For many years, without his knowing why, a one-pound note was left unnoticed in R’ Avi Taub’s wallet, despite the fact that he had even changed wallets and re-checked its contents in the interim. It was discovered on the very day that Rabbi Dovid Katz, the Rebbe’s shliach in northwest London, needed special encouragement in the face of some serious problems he had encountered in preparing for his Chanukah outreach activities. An exciting and moving story.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
“For tz’daka in England.” The one-pound note, received from the Rebbe thirty-one years ago, which finally reached its destination. (Photos by Yaakov Kennis)The preparations for the central Chanukah menorah lighting in one of the main squares of West Hampstead in northwest London had gone into high gear six months in advance of the event. The British demand that everything must be ready and organized well before the appointed time. This is the reason why the local shliach, Rabbi Dovid Katz, made certain to start the various bureaucratic and procedural routes mandated by the municipal authorities during the summer season. “I had no way of predicting the series of problems that soon erupted,” said Rabbi Katz. “Until the very last moment, I wasn’t certain if we would ever get the necessary permit.”
Eventually, with the revealed help of G-d, things worked out in a most miraculous manner and all the permits arrived on the morning of Erev Chanukah, just a few hours before the scheduled lighting for the first night of the holiday.
What you’ve heard so far is a typical story experienced by many shluchim throughout the world in the past, and there are many others experiencing similar stories today.
However, what happened a few days earlier, on the day after Yud-Tes Kislev, is something that Rabbi Katz will never forget for the rest of his life. “I felt that the Rebbe was giving me a clear sign that he would be there for all the activities, supporting me during the most difficult times. It was specifically at such a moment that I needed this encouragement,” recalled Rabbi Katz.
THE CLERKS ASKED: AND WHAT WILL YOU DO IF THERE’S A STORM?
“Our Chabad House has a friend and supporter who went through an amazing process of kiruv within a period of a few months. He came to us totally devoid of any sign of Jewish tradition, completely unaffiliated. Yet, every time he visited the Chabad House, it brought about another change in the level of his Torah observance. We’re talking about a very serious young man who took everything in the most serious light. He started participating in Torah classes and farbrengens. At first, he decided to put on tefillin each weekday morning. Afterwards he resolved to start keeping Shabbos, and thus far, he has paid five visits to Beis Chayeinu. During one of these visits, he accompanied me to the International Shluchim Conference.
“He was deeply impressed by this event. It was a very potent spiritual experience that had a powerful influence on his overall kiruv. He heard many stories about the tremendous segula of a dollar received from the Rebbe’s holy hand. When we were on our flight back to London, he was already urging me to get him such a dollar from the Rebbe. I explained to him that this would not be easy; people are not so eager to give up a dollar that they personally received from the Rebbe as a bracha for success. Nevertheless, I promised that I would try.
“After I got back to the Chabad House, I continued my efforts to secure the necessary permits from the local authorities to place the central Chanukah menorah in the main square of West Hampstead. As mentioned earlier, I started the ball rolling on this process several months earlier.
“However, this year, we encountered far more difficulties than we ever had before. I must admit that it was extremely frustrating. Every time I thought that things had begun to work out, a new problem sprouted up from an unexpected source. I started dealing with the permits six months before Chanukah, and I was certain that everything would be completed well before then, but I was soon proven wrong. The British are very orderly and methodical; it’s most important to them that preparations be made for even the most extreme and unlikely occurrence. At first, I was told to prepare a special file on the worst possible scenarios during the menorah lighting ceremony, e.g., a storm, an electricity outage, a tsunami, a terrorist attack, etc., with contingency plans on how to deal with each situation. I would have to submit this file to city government officials.
“After looking through the documents, the local authorities approved our plans. Then, I had to obtain a permit from another municipal department, which wanted to know the company that would oversee erecting the menorah. After making numerous inquiries, I found an appropriate company that agreed to sign the permits for erecting the menorah. However, that wasn’t enough: Now I was asked to make certain that this company would also prepare a similar file on preparing for and handling potential disasters. The clerks with this company dragged their feet, resulting in numerous delays until the local authorities finally informed me that they would not authorize the use of this company. Thus, I was compelled to find another company that would agree to accept the task. I set out on another intensive search.
