful piece of fabric for the job - one made of gold threads. No tailor felt confident he could do the job, except for one experienced Jewish tailor who volunteered. So they gave him the job.

Because they hated Jews, the ministers warned the King to ask the Jew to return all remnants of cut fabric lest the tailor pocket them for himself and thereby become rich.

When the job was done, the tailor brought the robe to the king, who tried it on. It was a perfect fit and the king was thrilled. Then the king asked him for the remnants of gold fabric. The tailor said, "There were no remnants".

The king filled with fury and demanded the tailor be killed. But, as was the custom, the victim could have one last wish. "What's your last wish?", asked the king. "My last wish is to undo all the seams of your robe that I tailored for you", said the Jew. The king found this hard, but for his honor to respect the custom of the state, he conceded.

The tailor then proceeded to undo his masterpiece and when he was done he held up the entire fabric, and, to everyone's amazement, it was the very same whole piece of fabric he was given for the job in the first place. Then they understood the great skill of this tailor, who laboriously managed to fold and stitch the fabric ingeniously in such a way as to preserve it entirely without having to cut any of it away.

The king realized the tailor hadn't lied but was left now without his new robe.

Similarly, said the Rebbe, God did not shut up the angel who stepped forward with the complaint. Nor did God issue a threat. Instead, God explained that for the Angels to understand the reasoning behind the cruel decree He would have to take the world back to its original state as it was before creation, namely to water, emptiness and darkness, for only then would they understand the reasoning.

A Nun's Rebbe Story

illustration only

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."

---------

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.

A Catholic Father's Jewish Son's Bar-Mitzvah

This story was emailed me by my friend, an emissary of the Rebbe is Florida:

This story begins in the summer of 2009. Raizy, myself and the two little kids attended a Judaica art show at one of the local synagogues before the high holidays, which was more of a community meet and greet type of thing. We had a good time and met lots of new people.

At one point I saw a man dressed like a biker, clearly not Jewish, introduce himself to the rabbi of the synagogue who was hosting the event. He told the Rabbi his wife was a nurse at Morton Plant Hospital, she was Jewish and she passed away from cancer at the young age of 40 just 2 years earlier, and on her deathbed she made him vow that he would Bar Mitzvah their only son Adam, who, at the time of her passing, was 7 years old. He explained he was working three jobs to make ends meet and therefore needed the synagogue`s help to fulfill his deceased wife's wishes.

I overheard this entire conversation standing a few feet away. I knew the Rabbi would in fact not help this man Bar Mitzvah his Jewish son. As soon as they concluded their conversation I quietly approached the man, introduced myself, gave him my business card and told him I would help him in every way possible to Bar-Mitzvah his son at no cost. We spoke for a couple of minutes and I also got his info. His name was T_ K_, in his 50`s, a native Floridian, born and raised Catholic, a hardcore biker dude.

I called him several times and even invited him and his son to our annual community Passover Seder, but nothing materialized and over time I forgot about them.

A few of months ago, before Passover, I reminded myself of T_ and his son Adam, and I told myself I must call them. This Jewish kid never had a Bar Mitzvah and if I don’t Bar-Mitzvah him - no one will. The only little problem was, I had his number in one of my pocket calendars from year 2009, which I needed to find. We moved three times since then. I thought about T_ and his son a few times during Passover, and every time I would tell myself I'll look for that pocket calendar later, but that later never materialized, because of the busy Passover requirements ...

Anyhow, a few weeks after Passover I get a call from my good friend Ofer (who built our Torah Ark). He had me on speaker and he was speaking in broken English with a heavy Israeli accent. This was unusual since he's Israeli and whenever we talk, we talk in Hebrew. "Rabbi can you make a Bar-Mitzvah for a 13 year old boy who had problems with another synagogue"? The moment he mentioned "problems with the other synagogue" I knew right away it was money related. I answered "Of course. I will make his Bar-Mitzvah for free!" Ofer tells the guy, "You see, I told you my Rabbi would do it for free".

