“THIS IS THE GREATEST TRAGEDY (r”l) THERE COULD POSSIBLY BE”

This is what the Rebbe wrote to a young man from Tel Aviv. It was a Friday night in the city’s commercial center, just before the shliach folded up his table and returned home to spend Shabbos with his family. Accompanied by his friend, this young man began a heartfelt conversation with the shliach, during which he asked if he could write a letter to the Rebbe MH”M. Since he couldn’t write due to the sanctity of the day of rest, he wrote his letter – telepathically – and got an incredible answer he never expected.

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

For the past five years, Rabbi Shmuel Machputz and his wife have been working on the Rebbe’s shlichus in Tel Aviv’s Neve Ofer – Tel Kabir neighborhood, achieving wondrous success with their activities. This past Elul, the shlichus in the neighborhood expanded with the arrival of Rabbi Shmuel Rainitz and his wife, to strengthen and work shoulder to shoulder in the spreading of the wellsprings of Chassidus and the announcement of the Redeemer among hundreds of local families.

Rabbi Machputz has many miracle stories relating to his shlichus. However, it would seem that the crowning story is the one that took place about two years ago.

“The Rebbe MH”M’s answer in ‘Igros Kodesh’ hit this young man like a thunderbolt out of the blue,” recalled Rabbi Machputz. “He never could have believed or expected that he would receive such a clear and sharp answer to his question,” he added, as he began to tell us this amazing story that reverberated throughout the neighborhood.

A HEART-TO-HEART DISCUSSION IN THE COMMERCIAL SQUARE

“During the winter Shabbosim, I have a custom: After having the evening Shabbos meal at home with my family, I open up a table at the nearby commercial center. On the table, I place a large quantity of ‘mezonos’ and beverages. Afterwards, I pass through the public parks and other locations where young people gather, and I invite them to hear Kiddush and participate in a Shabbos meal. Usually, a lot of people join, and after I make Kiddush on wine, we all sit down for a farbrengen, during which I speak to them about various concepts in connection with the weekly Torah portion.

“At the end of my d’var Torah, I tell them miracle stories from the Rebbe or the Talmudic Sages. The activity usually goes on for several hours. On some Shabbosim, the young people stay longer to ask questions about emuna, Moshiach, and the Redemption, and this lasts until the wee hours of the morning. Almost every Friday night, I tell at least one story about a miracle that took place through writing to the Rebbe via ‘Igros Kodesh,’ and many of the participants show a great interest.

“One Shabbos, as I went into the Chabad House to take the mezonos and beverages, I thought to myself: Why don’t I take with me a volume of ‘Igros Kodesh’? Maybe someone will have a matter requiring the Rebbe’s advice and I can show everyone how this seifer, which I have spoken so much about, looks from the inside. And so I took Volume 23 with me.

“As it turned out, that particular Shabbos was very ‘shvach’; not that many young people showed up and they were much less attentive than usual. Their heads were into the recreational activities they had planned for after Kiddush. Thus, after about an hour, there was no one left sitting around the table and I decided to ‘close up shop.’ Just before I was about to fold up the table, two young local residents came by to make Kiddush.

“After making Kiddush, we sat down together to talk, and the conversation itself lasted for quite a while. At a certain point, I told them about ‘Igros Kodesh,’ adding a few stories of miracles in connection with the seifer. They were very enthused, and I showed them the volume I had brought with me.

“‘I write a letter on some issue and the Rebbe answers me?’ one of the young men asked, and I said yes. When they said that they wanted to ask the Rebbe a question verbally and then open the seifer for an answer, I tried to dissuade them. I am generally quite strict that writing to the Rebbe should be done in a very serious and meaningful way – after washing one’s hands, giving tz’daka, and making a good resolution in matters of Torah and mitzvos. I suggested that they come to the Chabad House on Sunday and we would write the letter together in a proper manner.

“However, one of these young men was quite determined: ‘I have something that I must ask,’ he pleaded, and I decided to waive the standard rituals. I told him the famous story with R’ Mendel Futerfas, who sent a letter to the Rebbe in his mind when he was exiled in Siberia, and the Rebbe sent a reply to his wife living then in London. ‘Even when you ask the Rebbe in your mind, he answers you. Everything is known and revealed to him,’ I explained to them, and I asked this young man to make a good resolution. After he did, he closed his eyes, asked his question, and opened the volume of ‘Igros Kodesh.’ The answer was in Yiddish.

