“I’LL TAKE THIS TO THE OHEL”

There was a trip to Canada, roads blocked by snow, a frenzied series of activities on the subject of family purity, and setting out for shlichus in faraway Tzfas in the shadow of war. All these factors together produced a twofold blessing from Heaven for two couples in need of a bracha for children. Mrs. Chaya Rochel Hendel, well-known mashpia in Tzfas, shares this exceptional story with “Beis Moshiach”.

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

Rebbetzin Chaya Rochel Hendel has headed the Lubavitch Women’s Organization in Tzfas for many years and she is a well-known figure in numerous Jewish communities throughout the world. She arrived in Tzfas as a pioneer alongside her husband, Rabbi Shneur Zalman Eliyahu HaKohen Hendel, who has served as director-general of the city’s Ohr Menachem Educational Institutions for over forty years after receiving instructions in a yechidus with the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.

Rebbetzin Hendel is known for her unique koch in the subject of Moshiach and the Redemption, strengthening her audiences in the faith of Chassidim in the Rebbe MH”M and his prophecy of Geula. She customarily seasons her presentations with a few incredible stories that took place in the merit of the Rebbe’s brachos, now as in the past.

We recently heard the following story from Rebbetzin Hendel, who experienced it first-hand. The chain of events began as they went out on shlichus, when they were living with their first three children in Nachalat Har Chabad. However, it concluded in a most amazing fashion about a year later when they moved to the Holy City of Tzfas. Despite the many years that have passed since then, this story lives with her to this very day.

HOLY PREPARATIONS

“Shortly after our wedding, we left Kfar Chabad and established our residence in the new Kiryat Malachi community of Nachalat Har Chabad. This sh’chuna had recently been founded as per the instructions of the Rebbe, and new young couples were being called upon to settle there. This was at a time before the whole concept of shlichus existed as it does today. For many people, leaving Kfar Chabad for Kiryat Malachi was the equivalent of traveling into a barren wasteland. The courage and awareness required for going out and serving on shlichus far from a warm and supportive community was virtually non-existent in those days.

“However, my husband, who was born and raised in Canada and knew a little something about shlichus, had wanted very much to be a shliach somewhere in Chutz LaAretz. There were several veteran shluchim who even suggested that we come to their location.

“In 5733, just before the Shavuos holiday, my husband traveled to visit his family in Montreal, where I would join him later. When he came to 770, a yechidus with the Rebbe was arranged for him. Among the things he requested from the Rebbe was his guidance in the choice of a place for us to go out on shlichus. He submitted a list of three possible options, but the Rebbe had other ideas. The Rebbe told my husband that he wants to send us on shlichus to the Holy City of Tzfas to restore the glory of Torah there.

“My husband was stunned. This was virtually the last place that he ever dreamed of as a suitable location for shlichus. The Rebbe then asked my husband not to tell anyone about this proposal, as he wanted to organize this secretly. He concluded by telling my husband to consult with me, and if we both agreed, we should write a letter jointly to the secretariat, informing them of our consent.

“The truth was that I wanted very much to stay in Eretz Yisroel. Thus, when my husband called and told me about the Rebbe’s offer, I jumped for joy. I didn’t care whether the shlichus was in Tzfas or anywhere else, just as long as we could stay in Eretz HaKodesh.

“I couldn’t tell anyone about this shlichus, not even members of my immediate family. All that was left for me to do was count the days until my flight to Canada. It’s interesting to note that when I asked the Rebbe for permission to leave Eretz Yisroel and come to 770, the Rebbe gave his consent on the condition that we do not settle in Chutz LaAretz. Only after we promised to return to Eretz Yisroel did the Rebbe give us his permission to leave.

“In the days before the flight, I made a series of feverish preparations, realizing that we probably would not be returning to Nachalat Har Chabad.

“Back in those days, transatlantic flights between Eretz Yisroel and North America were less frequent, and my trip aroused a great deal of excitement among our neighbors and friends. There were those who asked me to mention their names to the Rebbe in request of a bracha, each one according to the need.

“I had a good friend named Dina Galperin, of blessed memory. She had been married for ten years already, yet she still had not been blessed with children. She went to various doctors and other medical experts, but they all explained to her that there was little chance that she would ever give birth. This diagnosis caused her and her husband much distress, and I decided that I would request a bracha for them during our first yechidus.

