THE DOLLAR BROUGHT THE BRACHA

There it was written: the 13^th of Elul, the wedding of the Rebbe Rayatz, 5749, Erev Shnas Nissim. I read this sentence again and again, as I stood there in shock. What incredible Divine Providence! It took me several hours to calm down.

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

“The connection between our family and the Lubavitcher Rebbe goes back many years,” said Mrs. Batya Dadon at the start of our interview in a voice filled with emotion. The Dadon family lives in Tzfas’ Ramat Menachem Begin neighborhood, and while they aren’t members of the local Chabad community, their hearts glow with a deep love for the Rebbe and Chassidus. The parents send their children to the city’s Chabad educational institutions and they regularly participate in a wide variety of Chabad activities in their neighborhood and throughout the city.

“We have one son who was born on Yud Shvat and another born on Gimmel Tammuz. Thus, even from the aspect of the calendar, we walk hand-in-hand with Chabad Chassidus,” added Mrs. Dadon.

In the distant past, about twenty-five years ago, the family was privileged to experience an amazing miracle that took place in the merit of the Rebbe’s bracha. However, we asked Mrs. Dadon to tell us about another miracle. It actually started at last year’s Lag B’Omer parade and reached its finale a few months later on the 13^th of Elul.

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“Our second son had been of marriageable age for several years. Yet, shidduchim came and went without success. While he had been ready for some time, to our great regret, things seemed to be ‘stuck in neutral.’ It was as if there was no one suitable for him. When he first entered the world of shidduchim, we thought that it wouldn’t take more than a few months for him to find his life’s partner. However, we quickly realized that we were wrong. Months turned into years, and nothing seemed to help. Naturally, this caused us much anguish.

“At a certain point our worrying began to gnaw away at us. Our son was now twenty-nine years old and there was no serious shidduch on the horizon. When a Jew finds himself in such a predicament, he starts to daven, and that’s exactly what we did. At every opportunity we mentioned his name for a bracha to find the woman with whom he could build his Jewish home. Whenever we visited one of the gravesites of our holy tzaddikim, we poured out our souls to the Creator, asking that we should soon merit to see our son under the marriage canopy with his bride.

“The joyous day of Lag B’Omer had arrived. In our neighborhood, there are some very dedicated shluchim who organize each year a grandiose parade that attracts hundreds and thousands of children from Ramat Menachem Begin and the surrounding communities. This is a once-a-year event that hundreds of parents and children know they can’t pass up. There are even many people who have moved away from the neighborhood, yet they come back on this day for Chabad activities.

“There are also many others, besides myself, who are very close to Chabad and its activities. We have lived in Tzfas for many years and we know how these parades are held each year in every local neighborhood. Yet, while I always sent my children to the parade, I personally never participated, preferring to remain home instead. This all changed last year, when my children learning in Chabad institutions would not relent; they insisted that I join them for the parade.

“The production made by the Rebbe’s shluchim was most impressive. Jews from all walks of life joined together and joyfully danced around the traditional bonfire. This was followed by a colorful parade filled with signs bearing Jewish slogans. From the very outset I was quite happy that I had chosen to attend the event, beating my chest ‘Al Cheit’ for not having done so until now.

“During the parade, the master of ceremonies and various speakers spoke about the great holiness of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, quoting the Rebbe’s words that it would be most befitting to rely upon Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in a moment of crisis. Meanwhile, I was praying with all my heart that my participation in the parade would come to my son’s aid in his search for a shidduch. At the start of the parade, every participant received a raffle ticket. There was a large selection of prizes and the organizers took both children and adults into account. On one side, there was a bicycle and children’s games, while on the other side, there were s’farim and even a dollar received from the Rebbe himself.

“The truth is that while I was holding the ticket in my hand, it never crossed my mind for a moment that I would win anything. Thus, I was totally surprised when the master of ceremonies announced the number of the winning ticket for the Rebbe’s dollar. A quick look at my ticket raised the level of excitement: Indeed, I had won the raffle… I was overcome with joy.

“As I was walking back home with my daughters, I noticed some handwriting on the dollar – the words ‘Bracha V’hatzlacha’ in large print. There was also another handwritten line in much smaller print, but I didn’t attribute much importance to it and didn’t read it.

“We obviously mounted the dollar in an honored place in our home, and it brought the bracha – rather quickly. A few weeks later, our son became engaged and we were overjoyed. When someone asked how it all happened, we told them that we were certain that the bracha had come in the merit of our participation in the Lag B’Omer parade. However, we also didn’t know how to explain it; we just felt it deep inside.

“After the engagement seuda was over, the two sets of parents sat with the engaged couple to set a date for the wedding – the 13^th of Elul. As in any Jewish home preparing a wedding for one of its children, there are a lot of things to prepare and arrange. Procedures, buying clothes, renting a hall, hiring a caterer, a photographer, etc. It’s amazing how all the feelings of worry and concern were replaced in an instant with feelings of joy and happiness.

“One evening, as the chassan came home at the end of a tiring day of making pre-wedding arrangements and running errands, he suddenly decided to take a look at the Rebbe’s dollar. He studied it carefully, and then he let out a shriek. ‘Ima, you have to come here!’ he cried. ‘Now, read what’s written in the small print on the dollar.’ I read it and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

“There it was written: the 13^th of Elul, the wedding of the Rebbe Rayatz, 5749, Erev Shnas Nissim. I read this sentence again and again, as I stood there in shock. I was positively stunned. What incredible Divine Providence! It took me several hours to calm down. When I tell people about the chain of events, they can’t believe it until they see for themselves what’s written on the dollar.

“There’s no logical explanation for this. At the moment the Rebbe gave the dollar to that chassid back in 5749, he clearly foresaw with his holy eyes where the dollar would end up and the date of our son’s wedding.”

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Mrs. Dadon finished her first story with another moving story that she had finally decided the time had come to make public. “Twenty-five years ago, one of our sons became ill with ‘thalassemia’ – a serious ailment that could only be cured with a bone marrow transplant. My father was staying in New York at the time with my two sisters. One Sunday, he passed by the Rebbe for dollars, and the Rebbe gave him a bracha for success and a ‘refua shleima.’

“Over the years that have passed, we have experienced tremendous salvation with this boy. Today, after enduring much physical suffering and affliction, he is completely healthy.”