“I read the answer, and in truth, it was hard for me to understand… This was a very lengthy correspondence that the Rebbe wrote about the great damage caused to the Jewish People by intermarriage, urging the parents writing the letter that if they are truly concerned for their son’s welfare, they must make certain for his own good to dissuade him from marrying a non-Jewish girl. This was by no means a standard letter, written using very sharp words. While the young man standing before me was not religious, he came from an ultra-Orthodox home, although he had since abandoned a traditional Torah lifestyle. I never imagined that he had reached such a state that he would even consider marrying a Gentile.

“As I was translating the letter to myself, my thoughts were running like a racecar. I didn’t know what to tell him. Finally, I realized that I’m only a shliach, the channel through which this answer must be conveyed honestly without cutting corners. I read the answer, line by line, while I translated it from Yiddish into Hebrew.

“What can I say? At every line I read, I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw his face turning paler, with a look of stunned disbelief growing ever more intense. The answer appears in Vol. 23, Letter #8745:

Greetings and Blessing!

In reply to his letter of December 30 with the enclosed, in which he writes about his son, sh’yichyeh, and the idea he told him about.

Naturally, this is the greatest tragedy r”l there could possibly be, for a Jew to think, as he writes about a non-Jewish woman (“shikshe”), and everything must be done to be protected from this tragedy. First of all, it is the obligation of the parents, especially as this is an eternal tragedy, not only in this world but also in the World to Come, and if the parents do everything to guard their children from harm, if only in this world, how much more so should there be an effort to guard against the greatest tragedy in both worlds.

I don’t want to elaborate in such a matter that causes so much anguish, as such actions assist Hitler, may his name be erased, whose objective was that there be as few Jews as possible, and this is the way to do it. We must hope that by making a proper effort, together with heartfelt prayer to Alm-ghty G-d from all those interested in what is best for his son sh’yichyeh, foremost among them are naturally his parents and close family, who will work to prevent and protect against this greatest of tragedies, which he wants to bring upon himself, G-d forbid.

May G-d Alm-ghty help them to bring good news, just as they brought the news of this deep sorrow.

“RABBI, YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS, BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I ASKED ABOUT”

“When I finished reading him the answer, the young man stood frozen in his place as if he was nailed there. His companion standing next to him was just as stunned, as he apparently knew why his friend was reacting the way he did…

“Finally, the young man who had asked the question turned to his friend, mentioned the girl he was involved with by name, and asked, ‘Is she Jewish?’ His friend gave him a cynical look and replied, ‘What are you doing? Playing games? You know very well that she’s not Jewish, and not only that, she believes in J…’

“The young man then turned to me and said, ‘Rabbi, you won’t believe this, but that’s exactly what I asked about.’

“It turns out that he had already been in close contact with this non-Jewish girl for some time and he knew that she wasn’t Jewish. Furthermore, she was unwilling to convert and change her Christian way of life. For his part, he had doubts for many long months whether to continue his relationship with her, creating a virtual war within him between his G-dly soul and his animal soul. And here, in a sharply worded letter, the Rebbe writes to him about the very harm he is causing to himself and the Jewish People, if and when the relationship will continue.

“After we continued speaking with one another for about half an hour, we parted and went our separate ways.

“I returned home and despite the late hour, I had difficulty falling asleep after this intense experience. It’s not every day that one encounters such a revelation of pure G-dliness.

“A few months later, his family left Neve Ofer – Tel Kabir and settled in Azur, and I saw nothing of him for a lengthy period of time.

“Then, six months ago, I met his mother in the neighborhood. She rented a room in the commercial center, not far from the Chabad House, and opened a store on the premises. As a result, I had a chance to meet with her son again. This time, he appeared with a beard, wore long tzitzis, and had a large yarmulke on his head. He told me that he had begun to learn in a ‘strong’ yeshiva in the religious Zionist movement, also serving in the Israel Defense Forces in the ‘hesder’ program. Above all, I was happy to know that shortly after receiving that amazing Heaven-inspired answer, he left his non-Jewish girlfriend and since then, he has begun a process of returning to the path of his forefathers.”