PART I
It was in the winter of 5763 when R’ Avrohom Hershkop of Kiryat Malachi and a group of Chabad Chassidim, as well as a distinguished delegation from the Kiryat Malachi municipality led by the mayor, Lior Katzav, decided to visit the gravesites of the Rebbeim in Ukraine and Russia. They excitedly made their preparations for the trip, both material and spiritual preparations, as a Chassid does.
A few days before the trip, a Lubavitcher from Kiryat Gat asked R’ Hershkop to mention his name and his mother’s name when he was at the holy gravesites. R’ Hershkop was happy to oblige and asked, “Do you want me to ask for anything in particular for you?”
The man’s face seemed to go dim and he thought for a few seconds and then candidly said, “Actually, yes. I am in a very difficult financial situation. I’m about to go bankrupt. I need a great deal of mercy and help.”
Said R’ Hershkop, “That is serious. Sit down and write four pidyonei nefesh for the four Rebbeim’s gravesites that we will be going to and ask for a bracha. I promise you that I will place the notes on each of the graves.”
Due to the brief amount of time remaining before the flight, the man did not have a chance to prepare the notes and he asked that his name be mentioned in any case. “Many people asked me to mention them,” said R’ Hershkop, “and I will do my best to say yours.”
The group flew off. As this was the winter, heavy snow blanketed the Ukraine. The plan was to go to the graves of the Alter Rebbe in Haditch, the Mitteler Rebbe his son in Niezhin, and the graves of the Baal Shem Tov in Mezhibuzh, the Maggid of Mezritch in Anipoli, and R’ Levi Yitzchok in Berditchev.
Although he had many names with him to mention, when he got to the gravesite of the Baal Shem Tov, the first name that came to his mind was the name of that Chassid from Kiryat Gat. Sharing the man’s pain, he mentioned him and his financial woes.
This repeated itself at each of the other holy graves, in Haditch, Niezhin, and Anipoli. R’ Hershkop himself was surprised by how the name of that man always came to mind first when he had names of people closer to him to mention, whose plights he knew of personally.
PART II
It was well past midnight on Motzaei Shabbos when the group of Chassidim arrived in Haditch to visit the grave of the Alter Rebbe. How awesome is this place, thought each Chassid as he went to the resting place of the Baal HaTanya and Shulchan Aruch. Chassidim, and not just Chabad Chassidim, relate that in this place they feel a much greater awe than at other gravesites. The heart, they say, opens wider and the soul is filled in the merit of the one who rests in this place.
After a lengthy prayer session with niggunim of the Alter Rebbe, the members of the group were ready to leave. They climbed the hill to the bus that waited for them. Suddenly, two policemen boarded the bus and told the driver to wait up, because the roads had turned into a sheet of ice and it was too dangerous to travel. Having no choice, the group tarried there for some more hours even though the time for their flight was approaching.
During the wait, an unfamiliar person boarded the bus. He looked like a Lubavitcher but was not part of their group.
“Do you know …” he asked, saying a name.
“The person you are asking about, where is he from?” asked R’ Hershkop.
“From Kiryat Gat.”
R’ Hershkop was dumbstruck. Just that week he had spoken to him and promised to mention his name at the gravesites. It was the same man!
“I know him,” said R’ Hershkop after he had recovered somewhat.
“Then please do me a favor,” said the man. “I have something to give him. Would you be sure to give it to him?”
R’ Hershkop was happy to say yes and the man took out four envelopes which he gave him. “In each envelope are $1000,” said the man. “Please take good care of it.”
R’ Hershkop, who thought this man knew the Chassid in Kiryat Gat, took the opportunity to tell him about his friend’s plight and told him he was about to go bankrupt.
“If you can help him, please give him more than this,” R’ Hershkop dared to ask on the man’s behalf.
The man thought it over briefly and without saying anything further, he took out more money and ended up giving him a total of $10,000.
“Please tell him that when he is able, he should return the money to me.”
“Would you tell me your name? Perhaps he doesn’t know it …” said R’ Hershkop.
“It doesn’t make a difference,” said the man. And he got off the bus and disappeared.
PART III
The plane landed in Eretz Yisroel and the group dispersed to their homes in Kiryat Malachi. R’ Hershkop couldn’t restrain himself and while still on the road he called the man in Kiryat Gat and asked him whether he had a friend or acquaintance in Haditch.
“No,” he said. “I don’t know anyone there.”
“Did anyone from there have to give you something?”
“I don’t know of anyone who has to give me an envelope or package of any kind. What are you talking about?” asked the Chassid.
R’ Hershkop didn’t give up. “Does anyone owe you money?”
The man burst into tears. “I wish!”
R’ Hershkop was quite puzzled at this point and he told the man what happened. The mystery only grew greater.
A few hours later, the man from Kiryat Gat arrived and he and R’ Hershkop sat down to discuss it. R’ Hershkop described the man in Haditch but the Chassid knew nobody that fit the description.
“It seems the Rebbeim are the ones who sent you the money,” said R’ Hershkop. “And the money they sent you was divided into five envelopes, one from the Baal Shem Tov, the second from the Maggid, the third from the Alter Rebbe, the fourth from the Mitteler Rebbe, and even R’ Levi Yitzchok sent you an envelope.”
R’ Hershkop noted, “We were supposed to leave Haditch at ten in the morning for the airport in Kiev. Thanks to the policemen delaying us, that man found us and brought the envelopes with money.”
This incredible story is reminiscent of actual stories of the Baal Shem Tov. How great is the power of prayer. Our Rebbeim take care of their flock and even in the heavens above they do not rest but do everything they can to help every Chassid.