Every Friday, years ago, a group of bachurim went on mivtzaim to Queens. One week, they met David Nachmias and got into a conversation with him. He is an older man and he told them many miracles that he saw with the Rebbe. His stories motivated me to go back to him a few weeks later. In talking to him, I realized that these weren’t just miracle stories but an incredible historic chain of events.
David was born in Morocco and spent a long time in France from where he went to England to learn with a group of bachurim. From there he eventually moved to the United States.
While he was in New York, he saw the Rebbe’s ruach ha’kodesh a number of times with the highlight being the Rebbe’s concern for his brother Avrohom who had been at the Sorbonne at the same time as the Rebbe.
David’s brother Avrohom was still alive when I heard this story but his health was poor. He had made aliya from Paris and lived in a senior residence.
When David tells his story, he is as excited as though the story just happened:
In 5715 I sailed from France to England where I learned with a group of bachurim in Rabbi Lopian’s yeshiva (The Yeshiva of Gateshead). Although it was a Litvishe yeshiva, I often heard about Chabad and about the Lubavitcher Rebbe as someone who did miracles and was an incredible personality.
A year later, I sailed for the United States. I arrived in Manhattan and then I took the subway to the first Jewish neighborhood I could get to, Crown Heights, which was full of all kinds of Jews at that time.
By divine providence, I got off the subway near 770. I crossed the street and stood there waiting, not knowing what to do next.
As I stood there, a distinguished looking person came toward me. The way he walked made a strong impression on me. I asked him something in English but to my surprise he responded in fluent French. I wondered how he knew that I spoke French. It was only later that I realized that the man standing before me was none other than the Lubavitcher Rebbe himself.
For half an hour he questioned me about the state of Judaism in a number of Jewish communities in France. Among his questions he asked me whether I knew R’ Nissan Nemanov or whether I had learned in the yeshiva in Brunoy. He asked me my name and when I said it, he asked me whether I have a brother by the name of Avrohom ben Chana Nachmias. I said yes, wondering how he knew. It turned out that my brother had attended the Sorbonne with him. The Rebbe asked how he was.
I told the Rebbe that I had become acquainted with Chabad and its wonderful work in Morocco and had even translated R’ Matusof’s Tanya shiurim from Hebrew to Arabic. I could see that the Rebbe was pleased with this.
A person suddenly went over to the Rebbe who I later learned was his secretary. After the Rebbe went on his way, bachurim flocked around me and asked me about my conversation with the Rebbe.
Three years later, I had yechidus with the Rebbe. I asked for a bracha for a shidduch and the Rebbe referred me to someone to help me. I met my wife through that person.
At the end of the yechidus, without my telling the Rebbe that I was about to fly to Morocco, he said to me that when I would be there I should give his regards to his shluchim, R’ Shlomo Matusof and R’ Leibel Raskin.
The next miracle is the one that connected me strongly to the Rebbe. After that yechidus, there were times that I attended farbrengens with the Rebbe but did not have direct contact with him.
Thirty years later, on Shavuos, after the farbrengen that took place Motzaei Yom Tov, the Rebbe gave out kos shel bracha and I passed by the Rebbe. To my surprise, the Rebbe gave me two bottles of mashke. I had no idea why.
Before I could say anything, the Rebbe looked at me and said, “Dovid ben Chana.” I was amazed how the Rebbe remembered me after so many years and had seen tens of thousands of people and my looks had changed too. The Rebbe added, “You have a brother by the name of Avrohom whom I studied with in the Sorbonne. Give him one of the bottles and wish him a speedy recovery.”
Now I was really thrown for a loop. If there hadn’t been a line of hundreds of people waiting behind me and pushing me to move on, I would have continued standing there for a long time, like a statue.
When I left the Rebbe’s shul, I stood there for a long time in utter amazement. How did the Rebbe remember me? How did he know that my brother was not well? How did he know I was going to visit him tomorrow?
A short while before, my brother had had a heart attack. The day after my encounter with the Rebbe I was supposed to go to Paris to bring him a certain medication.
The entire time, including during the flight, I was very excited. I knew that after a bracha like that there was nothing to worry about.
My brother was surprised to see me so calm and asked me whether I had brought the medication. Instead of answering his question, I told him what happened with the Rebbe and gave him the bottle of mashke.
He took the bottle and by the next day, the miracle taking place far sooner than expected and against all the bleak prognostications of the doctors, my brother was able to dance as though he hadn’t had a heart attack a few days before.
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Dovid finished his story by telling me that he has fifteen dollar bills that he received from the Rebbe.