The Rebbe: Menachem Mendel, zs'l

Tonite begins the Hillula/Yartzeit of the Lubavitch Rebbe, zs'l, Gimmel Tamuz.

In honor of the grand Rebbe, I'd like to share an amazing miracle that happened to my husband when he was a teen. As the winner of a Gemara contest, he won a flight to NY for Pesach. 2 days after arriving NY with his Rav, he gets terrible news that his father, zs'l, passed away.

The Rav took him to the Rebbe to seek advise whether he should go back to Israel or sit Shiva in NY. The Rebbe's answer was, "Take the boy with you today to Israel".

It was 3 days before Pesach and finding a flight for two Erev Pesach is impossible. They quickly went from one travel agent to another, made dozens of phone calls searching for a flight. The Rav looked into all possibilities, including coach, business, and first class but NOTHING was available before Pesach!!! They got the same answer everywhere they went, "all flight tickets for Eretz Israel are sold out."

Not finding any available flights, the Rav thought maybe he misunderstood the Rebbe and returned to 770 to speak with the Rebbe again. The Rav told the Rebbe's secretary that he cannot find any flights to Israel and asked him to ask the Rebbe what to do. The Rebbe repeated the same answer, "Take the boy with you today to Israel".

It was mid-afternoon already and the Rav decided that he is going to rent an airplane, and whatever the costs might be, it doesn't matter, he is going to get the boy to Israel immediately. But he couldn't find an airplane to rent to take them to Israel...

As a last resort at 6 pm, they went back to the first travel agent to see if, by chance, people cancelled their flight. NO SUCH LUCK, no one cancelled...

As they were leaving the travel agency, the travel agent, sensing the Rav's desperation, asks the Rav for his name and offered to check on their computer if his name appears on tonite's flight list. The Rav laughed sarcastically, "You think we are on the flight list? We arrived in NY 2 days ago. The airlines don't even allow you to purchase a flight ticket internationally for 2 days. Our return tickets are for after Pesach." But the travel agent insisted, "Let's try, you have nothing to lose."

The Rav gave him his name and the travel agent punched in the computer the Rav's name, and lo and behold, his name appeared on tonight's flight to Israel. The Rav was shaking, 'how is this possible????' The Rav took out his and the boy's return flight ticket and checked the return flight date. Both flight tickets had the same date, a few days AFTER Pesach. He gave the travel agent the boy's name to check if he is also on the flight, and YES, the boy's name also appeared on the screen. They were both listed as passengers on that evening's flight to Eretz Israel.

4 hours later, during the flight, my husband kept replaying in his mind the day's events; the Rebbe's answer and the revealed miracle that just transpired, and actually being on a flight to Eretz Israel. It was so overwhelming, he was unable to even cry for his father's sudden death. It was exactly as the Rebbe, zs'l, said "Take the boy with you today to Israel".

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, zs'l.

His depth of wisdom, knowledge and understanding is an eternal source of spiritual and moral sustenance for all people. His belief in, and compassion for each individual illuminates the world with loving kindness. He continues to inspire, motivate and guide our path to the ultimate Redemption.

זכותו יגן על כל ישראל, אמן

The date of a righteous person's passing is an auspicious day to reflect and to ask him to intercede on High on our behalf. If you would like your prayer requests to be placed at the Rebbe's resting place during these particularly opportune hours, please visit this page.