How Many Years Do “Rebbe Dollars” Stay In Circulation?

In His Infinite Mercy,, G-d arranges for these unique dollars to be spread all over the globe. How? The Alm-ghty has many ways, and no one has any idea on how to reveal the Divine mystery of transporting these dollars from one place to another.

There are chassidim who have opened their treasure chests and given dollars to organizations or institutions, which sell the dollars at high prices to elicit charitable contributions, as many people are prepared to pay a considerable sum for even one dollar from the Rebbe.

There have also been some very painful cases of dollars getting stolen, lost, misplaced, or even taken by a robber at gunpoint (this reporter was once robbed of about forty dollars from the Rebbe in broad daylight by a man carrying a loaded pistol). However, if G-d’s Divine Providence dictates the movement of a leaf rolling along the ground, then this surely applies to a dollar from the Rebbe finding its way to the right hands… G-d already knows what lies before man, and He makes certain to transfer these dollars to those who need them. Sometimes, the dollars are delivered by street cleaners…

“I had one such experience that I wasn’t sure whether I should publicize. However, if there’s a chance that this could be a source of spiritual strength for someone, it would be worth it,” said Rabbi Menachem Mendel Zaklas, the Rebbe MH”M’s shliach in Bryansk, Russia, as he began his story:

“In 5751, a raffle was held in the Anash community of Nachlat Har Chabad for an airline ticket to the Rebbe. My father, R’ Yosef Yitzchak Zaklas, won the raffle and I came with him on the journey.

“We were there for two weeks, and I was privileged to pass by the Rebbe twice for Sunday dollars distribution. I received a total of four dollars as a bracha. I guarded these dollars with the utmost care, and a few years ago, my father also gave me the letter he had received when I was born.

“At the start of my shlichus in Bryansk, due to numerous trips and passages between Eretz Yisroel and Russia, I decided for the time being to keep the dollars and the letter in a secure location – at the home of my in-laws, the Golans, in Yerushalayim’s Har Nof neighborhood. I placed the dollars in an envelope and hid them in a corner closet. I told none of the family anything about it.

“About a year later, I went back to the hiding place and looked for the envelope with the dollars, but I couldn’t find it! It turned out that the closet had undergone a thorough cleaning and all its contents were thrown in the garbage!… In the days that followed, I searched the whole house and found nothing. I gave up and was naturally very upset.

“There was a certain period we went through on our shlichus in Bryansk highlighted by a sequence of strange and challenging occurrences. I thought to myself that I needed to do something on a spiritual level, even considering a trip to the Rebbe.

“A monthly raffle is held among the Rebbe’s shluchim in the country towns of Russia for an airline ticket to the Rebbe, and I won the raffle that month to represent the shluchim. For me, this came at just the right time – an amazing case of Divine Providence – and I decided to make the trip immediately.

“I landed in New York at the start of that week. My stay in Crown Heights was only for a day and a half. I spent almost two hours writing a PaN, providing details on everything that had been happening to us in recent months on our shlichus in the city of Bryansk. At the conclusion of the PaN, I asked the Rebbe for some sign that my requests had been heard and accepted.

“On Friday of that week, two days after my return from New York, I sat alone and thought about my brief, peculiar, and swift journey.

“While I was still sitting and thinking about all this, my mother-in-law, Mrs. Daniella Golan, called. ‘I have a surprise for you!’ she said in a firm voice. ‘The letter and the dollars the Rebbe sent you have been found!…’

“Even before I had a chance to ask for details, she continued to tell me what had happened: A street sweeper cleaning the area near our house found a number of documents near the garbage bin with the name “Golan” written on them, and also an envelope containing several dollar bills. Instead of putting them in his pocket, he decided to return them to their owners…

“How did these dollars suddenly appear? Why did the cleaning worker decide to pick up the envelope? Why did he decide to return it to its owners? Why specifically today? “The two paths had crossed” – I had received my sign from Heaven!

***

From

the story of the street cleaner, we move to a similar story, told by Mrs. Tammy Holtzman of Crown Heights:

“In 5771, our family organized a celebration for a Sefer Torah dedication in honor of the first yahrzeit of my father a”h. The event took place in the city of Elad, and the Torah scroll was donated to the local branch of Yeshivas ‘Tomchei Tmimim.’ In honor of the celebration, I came from the United States to participate and stayed in my mother’s house in Elad.

“On the morning of the event, my mother sent me to the local bakery to buy some cakes and other refreshments. I went out with my sister with a feeling of some excitement, as I was deeply moved by the day’s celebratory atmosphere.