“The city government proceeded to reject one company after another, bringing various claims of irregularities or insufficient permits. Eventually, I found a company that met the city’s satisfaction, but then there was another bureaucratic request that the company prepare a file on dealing with a variety of hazardous situations. The company’s management informed us that they were unable to meet this requirement due to its heavy burden of erecting the various symbols connected with the non-Jewish holiday celebrated around the same time as Chanukah.
“At this point, I had already given up hope. I felt that hours and days of work, months of investment, had all gone down the drain. There was nothing left for me to do except pray. I was deeply distressed, and I felt that it was adversely affecting my health. Such a seemingly simple activity had squeezed me down to my last ounce of strength.”
THE SURPRISE WAS WAITING IN THE WALLET
“That same day, R’ Avi Taub from Eretz Yisroel had also arrived in London for a visit. He would often stay at the Chabad House as our guest.
“By Divine Providence, around this time, a clip came out in the weekly ‘Liros Es Malkeinu’ video production, showing how R’ Avi had received thirteen dollars from the Rebbe after he had resolved to start growing a beard. Thirteen dollars corresponding to the thirteen Tikkunei Dikna. At this point, I recalled the request by that friend and supporter – who made certain to remind me of the request periodically – to receive a dollar given by the Rebbe for a bracha. I told R’ Avi Taub about him and I asked if he could give one dollar to this m’kurav…
“Rabbi Taub immediately replied that he would be pleased to give him a dollar from the Rebbe. While he didn’t have his wallet on his person at that moment, he did recall that there was a dollar from the Rebbe in it and he promised that he would go back to the apartment where he was staying and check.
“I was happy that it wasn’t too hard for me to convince him, and we parted from one another.
“About half an hour later, Rabbi Taub called and asked me to come and see him right away.
“What happened?” I asked with concern. He refused to answer until I arrived. When I got there, I saw that his face shone with sheer joy.
“‘The Rebbe loves you,’ he told me, as he began to explain the chain of events.
“He said that when he got back to his apartment, he searched his wallet for the dollar, but he couldn’t find it. Yet, he was determined, and he decided to empty out his wallet and check all its contents. Among them was a microfilm version of Chitas, and when he looked at it, he suddenly noticed a folded bill stuck on the reverse side. He took out the bill, and to his astonishment, it was a British one-pound note bearing the words: ‘For tz’daka in England from the Rebbe shlita. Kislev 20, 5747.’ R’ Avi Taub remembered well when he received it. It had been thirty-one years earlier when the Rebbe gave R’ Avi a one-pound note before a business trip to England. He placed it in his wallet and forgot all about it, and now he found it after all these years…
“R’ Avi gave me the British one-pound note (for myself), along with a dollar (for my friend who had requested it), which had also been in his wallet. I had a hard time hiding my emotions at that moment.
“When I took the one-pound note in my hand, I suddenly noticed the date written on it – the 20th of Kislev.
“‘Just a moment, today is the 20th of Kislev,’ I said. ‘Today is the day that I need encouragement and this bracha from the Rebbe.’
“R’ Avi looked at the bill, and he too was amazed and became quite moved.
“The note had been found on the same date it had been received from the Rebbe’s holy hand thirty-one years later!
“Our spontaneous reaction was to sit down and make a farbrengen in light of this tremendous display of Divine Providence. I had just been through a very complicated and excruciating ordeal, and now I had received an amazing and moving sign of reassurance from the Rebbe. At that moment, I felt that the Rebbe was giving me a booster shot of encouragement and fortification in the face of all the terrible emotional anguish I had just endured.
“And then the miracle came from a totally unexpected place. A few hours before the first night of Chanukah, municipal authorities contacted me. They said with typical British civility that they appreciated how I had started the planning procedure well in advance, and since this had prevented me from obtaining the necessary security permit, they were prepared to take responsibility for the construction of the menorah in every detail.
“I was in shock. At first, it seemed that this was some kind of prank, but it proved to be quite real. A certified electrician working for the city came to the square, and he was the one who erected the menorah quickly and competently.
“The following day, stern-looking representatives from another municipal department came to my office in the Chabad House. It turned out that they had not heard about the issuance of the permit, and when they saw the menorah standing proudly in the main square, they were certain that we had put it up on our own without receiving any permission from the local authorities. As a result, they served me with a citation and ordered the payment of a heavy fine. It was only later that they realized their mistake…”
* * *
“Recently, I learned about another moving detail to this story, which merely intensified the realization of the great Divine Providence I had experienced.
