BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE

The Rebbe begins the historic sicha of Mishpatim 5752, in which he shows how events in the world at the time are part of the Geula process, as follows: It is known that all occurrences in the world are by divine providence and contain a lesson and instruction in man’s service of his Maker.”

The following are stories of hashgacha pratis that happened to shluchim in the course of their work.

THE MONEY ARRIVED JUST ON TIME

R’ Shimshon Tal, shliach in Hod HaSharon, relates:

For a number of years, every Friday some bachurim from the Chabad yeshiva in B’nei Brak would come to do mivtza t’fillin here. Later, due to changes in the yeshiva schedule, they stopped coming.

Just at that time, a group of bachurim from the Chabad yeshiva in Netanya remained without a steady place to do mivtza t’fillin on Fridays. The bachurim had already agreed to come to Hod HaSharon from Netanya, but the great distance required them to arrange for transportation which cost several hundred shekels every week.

In incredible divine providence, just that week an old mekurav of the Chabad house called with an offer. Since he used to do mivtza t’fillin in Hod HaSharon and now he was leaving the city for business reasons, he wanted to finance the expenses of mivtza t’fillin so it would take place regularly.

All R’ Tal had to do was connect the donor with the van service and that is how the mivtza continues till this very day.

IMMEDIATE MEETING WITH THE DEPUTY MINISTER

R’ Ariel Goren, a dynamic shliach in Rishon L’Tziyon, began his shlichus in one neighborhood but was quickly able to bring out other shluchim. He started preschools and a Chabad house at the College of Management which is run by R’ Dotan Korati and others.

An administrative problem arose regarding the preschools and R’ Goren realized that the best way to solve the problem was by meeting with the deputy minister of education, Meir Porush. The question was how to arrange a meeting and who knew how long it would take to arrange and whether it would be successful…

He spoke with his brother-in-law in Yerushalayim, R’ Shlomo Segal, shliach in the Katamon neighborhood. “Maybe you would know how I can get an appointment with Meir Porush?”

Said R’ Segal, “I am in the Chabad house and R’ Tamir Kastiel, also a shliach in Katamon, is right here. I think he knows Porush. Talk to him.”

“Hello R’ Kastiel, maybe you can help me get to see Porush?”

“You’re in luck,” said R’ Kastiel. “This afternoon I have a meeting with him and you can join.”

R’ Goren hurried to Yerushalayim, attended the meeting and told the deputy minister what he needed. Porush promised that everything would be taken care of.

Hashgacha pratis at its best.

INFORMATION THAT SAVED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SHEKELS

R’ Menachem Mendel Greenberg, shliach in Shoham, had to pay tens of thousands of shekels for security around the Chabad preschools. This was very hard on his budget.

In incredible divine providence, a few days earlier he had happened to hear certain information by which he realized he was eligible to receive two thirds of the security expenses from the Israeli police.

He submitted his request and the discount made a huge difference and had a significant impact on the continuation of the preschools’ activities.

BUILDING THE CHABAD MIKVA ON THE PLANE

R’ Shlomo Berkowitz went on shlichus over 25 years ago to Rosh Pina in the north. He saw that the mikva there was in a dilapidated building and the kashrus of the mikva only met minimal standards. With the establishment of a Chabad community, there arose a need and demand for an upgrading of the mikva so it would be bor al gabbei bor as the Rebbe Rashab enacted. There was just one hitch – 150,000 shekels were needed.

The head of the local council at the time was from one of the nearby kibbutzim and was no big maven when it came to mikvaos, not to mention the Chabad approach. Yet, his wife was a mekureves of Chabad and was even related to one of the shluchim in the north.

R’ Berkowitz decided to pay a visit to the family of the head of the city council. He explained to them briefly that a better mikva needed to be made. The council leader did not get into the details but promised to look into it soon.

The opportunity arose sooner than he thought. A few days later, the council leader had to travel to the center of the country. He ordered a ticket on a flight from Rosh Pina to Tel Aviv. By divine providence, he sat next to a Gerrer Chassid who introduced himself as the Chairman of the Housing Ministry (which was headed at the time by the deputy minister, Meir Porush). The council leader told him that although he was a kibbutznik, he wanted a top notch mikva in Rosh Pina. The Chassid was so moved to see that this was the first thing the kibbutznik brought up that he promised to help him.

The deputy minister visited Rosh Pina, the funding was approved and the mikva was renovated, expanded and upgraded according to all the hiddurim and minhagei Chabad.

A RIDE AT TWO IN THE MORNING

R’ Berkowitz continues:

About a year ago, a few shluchim and mekuravim from Rosh Pina went to Kfar Chabad to attend the yahrtzait gathering marking the passing of R’ Gavriel and Rivky Holtzberg, may Hashem avenge their blood. The event ended late and there was a group of them from the north, at two in the morning, approaching the Kedarim Junction on the way home to Rosh Pina.

They suddenly heard a noise from the engine and the smoke that billowed forth forced the passengers to stop on the side of the road. While R’ Berkowitz wondered what they would do next, the familiar car of one of the closest members of the Chabad community in Rosh Pina drove up. He gave them a ride home. But that is only the beginning of the story.

Later on, R’ Berkowitz asked this friend why he was at that spot at two in the morning. The friend innocently said, “You know how much I love visiting the gravesite of Rashbi in Miron. That night I was in Miron at seven at night and was returning home. Suddenly, at 1:30 I felt a strong need to go back to Rashbi. My wife said, ‘What’s the matter with you? You were already there tonight!’ But I couldn’t stop myself and I went. I suddenly decided, and I don’t know why, not to go the regular route but via that junction. Just as I stopped there, I saw you on the other side and that is when I realized why I had had that powerful urge to make this trip.”

Everything is by divine providence.