Despair & Redemption
Joyfully, he exclaimed, “Rabbi, you need to start believing more in your Rebbe. You told me to take the Rebbe’s view as just one factor in my decision. But I took it as the only factor. And thanks to that, my life was saved!”
Rabbi Eliezer Gurkow
This Thursday is Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of an intense period of mourning over the destruction of the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem. We pray fervently for the rebuilding of the third and the coming of Moshiach, may they be speedily soon. The Avner Institute presents two fascinating stories, one by Rabbi Pinchas Baumgarten, son of the Chabad emissary to Buenos Aires, and the other by Canadian emissary Rabbi Eliezer Gurkow, highlighting the Rebbe’s power to effect miracles and create times of joy, even during times of sadness.
“Tell him I see nothing.”
Rabbi Pinchas Baumgarten relates:
It was Av 5733/1973. I was learning in 770 when I was summoned to the Rebbe’s secretariat by Rabbi Binyamin Klein, a”h. I had no idea why, but of course I rushed over.
There I found three people waiting, who I later learned were brothers. They were frantically speaking to the secretary in Spanish.
“Por favor, let us see him!” one of them begged. “I don’t have much time, the doctor said.”
“He is very sick,” another added.
Rabbi Klein stared at me for help. I knew Spanish because of my father Berel’s years as head shaliach, emissary, in Argentina.
After a brief conversation with Rabbi Klein, I turned to the men and translated apologetically in Spanish, “The Rebbe is not meeting with anyone at this time, during the Nine Days.” I was referring, of course, to the days of mourning for the Holy Temple between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tisha B’Av.
The men sagged in dejection. I tried to distract them by asking where they were staying. They answered that they had taken rooms at an expensive hotel and had even brought along the doctor from Argentina.
After I explained to them the protocol, they understood they had to wait a few days until after Tisha B’Av. Rabbi Klein, understanding the urgency, gave them the nearest appointment.
In the interim, I met with them and we even farbrenged together. Before their planned day of yechidus, private audience, I suggested, “The Rebbe’s blessings are more powerful if you take on some kind of mitzvah. Maybe you could think of something, some kind of commitment.”
The men spoke among themselves and finally nodded in agreement. That same day we bought three pairs of tefillin. Every morning, I went to help them don them.
Certain Commitment
On the day of their yechidus, I wrote to the Rebbe all the details I had gleaned about these gentlemen. The sick man, his wife, and his two brothers arrived at 770, where I waited to go in with them, at the secretaries’ request, to translate. Reverently I entered the room and stood off to the left of the Rebbe.
The Rebbe asked them to sit. After reading the letter that I wrote, the Rebbe said, “If you wish for your brother’s recovery, you must commit to kashrut.”
I translated it, but apparently not properly. The Rebbe corrected me, saying, “That is not what I meant.” I tried again, and the Rebbe nodded his satisfaction.
The Rebbe then turned to the sick man. “Please show me where your disease is located.”
The man, who had skin cancer, rose and pointed to the area. The Rebbe put on his glasses. “Pinye, tell him I see nothing.”
Then, he showered them with blessings. When he finished, he asked to see the exact same spot again.
Again, he put on his glasses and stared. “Tell him I see nothing.”
The group rose to leave, but I couldn’t move. Even after they left the room, I remained stuck in my place so that the Rebbe’s other secretary Rabbi Leibel Groner, a”h, literally had to pull me out.
The next day, the man and his wife went to the hospital. To the amazement of the doctors, the growth had disappeared. Naturally the couple was ecstatic; to that day they were scrupulous about keeping kosher. From New York they went to Miami, where they also kept strict kashrut.
Certain Absence
Several months later, in Kislev 5734, I got married. This couple, who was quite close to my father, were invited to the wedding, but they didn’t come. Disappointed, I asked my father why they were absent, but my father didn’t answer.
When I asked him again the next day, he explained hesitantly, “They went on vacation to Punta del Este. Unfortunately, they were less careful about kashruth.”
My father sighed. “Within a short time, the cancer returned. The man died a week later.”
Hearing this, I went to console the family, who coincidentally were still sitting shiva, the seven-day mourning period.
At the entrance to their residence I saw, seated on the steps, one of the brothers whom I had met previously in New York. Before I could say a word, he said to me sorrowfully, “See what happens when you don’t listen to what the Rebbe said.”
“This strange new practice”
When the above story spread quickly among the shluchim, one shliach in Canada, Rabbi Eliezer Gurkow, decided to share his own, which happened shortly after 3 Tammuz 5754/1994, the yahrzeit of the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
I received a phone call by a man in my community.
“I’m wanted to say goodbye,” the man explained.
When I asked him why, he said, “I just got diagnosed with some rare disease. There are only fifteen such cases in the world, and most of them died within six weeks of diagnoses.”
Shocked, I hurried over to boost his spirits. I ended up visiting him frequently, including Purim, when I read the Megillah for him.
Needless to say, this was quite a number of months, and he was still alive, despite the doctors’ predictions. When an experimental procedure was suggested, he refused because he didn’t know what might happen to him.
Awaiting Response
One day he invited me to his home.
“Look,” he said, “the doctors really want to go through this procedure. They even threatened me – said their prestige was at stake.”
Despite certain reservations, I suggested writing a letter to the Rebbe and placing it in an Igros Kodesh, one of the volumes of the Rebbe’s correspondence. “Maybe we can receive a response through one of the Rebbe’s letters.”
I admit that back then I was still confused over this strange new practice, so I cautiously continued, “Please don’t put full weight of your decision on a letter that isn’t even addressed to you.” I added awkwardly, “Maybe you should read the answer as advice and guidance, to take into consideration along with the advice you were given.”
The man agreed, and he composed a letter. Meanwhile I was apprehensive, knowing this entailed a life and death matter.
He opened a volume in which to place the letter. The volume opened to a page where the Rebbe was answering someone whose wife suffered a neurological disorder.
The Rebbe wrote: Don’t do it unless the doctor can explain the reason to two other doctors and they both agree. In the meantime, take medication to treat the disease.
I saw the man’s excitement over the answer. I said goodbye and left.
Powerful News
A long while passed before I heard anything from him. From mutual acquaintances I learned that he remained adamant and refused to agree to the experiment.
Six weeks passed. The phone rang.
“Rabbi Gurkow?” came the voice I immediately recognized.
This time it sounded jubilant. “I just got back from the hospital. The doctors found problems with my blood. It turned out, that if I had listened to the doctors wanting to perform the experiment, I would no longer be alive.”
Joyfully, he exclaimed, “Rabbi, you need to start believing more in your Rebbe. You told me to take the Rebbe’s view as just one factor in my decision. But I took it as the only factor. And thanks to that, my life was saved!”
To receive letters and inspiring stories from the Avner Institute about the Rebbe, email Rebbebook@gmail.com
