“The world will be a better place when we focus on what we can give, rather than what we can get.”
This week marks the 30th yahrzeit of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, who died on the 3rd of Tammuz.
There is a hardly a person, Jew or non-Jew, who doesn’t have a story about how the Lubavitcher Rebbe impacted them, and 30 years later, the lessons taught by the Rebbe, zt”l, through example, through direction, through ruach haKodesh, and through humor, are still making ripples in the millions of lives he touched.
Susan Barth, whose work in marriage education is as an emissary for the Rebbe, was living in Hartford, Connecticut and having some persistent medical issues. She contacted her local Chabad rabbi about getting a bracha from the Lubavitch Rebbe. He told her that the Rebbe always encouraged people to create a kli (a vessel) and blessings would follow. She followed his advice and took on raising awareness of kashrut in the community. She then went to meet the Rebbe, as she still had the same medical issues.
On 7 Cheshvan, 1989, she traveled to Crown Heights to stand in line for the Sunday dollars distributed by the Rebbe himself. While he generally gave each person a dollar and a bracha, in her case he actually called her back and handed her an extra dollar and also gave her an unrelated bracha. Only years later, did she realize that the two dollars were for her and her husband for hatzlacha in making aliyah, since the timing was Parshat Lech Lecha. Even though aliyah wasn’t even on their radar at the time, the Rebbe with his incredible vision, clearly foresaw that they would make aliyah and that was the first seeds that were planted for their journey to Eretz Yisrael 15 years later. Since then, she has traveled to the Ohel every year on her birthday.
“A small act of kindness can have a ripple effect that reaches far beyond what we can imagine.”
My personal story about the Rebbe taught me not only of his ruach haKodesh but how each word he used in answering a question had significance.
In 1990, I was dating someone who was attending Sackler Medical School in Israel. He wanted to get married and take me back to the States, where he would be doing his internship. I had my doubts and Manuel Sand, a friend of the family going back to my childhood in Montreal, said I should ask the Rebbe what to do.
He asked Rabbi Gerlitzky, a Chabad shaliach, to fax the Rebbe, giving him both our names. The Rebbe faxed back an answer, “Ask people who understand.” Mr. Sand told me, “Look, I think I’m a person who understands. Get married!” We did. In the Sands’ backyard.
Unfortunately, we got divorced less than a year later, but I gave birth to a son, who has been the light of my life and has just recently started his own family, baruch Hashem, and thanks to the Rabbi’s wisdom.
“Every individual has the capacity to inspire greatness within themselves and others.”
Ronit Forrer, a Torah teacher in Israel tells two true stories about the Rebbe:
A visitor to the Rebbe said, “Rebbe you are amazing!” The Rebbe didn’t deflect the compliment or return it. Instead, he answered, “True, I am amazing. But how does the world benefit from the fact that I am amazing? Do I do enough with it?” In other words, it’s not enough to know what you’re capable of, you have an obligation to use your talents to contribute to the world. While many people were shlichim of the Rebbe, the Rebbe was a shaliach of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
“A sense of humor is the secret ingredient to overcoming life’s difficulties.”
The Rebbe’s secretary was sent to one of his chassidim. He told him, the Rebbe is appointing you to be a Chabad shaliach in Chile. The chassid looked at him in wonder and stammered. “What? Where’s Chile?” So the secretary answered him, “The Chabad shaliach in Chile, doesn’t know where Chile is?!” When you were chosen as an emissary by the Rebbe, it was already a fait accompli.
“Faith is not blind belief; it is a deep-rooted trust in the goodness of the universe.”
Malca Devorah was in her fifth month of pregnancy with her third child and she was crying. She had just come from a check-up at her obstetrician. Where she had an ultrasound. The doctor found that the baby had water on the brain and was recommending she abort the pregnancy. She was beside herself.
Her father, the aforementioned Mr. Sand, immediately called Rabbi Gerlitzky, who contacted the Rebbe.
The next day Rabbi Gerlitzky called them, and told them not to do anything. The Rebbe said everything was going to be okay. Malca said, “Baruch Hashem!” and stopped crying.
At the next visit to her obstetrician, a week later, he asked her what she had decided. She told him the Rebbe told her not to do anything; that everything was going to be okay. The doctor was befuddled faced with her confidence and calm in light of the tzaddik’s promise. He decided to send her for another ultrasound at another specialist. The second ultrasound came back normal.
Not only did she give birth to a beautiful, perfectly normal little girl, but when the baby grew up, she became an ultrasound technician.
“Life is a gift, and it is our responsibility to make the most of it by serving others and making a positive impact in the world.”
Rahel tells the following story:
“Because of the Rebbe, our family grew in a rather atypical way. Through my employment at a preschool, I met two little special needs boys who had been abused and neglected. Nobody felt they could raise them and they were shuffled from place to place. I had longed for children but common sense said that fostering them wasn’t a very practical thing to do. My husband and I had many health problems and we were as old as their grandparents. Also, these children were not Jewish. I spoke about it with other Jews, who said the problems with becoming a legal guardian in this situation were too immense and we should not consider it.
“After the children were taken from another placement because the guardian had been abusive, I asked Rabbi Vogel to contact the Rebbe because my soul was saying, ‘Help them!’ I knew the Rebbe would understand. Rabbi Vogel faxed a letter to 770.
“This was just after the Rebbe had suffered from a stroke; he was partially paralyzed and did not speak then but communicated through gestures and his faithful assistants. He was still a vessel to help others despite his deteriorating health. He instructed us to give the boys a home. And so, we did. And we never regretted it.”
“This world is G-d’s most precious garden and we are its gardeners.”
Quotes by the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
