Gimmel Tamuz- Stories from the Lub Rebbe

Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:41 pm

I thought it would be nice, since today is Gimmel Tamuz (In Australia now anyways) to share some short inspiring stories from the Lub Rebbe.
Please excuse any mistakes, I relied on my scanners proof reading system which is not all that reliable and it sometimes reads things wrong.
I got these from the weekly lamplighter Published by Chabad house of Caulfield, that collect the stories from other sources they provide.

Quote:

Judgment
A man once told the Rebbe that he was having difficulty in understanding the Talmudic statement, "even the sinners of our nation are filled with Mitzvot like (seeds in) a pomegranate."
"How could it be," he asked, "that sinners are filled with so many good deeds?"
The Rebbe smiled and answered, "I too have a similar question. How could people that do so many good deeds be considered sinners?"

Last edited by Ozmom on Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:55 pm; edited 1 time in total

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:42 pm

Quote:

Xenophilia
Once, one of the New York State
Senators asked for a private meeting with
the Lubavitcher Rebbe. After speaking
with the Rebbe for a little over an hour,
he emerged from the Rebbe's office quite
excited. "I never realized what a great man your Rebbe is," he told Rabbi Leibel Groner, the Rebbe's personal secretary.
He explained that he had asked to see the Rebbe to seek his guidance concerning certain issues involving the Jewish community. After the Rebbe had advised him with regard to these matters, the Rebbe asked if he could ask the senator a favour. "Here it comes, I thought to myself," he told Rabbi Groner. "Just like all the others, the Rebbe is also looking for a payoff.
But what did the Rebbe ask me?" "There is," the Rebbe said, "a growing community in Chinatown. These people are quiet, reserved, hard working and law-abiding, the type of citizens most countries would treasure. But because Americans are so outgoing and those residents are, by nature, reserved, they are often overlooked by government programs. As a senator from New York, I would suggest that you concern yourself with their needs."
"I was overwhelmed. The Rebbe has a community of thousands in New York who could benefit from government programs, and he has institutions all over the country for which I am in a position to help secure funding. But the Rebbe didn't ask about that. He was concerned with Chinatown. I don't think he has ever been there, and I'm certain that most people there don't know who he is, but he cares about them. Now that's a true leader!"

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:44 pm

Quote:

Conformity
Several Bar-Mitzva age boys stopped attending Hebrew school. A concerned Rabbi took the teenagers to visit the Rebbe, hoping the Rebbe would convince them to continue seeking a Jewish education.
"Tell me," the Rebbe asked the first boy, "why have you decided to stop attending Hebrew school?"
"All the other boys on my block have stopped going to Hebrew school, so I want to stop as well," he answered.
"And what about you?" the Rebbe asked the second boy.
"Same reason," the boy explained, "the kids on my block don't go, so why should I?"
"Tell me," the Rebbe asked the boys, "who were your favourite Jewish heroes that you learned about?"
One boy responded that he deeply
admired Noah, and the other, Abraham.
"Do you know," the Rebbe told the first boy, "that if Noah would have followed all the other kids on his block, we would have no world? And if Abraham would have followed all the kids on his block," the Rebbe told the second boy, "we would have no Jewish people!"

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:45 pm

Quote:

Empathy
On entering the Rebbe's room for a private audience, a communal leader noticed that the Rebbe's expression had a hint of sadness. With some boldness, he asked the Rebbe what was troubling him.
The Rebbe replied that there was a family in Brooklyn with six children - five boys and a girl. The boys had already grown up, married, and assumed positions heading Lubavitch outreach centres in cities throughout the world. A while ago, the girl had also married. Recently, she and her husband had written the Rebbe, asking if they should assume a position in a distant city.
The Rebbe gave his approval contingent on the consent of the girl's parents. Although this would mean that the elder couple would be alone, they willingly agreed.
"At the present moment," the Rebbe concluded, "the parents and their daughter are at the airport saying farewell. Many tears are being shed. It's true that they are tears of joy, but they are crying all the same. And when they are crying, how can I not cry?"

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:46 pm

Quote:

Honesty
The Rebbe once asked his secretary. t purchase a certain item for him. The secretary went to a store at which Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch (the educational wing of the Lubavitch organization) had an account, charged the article to the account, and brought his purchase to the Rebbe.
When the Rebbe received the article. he said he wanted to pay for it himself. Upon examining the receipt, he noticed that sales tax had not been charged.
The secretary told the Rebbe that he thought the article was to be used by the organization, and that as a charitable organization, the item would be tax exempt.
The Rebbe replied that the item was for his personal use. He asked him to contact the store, cancel the original receipt, and pay the tax due.

Last edited by Ozmom on Sat, Jul 09 2005, 10:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:48 pm

Quote:

Growth
A young man from a traditional home was presented with many challenges as he tried to integrate himself into American life. His encounters with the Chassidim and the philosophy of Lubavitch helped
him overcome these hurdles.
Once, at a private meeting with the Rebbe, he asked whether he could consider himself a chassid. "I am attracted to the chassidic way of life," he explained, "but can never see myself donning a black hat or chassidic garb. Does this disqualify me?"
The Rebbe responded: "When every day a person endeavours to take a step forward in the service of G-d and the love of his fellow man, I am happy to consider him my chassid."