“It turns out that in 5747, the Rebbe spoke much about the central Chanukah menorah lighting ceremonies. For example, in sichos from Shabbos Parshas VaYeishev and the sixth night of Chanukah that year, the Rebbe instructed that the main lighting ceremonies should be held ‘in the most public and central location.’ It was exactly on this point that all the difficulties came.
“It’s important to note that until that year, we had organized menorah lighting in various places throughout the neighborhood. Then, last year, I decided to think big and chose to hold the event in the largest square in West Hampstead, the location where we encountered all the aforementioned bureaucratic entanglements.”
THE MOMENT HE RECEIVED THE POUND NOTE
We can’t conclude this amazing story without speaking with its other central figure, none other than R’ Avi Taub, who proceeded to give some additional background to this fascinating account.
“In 5747, I owned several offices in London involved in the jewelry market. On the 20th of Kislev, I was staying in Crown Heights and had a flight scheduled that day for London. As I customarily did before departing on such a journey, I passed by Gan Eden HaTachton to see the Rebbe. I wrote him a letter indicating my destination, and before leaving 770, he would give me through his secretaries a currency bill from that country. The same procedure transpired when I traveled to Holland, Spain, and other locations.
“Since I was traveling to England, the Rebbe sent me a one-pound note, which for some reason I folded and placed in my wallet. Apparently, since it got stuck to the microfilm Chitas, I didn’t see it and I forgot about it completely.
“Interestingly, a few years ago, I switched wallets and had placed all of the old wallet’s important contents into the new one. Nevertheless, I failed to notice the folded one-pound note.
“When Rabbi Katz asked me about obtaining a dollar from the Rebbe, I happily agreed to his request. I have enjoyed full hospitality accommodations at his Chabad House and have seen the marvelous activities he does there. I was most pleased that I could help him in his outreach activities.
“I recalled that I had a dollar from the Rebbe in my wallet. I started looking for it, but I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere. I knew that the dollar had to be there, and I kept on searching. I owe Rabbi Katz a great deal – I really love this young man – and so I proceeded to empty the contents of my wallet as I tried to find the dollar. Then, in an amazing display of Divine Providence, I saw the one-pound note that I hadn’t seen for over thirty years!
“I called him immediately and he came right over. When I showed him the pound note, he went completely pale. He told me later that he felt he had received a sign and a bracha from the Rebbe to be there for him in the face of all the difficulties in preparing for the big Chanukah menorah lighting.
“I believe that he received a sign from the Rebbe for all his work and effort on his shlichus,” says R’ Avi Taub in conclusion.
THE TREMENDOUS PLEASURE THAT R’ AVI GAVE TO THE REBBE
As mentioned earlier in this article, there was a video clip publicized during last Chanukah, where R’ Avi Taub was privileged to receive some amazing expressions of approval from the Rebbe due to his decision to start growing a beard. The video clearly shows that Rabbi Taub’s resolution brought the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, great satisfaction. You can’t miss the smiles and looks of sheer happiness on the Rebbe’s holy countenance on three different occasions when R’ Avi Taub passed before him for dollars. These three encounters were brought together into one video clip recently produced.
The first meeting was on the 20th of Tammuz 5749. Rabbi Taub appears passing before the Rebbe and he receives a bracha: Blessing for success. May it be a good beginning. Six months later, on the third of Teves 5750, R’ Avi again came before the Rebbe’s holy presence and the tremendous pleasure on the Rebbe’s face was quite evident. The Rebbe turned to his secretary, Rabbi Leibel Groner, and asked: Can I give him thirteen dollars? Rabbi Groner prepared a handful of bills, which the Rebbe gave to Rabbi Taub. He then added: Great success. Good tidings.
The third encounter was at a dollars distribution three weeks later, on Chaf-Dalet Teves 5750. Rabbi Taub passed by the Rebbe and was privileged to receive a dollar as the Rebbe gave him a bracha: Blessing and success. As Rabbi Taub left through the adjacent doorway, the Rebbe suddenly called him back. The Rebbe gave him another dollar and added: Much success. This is for the new face. Good tidings.