When a Jew has a problem that bothers him, especially if he is on shlichus and there is a problem that interferes with his shlichus, this is an auspicious time to ask for the Geula, to daven and hope with utmost bitachon that it will all work out.
In an unusual sicha said to hundreds of Chassidim and bachurim who had returned from Tahalucha the night of Shavuos 5751, the Rebbe quoted from a Poilishe Rebbe that Shavuos is an auspicious time to daven for the Geula. The Gemara in P’sachim states, “all concede that on Atzeres (Shavuos) ba’inan – we need, nami lachem (lit. also for you, i.e. that one must celebrate through physical means).” The Rebbe explains that the words “nami lachem” are numerically equivalent to the word “keitz.” In other words, for Shavuos, all concede that ba’inan (lit. we need, but can also be translated as we ask) for the “keitz,” that we need to ask and daven for the Geula.
Perhaps we can explain the concept of asking for the Geula in a number of ways: 1) literally, the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu immediately, 2) when a Jew has a personal problem that bothers him, especially if he is on shlichus and there is a problem that interferes with his shlichus, then this is an auspicious time to ask for a personal Geula, to daven and hope with utmost bitachon that it will all work out, as illustrated by the following stories.
A MIRACLE IN THE OFFICE OF THE OFFICIAL RECEIVER
R’ Shimon Yardeni is a shliach in Azur for over twenty years. He held a dinner a few years ago in order to raise money for a spacious building that would contain a shul and the manifold activities of his Chabad house.
This is the astounding story that took place a number of years before the dinner. For many years, the municipality of Azur had refused to approve giving R’ Yardeni and the Chabad community a building. During those years, the k’hilla wandered from place to place. The davening on Shabbos took place in private homes, in preschools and sometimes, even on the street. Ten years ago R’ Yardeni finally got permission to put a caravan near the center of town. The area where the caravan was set up belonged to a non-profit corporation whose head office is located in the center of the country and has branches in various towns.
As long as the corporation wasn’t using the land, it did not oppose having a caravan belonging to Chabad as well as another shul that operated there for nearly fifty years. Every few months, R’ Yardeni received reminders from the corporation that they were about to sell the land and he would have to move the caravan, but the land was never actually sold and the Chabad house continued to operate there.
About a year and a half before the dinner, R’ Yardeni was told that the land had gone into receivership (Israel follows the British system of receivership, which differs somewhat from the American system of bankruptcy). It was even publicized in the real estate listings and the papers that the land would be sold to the highest bidder. Some businessmen were interested in the land and even registered to participate in the auction. Most of the contenders were residents of Azur who knew and respected R’ Yardeni. Some of them even promised to let him build a Chabad house on the land if they won it.
To strengthen his position, R’ Yardeni also registered as a contender in the bidding, even though knowledgeable people said the land itself was worth several million shekels, which wasn’t quite what he had available in his bank account.
In the months that followed, R’ Yardeni saw many miracles. He gave the official receiver a much lower bid than the generally accepted assessment, and miraculously was able to pay an advance of a tenth of the amount of his bid. Other contenders were wealthy people who submitted high bids of their own. R’ Yardeni was apprehensive. The receiver finally called all the bidders to a meeting.
The meeting was tense, with everyone wary of everyone else, and nobody ended up winning the bid. A lawyer joined the meeting and brokered an arrangement in which five contenders would buy the land together and each of them would receive a fifth of the property. One of the people involved had already told R’ Yardeni that he would give him his fifth, which was plenty of space for a Chabad house.
Even after the agreement between the parties, there were inexplicable delays on the part of the official receiver. R’ Yardeni, who had already paid tens of thousands of shekels and wanted to start building the Chabad house, called the man’s office every few days to see what was going on. He too could not explain the delays. He always told R’ Yardeni, “Pray, pray.” And R’ Yardeni prayed and prayed but was still left hanging.
One day, R’ Yardeni woke up early in the morning and went to the Chabad house. Having a few moments, he began reading chapters of T’hillim in a highly inspired frame of mind. “It cannot go on like this,” he said to Hashem, and said a few more chapters of T’hillim until people began showing up for Shacharis.
His prayers were answered. As soon as Shacharis was over, his cell phone rang. On the line was the official receiver, “You can come and sign the contract, the deal is ready.”
R’ Yardeni was thrilled. It was a historic occasion. Later on he realized that the date was historic too. It was the same date that the Rebbe Rayatz bought 770.
Apparently, it was an auspicious time to ask for redemption.
THE CALENDAR ARRIVED AT THE RIGHT TIME
I heard the following story from R’ Eliezer Weiner, shliach in Beit Shemesh.
R’ Weiner has been working in Beit Shemesh for over twenty years and, boruch Hashem, there is a k’hilla with preschools, an elementary school, a number of shluchim, and a busy Chabad house. Every year, the Chabad house prints a beautiful calendar which is funded by the advertisements paid for by local businesses.
