A Triple Cure

About thirty years ago, hundreds of chasidim of all ages were gathered in the central Chabad synagogue ("770") in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn to make a 'farbrengen'; a gathering replete with singing, dancing, words of Torah, Chassidic stories and, of course, 'LeChayim' (usually vodka).

The spirits were high when a young man, a chasid in his early twenties, stood up, cleared his throat and announced, "I have a miracle story about the Rebbe!"

He was referring to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Shneerson, and although there are thousands of such stories, everyone was very eager to hear another.

"The story begins in Israel," he said. "A ten year old boy --we'll call him Yoni-- from a wealthy family suddenly began suffering from severe headaches. He was taken for an examination and was diagnosed as having a malignant tumor. The family was turned upside down on the spot and they began running to doctors.

"Money was no problem, but it seemed that all the money in the world couldn't help. After several months of painful and debilitating X-rays and chemicals with no positive results, the doctors finally advised them to stop the treatments and just let the boy live out his life in peace.

"The doctor even recommended to spend the next few precious months traveling the world together. Yoni's father and mother cancelled all their business and social plans and in no time their bags were packed and they were on their way to Europe. They saw Paris, London, and Rome, traveled in the Alps and across Spain, and flew to New York with the rest of the U.S.A before them on the itinerary.

"On the second day of their stay in Manhattan they were walking down Fifth Avenue when suddenly through the noise and traffic something caught the boy's attention. A camper-truck decorated with all sorts of colorful pictures and loudspeakers blaring happy clarinet music from its roof was parked at the side of the street, and several bearded young Chassidim were standing by its open door talking to people walking by. Yoni told his father he wanted to see.

"As they were nearing, one of the Chassidim looked at Yoni's father and called out 'Hello, my friend! Are you Jewish?'

" Yoni's father, like so many Israelis, was allergic to religious Jews. The blood rose to his head. ' Jewish?' He answered scoffingly. 'Go to Israel and join the ARMY! That's Jewish! Come Yoni, let's see something else.' He quickly took his son's hand and began to walk away. But the boy's curiosity had been aroused.

"'But daddy, aren't we Jewish? What's wrong with being Jewish? Who are these people?'

"When the chasid understood they were Israelis, he exclaimed, also in Hebrew, 'Ah, Jews from the Holy Land -- Welcome to America!' he said, grabbing Yoni's dad's hand and shaking it vigorously.

"'Nu! What do you want?' Yoni's father asked angrily. He was irritated but he didn't want Yoni to see it.

"'I want you to put on tefilin!' said the chasid with a warm smile. 'It won't hurt, you'll enjoy it. Jews have been doing it for over three thousand years. Besides, it doesn't cost money, it only takes two minutes, it's the best buy in Manhattan and your son wants you to do it! Right Yoni?' (He had heard the boy's father call him by name).

The boy looked up at his father with big goggly eyes and shook his head 'yes,' so of course the poor man had no choice but to comply.

The chasid was quite warm and friendly, so it wasn't long before they were talking, despite Yoni's father's reservations. Eventually the conversation got around to Yoni's condition.

"'Wow! I'm sorry to hear he isn't feeling well,' said the young man. 'But I don't think you should give up so easily. G-d forbid! First go to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He has helped people in worse shape. Here is the address and also the telephone number for the Rebbe's secretaries. Call up and ask. You know what? Here is my phone number too. Call me and I'll go with you to help get an appointment. Give it a try! I know it will help and anyway, you have nothing to lose.'

"That evening the boy's parents talked it over and decided to give it a try. The next morning they called the young man, went to the Rebbe's headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway and managed to get an appointment to see the Rebbe that evening.

"That night, shortly after midnight, they were seated before the Rebbe's desk with Yoni's X-ray's and medical papers spread out before them.

"The Rebbe examined some of the documents, looked up at Yoni's father and said, 'I don't see anything so serious. It's just a problem of diet. If he will eat only kosher food he will be perfectly healthy.'

"Yoni's father looked at the Rebbe in wide-eyed disbelief. He knew that religious Jews are superstitious and ignorant, but this was really going overboard! This so-called great Rabbi was not just contradicting the greatest doctors in the world, he was contradicting common sense as well.

"He stood up, coldly shook the Rebbe's hand, took the boy by the hand, and shot a glance at his wife.They left the room.

"The man was blazing mad. 'Nothing serious! Just a matter of diet!' he said over and over as they left the building. 'Ha! I'd like to go back to that young fool with his tefilin and bust him one in the face!'

"But his wife didn't exactly agree. "Maybe there is something to what he says,' she said as they returned to their hotel room. 'After all, we really do have nothing to lose. And he didn't ask for money. That's significant. Maybe we should give it a try.'

"The next day she bought kosher food from a local market and wouldn't let her husband take them to a non-kosher restaurant. She kept it up for a few days until one day Yoni said he felt strange.

"His father made an appointment with the head doctor of the nearest hospital and rushed his son there. In less than an hour the professor was looking at the X-rays.

"'A definite improvement!' he murmured, obviously impressed. 'What type of a treatment is he taking? Who is treating him? I have to admit I've never seen anything quite like it!'

"Yoni's father burst into tears. His mother grabbed her son and began kissing him. 'It was the Rabbi! I knew he was right!' she said, and began weeping as well.

"When they returned several months later to Israel, Yoni was completely cured of his disease and his father and mother were cured of being non-observant Jews.

Everyone thought that the young man had finished his story. But he hadn't.

"Just one more thing" he concluded. "I am Yoni! I'm the boy that was saved by the Rebbe's blessing'. He announced with a beaming smile.

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[Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition of his friend and colleague Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, the popular teacher, musician, recording artist and storyteller, in his weekly email for the yeshiva which he heads, Ohr Tmimim (ohrtmimim.org/torah )].

Connection: Birthday date

Biographical note:

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (11 Nissan 1902 - 3 Tammuz 1994), became the seventh Rebbe of the Chabad dynasty after his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, passed away in Brooklyn on 10 Shvat 1950. He is widely acknowledged as the greatest Jewish leader of the second half of the 20th century. Although a dominant scholar in both the revealed and hidden aspects of Torah and fluent in many languages and scientific subjects, the Rebbe is best known for his extraordinary love and concern for every Jew on the planet. His emissaries around the globe dedicated to strengthening Judaism number in the thousands. Hundreds of volumes of his teachings have been printed, as well as dozens of English renditions

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Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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