“Suddenly, a street cleaner of Ethiopian descent came over to us carrying a broom in one hand and a dollar bill in the other. He asked us if we knew what was written on the dollar. As I looked at the dollar, I saw that the writing indicated that it had come directly from the Rebbe’s hand. I asked the street cleaner where the dollar came to him, he said that he had found it. I told him that according to the writing on the dollar, it had come from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. When I saw that he didn’t understand the significance, I asked him if he would give me the dollar in exchange for another one, but he ‘made a face’ and refused. When I offered to give him two dollars for it, he gave me a look as if he couldn’t understand what had come over me… However, since he didn’t have any satisfactory answers, he eventually agreed. I gave him two regular dollars and he handed me the holy dollar from the Rebbe, despite the fact that his facial expression still displayed a total lack of comprehension…

“When I returned home, I said, ‘Ima, look, the Rebbe sent us a dollar as a blessing for success, just in time for the celebration of the Sefer Torah dedication.’ Indeed, I was filled with a unique sense of emotion. I felt that the Rebbe had sent us the dollar straight from Heaven…”

THE REBBE GAVE THE DOLLAR TWENTY-SIX YEARS IN ADVANCE

As we have mentioned, even today, the Rebbe hears the pleas of a Jewish heart, and when he sees someone longing for a dollar as a blessing, the Rebbe makes certain to secure one in advance. The following moving story is testimony to this fact…

As with many young Israeli women, Naama (not her real name) made a lengthy trip to South America, free of any commitments and responsibilities. One night, she was sitting at a party, playing in the sand with her hands as she watched the sunset over the clear waters, as she asked herself what she should be doing now.

She continued touring, but from that moment on, she felt that G-d was “dragging” her into some deep soul searching. While she couldn’t explain why, by the time she flew back home, she had already begun wearing modest attire and carried a picture of the Rebbe with her. She made the decision to change her lifestyle and set a new course for herself. She wanted to bring light to the world and give nachas to the Rebbe – despite the fact that she still didn’t know who the Rebbe was or what was his mission. She had only heard about him in one of the Chabad Houses she had visited, but no more than that.

Upon her arrival back in Eretz Yisroel, Naama switched her entire clothes closet and began seriously studying in a Chassidic women’s seminary. She started filling the gaps in her knowledge of Jewish tradition by studying halacha, Chassidus, and Torah philosophy. Throughout this period, her soul was drawn to the Rebbe. While her parents had a difficult time absorbing this transformation, they didn’t interfere with the path she was choosing.

When her birthday came, her father lovingly turned to her and said: “My daughter, what gift would you like to receive?” Naama, who already knew that she had always received whatever gift she had ever requested, surprised her father and replied, “I want a dollar from the Rebbe. A dollar that the Rebbe himself had given.”

The father didn’t understand what kind of gift this was. It all sounded very strange to him. He shrugged his shoulders in amazement. However, a promise was a promise, and he started trying to find a dollar from the Rebbe. The problem was that the people he turned to in this matter either didn’t want to give up a dollar they had received from the Rebbe or demanded large sums of money for it. The father was confused.

Nevertheless, at the birthday party, the father pulled out the gift – a laminated dollar from the Rebbe, bearing the words “From the Lubavitcher Rebbe – for a blessing and success.” Naama was speechless. “Where did you get this dollar?” she asked in disbelief.

The father laughed heartily and then began to explain how he made several efforts to obtain a dollar from the Rebbe, but to no avail. Then, when I was having a conversation with Yehuda [a family friend who had a vendor’s stand in Yerushalayim’s Machane Yehuda market], I casually asked him: “Would you possibly have a dollar from the Lubavitcher Rebbe? Naama has a birthday coming up, and this is the gift she wants…” Yehuda immediately replied: “Yes, I have a dollar for her. Come over and get it.” I was amazed and I quickly went over to his house.

“When I arrived to meet with him, I asked him where he got this dollar from the Rebbe. He told me that twenty-six years earlier, he had been staying in New York. He heard that it was possible to meet with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and although he was not observant, he traveled to 770. It was Sunday and the famous weekly dollars distribution was taking place. When his turn came, the Rebbe gave him a dollar ‘livracha v’hatzlacha.’ Without missing a beat, Yehuda asked the Rebbe for another four dollars for his wife and children. The Rebbe took from the dollars he had in his hand and gave them to him – five in number. Yehuda counted them and proceeded to give one back to the Rebbe. ‘There’s an extra one here,’ he ‘explained’ to the Rebbe. However, the Rebbe gave the dollar back to him and said, ‘Keep it for someone who will need it.’

“As he went outside, he approached someone standing there who sold lamination services to preserve the dollars and he had them all laminated for that purpose.

“When he returned home to Eretz Yisroel, he gave the dollars to his wife and children. As for the extra dollar – he kept it in a safe place. The Rebbe had told him to keep it for someone who will need it…

“For twenty-six years, not a single person has requested this dollar from me,” Yehuda said to Naama’s father. “You are the first person to ask me, and I feel that this dollar has been saved especially for your daughter…”

***

I heard this story from one of Naama’s teachers in the women’s seminary, a prominent Chabad rav and mashpia in Eretz HaKodesh who heard it directly from her.

As he told me this story, he couldn’t hold back the tears. Despite the fact he had accumulated “thousands of Rebbe hours”, spending many years in the shadow of the great luminary of our generation, nevertheless, he couldn’t help but cry from the deep emotion it aroused. “It’s remarkable to see how twenty-six years ago, the Rebbe had sensed this Jewish soul would abandon all the pleasures of this world and desire to get closer to him… The Rebbe saw this… it was impossible not to… and he had already prepared then, especially for her, a dollar as a bracha for success… ■