By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
She was American; he was Israeli. They met in New York, fell in love, and became engaged. The groom had a weekly Torah study session with Rabbi Dudi Goldschmidt, a Chabad representative in New York City, who suggested they visit the Rebbe for a blessing.
Standing in the Rebbe’s office, they asked for a blessing for their wedding which was to be held in Israel in July, some five months from then.
“In July?” the Rebbe said. “Why would you postpone a good thing for such a long time?”
The bride answered that the entire family would be in Israel then to commemorate the anniversary of passing of her brother, who had volunteered with the Israeli Defense Force during the 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee. “We want the wedding to be around the same time.”
The Rebbe reiterated, “If it is something good, why wait so long?”
If it were held earlier, she replied, her parents would have to travel to Israel twice. “They do not have the time.”
“If you find the time to get married, your parents will find the time to come to the wedding,” the Rebbe answered simply.
That night, the engaged couple began to study the area of Jewish law related to married life, and a few weeks later, they had a Jewish marriage ceremony in New York.
Find Hasidic Archives latest books on HasidicArchives.com Story Bites: Short Stories to Savor and The People’s Rabbi: The Life & Legacy of Rabbi Leib Kramer, also available on Amazon Prime.
