By Zalman Tzorfati
PART I
Adi and her husband looked like the typical, young Israeli couple. They did not categorize themselves as religious. Their lives revolved around a routine of work and building their new relationship.
They dreamed of having a family but months passed, then a year and another year, and they still did not have children. At first, they just waited, but after two years went by, they began to worry that something was wrong.
They went from doctor to doctor. They tried various conventional and alternative treatments, but nothing helped. As the days and months passed, along with their work, and spending time with family and friends, there were also injections, treatments and consultations.
Outwardly, Adi and her husband continued life as usual, but a dark cloud hung over them and threatened to obscure their joy. This is one reason they went on a trip to India. They hoped that on the huge sub-continent they would relax and enjoy themselves. They would get away from the questioning, expectant, pitying looks, and take a break from the exhausting medical treatments that caused them each time to reach up for their dream excitedly only to come crashing down again to cold, painful reality.
PART II
Friday night at the Chabad House in Pushkar. Adi and her husband sat among dozens of tourists who packed the large hall every Friday night. Despite the relatively short time that passed since they left home, they still missed home-cooked food served with love.
They enjoyed the hot soup and food along with Kiddush and Shabbos z’miros that reminded them of their grandparents’ home and warmed their hearts. During the Shabbos meal, they paid close attention to the divrei Torah said by the shliach, Rabbi Shimi Goldstein. He spoke the backpackers’ language in a style that went straight to their hearts.
R’ Goldstein included miracle stories and stories of divine providence in his d’var Torah and he urged his guests to share their own stories of divine providence. A conversation ensued about how to connect and write to the Rebbe nowadays. Adi listened and was inspired. There are miracles taking place in the world!
She heard this again and again that evening. If it happened to Ronen, Shiri, Tal and Yuval, it could happen to them too, even though their story was more complicated than forgetting luggage on the bus and finding it unexpectedly. But the Creator of the world sends salvation in supernatural ways, and there is no project that is too difficult for Him.
The meal continued and the men sang popular Shabbos songs. The more knowledgeable ones among them chanted piyutim and z’miros and the veteran mekuravim snuck in a Chabad niggun here and there, trying to get each note exactly right. The singers ignored the two women sitting on the side who were talking animatedly, or more correctly, one was talking while the other listened attentively. These were Adi and Mrs. Zelda Goldstein who was responding to Adi’s questions about writing to the Rebbe. She told Adi personal stories, and stories that she heard from the people they happened to, about miracles that the Rebbe wrought through writing and using the Igros Kodesh.
Adi was very excited to hear this. She already saw a light at the end of the long and winding tunnel of the last few years of her life. “I am too excited to wait until after Shabbos to write to the Rebbe,” she said to her new friend, the shlucha.
Mrs. Goldstein thought it over and said, “You can ask for the Rebbe’s bracha now,” and she explained how Chassidim do that.
The meal was over and the guests went to wherever they were staying. On the side of the hall stood Adi, facing the volumes of Igros Kodesh. Mrs. Goldstein stood a little behind her, giving her the space and privacy she needed.
R’ Shimi and Adi’s husband sat at the table talking. Adi closed her eyes in concentration, said a silent prayer, and then opened a volume of Igros Kodesh and read the first letter.
Since she couldn’t write, the exact page in the volume was forgotten, but the contents remain firmly in the minds of Adi and her husband and the Goldsteins. The Rebbe wrote that a Jew needs to do what he can in the natural way but the main thing is to have complete trust in Hashem that He will fulfill our requests.
The couple said goodnight to the shluchim and left with a renewed spark of hope in their hearts.
PART III
Seven years went by and this winter, we heard the end of the story. This also happened at a Friday night meal in the Chabad House in Pushkar.
It was Asaf, Adi’s brother who was touring the Far East. At the Friday night meal, R’ Goldstein asked him to tell a story of divine providence.
Asaf thought a bit and decided to tell his sister’s story.
“A short while after Adi asked the Rebbe for a bracha, she had a dream. In the dream, she was standing with her husband in the entrance to the Rebbe’s home. Facing her she saw the Rebbe and Rebbetzin.
“She motioned to her husband to ask the Rebbe for a bracha. Her husband went over to the Rebbe and asked for a bracha for children. The Rebbe smiled at them and told them that with Hashem’s help, they would have a daughter.
“She thanked the Rebbe for the bracha in her heart. The Rebbe motioned to her husband and asked that they come to visit him after their daughter was born.
“Adi woke up all excited. She didn’t know how to relate to it.” Of course, it increased her feelings of emuna and bitachon in Hashem and the Rebbe.
When their trip was over, they returned to Eretz Yisroel and they made an appointment with the doctor to continue treatments.
PART IV
The doctor looked again and again at the results of the tests and mumbled to himself. He couldn’t believe it. He compared the results to those in the file. After making sure there was no mistake, he was happy to tell them that she was expecting a baby.
Nine months later, their daughter was born. A year later, on her first birthday, they went to New York to thank the Rebbe for the gift.