Ofer gave the guy my number, who called me up a few days later. Sure enough, it was none other than T_ K_, now four years later. We spoke for half an hour about how G-d brought us together the first time and how G-d amazingly brought us together again. We also caught up on old times.

He told me Adam ended up going to that synagogue for about 2 years, then 6 months before he turned thirteen they basically told him good bye. Due to a lack of membership fees, he never had a chance to have his Bar-Mitzvah. Adam turned 13 in January 2013. He is a star baseball player in one of the local leagues; he is in the Boy Scouts; He volunteers at a homeless shelter and has a very good chance of going far with his baseball talent. T_ said "The Jewish people need a good baseball payer! It would be great for the Jewish people and the Jewish religion to have a good baseball player. I don’t know why that synagogue wouldn't bar mitzvah my son!"

I invited T_ to come with his son Adam at his first convenience to Bar-Mitzvah Adam. However due to his many jobs and Adam`s busy schedule he can only come Wednesday afternoon at 6pm. I said sure, no problem; During summer months the sun sets late so we have enough time to wrap the Tefillin and Bar-Mitzvah Adam.

They came to our home Wednesday evening and I put on Tefillin with Adam for the very first time in his life. The kids and myself danced together with Adam and his dad, while (my son) Gershon Aharon took out his little broken guitar and started strumming and singing songs for them. We had some guests over since we have our weekly Challah baking every Wednesday night, so everybody congratulated Adam. It was very moving.

I showed them the interior of the Tefillin and explained to them the meaning of the Mitzvah of Tefillin and its great holiness, for which we wait until a child is 13 years old to don Tefillin and this is actually the reason we celebrate the Bar-Mitzvah altogether. From a spiritual standpoint, then, donning Tefillin is the Bar-Mitzvah itself.

I told Adam his mother is very proud of him and is smiling down at him from heaven for fulfilling her last wish before she passed away, and that he have a Bar-Mitzvah and be raised as a Jew. I explained to him that in Jewish tradition the soul never departs this world. Every time we do a good deed the soul is overjoyed because that is the only thing that has true meaning to the soul.

Every time I mentioned his mother's name Adam would get teary eyed, after all he was only seven years old when she passed away, and T_ as well swelled up a few times, so I made an effort to avoid mentioning her name. It was a very special moment for Adam, T_ and myself.

The final part of this miraculous story is that T_ and Adam came to our synagogue to hear the Ten Commandments on the holiday of Shavuot last Wednesday, and we called up Adam to the Torah for the first time in his life. He received the first Aliyah of the Torah reading and after the Aliyah we all danced together and congratulated him.

To think that this young boy fulfilled his mothers wish on perhaps the greatest day of the year, the day G-d descended on Mt. Sinai to give the Torah, is simply amazing. It shows us how G-d Almighty watches over each and every one of us, in greatest detail. Adam will surely grow up to be a proud Jew and inspire all those around him.

Divine Providence 6 Months Post-Tammuz 3

An event in 1995 inside of "770" during Shabbat prayers deserves mention. The large crowd in the shul was listening to the Ba'al Koreh, Rabbi Michoel Slavin. About half way through, he suddenly stops his recitation, looks closer at the script, and points to the text for a gabbai nearby to look at.

By the way, every Friday, in preparation for this reading, Rabbi Yehudah Clapman, a long-time sofer in the community, checks the Sefer Torah to make sure all is in good order for the upcoming reading on Shabbat.

After a few more cursory inspections, they began wrapping up that Sefer Torah, returned it to the Aron Kodesh, and took out another one to replace it.

It turns out an entire word was missing from the text. This happened Tevet 21, 5755. That was Shabbat, parshas Shmos. The verse was 4:1,

‫...‬ והן לא יאמינו לי
... and they will not believe me ....

The word לי was missing!

My own reaction to what happened was - I was stunned. To me this was a significant providential message with huge impact. Here was Moshe Rabbeinu telling God the Jews will not believe him. His mission was to tell the Jews he will be redeeming them and the Jews, in turn, may well not believe him.

