By Devorah Leah
R’ Efraim Reich is a Sanzer Chassid who was a shamash for the Sanzer Rebbe zt”l. One time, R’ Efraim was present at a Melaveh Malka meal that took place at a hall in Petach Tikva. R’ Efraim was given the honor of relating a Chassidic tale, as is customary to do on Motzaei Shabbos. R’ Efraim surprised everyone when he told a story about the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
When this story took place, R’ Efraim was living in Montreal and was in the electronics business. Since he knew about the greatness of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he would go to him occasionally for dollars and brachos.
5750 was a hard year for R’ Efraim. Business wasn’t going well and his debts had grown from day to day. He went with another Sanzer Chassid to the Rebbe to ask for a bracha for a certain public matter. The Rebbe gave his blessing and they were astonishingly successful in resolving that particular problem.
At that same time, R’ Efraim also asked the Rebbe for a bracha for getting out of debt. The Rebbe gave him a sharp look and blessed him as follows, “The Creator will help you pay off all your debts and you will be a big g’vir (wealthy man).”
R’ Efraim was astounded. He had never been wealthy and he hadn’t asked to become wealthy. He realized that if the Rebbe gave him such a blessing, something was behind it, and he waited to see what would develop.
Around this time he was offered to open a business in Brazil. Moving to a new country, and doing so when business was bad, was no small matter. After lots of research, R’ Efraim felt he would be very successful in Brazil.
So R’ Efraim made the big move with his family to Brazil. As soon as he arrived, he began working. He ran here and there, met with influential people, etc. but with each passing day he saw no success and his debts grew. Whatever he tried, he immediately lost, until his debts reached the million dollar mark!
What should he do? He was friendly with the shliach of the Rebbe to Brazil, Rabbi Begun. R’ Begun suggested that he write to the Rebbe.
R’ Efraim wrote a detailed letter about his situation and added that the Rebbe had blessed him that he would be very wealthy.
The next morning at eleven o’clock he already had an answer from the Rebbe. The Rebbe told him three things: to check his mezuzos, to consult with knowledgeable friends, and the Rebbe said he would mention the matter at the gravesite of the Rebbe Rayatz.
R’ Efraim is not a Chabad Chassid, and so he did not take the Rebbe’s answer too seriously. He knew that the Rebbe told numerous people to check their mezuzos and figured that since his mezuzos were new, that it wasn’t necessary to check them.
Another three months went by and things only got worse. R’ Efraim felt desperate. He had immigrated to distant Brazil and his troubles had only multiplied.
One Motzaei Shabbos, the gas ran out and he went to connect a new gas balloon. He suddenly noticed that the mezuza was no longer on the doorpost! After a brief search, he found it on the floor, dusty and dirty. He cried over a mezuza being so disgraced in his own home.
He told his family the strange episode. He then remembered what the Rebbe had said about checking his mezuzos, and he decided that the very next morning he would send all of the mezuzos in the house to be checked.
Not even a minute went by and the phone rang. On the line was a friend who invited him to a Melaveh Malka. While there, he met a rich and influential man. R’ Efraim had tried a few times to get this man’s help, but the man hadn’t been interested.
This time, as soon as R’ Efraim walked in, the man motioned to him to come over. They arranged to meet the following morning and at the meeting, the man said he had decided to open a business together with R’ Efraim!
“Within a short time,” said R’ Efraim, “the Rebbe’s bracha that I would become a rich man materialized. That same year, I was able to repay all my debts that totaled one million dollars.
“I learned that the Lubavitcher Rebbe has musagim (ideas), and when the Rebbe says ‘g’vir,’ he is speaking with far greater musagim than what we think.”