“Since she had previously sent letters to the Rebbe asking for a bracha without receiving a response, we decided together that we would make a proper vessel for a blessing in a most unique fashion. During this period, a wave of immigrants had come to Nachalat Har Chabad from all over the world. When I went out into the street, I would hear a mixture of languages: Georgian, Bucharian, Russian, French, and even English. We arranged a program to teach the Laws of Family Purity to all those women who came primarily from traditional, albeit very simple families.

“Her husband also got involved in the project, and over a period of several days we looked for suitable teachers who could communicate in a variety of languages.

“This was a project that demanded a considerable amount of organization. After a lengthy search, teachers were found for all the required languages, and now we had to hang notices and publicize the class schedule. Rabbi Galperin worked on this initiative over many hours. Each notice was translated into all the relevant languages, and then they were posted and distributed in those places where families speaking that language live. And so, this amazing project got underway. Many women in Jewish communities were privileged for the first time to learn the Laws of Family Purity in great detail.

“Just a week before I boarded my flight, I recalled that I had a close relative living in Nachalat Har Chabad, married for four years and still without any children. When I spoke with her, it turned out that she too had thought about approaching me with a request that I ask the Rebbe for a bracha for her to have children. My condition was that she should make a proper vessel for the bracha. Since I already knew that I wouldn’t be coming back to Nachalat Har Chabad anytime soon, and I was running a free loan fund at the time, I asked if she would take over running the fund. When she gave her consent, I then told her that the Rebbe had designated another shlichus for us, without mentioning to her the nature or location of the shlichus.

“At the conclusion of a week of intense preparations, I flew with my children to Val-Morin, Quebec, in the Laurentian Mountains. After spending a month there on summer vacation, we made our way to Crown Heights and Beis Chayeinu.

“The night before our yechidus, I wrote a detailed ten-page report to the Rebbe about all our work and activities in Nachalat Har Chabad. We included in the letter that we agreed to accept the Rebbe’s offer to go out on shlichus in Tzfas. As a postscript, I pleaded with the Rebbe for a bracha for my good friend, Mrs. Dina Galperin, and my close relative.

“According to custom, I submitted the letters in advance to the secretariat before we went in for yechidus. It was Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul 5733. The entire family entered Gan Eden HaElyon, and the Rebbe quickly read page after page, responding to everything in Yiddish. During the yechidus, the Rebbe showed numerous displays of affection towards my children, including giving them several coins for tz’daka.

“I remember that the Rebbe rapped on the table with a coin, and then gave it to one of the children who enjoyed the game. The Rebbe looked at him with deep satisfaction and the game continued. In the end, we all received a lot of coins from the Rebbe.

“When we got to the matter of our departure for Tzfas, my husband asked if we could postpone the trip until after Tishrei. The Rebbe replied that for a certain reason, we should already be in Tzfas by Tishrei. In any case, he would inform us via the secretariat regarding our request.

“When the Rebbe came to the end of my report, where I had mentioned the names of the two women from Nachalat Har Chabad in need of a bracha, the Rebbe became serious and said, ‘I’ll take this to the Ohel.’

“Needless to say, when Yom Kippur came and we heard about the outbreak of war in Eretz Yisroel, we understood what the Rebbe meant when he said that for a certain reason we should already have been in Tzfas.

“We ended up spending the month of Tishrei in the Rebbe’s court, and when the winds of war subsided following the holiday season, we headed back to Eretz Yisroel and eventually to Tzfas. I wanted very much to travel to Nachalat Har Chabad and visit my friends whom I hadn’t seen for quite some time. However, the winter in Tzfas that year was particularly fierce. Piles of snow blocked the roads and the cold was very bitter. As a result, we chose not to travel with the small children, opting instead to remain at home. Thus, our first opportunity to travel to Nachalat Har Chabad did not arrive until the summer.

“When we arrived in Kiryat Malachi for Shabbos, we were stunned to hear that there would be a joint Kiddush in shul sponsored by two families who had received the Rebbe’s bracha – the Galperins and my close relative. They each had been blessed with the birth of a girl, and they made a Kiddusha Rabba. I looked at these adorable babies, and I recalled the Rebbe’s promise to take their mothers’ names to pray for them at the Ohel of the Rebbe Rayatz.”

SEED THAT G-D HAS BLESSED

Rebbetzin Hendel became quite moved as she recalled those two sweet little girls, who today are mothers themselves. “When they got married, I felt it to be a tremendous privilege and obligation to participate in their weddings. I put all other matters aside and made my way there to rejoice with them. Since then, these two families have had many children of their own, the ‘seed that G-d has blessed.’”