As told by R’ Weiner:
Twelve years ago, there was a printing delay. It was three days before Rosh Hashanah and the calendar still wasn’t ready. The donors called and pressured us because they wanted to distribute the calendars to customers before Rosh Hashanah. Some of them said that if they didn’t receive the calendars on time they would not pay what they owed us. The pressure was tremendous and I didn’t know what to do. I informed the printing place that even if the calendars would be ready in the middle of the night, they should call me, but they didn’t call.
Rosh Hashanah fell out on Shabbos that year and it was Thursday. Help! I was alone in the house and wanted to write to the Rebbe to ask for a bracha, but I was so nervous that I wasn’t able to write. I went over to the bookcase and took out a volume of Igros Kodesh. To my astonishment, I opened to a letter on the subject of calendars! The Rebbe wrote that I needed to trust in Hashem and not stand with my finger on the calendar but hope for Hashem’s salvation with complete trust that it would all work out.
That night, there was a farbrengen at the Chabad house. I told everyone not to worry because the Rebbe said that all would be fine with the calendar. Mind you, the printing place said the calendars were still not ready.
Friday morning, Erev Rosh Hashanah, the calendars were ready. They came in a taxi to Beit Shemesh and were even able to give them out to residents and donors that same day. The donors paid whatever they owed and even apologized for shouting.
THE RIGHT TIME AND THE RIGHT PLACE
R’ Shabtai Fisher, shliach in Givat Shmuel, relates:
A few years ago, we were about to open another preschool in Givat Shmuel. We rented a building after checking with all the neighbors that they didn’t mind having a preschool there. Then we started renovations.
In the middle of renovations, one of the neighbors who had previously given his consent, began protesting against the opening of a preschool. I reminded him that we had discussed this and he had agreed, but it didn’t help. Not only was he now opposed to it, he began inciting the other neighbors against us too. Some neighbors, who were friends of his, were influenced by his opinion and joined him in asking us not to open the preschool. We could only pray that the man would calm down, and that’s we did. We prayed and wrote to the Rebbe and looked forward to a miracle.
The miracle happened and it was even better than we anticipated. The angry neighbor announced that he was moving to another neighborhood. His apartment was available to be rented and a Lubavitcher family now lives there.
MISNAGDIM WHO BECAME FRIENDS
Many shluchim tell about people with negative feelings about Chabad, who besmirch, oppose and interfere with the shliach and his work. Sometimes, they are key people with positions of influence in the city and their opposition influences many people. Generally, after a while, people see that the reality is different than they thought and then they become friends and even partners with the shluchim.
One shliach, who wishes to remain anonymous, told me about the situation in his area since he came on shlichus a few years ago. As soon as he arrived, he learned that the head of the religious council is not a friend of Chabad, to put it mildly. He prevented any cooperation with the Chabad house and even spoke against it wherever and whenever he could.
Years went by and even he saw that the Chabad movement, as well as the shluchim, don’t seek to harm anyone; on the contrary, they help all those in need and spread Judaism graciously, and even smile at those who oppose them. Little by little, his opposition dissipated and today, he is friends with the shliach.
“In our city,” says the shliach, “there was also a problem with one of the senior government officials who is in charge of all the preschools. She didn’t like Chabad and gave orders to all the preschool teachers not to allow Chabad to do any activities with their children. Obviously, this interfered greatly with our work. We spoke to her a few times and asked for a meeting but she was unwilling to cooperate. My wife wrote to the Rebbe and we waited for a miracle.
“The miracle occurred. Not all at once, but gradually. Here and there, the woman met with us on various occasions and was exposed to our work around the year, and something in her heart softened. One day, we called her and she responded. She began praising the work of Chabad and in the end, she asked us to prepare an annual program for all the preschools to be done throughout the year.”
WORD PLAY
Now, for a story of my own.
Out of the group of principals of the ten schools in Beit Shaan, there were two principals who did not allow Chabad representatives to enter their schools. (They were not opposed to Chabad. They were very serious types who were very particular about order and learning without interruptions, and they did not allow anybody to enter the classrooms during school time). Whenever we wanted to give out material in the schools, these two principals insisted that we leave them with the secretary and the teachers would give it out themselves. Of course, there is no comparison between a teacher distributing material she was asked to distribute and a Lubavitcher excitedly telling the class about a day camp or Lag B’Omer parade.
One year before Lag B’Omer, I decided to make a special effort to visit those two schools. I called the principal of one school, whose name is Meirav, and said, “Good morning, you know that this morning there was a discussion in shul about the meaning of the name ‘Meirav?’ (I aroused her curiosity and went on:) It turns out that the name Meirav is associated with Lag B’Omer, both with Rabbi Akiva and with R’ Shimon bar Yochai.”
The principal said she’d be happy to hear more. I explained that Meirav means water of the rav and has to do with the spring of water in the cave where R’ Shimon was, and the drops of water that R’ Akiva saw wearing a hole in the rock, thanks to which he went and learned Torah and became a rav. Mei-rav.
After this little lecture, when I asked permission to enter each classroom for one minute to announce the Lag B’Omer parade, she granted it.
The other principal’s name is Gil. I told him that Gil are the same letters as Lag and I asked him for a one-time allowance to enter the classrooms. He agreed.