Last edited by Ozmom on Sat, Jul 09 2005, 10:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:50 pm

Quote:

Diamonds
One hot Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1991, an elderly lady was patiently waiting her turn in the long line of Jewish women and girls from all walks of life, each one anticipating the moment of receiving the Rebbe's blessing and the dollar bill to be given to tzedakah.
When her turn finally arrived, this lady blurted out in her simple Yiddish, "Rebbe! I've been standing here for only an hour and I'm already exhausted. You have been standing here for hours and hours, and just look....!"
The Rebbe smiled gently and said, "When you are counting diamonds, you don't get tired."

↑ Ozmom ↓

Sat, Jul 09 2005, 9:51 pm

Quote:

Appreciation
(A personal account of an Israeli soldier who lost both of his legs when his jeep hit a Syrian land mine.)
Aside from the pain and disability, I was confronted with society's incapacity to deal with the handicapped. My friends would come to visit, sustain fifteen minutes of artificial cheer, and depart without once meeting my eye. My mother would come and cry, and it was I, who so desperately needed consolation, who had to do the consoling. My father would come and sit by my bedside in silence-I don't know which was worse, my mother's tears or my father's silence...
A few months after the accident, the army sponsored a trip to the United States for disabled veterans. While we were in New York, someone suggested that we meet with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I will never forget the time I first saw the Rebbe...
He passed between us, resting his glance on each one of us and lifting his hand in greeting, and then seated himself opposite us. Again he looked at each of us in turn. From that terrible day on which I had woken without my legs in the Rambam Hospital, I have seen all sorts of things in the eyes of those who looked at me: pain, pity, revulsion, anger. But this was the first time in all those years that I
encountered true empathy. With that glance that scarcely lasted a second and the faint smile on his lips, the Rebbe conveyed to me that he is with me-utterly and exclusively with me.
The Rebbe then began to speak, after apologizing for his Ashkenazic-accented Hebrew. He spoke about our 'disability,' saying that he objected to the use of the term. 'If a person has been deprived of a limb or a faculty,' he told, 'this itself indicates that G-d has given him special powers to overcome the limitations this entails, and to surpass the achievements of ordinary people. You are not "disabled" or "handicapped," but special and unique, as you possess potentials that the rest of us do not...
In parting, he gave each of us a dollar bill, in order-he explained-that we give it to charity in his behalf, making us partners in the fulfilment of a mitzvah. He walked from wheelchair to wheelchair, shaking our hands, giving each a dollar, and adding a personal word or two. When my turn came, I saw his face up close and I felt like a child. He gazed deeply into my eyes, took my hand between his own, pressed it firmly, and said "Thank you" with a slight nod of his head.
I later learned that he had said something different to each one of us. To me he said "Thank you"-somehow he sensed that that was exactly what I needed to hear. With those two words, the Rebbe
erased all the bitterness and despair that had accumulated in my heart. I carried the Rebbe's "Thank you"' back to Israel, and I carry it with me to this very day.

Last edited by Ozmom on Sat, Jul 09 2005, 10:55 pm; edited 1 time in total

Tefila

Sun, Jul 10 2005, 3:22 am

Quote:

Act Now!

Do we truly matter? Would the world be any different if any one of us had not been born? But we were born. Think of it: G-d performed the amazing miracle of birth just so each one of us would be here right now.

This is why the Rebbe believed so passionately in the power of action.

The Rebbe would often point out: The very fact that you are here, in this place, at this time and with these opportunities available to you, means that there is something to be done -- something that only you can do, something of utmost importance to G-d.

Think of it. And then do it.

Your Personal Mission Statement

Here is one of those "little" things that the Rebbe would urge people to do:

Each morning, right upon awakening, take a moment -- the first moment of your new day -- to acknowledge G-d for returning your soul to you.

Say to G-d:

I offer thanks to You, O living and everlasting king, that you have restored my soul within me; great is your faithfulness.

Think: Once again, as G-d has done every morning -- and indeed every moment -- of your life, G-d has placed a soul within you and make your existence significant. G-d has put you on earth with a distinct and unique mission: to bring G-d's presence into your corner of the universe.

Try to make this your first conscious thought of the day, and the first words you speak.

Train yourself to do this every morning, and your entire life will gain a new, sharper focus

From Chabad.org

Aish

Sun, Jul 10 2005, 11:21 am

I am sitting here and reading all these beautiful stories and I am crying. I miss the Rebbe so tremendously. every year I say, if we only knew it would be another year....
but we have grown by leaps and bounds. there is so much power in today. lets all use it. I feel something so different about today. and its on a sunday this year, just like the "first" gimmel tamuz.
I remember when it happened, I did not cry because I truly believed with all my being that moshiach is here. this is the end of galus and we will here the shofer any moment now. I did not cry at the levaya and I did not cry the next day. and on the third day I cried...for a very long time.
sorry, I don't want to get all depressing or anything Confused

, just sharing my thoughts....