When Rabbi T. of Jerusalem passed by the Rebbe for dollars, he asked the Rebbe for a blessing for a son. The Rebbe gave him three dollars and said, "For the three children." Rabbi T. was very surprised.

Around a year and a half later, Rabbi T's wife gave birth to triplets.

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

The shliach in Chile, Rabbi Menashe Perman, tells the following story:

"On 19th Elul, about ten days before Rosh Hashanah 5751/1990, we purchased our Chabad House. The Jew who promised to finance most of the purchase passed by the Rebbe for a bracha during dollars on the Sunday. At the same time, he told the Rebbe that on that evening the new Chabad House would be holding a particular activity, and he also asked for a blessing for a member of his family. To his surprise, the Rebbe answered him in French, ???An easy birth of a daughter.' The donor did not understand what the Rebbe was referring to, and he thought there had been a mistake. He asked the Rebbe once again for a bracha for this family member, and the Rebbe repeated the same bracha, with a smile. The Rebbe also gave him an extra dollar, while saying, ???An easy birth.'

"When the donor returned to Chile, he was still wondering about the bracha. He called his daughters who lived in another country, and they were also surprised by theRebbe'ss answer. Four weeks went by, and then one of the donor's daughters, who had not given birth to any children for a long time, called her father with some good news. Now they understood the meaning of theRebbe'ss bracha.

"A few months passed, and not long before the baby was due to be born serious complications set in. The doctors were not sure whether the mother or the child would survive the birth.

"The donor, who had lost all of his family in the Holocaust, panicked. He immediately called me in Santiago and told me what had happened. As I knew about theRebbe'ss bracha, I was able to calm him down. I told him that I now understood what the Rebbe had to reveal with his ruach hakodesh. ???The Rebbe gave you a bracha, so you don't need to worry,' I reassured him.

"Two days later, the donor called me to let me know the wonderful news - that both mother and baby had survived."

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

The sounding of the shofar is known to be a time when certain heavenly vibrations are felt. In 5731/1970, the tekios went very smoothly until the Rebbe reached the final sounding of teruah before tekiah gedolah, and despite his efforts he could not make a sound. The Rebbe used several different shofars, and then he covered his face with his tallis and started to daven. At one point, theRebbe'ss weeping could be heard throughout the Beis Medrash. This went on for about fifty minutes (during which some of the members of the throng fainted due to the extreme overcrowding). After those fifty minutes, the much-awaited teruah was finally heard, followed by the tekiah gedolah, which was sounded easily.

That year, during the Ten Days of Repentance, a visiting avreich who had been married for a number of years but did not yet have any children asked the Rebbe for a bracha. The Rebbe gave him a bracha for children, but the avreich went a step further and asked for a "promise." The Rebbe replied, "And you must make sure to keep your promise." When the Rebbe'saw that the avreich did not understand this answer, he continued: "The promise you made during tekios."

Now the avreich understood theRebbe'ss answer, and exactly how miraculous it was. During tekios, as he stood before the Rebbe, the avreich thought the entire time about how he would like to receive a blessing for children at such an auspicious hour. He even promised himself that if he were to be blessed with a child in the near future, he would bring him back the following year to hear tekios from the Rebbe.

The following year, the avreich saw these blessings come true. He, his wife, and their baby son, who was then two months old, were in Crown Heights for Rosh Hashanah. He brought the baby to hear tekios, as promised, and as he passed by the Rebbe for kos shel bracha on Motzoei Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe'smiled broadly and remarked, "This is one of the children of the tekios."

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

Y. Ben David of Antwerp relates:

"Ten years after our wedding, we were still childless, and due to family pressure my wife, who is from a Chabad family, and I spent the month of Tishrei 5736/1975 with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I arrived during the Ten Days of Repentance, and the next day during the distribution of lekach on erev Yom Kippur I intended to ask the Rebbe for a bracha.

