When the Rebbe sent me to deliver matzah to the man with a huge belly and tattoos, with bread on the table, I didn't understand why. When I prepared the house with them and celebrated the Seder together, it all became clear * in the merit of their faith their baby was born healthy instead of blind * a story of the Rebbe's love for each and every Jew
It was Erev Pesach, 5718. The Rebbe was giving out hand made matzah to everyone, as a spiritual gift for the holiday. The Rebbe stood for hours, greeted the people and gave them matzah. The Zohar explains that matzah is the food of faith; eating matzah brings faith into the soul.
The first ones to receive matzah from the Rebbe were those that lived far away, to allow for time to get home on time for Yom Tov. I was then a youth 16 years old, and I had to get home to the Bronx- a pretty long distance. When my turn came to approach the Rebbe, he gave me matzah and asked me if I would be willing to deliver matzah to a certain family.
Under regular circumstances, I would have taken a taxi from the train station, asked the driver to wait, deliver the matzah and continue home to be with my family for the seder. But things don't always work out the way we plan. It was too late to go by taxi, so I walked, and it took me some time to find the address. It was an apartment building. I walked up the steps, knocked on the door, and a burly man without a shirt, full of tattoos opened the door.
"What is this?" he mumbled, as they do in the Bronx.
I asked if the X family lives here and he confirmed the fact. I noticed a loaf of rye bread on the table: not your typical Pesach food.
"The Rebbe sent me." As soon as he heard that the Rebbe sent me he invited me in. The tiny kitchen had a small table, chairs and a small stove.
I couldn't figure out what I was doing there- to deliver matzah to a family that doesn't keep Pesach??
I asked the man if he would like to make a Seder and he agreed. He called his wife to join, and she came in with two adorable little girls, five or six years old. Both girls were blind, and their mother was awaiting the birth of a child.
We cleaned the table, I placed my hat on his head, and I invited him to start the Seder. I tried to remember the correct order of the Seder, but it was difficult without a Hagadah.
We ate the matzah, and used water and paper cups, to represent the Four Cups drunk at the Seder. I was trying to figure out what the Rebbe would do if he were here. I looked at the two girls, and the mother due to give birth shortly. I started to tell them things that I heard from the Rebbe. I told them to strengthen their faith, that this is the night that Hashem freed our forefathers from slavery, and He frees us tonight as well. The husband and wife drank in every word, as if their life sustenance depended on this.
I told them that on Pesach we are freed from our personal "Egyptians", and that Hashem doesn't burden us with more than we are able to take. When we internalize this and believe in it, we are already experiencing freedom. We sang songs and the time passed quickly.
At 1:00 the mother put the girls to sleep; it was time to leave. I asked the husband how he knew the Rebbe and he said that he worked with animal hides in a meat factory, with a Rabbi who worked in another department. His wife became pregnant, and since the doctors feared that this baby would be born blind, they suggested that she terminate the pregnancy. The husband was very depressed and consulted with this Rabbi, who suggested that he write to the Rebbe. The Rebbe replied that they should have faith in Hashem.
As I was about to leave, the man said to me:" you know, my wife and I didn't know what to do. How could we strengthen our faith? How could we forget the past and have hope? We didn't think it was possible. But tonight, when we heard about faith and how Hashem gives us the power to overcome our personal "Egyptians", we understand."
Their son was born with healthy eyes. During the years I lost contact with them, but later learned that the girls were married and had healthy children with normal eyesight.
It is impossible to describe the Rebbe's great love for hundreds of thousands of Jews and -lehavdil- non-Jews all over the world. What I can do is tell the story of a poor family in the Bronx that lived in a housing project for the blind, that the Rebbe sent them faith right to their door.
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