This amazing story spread like wildfire through Anash communities throughout Eretz Yisroel and the world. It was an incredible chain of Divine Providence that strengthens our belief that the shepherd has not abandoned his flock, and the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach continues to lead his people with even greater fortitude.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
Rabbi Dovber Farber“My father, the Chabad shliach in Yerushalayim’s Gilo neighborhood, looked at the Rebbe’s answer and tried in vain to remember if he had ever seen such an answer before. He had kept the letter in a special folder together with all the other holy correspondences he had received over the past twenty-nine years. This was like a brilliant ray of light, as he had never written to the Rebbe about the issue that elicited such a clear response.”
This is how Rabbi Dovber Farber from Kiryat Shmuel, son of Rabbi Hirsch Leib Farber, the Rebbe MH”M’s shliach in Gilo, began his thrilling story. The younger Rabbi Farber shared his fascinating experience with us, a few weeks after it started making the rounds at almost every farbrengen or Chassidic gathering in Chabad centers throughout Eretz Yisroel and the world at-large.
While we heard the details of this amazing story on the day that it occurred, we honored Rabbi Farber’s request and waited until after he had fulfilled the Rebbe’s instructions as brought in the letter – “seek advice with a practicing rav in his city.” After he had done so, he gave us the rest of the story.
AN UNFAMILIAR
CLOSING LINE
The story began on Monday evening, Tes Kislev. The extended Farber family – brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, and other relatives – had gathered to celebrate the engagement of one of the brothers. The following day, Tuesday, Yud Kislev, was Rabbi Dovber’s birthday, and his father, the shliach, decided for some reason to give him a most unique and special gift in honor of the occasion.
The gift was a letter from the Rebbe that the family was privileged to receive when Rabbi Dovber reached the age of three. The letter had arrived on the occasion of the upshernish celebration, the 11th of Kislev 5746. “I was very excited to receive this letter. You don’t get this kind of gift every day,” Rabbi Dovber told us with an undisguised tone of elation. “I held the letter with great excitement and read what the Rebbe had written. In the opening lines, the Rebbe brings the standard text that every boy receives when he turns three years old. However, after the Rebbe’s signature, there appeared another line that left me speechless. I read the line again and again as I pinched myself to make sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
“The Rebbe had added the following line: Regarding his question whether he should learn the art of becoming and working as a professional Torah scribe – as per the advice of a practicing rav in his city.
“I showed the letter to my wife, and when she read the last line, she too was utterly amazed. Just a few weeks earlier, we sat together and thought about how to improve our financial situation. My work as a private tutor at the Chabad Talmud Torah in Kiryat Shmuel left me a few hours available, and we considered the possibility of my learning to become a sofer and writing t’fillin and mezuzos during this free time. There are several people who know me well, and when I asked them about this suggestion, they strongly advised me to enter the field.
“In the meantime, we hadn’t done anything in this direction. While we did make some inquiries regarding where I could learn the profession, no practical steps had been taken as of that moment. Then, several weeks later, we received a crystal clear answer.
“However, this was not the end of the story. When I showed the letter to my father, I asked why I had never heard that he had thought about leaving his shlichus in favor of becoming a Torah scribe or at least working as a scribe in his spare time.
“My father gave me a perplexed look. He didn’t know what I was talking about. He had never considered learning to become a sofer and working in the field.
“‘But that’s exactly what the Rebbe wrote to you,’ I replied as I showed him the letter. My father studied the letter and then furrowed his brow in amazement. He didn’t recall ever considering such a step or writing to the Rebbe on the subject – regarding himself or anyone else. Furthermore, he didn’t even remember seeing this mysterious last line. A few months after the arrival of this letter, my father opened the Talmud Torah in Gilo, which received many clear answers and messages of encouragement from the Rebbe. Thus, any idea of becoming a Torah scribe was never a viable option.
“For twenty-nine years, my parents had this letter, yet they never recalled that the Rebbe had written them this line.
“My parents apparently received the letter, saw the traditional text in honor of an upshernish, and placed it in the special folder together with all the other correspondences from the Rebbe. Then, nearly thirty years later, I, the person regarding whom this letter had been written as a boy of three, incredibly found myself considering whether I should learn to become a Torah scribe. Lo and behold, the Rebbe had already answered me then, except that the answer had been waiting for the right moment, and the Creator of heaven and earth had arranged for me to receive it just then.
“Naturally, I did as the Rebbe had instructed. I turned to the rav of the Chabad community in the Krayot, Rabbi Yigal Pizem, and told him the whole story. He proceeded to give me the name of someone he knew personally with whom I should learn how to write t’fillin and mezuzos.”
HE NEVER ABANDONS HIS FLOCK
This amazing story spread like wildfire through Anash communities throughout Eretz Yisroel and the world. “It was an incredible chain of Divine Providence that strengthens our belief that the shepherd has not abandoned his flock, and the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach continues to lead his people with even greater fortitude.
“The letter from the Rebbe had arrived at just the right time. If my father had decided to give me the letter as a birthday gift the year before, its closing line would have had no special meaning for me. There can be no doubt that the letter had waited for the proper moment,” concluded Rabbi Farber in a voice filled with emotion.