"After three hours of waiting in line, when I finally found myself standing in front of the Rebbe I became tongue-tied. Out of nervousness and awe, I could hardly open my mouth, especially as everything was so quick and you were not allowed to take up even an extra minute. The Rebbe gave me a piece of lekach and said, ???Shana Tova Umesuka,' and all I could do was start to stammer my request and I was already being asked to move on. Suddenly, the Rebbe gave me another two pieces of lekach and said, ???Twice for resourcefulness.'

"Less than a year later, on erev Rosh Hashanah, 5737/1976, my wife gave birth to twins."

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

The Chassidim always knew that the moments before hakafos with the Rebbe on the night of Simchas Torah were a particularly auspicious time, and there are many miraculous incidents that would occur. For example, Rabbi Y. M. of Kfar Chabad did not have any children for many years after he was married. When he traveled to the Rebbe one year, he stood by the entrance to theRebbe'ss room and waited until the Rebbe would enter during the short break between the erev Simchas Torah farbrengen and the hakafos.

When the Rebbe did come up, just before he entered his room, Rabbi Y.M. asked for a bracha. The Rebbe gave him a blessing, but this was not sufficient for Rabbi Y.M., and he waited until the Rebbe left the room again. At this point, he asked for a promise, and as the Rebbe walked away, he replied, "It will be this very year." In fact, the couple's first child was born that same year.

There is also another story related to one of the leading mashpi'im in New York, who also did not have any children after many years of marriage. He drank a lot of alcohol one Simchas Torah, and the Rebbe told him to dance a circle. For every circle, he would have a child. The mashpia did what the Rebbe'said, but did not count the number of circles that he danced. That year, his first child was born, and over the coming years he had another seven children.

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

On Shabbos Parshas Acharei Mos, 5711/1951, which immediately followed Pesach, the Rebbe held a farbrengen during which many revelations occurred. The Rebbe gave many people blessings for children, saying, "During the rest of the festivals, measured, limited revelations are brought down. But on Pesach, there are revelations that are beyond the Seder Hishtalshelus and transcend all limitations. As it is written at this time, "The King of Kings of Kings, the Holy One in His Honor and Glory is revealed to you,' and this is in spite of the situation of being ???naked and bare.'

"And every year, on Pesach, blessing and plenty are brought down from a place above the Seder Hishtalshelus, reaching all life forms below, without any limitations. Even if the doctors say that according to the laws of nature it is not possible for the person to have any children, we do not think of these limitations. The blessings are brought down with success, and anyone here who needs to have children should say ???lechaim,' and they will have a baby boy this year. The children who are born will be named after the Rebbe, [Yosef Yitzchok] and those who cannot be should be called after the Tzemach Tzedek [Menachem Mendel]."

That year, many members of Anash who were previously childless were blessed with baby boys.

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

Someone who was becoming more religious went through the line for dollars and asked the Rebbe for a bracha because he did not yet have any children. The Rebbe replied, "Good news," and the man asked the Rebbe if that meant that he would have children. The Rebbe repeated, "Good news." The man persisted, and he asked the Rebbe if he would have a son. The Rebbe replied, "And if you had a little girl, wouldn't you also be happy?"

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

A woman was having difficulties during labor, and the doctors decided that if she did not give birth within three hours they would have no other choice than to operate, because the baby's life would be at risk. The family immediately asked theRebbe'ss advice, and the Rebbe replied, "She will give birth first." Sure enough, one minute before the three hours were up, the woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

A family with four daughters once asked the Rebbe for a bracha. The Rebbe replied, "Keep the mitzvos of hachnosas orchim, and observe them to the highest level." Soon afterwards, a baby boy was born.

Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine

Were please to announce the return of "A story a day of the Rebbe" to SHMAIS.com the stories are being translated from the Gimmel Tammuz "Zaroi BaChaim" insert of the Kfar Chabad Magazine.