We were about 6 months away from the 3rd of Tammuz, 1994. The trauma was still raw; Emotions still ran fresh. Many of us believed nothing had changed from what the Rebbe had charted out for us, while plenty of others, local and remote, felt what the past held in store was now down the drain.

No verse in all of Torah could better have depicted the schism the 3rd of Tammuz created. But now, on this Shabbat, those of us who believed the Rebbe's agenda remains sturdily on course, and hadn't changed one iota, felt vindicated - a surreal relief!

It was as if the leader of the generation, the Rebbe, was telling us "They won't be believing in me", as if many would continue to believe (regarding some far future) - BUT NOT IN ME!

A Rebbe Story at the Foot of the Kotel

At the floor of the Kotel, to the left, you see 
one of the largest stones that make up the 
wall.  It is said to weigh 570 tons! It is 
shaped like an upside-down "L". All stones 
were chiseled with perfection. Cement was 
never used.

During my recent trip to Israel, we participated in a tour along the "Minharot" (underground tunnels) at the base of the Kotel. In a prayer break, near an opening in the Western Wall that faced the Kodesh Kadashim, the tour guide took me aside and said, "Do you want to hear a personal story of The Rebbe?"

"My father", he said, "is a Ger Tzedek. He married my mom and they had no children for 6 years. They decided to go to New York and ask for a blessing from the Rebbe.

"They managed to get an appointment to go in and see the Rebbe. [This was when the Rebbe still made time to see people personally in his holy chamber, before he began distributing dollars in the "dollar line".]

"But when the Rebbe's secretary saw the many pages of questions my father prepared to ask the Rebbe, he told my father to rewrite the letter and make it much shorter. When my father returned the secretary again stopped my father and told him to further contract the size of his script. It was still too big.

"My father again rewrote the letter and this time my parents were allowed entry to the Rebbe's room.

"My father was a 'chevraman'. He knew that it was improper to record inside the Rebbe's room, so he hid his pocket recorder in his pocket and made sure to turn it on well before they entered the Rebbe's room.

"During the private meeting, the Rebbe answered ALL my father's questions, including those that were written down BEFORE my father contracted the size of the original letters!

"When my father left the Rebbe's room, and was able to remove the recorder, he noticed that all that transpired before and after the meeting with the Rebbe HAD been recorded - but nothing was recorded by the machine DURING the meeting!

"My parents then had 6 children, and I am the 2nd child."

Yossele Rosenblatt with the Previous Rebbe

Reb Yossele Rosenblatt visited the Previous Rebbe in Warsaw in 5688 [1938] after the Rebbe had just left Russia. Those present expected that he would sing. However, he understood from the Rebbe’s facial expression that he did not want that.

When he left the Rebbe’s presence and went into a side room, he met the Rebbe’s daughters and sang something in front of them. He had a very strong voice and was heard in the next room where the Rebbe was. Afterwards, the Rebbe said, “Er hot mir aroisgenumen fun atzvus, er zugt gut, er ken pirush hamilos” (He took me out of depression. He says well. He knows the meaning of the words).

(I heard this from my good friend Reb Shneur Zalman Baumgarten, who heard it from his uncle Reb Sholom Ber Hacohen Eichorn, who witnessed the story.)

In the year 5690, the Previous Rebbe visited America and stayed in Brooklyn for Shmini Atzeres.

During the Yom Tov, the famous Chazan Reb Yossele Rosenblatt walked from the Bronx, where he lived, to visit the Rebbe. The walk took him many hours. When he arrived, the Rebbe honored him to sing several pieces of chazonus. When he finished, the Rebbe turned to Reb Zalman Havlin – who sang nigunim with Heavenly sweetness - and said, “vaizt vos ir kent” (demonstrate what you can do). Reb Zalman sang several niggunim.

When he concluded, Reb Yossele said, “Ir mit eire nigunim macht finster mayne chazonus” (You, with your nigunim, darken [comparatively] my chazonus.)

