“The Rebbe not only gave a bracha for me to be born, but now you are invited to my wedding in another week. Right after I wrote to the Rebbe I met my wife-to-be.”
Every year, for Lag B’Omer, bachurim from the Chabad yeshiva in Tzfas set up an Igros Kodesh stand. Whoever wants to write to the Rebbe can do so. The bachurim explain how to go about it and the significance of writing to the Rebbe. Jews of all backgrounds are helped in various matters.
Eliyahu Alma is a religious, Sephardic young man, who was born through the Rebbe’s bracha. His parents waited over twenty years for him. He is an only son with four sisters. At the Igros Kodesh stand he asked the Rebbe for a bracha for a shidduch.
One of the Lubavitchers manning the stand heard his life’s story and took his phone number in order to interview him for an article in Beis Moshiach. For various reasons, the phone call was postponed for nearly half a year. When we finally reached him he said, “The Rebbe not only gave a bracha for me to be born, but now you are invited to my wedding in another week. Right after I wrote to the Rebbe I met my wife-to-be.”
THE REBBE’S LETTERS ARRIVED THE DAY OF THE BRIS
We wanted to hear the first part of his story from his mother, Mrs. Flora Alma. She was happy to talk to us.
“We lived in Ramat Yitzchok in Ramat Gan at the time. I was 40 already, and we had four wonderful daughters but no son. I constantly prayed for a son. I asked for brachos, I did segulos, I went to tzaddikim, but I had no son.
“I began attending shiurim given by a Lubavitcher woman in our neighborhood. The shiur took place in the evening in one of the preschools and many women attended. We loved to listen to her. She knew how to teach in a way that we could relate to. She included miracle stories of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and we were all amazed by them.
“At that time, there was no religious group operating in the neighborhood except for Chabad. My oldest daughter was very influenced by the Chabad spirit, and every Shabbos she held Mesibos Shabbos for the neighborhood children in nearby Ramat Amidar. Many children attended these parties.
“Every so often, the woman who gave the shiur would write down all the names of the participants in order to send them to the Rebbe with a request for a bracha. One time, I got up the nerve and I wrote my name and my mother’s name and added two things. One was about our apartment on the third floor, and it was difficult for me to climb so many flights of stairs, and one was a request for a son. I had no hopes or expectations. I had already made peace with the fact that our family consisted only of daughters.
“The teacher explained that as soon as you write to the Rebbe, even before sending the letter, the bracha arrives, but I did not understand how powerful a bracha from the Rebbe is. As soon as I left the shiur, I forgot all about it.
“What really shook me up was when I realized a short time later that I was pregnant. I was in shock. There are no words to describe how I felt; it was something between tremendous joy and utter disbelief. I had been waiting for a child for nine years and just when I stopped waiting, I was expecting. Then it hit me that this was connected to the bracha that I had asked the Rebbe for just a few days earlier.
“At one of my checkups, I told the doctor that I was sure it was a boy, because I had a bracha from the Rebbe, and the pregnancy was thanks to his bracha.
“After nine exciting months, my son was born in Tel HaShomer hospital. There are no words to describe the joy of our relatives and friends who participated in our simcha. But the surprises hadn’t ended with that. The morning of the bris, I went to the mailbox and discovered, to my enormous surprise, a letter from New York. I opened it as I wondered, who was writing to me from New York? Then I saw it was a letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It said that my request had been received for bracha and success, and we would be mentioned at the tziyun. This was nearly ten months after I had asked for a bracha.
“At the bris which took place that day, I told everyone the miracle of the Rebbe’s bracha. I told them that baby Eliyahu had been born with the Rebbe’s bracha and about the letter from the Rebbe that had arrived that morning.”
THE REBBE’S “SON” ASKED FOR A BRACHA FOR A SHIDDUCH
We heard the second part of the story from Eliyahu himself.
“I was looking for a wife for three years. Ideas were suggested but nothing worked out. There were high hopes and many disappointments. Only someone who went through it knows what I’m talking about. There were times that I despaired.
“On Lag B’Omer, I went to the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai to daven for a shidduch. On my way there, as I went up the mountain, I met a group of Lubavitchers at their Igros Kodesh stand. I suddenly recalled to whose credit it was that I had been born. I’m a child of the Rebbe and I had the right to ask the Rebbe that just as he gave a bracha for me to be born, he should give me a bracha to find my intended.
“I went over to the stand and told one of the bachurim standing there that I felt like a son to the Rebbe and I explained why. He was excited by my story and explained how to write to the Rebbe. I stood off to the side and wrote what had occurred over the previous three years. I wrote that I had been born with a bracha of the Rebbe and asked that he arouse mercy on my behalf so that I would find my match.
“I did not open to a clear answer in the book, but a short while later I had an answer when more reasonable suggestions for a shidduch came my way. I was engaged in Elul, four months later. I am convinced that my shidduch came about thanks to the Rebbe.”
Eliyahu concluded his story with a message:
“I wish that everyone feels what I feel today. It’s a great feeling to know that you were born with a bracha from the Lubavitcher Rebbe and this bracha is with me all the time. My parents live in Petach Tikva and are connected with Chabad. My mother continues to attend a shiur given by a Lubavitcher who lives in the neighborhood. We speak highly of the Rebbe and Chabad Chassidus and if only we already merited the coming of Moshiach and the Geula.”