At the Expense of Eating

Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Fuchs relates: "When I arrived in the United States in 5706/1946, since I already knew the ?Ramash? [the name the Rebbe was formerly known by] from Poland, I was aware of his genius in Torah and Chassidus. I would go up to him when he left his room or was about to go in, and I would ask him my questions. He would answer me in a very surprising way: "Look it up in the Ritva, the Tosfos, the Rambam" and he would continue to give me a long list of sources.

"One day, a member of Anash approached me and told me that the Rebbe Rayatz had asked that I should not detain his son-in-law any longer because he would never miss any study time, but the time that is being taken from him because of questions and such like is at the expense of eating and drinking."

A story of the Rebbe #217

Rabbi Zvi Yehudah Fogelman, shliach in Worcester, Mass., relates:

One night during 5703/1943, a young man arrived in 770 and said that he desperately wanted to see the Rebbe Rayatz. The bochurim gave him a yarmulke and let him in to see the secretary Rabbi Simpson, who allowed him meet with the Rebbe Rayatz.

When the Rebbe Rayatz first arrived in the United States, this young man and his brother were in the same hotel in which he was staying, and both of them went to see him. This young man wanted to see the Rebbe Rayatz once again, but he was sure that the Rebbe Rayatz did not remember him. However, when he walked into the Rebbe Rayatz's room, the Rebbe Rayatz said, "You came to me three years ago. You stood over here, and your brother was here." (The Rebbe Rayatz gestured towards the places where they stood.)

Afterwards, the Rebbe Rayatz spoke to them about tefillin. The young man left the room feeling deeply moved. About fifteen minutes later, the Rebbe called me over and asked what happened, and I told him. He asked me to go to the young man's lodgings the following morning and put on tefillin with him. I did as I was asked, and when I came to the young man, he said with a smile, "These wise men have gotten hold of me while I?m still warm!" I continued to see him over the next few days, and the Rebbe would ask me about what was going on with him each day.

In an interview with a chareidi journalist, the late Rabbi Nissen Mindel once stated, "I can testify that during the forty years in which I merited to be in the Rebbe's presence, I never heard him say even one negative thing about another Jew! The Rebbe would never even use words like ?tamay? [impure] or ?ra? [bad]. He would simply use expressions such as ?the opposite of good,? ?the opposite of life,? or ?the opposite of purity.?"

The Rebbe was known for his tremendous knowledge and expertise in all Torah matters, as well as his outstanding middos. He was also known for the purity of his speech, and the way in which he never said a negative word about anyone. Most of all, the Rebbe was known for the way in which he fulfilled the commandment in the Mishnah to "greet our fellow man with a pleasant countenance."

Despite the preciousness of the Rebbe's time, the Rebbe never told the crowds of people that came to visit him that it was time to leave. When a person went into yechidus, the Rebbe would bless him when the meeting had ended. Yet if the person continued to stand where he was, the Rebbe would ask him another question out of politeness and then give another blessing. This would sometimes be repeated a number of times during the same meeting. Yet the Rebbe would never actually say that the conversation had concluded.

Kfar Chabad Magazine

A certain Rav once asked the Rebbe during yechidus where the Rambam's statement that it is inevitable that a mortal will make mistakes is found. The Rebbe immediately replied that he should open maseches Horayos and look at the beginning.

Sure enough, at the beginning of maseches Horayos, the Tosafos Yom Tov quotes a heading with the Rambam's statement, "For it is inevitable that all those who have a flesh-and-blood nature will err and transgress."

Kfar Chabad Magazine

The late Rav of Antwerp, Rabbi Hillel Medalia, once related:

When I reprinted my grandfather's sefer, Pischei Olam Vemetamei Hashulchan, I brought it to the Rebbe during a yechidus. In the introduction, I wrote a brief biography of my father, Rabbi Shemaryahu Yehudah Leib Medalia, the Gabad of Moscow.