(Reb Shneur Zalman Baumgarten heard this story from the elder chasidim Reb Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky and Reb Eliyahu Nochum Sklar, of blessed memory.)

Reprinted from Vert-a-lach (43) by Eliezer Zalmanov

A 33-Year Story of the Rebbe

About 33 years ago, Rabbi Zalman Gafni was setting up a special Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad to draw Jews closer to religiosity. During a visit to New York, on Simchat Torah 5730, Gafni succeeded in bobbing his way inside the large and packed crowd in 770, to find a place next to where the Rebbe would be praying at his platform.

When the Rebbe began to descend the steps to make his way to accept the sefer Torah, to take the first round of Hakafot, a path among the congregants opened up and the Rebbe walked into it. When he was next to Gafni, the Rebbe stopped, and in a loud voice and with a very broad smile, the Rebbe said to him, "There should be a joyous occasion for the entire Kollel!"

"I thought I didn't hear correctly because of the overcrowding and excitement", said Gafni. "So I asked the people next to me and each one said, 'That's exactly what the Rebbe said.' I myself had no idea what the Rebbe was referring to. At that time I was extremely involved with building up my Yeshiva; I had no other plans at all to think about."

The Rebbe's statement became engraved in Rabbi Gafni's mind. For years he sought to decipher what the Rebbe meant with that mysterious statement.

Six years ago, changes in his life began to materialize. His son, Rabbi Yosef Yitschok, was picked to lead the well-respected Kollel "Ohel Moshe" in the ancient city of Tsfat. "Suddenly", said Rabbi Gafni, "it donned on me what the Rebbe meant." Nonetheless, Rabbi Gafni continued to work as usual in his Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad. Only a few weeks ago did Rabbi Gafni and his wife take their belongings and move to Tsfat. He was to take up the new position at his son's Kollel as a Mashpia there.

He told this story in the 1st celebration at his new post. Things finally came full circle after 33 years.

Story in Hebrew here.

Herman Wouk and the Rebbe

Here's a segment out of a young chassid's diary, who at the time was a "bochur" learning in 770, relating an incident that happened in 1971 (Sunday, Teves 5731).


Today, the popular, secular writer and novelist, Mr. Herman Wouk, was in yechidus [personal appearance with the Rebbe].

When he came out, we asked him if he would repeat anything he had heard from the Rebbe.

He told us the Rebbe had discussed with him the situation of the American youth, the "hippies".

The Rebbe said they are ready to hear, so we must provide them with Yiddishkeit. He told the Rebbe they would not be interested because they are impatient and only go for things which are immediate, like ‘instant coffee'.

To this the Rebbe replied, “That’s perfect! The 'Shulchan Aruch' means "a ready table"!

Mr. Wouk was very inspired by the yechidus and expressed great admiration for the Rebbe's insightful ideas.

--------

IN RESPONSE TO A COMMENTER re: My "Secular" characterization:
You're 100% right -- I stand corrected.
Here's a brief biography of this outstanding personality: LINK

Rabbi Sherer's Change of Mind

There was a time when, no matter what the Rebbe spoke out about, Rabbi Moshe Sherer, z”l, the head of Agudas Yisrael, came out against it. That's why, when he showed up one day in 770, chassidim couldn't believe their eyes. They asked him why he came. He said, "To asked forgiveness (מחילה) from the Rebbe." They asked for an explanation and this was his story:

Rabbi Sherer's son had a friend who was married for 10 years and the couple was childless. They cared very much for each other but went along with the Jewish law to divorce because of their predicament.

Only two weeks after the divorce, however, the x-wife was found to be pregnant. This was what they had yearned for for so long. Now, it happens to be a mitzvah to remarry the divorced wife. Only in this case this new situation became a severely distressing situation because the x-husband was a Kohen and therefore he could not remarry his x-wife. Distress turned to panic. He went to many Rabbis to determine where a loophole could be found but it seemed they could find no way around the law. He was at his wits' end and didn't know what to do.

