GIFT OF A PLANE TICKET TO THE REBBE

Did you also go to the Rebbe Melech Ha’Moshiach for Tishrei? Which of your relatives went this year?

This week, thousands of Chassidim returned home from 770 with one wish: We want to see our king!

Every Chassid who goes to the Rebbe has a story. Some worked hard and were unsure. For others, it was like the Rebbe held out his hand and called out: Come to me!

That is the story of Bentzi.

***

Back in Av, children were returning each day from day camp red and sweaty. Families loaded up their stuff and took challenging nature hikes. In Kfar Chabad, sat a bachur for whom the summer did not remind him of camp and trips. Something else was on his mind.

He took out his little bank where he had put one shekel after another over the year. One hundred, two hundred, five hundred, 850 shekels! You would surely agree that this is a nice amount of money. But Bentzi did not look happy to see this pathetic amount. Pathetic when you need about 3000 shekels!

You’ve probably guessed why Bentzi worked hard the entire year and saved his shekels and why he needed such a large amount. Right. Bentzi Friedman wanted to go to the Rebbe for the month of Tishrei.

He counted his money again and a third time but he wasn’t mistaken. He had only 850 shekels.

“What will I do? How will I get the rest of the money I need in such a short amount of time? Maybe… maybe, I won’t be able to go to the Rebbe?” He felt tears coming. He didn’t even want to think of this possibility.

Borrowing was out of the question. From whom would he borrow and when would he return it? It wasn’t responsible to take a loan without the ability to repay it. He remembered what it said in Pirkei Avos about “the wicked man borrows and does not repay.” As for asking his parents, that wasn’t possible either. Bentzi had many sisters and brothers. How could his parents pay for a trip to the Rebbe for each of their children? A bachur his age had to pay for his own trip.

Bentzi paced back and forth and tried to come up with a solution. Then, he got a simple idea. The idea of a Chassid.

“Who can help me? Just the Rebbe! I will write to the Rebbe and ask for a bracha. The Rebbe has many ways to help. The Rebbe does miracles and wonders, healing the sick and granting children to the barren. What is it for the Rebbe to arrange a few hundred dollars for me for such an important cause?”

Bentzi sat down to write on a white piece of paper and committed to doing what the Rebbe told him to do. Then he took out a volume of the Igros Kodesh, volume 14 and opened it at random. He read letter #4484:

“Surely this is an indication that you are adding upward in your matters; what I mean is learning Toras Ha’Nigleh and Toras Ha’Chassidus and avoda b’tefilla which is what sets a person upright spiritually and thereby, materially. As it says, ‘be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.’”

Bentzi concluded, “The Rebbe is asking me to increase my learning of Gemara, Chassidus and tefilla, but what exactly?” After a few moments he decided, “This is what a mashpia is for.”

The Rebbe told every Chassid to choose an older Chassid to be his mashpia and help him with every area of indecision. The mashpia is the pipeline to convey the Rebbe’s wishes.

Bentzi immediately called his mashpia who lives in Belgium and told him that he wanted to go to the Rebbe and the answer in the Igros Kodesh.

The mashpia directed him in what to learn in Gemara and Chassidus. As for davening, he told Bentzi to be particular about saying the pesukei d’zimra from a Siddur.

Bentzi hung up the phone feeling great and with high hopes. He was sure that in the merit of carrying out the Rebbe’s instructions, he would get to travel to the Rebbe. How? Time would tell.

I’ll remind you that it was summertime and vacation and Bentzi was being asked to learn diligently. He decided that the house was not the right place for learning. “I’ll go to shul.”

Bentzi went to Mendel’s Shul which is near his house. He sat and learned diligently for a long time and then went home.

The next day, he went to shul, determined to carry out the Rebbe’s instruction. The shul was empty. The silence helped him concentrate on his learning.

Suddenly, he heard a voice calling him. Bentzi looked up.

“What’s your name,” asked the Chassid.

“Bentzi Friedman,” he answered, wondering who the man was and what he wanted.

“Do you want to fly to the Rebbe?” asked the man.

“Of course, very much. But I don’t have enough money,” Bentzi replied, his heart starting to beat rapidly.

“How much do you have?”

“850 shekels.”

“Then you have what you need. Call my travel agent. He will arrange a ticket for you.” The Chassid said this in a matter-of-fact way, as though he wasn’t talking about giving thousands of shekels to a bachur he didn’t even know.

For a few seconds, Bentzi was unable to open his mouth; he was so astonished. Then, he recovered and tried to understand. “Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you giving me so much money for a trip to the Rebbe?”

The Chassid answered, “My name is Ramy Banin. I am a shliach of the Rebbe in Venice. Today, I was on my way to the airport but, to my great disappointment, I missed my flight. So I came back to Kfar Chabad and had to daven shacharis. This is the first time I am coming to this shul. For some reason, I ended up here.

“Yesterday, something happened that made me decide to give a certain amount to tzedaka for bachurim. When I came here, I saw how you were learning and was impressed. I figured that you probably want to travel to the Rebbe for Tishrei like every Chassid. So, I decided to donate money to you for the trip to the Rebbe.”

And that is how Bentzi got to go to the Rebbe that year, thanks to the Rebbe’s bracha and doing what the Rebbe said.

If a relative of yours went to the Rebbe this year, ask him what miracles the Rebbe did for him and you will surely hear amazing stories. ■