"I Will Mention It at the Ohel" Is a Proper Bracha
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 462-463, no. 72 · The Rebbe
Continued from the biography of R. Zalman Duchman:
Thousands of people merited to receive the response from the Rebbe, “I will mention it at the Ohel [ of the Frierdiker Rebbe];” words that left the recipient optimistically waiting for salvation. However, early on, chassidim were still unfamiliar with the significance of this answer.
In the year 5712 (1952), R. Zalman encountered a couple in Toronto who had been married for seven years but had not yet merited children. Being the Rebbe’s shliach, they begged him to request a bracha from the Rebbe on their behalf, and R. Zalman promised them that he would.
Upon returning to New York, R. Zalman went to 770 and personally approached the Rebbe to ask for bracha. The Rebbe replied that he would mention them at the Ohel of the Frierdiker Rebbe. Feeling it was something short of a bracha, R. Zalman’s gracious heart compelled him to ask for more. He boldly spoke up, “But Rebbe, why can’t the Rebbe give them a proper bracha?” The Rebbe didn’t respond and continued on to his room.
The following year, R. Zalman visited Toronto and was delighted to meet the couple holding a baby girl. Communication at that time was poor — long-distance phone calls were not common—and the good news hadn’t reached him in New York. The couple expressed their certainty that their daughter was born because of the Rebbe’s bracha. In gratitude to the Rebbe and to his shliach, they gave R. Zalman a substantial donation, despite not being so well-off.
Immediately upon returning to Crown Heights, R. Zalman hurried to inform the Rebbe of the good news. He stood by the elevator, in the same spot where he had stood a year earlier when he requested the bracha. As the Rebbe returned to his room after mincha, R. Zalman approached the Rebbe and respectfully said, “The Rebbe surely remembers that last year I asked for a bracha for children on behalf of a couple in Toronto. I am now happy to inform the Rebbe that they were blessed with a healthy girl. ”
Without saying a word, the Rebbe continued towards his room. As he was about to open the door, the Rebbe turned around and said to Reb Zalman with a smile, “ Nu, Reb Zalman, ‘I will mention it at the Ohel’ is a proper bracha!”
"Trust Me" — The Birthday LeChaim and the Miracle of Yud-Beis Tammuz
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 268-269, no. 110 · The Rebbe
On Yud-Beis Tammuz, after being informed unofficially that he was free, the Rebbe related that on Yud-Beis Tammuz in 5654 (1894 ) (Yud-Beis Tammuz is the Rebbe’s birthday, and in 5654 he became fourteen years old) they were on vacation and his father, the Rebbe Rashab, poured out LeChaims.
“Where did you see such a practice?”2 the Rashbatz asked him. “By your father? Or your grandfather?”
“Trust me, ” the Rashab replied.
“And I am grateful to him, ” concluded the Rebbe.
(When I was discussing the subject of birthdays in yechidus with the Rebbe Shlita, and I related the above story, the Rebbe asked me, “Whom did the Rebbe have in mind when he said, ‘I am grateful to him’?”
I answered that I always tell the story with the understanding that the Rebbe meant his father. “No, ” the Rebbe replied, “he meant the Rashbatz, who caused the Rebbe to say, ‘Trust me’ - this was the miracle of Yud- Beis Tammuz.”)
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 476-478, no. 21 · The Rebbe
Continued from the biography of R. Yisroel Duchman:
Perhaps what a father wants more than anything else is that his children perpetuate those things that are dear to him. For this reason, R. Yisroel would always seek to teach his children the importance of hiskashrus, bonding with the Rebbe, and train them in this endeavor. Indeed, some of his most important interactions with the Rebbe centered around his children.
Once when his second son, Yossi, was a young child, he swallowed an open safety pin. The pin had descended beyond the reach of any instruments and had lodged in a point in his esophagus where it presented a very real danger. Not knowing any way to remove it, the doctors planned surgery. They warned that the surgery could have negative consequences, but leaving the pin there could be life-threatening. When they asked for R. Yisroel’s consent, he answered that before he agreed to anything, he would have to consult the Rebbe.
The Rebbe objected to the surgery and said that they should see the doctor who was scheduled to perform the surgery and have him speak to the Rebbe. That surgeon refused to meet with them or speak to the Rebbe on the phone. Instead, the Rebbe spoke by phone with the head of the emergency room, and gave him precise instructions how the pin could be removed by lowering a strong magnet down the boy’s throat. Needless to say, by following the Rebbe’s instructions, the doctor was able to extricate the pin without difficulty.
After the procedure was finished, the doctor who had originally been scheduled to perform the surgery insisted that he speak to the Duchmans. He told them, “My father was a doctor. If my own father had told me that he had removed the pin without surgery, I wouldn’t have believed him. It was possible only because of your holy Rebbe. ”
At a later date, when Yossi had already matured, he asked his father to request a blessing from the Rebbe for him. The Rebbe gave a generous blessing and told R. Yisroel, “You can tell Yossi, I think about him more than he thinks about me. ”
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 85-86, no. 16 · The Rebbe
The Rebbe once said at a farbrengen in New York22 that Whoever says a statement in the name of its author brings redemption to the world23 — and each of us is obligated in this. And he thereupon related a story I had written:)
The Tzemach Tzedek once said, “I’m like someone who sews hats. Later on, when someone buys the hat, it’s a sign that I had sewn it for him.”
I also heard in Lubavitch from R. Groinem, the mashpia, that the Tzemach Tzedek said, “I have no one specifically in mind when I discuss a spiritual predicament. But if someone thinks I am talking about him — then indeed I mean him.”
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 128, no. 18 · The Rebbe
The Rebbe Maharash once stood at a train station, wearing glasses and looking around. People later discovered that the lenses were made of quartz — and were opaque.
(The Rebbe Shlita noted: My father-in-law, the Rebbe, recounted the story of the Rebbe Maharash’s glasses in the name of R. Monye Monissohn, who checked the glasses first -hand — but in Marienbad.)