Another friend of the x-husband suggested the latter bite the bullet and, inasmuch as he was in new York now, go visit the Rebbe of Chabad because maybe he could find some way out of this mess. That a "Litvishe" Jew had to compromise his mindset to visit the Rebbe was bad enough, but, because he was desperate, the Jew decided to go ahead and take the advice he got.

He waited hours in a Sunday "dollars line" to meet the Rebbe. When his turn came, he spilled out his story to the Rebbe. The Rebbe gave him a dollar and told him, "Go talk to your mother about it."

This Jew's life was shaken to the core. If until now he felt distress, henceforth he could hardly breathe for lack of composure. Inwardly, he was laughing at the Rebbe.

He went to Israel and in Jerusalem visited Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. He told the Rabbi his story, including his visit to the Rebbe. Rabbi Auerbach now perked up his ears and asked, "What did the Rebbe tell you?" He told him what the Rebbe said in a mocking tone. Rabbi Auerbach then told him he must do precisely as the Rebbe said because every word of the Rebbe is holy; And to further make his point, Rabbi Auerbach told him never to come see him again unless he follows the Rebbe's advice.

The young man then went to his parents' home.

He told his mother what the Rebbe's reply had been. He kept repeating it. He said he went to the Rebbe for advice how to resolve his plight. He never wanted to go in the first place and now that he did he felt extremely slighted. Not only did the Rebbe not discuss his situation or ask about details, but the answer was like that given by some unlearned person who could come up with nothing better than something that to him sounded like ridiculous advice - "Go talk to your mother!"  His mother noticed her son's agony and finally could no longer hold herself back.

The mother stayed silent a moment and then said, "If the Rebbe could see what happened then I must tell you. As you know your father, a"h, and I are holocaust survivors. As a result I could not have children. We decided, then, to adopt a child, and that was you. For some reason we withheld this from you. Because father was a Kohen, you too were raised as one, and treated by the congregation as a Kohen. But now that the Rebbe saw this, it's best that I tell you."

When Rabbi Sherer found this out, he came to 770. He realized that not only was the Rebbe a true prophet in that he, and none else, could see the truth behind this situation, but the Rebbe also had the prophetic "Moshiach's sense of smell" to know that this young man was not a Kohen even before he married, otherwise he'd not have given the fellow the said solution.

(As told to me by a good friend, a long-time, devoted chassid and talmid chochom, Reb Menachem Nissim.)

A Brush with Death - A Rebbe Story

One month ago, Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky, the Chabad emissary in Great Neck, NY, suffered due to a previous, severe heart-attack. He was rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival he was already comatose. The doctors felt no point in attempts at revival.

One of the doctors, however, being a close friend of the family, insisted they make attempts to revive him.

After 15 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, his pulse suddenly returned. The doctors, nevertheless, remained pessimistic, giving him little chance of recovery. If after 72 hours his heart continued beating, he'd stand a chance to live.

Seventy-two hours after he went comatose, his consciousness returned. His condition improved daily thereafter and soon he was up, alert, healthy - and left the hospital.

A few days later he called together his family and asked them to sing a chassidic melody because he wants to tell them something important. When they were done, he related this story:

"While in the throes of death, my soul ascended to heaven where Angel Michael greeted me. I merited to see all tzaddikim, starting from Moses, who was teaching children, until the Ba'al Shem Tov and the Admor Hazaken [1st Lubavitcher Rebbe]. The angel told me I needed to enter the heavenly courtroom for a determination on my final status, whether I remain in heaven or return to earth.

"When the heavenly court convened, the question of judging where I be arose and they asked my opinion. I answered I was a chassid of the Rebbe and, accordingly, I want to do as the Rebbe wants of me. Immediately they summoned the Rebbe. When he entered, all stood up in his honor and afforded him indescribable honor. They asked the Rebbe where I ought to be. The Rebbe answered, 'Because I am actively working to precipitate the Redemption, and he, after all, is a soldier of mine, I need him in the world to continue his work.'"

Immediately thereafter the emissary opened his eyes and regained consciousness.