By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
The cornerstone of the work of the Rebbe was education. Jewish education for children in age. As well as Jewish education for those who are children in terms of their knowledge.
The work of Chabad Lubavitch in establishing day schools, Hebrew after school programs, summer sleepaway camps and day camps, is well known.
Let me introduce my ‘miracle story’ with a glimpse into an educational initiative that you may not yet have heard of.
‘Released Time’.
Here is what it is in a nutshell:
The Released Time Jewish Hour Program offers fun and engaging Jewish classes for students in public schools across NYC. The weekly classes occur every Wednesday during the last hour of the school day, and operate within every NYC public school.
The weekly Jewish hour programs are led by dedicated rabbinical instructors who bring the children to synagogues and Jewish centers near the public schools. The programs are meaningful and educational filled with Torah learning and hands on exciting holiday projects.
Psychologists and educators agree that a sound religious education is the key to developing healthy long lasting character traits. Federal law protects the right of any recognized religious group to teach its principle's to public school students who elect to join.
The Jewish Released Time program is the flagship program of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE). Since its inception in 1941, the program has educated more than a quarter of a million Jewish boys and girls throughout New York with a fun and meaningful Torah education.
This initiative has been going on for 78 years now. When I was a student in the Yeshiva in NY I too had the honor and merit to teach the weekly ‘Wednesday Hour’ to public school children and got to see the critical importance of this one hour of religious instruction to the Jewish children who attend.
Back at the end of January I was in New York to give the main speech at the ‘Released Time Jewish Hour’ fundraising event. It was timed to coincide with the day of passing of the previous Rebbe of Lubavitch in 1950 and the day that the Rebbe – whose 29th Yartzeit we are marking today (Thursday June 22) - assumed the mantle of leadership.
After the official speeches, I was asked to lead the informal part of the “Farbrengen’ (Chassidic gathering) and I shared some inspirational stories of Divine Providence. One of the stories was from 2011 about my unexpected visit to Brussels due to missing a flight. (Click here if you want the full story. Part 1 Blizzard in New York. Part 2 unexpected trip to Brussels). After I finished the story, someone called out to me that my friend Levi who I had visited in Brussels, was in New York now. I called Levi to see if he was in the area so we could say hi. He told me that he was in Arizona for a meeting but would land in JFK airport early the next morning. We didn’t make up to meet as I wasn’t sure of my plans the next morning.
Hashem made our plans. Early the next morning I set out from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to the Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens. It was a wintry dark morning and the luminous dashboard of the car showed me that my tire pressure had fallen to a level that could be dangerous. I figured that I had better try to put some air in the tires but at 5:30 am it was dark and the gas stations I was stopping at in Brooklyn did not have functioning air pumps and to be frank some of them didn’t feel all that safe. Hey, a rental car is not supposed to have these kinds of hiccups. I figured that the best way forward was to drive slowly to the car rental at JFK which opens at 6am.
After the rental car staff filled the tires, I was about to head out to the Ohel when I recalled that my friend Levi should be landing about now. When I called Levi and told him I was in JFK and offering him a ride to the Ohel, he was happy to accept. As I got closer to his terminal Levi called me and asked if I had room for an additional person. A Chassidic man from Boro Park said he would join us to go to the Ohel and say a prayer on this auspicious day (it was Yud Shevat).
I pulled up to the terminal and Levi got in as well as a Chassidic looking man by the name of Reb Shea. As Reb Shea got into the car his phone rang. It was his daughter. He asked her why she was calling so early. She told him the special news that she was on her way to the hospital to give birth. Reb Shea was very excited and told her, ‘what a special Divine Providence this is. I am about to go to say a prayer at the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and I will pray for your healthy birth.’
It was a beautiful story already. But it gets much more exquisite. Three days later I got a voice note from Reb Shea which took it to a new level.
‘I wanted to thank you for taking me a few days ago to the Ohel. As I associate with a different Chassidic group, I don’t come frequently to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel. However, when the opportunity fell into my lap it seemed Divinely ordained for me to visit and I gladly took it. The fact that it coincided with my daughter’s giving birth was inspiring to me. As far as I was concerned that was the blessed end of the story. The birth was natural, all was good, and on the next day (Thursday) they were discussing my daughter going home for Shabbos.
Then the unexpected happened and an emergency alert was called on my daughter’s hospital floor as she started hemorrhaging. It was touch-and-go as to whether she would pull through.
I can now share the good news that Baruch Hashem she is fine.
On Shabbos we made a Kiddush and said lechayim thanking Hashem for the birth and the miraculous recovery.
As I told the story to the people in the Shul, someone pointed out the incredible correlation between the Divinely orchestrated visit to the Ohel of the Rebbe, and the subsequent medical emergency. It was inspiring and amazing to realize that from Heaven I had been directed to the resting place of the Tzadik to pray for my daughter at that hallowed place and enlist the merits of the great Tzadik.
A real miracle had transpired’.
I was so uplifted that I listened to Reb Shea’s emotional voice note to me several times.
My dear friends.
On the Yartzeit of a Tzadik, there are supernal energies that are available to those who study or follow in the footsteps of the Tzadik.
Take a moment to read about the Rebbe and his living legacy, learn something from the Rebbe’s teachings, add a mitzvah in honor of the Rebbe’s ‘hilula’, be inspired by the love that the Rebbe showered every person with, be uplifted by the Rebbe’s positivity bias, and join the collective efforts to end this dark exile and bring Mashiach NOW.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
PS I am currently in New York to attend the Rebbe’s yahrtzeit in person and will be visiting the Ohel in prayer on this auspicious day. I will have you in mind in a collective way. If there is something particular that you would like me to pray for on your behalf, please use the form jewishthailand.com/noteohel .