Although many years have passed since then, Dr. Emanuel Bar-Or of Givatayim clearly recalls the day he received the letter from the Rebbe containing a bracha that opened the channel for him and his wife. In its merit, they were blessed with two more children.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
Rabbi Harel Rachimi, the Rebbe’s shliach in Ohr Yehuda’s “Neve Rabin” neighborhood, uses all his available time on his shlichus to spread the wellsprings of Chassidus among the local residents. In the few years since he arrived to serve as the Rebbe’s emissary in the city, he has cultivated numerous supporters for his outreach activities and has become a familiar figure, not just in his neighborhood, but also throughout Ohr Yehuda.
During the past Sukkos holiday, mitzvah campaign activities with the Dalet Minim lasted throughout the daylight hours, as Rabbi Rachimi took advantage of every free minute he had to give another Jew the opportunity to fulfill this cherished commandment. He stopped only for a few moments – when he met Dr. Emanuel Bar-Or of Givatayim.
Dr. Bar-Or, a Jew now well into his eighties and who speaks most highly of the young Chabad shliach and his work, asked if he could tell him an amazing story that he and his wife experienced because of the bracha of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
When we spoke last week with Dr. Bar-Or and heard his unique story first-hand, we were impressed. While his great appreciation for the Rebbe and Chabad first developed because of this story, it has become even stronger over the years. “You people are the ultimate fulfillment of Judaism,” he says.
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“Upon completing my military service, I began my higher level education in the field of business administration. After I earned two degrees from Tel Aviv University, I flew to Paris, where I stayed for the next several years. Among other things, I learned at the prestigious Sorbonne University, where I received my coveted third degree – a Ph. D. When I returned to Eretz Yisroel, I met my wife Ruti, and in 5722 we married and established our residence in Givatayim. I made my living as a banker with one of the leading financial institutions in our area.
“A year after our wedding, our eldest son was born, and he brought a great deal of light and happiness into our home. Afterwards, when we wanted to increase the size of our family by having more children, things didn’t go as we had hoped. Pregnancies started and then ended prematurely, causing us considerable anguish. We consulted with Eretz Yisroel’s most experienced specialists in the field, underwent extensive tests and check-ups, but nothing could determine why the pregnancies constantly failed to go to full term. The doctors simply had no medical explanation.
“All this took a terrible toll upon our emotional welfare. It would be one thing if we knew the source of the problem and the necessary cure, but when there didn’t appear to be any medical difficulty or suggested form of treatment – the resulting emotional pain grew even more intense. We used all available resources, paid considerable amounts of money for visits to leading specialists, but all our hopes soon vanished. Our dream of having more children was slipping away. This was a very sad period for us.
“One night, I came to the ‘Ahavat Tziyon’ Synagogue on Gonen Street in Givatayim to daven Maariv. After the minyan was over, I met with one of the regular shul members, a Holocaust survivor, and we began to chat. After a relaxed discussion on a variety of subjects, I inexplicably decided to share my pain with him over the fact that I and my wife, who was also a Holocaust survivor from Chernivtsi, Ukraine, would only have one child. When he asked me directly why I felt that way, I told him about our consultations with prominent doctors and their diagnosis.
“He then gave me an astonished look and said with the utmost simplicity, ‘If there’s a problem, write to the Rebbe.’
“‘Rebbe? Which Rebbe?’ I asked in bewilderment. ‘The Lubavitcher Rebbe,’ he replied simply.
“Until then, I knew virtually nothing of the Rebbe’s greatness, save for periodic news items about him in the papers. My conversation partner told me about the numerous miracles he had personally seen or heard resulting from the Rebbe’s brachos. While I took note of what he said, I wasn’t in a great hurry to do it. Days and weeks passed, and I totally forgot about his suggestion.
“Some time later, my employer sent me to New York on a business trip. As I prepared for my journey, I remembered the suggestion this Jew had made and I resolved that I would find the time to visit the Rebbe’s beis midrash and ask for his bracha. However, due to my heavy work schedule, I wasn’t able to make my way there. Every time I wanted to head for Brooklyn, something always managed to come up. However, while I returned to Eretz Yisroel without visiting 770, I was now determined to ask for the Rebbe’s blessing. One evening at home, I sat down and composed a tear-stained letter about our fervent desire for more children, adding what the doctors had told us and our unsuccessful efforts thus far. I asked the Rebbe for a bracha, placed the letter in an envelope, and dropped it in the nearest mailbox.
“A month later – I remember the moment to this very day, I returned home from another day at work. It was half past five in the evening. As I opened our mailbox, I found inside a letter that had come from the Rebbe. In his reply, the Rebbe wrote that he had received my correspondence and would pray for me at the ‘Tziyon’ of his father-in-law. I was very happy. The awe-inspiring words of that Jew about the Rebbe’s hidden spiritual powers had managed to break through the wall of despair and instill a little hope in my heart. I immediately came into the house and handed the Rebbe’s letter to my wife.
“However, before she had a chance to open the letter and read it, the telephone rang. My wife picked up the receiver and heard the doctor from our local health clinic on the line. ‘I have some good news for you,’ he said. ‘You’re going to have a baby.’
“When she put the phone down and told me what she had heard, I was stunned. I was overcome with emotion by this miraculous display of Divine Providence. We had just received the Rebbe’s bracha, and here the joyous news came the next instant.
“Yet, despite our feeling of elation, my wife’s heart was still filled with concern that this might be another incomplete pregnancy. Nevertheless, having received the Rebbe’s bracha and with our deep faith and hope that everything would go well, she felt that things would be different this time.
“The Rebbe’s bracha was realized. After a full term nine-month pregnancy, we were blessed with the birth of our second son, and incredibly just one year later, our third son was born.
“My three sons go around with the Rebbe’s picture in their wallets. The two younger ones are fully aware that they are the children of the Rebbe, and in my opinion, this is what has influenced them to get closer to the path of Torah and mitzvos.
“It wasn’t until the eighties that I was able to come back for a business trip to New York. This time, there was no question that I would not lose out on the opportunity to visit the Rebbe and offer our heartfelt thanks to him.
“I came to the Rebbe’s court at 770 on a Sunday during dollars distribution. Just looking at this scene with thousands of people, Jews from all walks of life and backgrounds, was a marvelous experience. As I stood before the Rebbe, I introduced myself, although I felt that the Rebbe knew very well whom I was. This was an almost mystical feeling, one that can’t be explained logically. The Rebbe had never met me before, and he had surely received tens of thousands of letters from all over the world since I had written him. However, the fact is that the Rebbe knew exactly who I was. I kissed his hand and had the privilege of receiving dollars for all the members of my family.”
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Dr. Bar-Or concluded his story with words of great appreciation for the Rebbe and the work of his shluchim. He has a particularly warm place in his heart for his city’s shliach, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Beckerman. He is also personally acquainted with the shliach at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Rabbi Chagai HaLevi, having seen his activities during the time he worked as a banker and his many visits to the stock exchange. “I am pleased to welcome Rabbi Beckerman whenever he pays one of his regular visits to the synagogue founded by my father, and I even raise funds for his programs. So it is when I have such tremendous love for Chabad Chassidim.”