“…be my servant for a month!”
Reuven and Naftali [not their real names] were roommates at the prestigious Chabad yeshiva in Brunoy, a suburb 20 km (13 miles) southeast of Paris. Before the 10th of the Jewish month of Shvat 5752 (Jan. 1992), Reuven won a lottery for a ticket to fly to New York to celebrate the special chasidic occasion with the Lubavitcher Rebbe on that day, which that year fell on a Wednesday.
The following Sunday morning, as every week, a long line extended on Eastern Parkway [location of Lubavitch headquarters] as hundreds and perhaps thousands of Jews from all walks of life waited patiently on line to receive a blessing from the Rebbe and a dollar bill to give for charity.
Standing in his place and looking around, Reuven was surprised to notice one young man determinedly darting his way forward and slipping in front of those before him. He asked for an explanation and was told, “I want to get a dollar as soon as possible so I can go on line again and get another one.”
The idea intrigued Reuven. Why not? But just as he was about to bolt from his place on line and surge forward, he had a second thought. Fool the Rebbe? That’s ridiculous. Of course the Rebbe will know. Better to simply request from the Rebbe the amount of dollars that he wanted.
He started to calculate— parents, siblings, cousins, etc. The total was fifteen. Fifteen? Could he really ask the Rebbe for such a large number? He had never heard of anyone asking for so many.
His turn came. And at that moment, standing eye-to-eye with the Rebbe, he decided he just couldn’t do it; it was too presumptuous.
The Rebbe looked at him, smiled, and carefully counted out 15 dollars. “For the members of your family,” he murmured to Reuven, and gave him a blessing as well.
Reuven returned directly to the yeshiva, for he would not be able to go home to distribute the dollars to his relatives until the spring vacation that would begin two and a half months later, two weeks before the Passover night Seder. He was not troubled by this; it meant he could proudly tell all his friends the story and show them his treasure.
His roommate, Naftali, was especially impressed. The following month he somehow managed to obtain permission from the yeshiva administration to also fly to New York. But whatever plan he formed about dollars from the Rebbe based on the inspiration of his roommate unfortunately did not come to fruition. Instead, the tragic event of 27 Adar A 5752 (Feb. 1992) occurred, when the Lubavitcher Rebbe suffered a massive stroke. There would be no more Sunday morning meetings with the Rebbe and distribution of dollars from him for charity.
Naftali returned to France and almost immediately started in on his roommate. “Please give me one of your Rebbe dollars. You have fifteen. Fifteen! I don’t have any and now I can’t get any. I’m only asking for one.”
Reuven refused. He had summoned all of his courage to ask for this large number of dollars for the sake of his family – even if he hadn’t had to verbalize it! — and the Rebbe had clearly designated the bills for them. It was not possible to give away the dollars to anyone else. Not even “just one.”
The days went by. Naftali continued to plead and Reuven to deny. Eventually, Reuven realized that just repeatedly saying “No!” would never be final enough. More drastic tactics would be needed to discourage his dedicated roommate. So he said to him:
“Listen, Naftali, if you really want me to give you one of my dollars, you will have to be my servant for a month! Until the Pesach break. Carry my books. Bring me water to wash my hands. Whatever I say. You may even have to give me massages!”
Reuven was confident he had set an impossible condition, but much to his surprise Naftali agreed. And went on to happily keep his side of the bargain with genuine dedication, doing all the minor tasks and favors for his roommate that Reuven could think of.
His “master” even invented a few extra, exaggerated ones, in a frantic attempt to finally discourage Naftali, but it didn’t work. Naftali continued cheerfully “earning” his dollar until the morning they were about to leave for their respective homes.
“Okay, Reuven, pay up. I did everything you asked me to do, no matter how outrageous. Now do your part and give me one of the dollars from the Rebbe.” Reuven was reluctant to deprive one of his relatives –”Which one?” he wondered nervously—but he knew he had no choice. Naftali had indeed fulfilled the absurdly difficult condition mehadrin min mehadrin—in the maximum possible manner. Reluctantly he handed over one of the dollars that he had received from the Rebbe’s holy hand.
A half year or so later, Naftali and Reuven became brothers-in-law! Without Reuven knowing about it, after the Last Day of Passover celebration, while the yeshiva was still on vacation, his sister started dating Naftali seriously. The Rebbe’s fifteenth dollar had been delivered into appropriate hands after all!
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Source: Transcribed and slightly embellished from the version heard in the Chersky sukkah in Tsfat in 1999 from Aharon Loft, who knows one of the two men in the story.
Please do not reprint without permission.
Biographical note:
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (11 Nissan 1902 – 3 Tammuz 1994), became the seventh Rebbe of the Chabad dynasty after his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, passed away in Brooklyn on 10 Shvat 1950. He is widely acknowledged as the greatest Jewish leader of the second half of the 20th century. Although a dominant scholar in both the revealed and hidden aspects of Torah and fluent in many languages and scientific subjects, the Rebbe is best known for his extraordinary love and concern for every Jew on the planet. His emissaries around the globe dedicated to strengthening Judaism number in the thousands. Hundreds of volumes of his teachings have been printed, as well as dozens of English renditions.
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Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder of Ascent, webmaster and managing editor of KabbalaOnline.org and ascentofsafed.com. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.
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