"He worked with the greatest luminaries of the Diaspora, the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch, and Rabbi Halevi Soloveitchick of Brisk," I wrote. In actual fact, I knew that my father had worked mostly with the Rebbe Rayatz, but I did not mention this due to reasons of kibbud av. It was because I had heard that when my father competed for the Rabbinate of Moscow against another candidate, the Rebbe Rayatz had supported his rival.

When I went into yechidus, I presented the Rebbe with both volumes of the book. The Rebbe opened the first volume and leafed through its pages until he reached a picture of my father. Looking at me, he said, "I never knew your father, but I heard from my father-in-law that he worked very hard for his Rabbinate in Moscow ?"

Kfar Chabad Magazine

When the mashpia Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Kesselman went into yechidus, he told the Rebbe about a certain Tomim who sat down every day before davening Shacharis and studied a topic from Likkutei Torah for around a quarter of an hour. In response, the Rebbe'stood up in honor of this news. In another instance, the Rebbe'stood up when he heard about a Tomim who reviewed the whole of maseches Baba Basra by heart.

Kfar Chabad Magazine

A former Tomim who studied in 770 during the early years of the Rebbe's nesius relates,

During the time when I studied at the yeshiva, the Rebbe would walk home on Shabbos, accompanied by two bochurim, who would follow behind him. Whenever it was my turn to accompany the Rebbe, I would wait until the Rebbe went into his home and had closed the two windows next to the front door before I went back to 770.

One Shabbos, when I accompanied the Rebbe with my friend, we noticed that the entire house was dark. We thought that we may have to find a non-Jew to put the lights back on, and we waited for a while next to the door. A few minutes later, the Rebbitzen came out and told me that there was nothing to worry about. There was a problem with the Shabbos clock, and there was no reason to call for a non-Jew to fix it.

When we got back to 770, I thought about how everything that happens to a leader is relevant to the entire Jewish nation and I wondered what this incident had to do with all of us. During the farbrengen the next day, the Rebbe quoted the expressions, "next to the sea it is always dry," and "under the lamp it is dark," and stated that we do not do enough to spread the wellsprings of Chassidus in our immediate surroundings.

Kfar Chabad Magazine

An avreich from Israel who was not very successful at earning a living was once offered the chance to go to New York to open a store. He accepted, and when he arrived he went to the Rebbe on his first Sunday there to ask for a blessing during "dollars." Before he could even ask, the Rebbe looked straight at him and said that he should change the buttons on his coat so that they would not be done up left over right, and then he would succeed in business. The dumbfounded avreich took this advice and decided to return to Israel.

Kfar Chabad Magazine

A non Torah-observant artist once wanted to give the Rebbe a portrait he had painted of him. However, the Rebbe noticed that the picture showed him with his fingers intertwined, and he explained to the artist in terms that he would relate to as to why we do not interlace our fingers.

"Others may make this mistake and may even say that they saw in the picture that this is something that the Lubavitcher Rebbe does," the Rebbe added. The Rebbe asked the artist to change this detail, stating that he would only accept the portrait once this was done. The artist was only too happy to fulfill the Rebbe's request, but he asked the Rebbe his opinion on the portrait in general. "It's much better than the original," was the Rebbe's reply.

Kfar Chabad Magazine

When the artist Baruch Nachshon of Hebron first brought his gallery of pictures to New York, he showed it to the Rebbe. The pictures were put up in the library near 770. One of the pictures, in the entrance hall, was called "the last tear."

The Rebbe asked, "Why are there so many tears?" The artist replied, "There have been so many tears throughout the history of our nation, but this is the last one." The Rebbe continued to look at views of the land of Israel, including pictures of the mountains near Hebron and views of the city of Shechem.

When the Rebbe asked if this is how these places really looked, his love and longing for the Holy Land was very apparent. One of the pictures that the Rebbe'saw was of a Jew surrounded by enemies, and on the Jew's head is a large candle giving out a powerful light. Regarding this particular work, the Rebbe remarked, "It is not appropriate for the Muslim in this picture to be taller than the Jew ?"

Kfar Chabad Magazine