206. The Rebbe Performed A Nes By Telling A Story Of A Tzaddik

00:15 Shalom Aleichem, kindalech. I wanna tell you a beautiful story which shows the great power of telling stories of tzadikim. You can actually make a miracle. You, anyone, can make miracles by telling stories of tzadikim that made miracles. Here's a story that happened with the Rebbe in the year Tof Shin Yud Gimel. It was Motzaei Shabbos, it was Asara B'Teves, the fast of Asara B'Teves was Sunday, and it was seven seventy making davening Maariv. And then after Maariv, usually Motzaei Shabbos, we go out and say Kidush Levana. It was already the tenth of the month. Asara B'Teves is the tenth of the month. You can only make Kidush Levana until the fifteenth. Only had a few days to do it, so it was very important that they do it that night. But unfortunately, the sky was covered with heavy clouds. Asara B'Teves is a little bit in the winter. The winter, there are a lot of clouds, and they couldn't see the moon. If you can't see the moon, then you can't say Kidush Levana, because the clouds are covering them, covering the moon. So the Rebbe, when he saw this, he told the Hasidim right there outside while they were waiting to see the Levana, says there was such a case, such a story with the Tzemach Tzedek. That once the Hasidim, uh, were waiting several days in the month. They were waiting, waiting, waiting a week and two weeks. It was getting almost two weeks, which is the last day you can do Kidush

02:05 Levana, and there was no moon. Every night the moon was covered, covered with clouds. So they told the Tzemach Tzedek they're not gonna be able to do Kidush Levana this month, and they were very worried because it's a big mitzvah to do Kidush Levana. So they asked the Tzemach Tzedek. So Tzemach Tzedek came out to do Kidush Levana, and when he saw that it was clouded, he said to them, "Let me tell you a story." There was a tzadik by the name of Reb Meir of Premishlan, right? He was from Poland. He was a big tzadik, very famous tzadik, and a big Baal Mofes. He was a tzadik who used to openly perform miracles, like in front of everyone, and Ruach Hakodesh, like very, very openly tell people everything that's gonna happen, everything that they are thinking. He knew everything about everybody. People were afraid to think in front of him because he knew what they were thinking. Anyways, Reb Meir of Premishlan also once wanted to do Kidush Levana. Uh, he and his Hasidim went out, and there was no moon. The moon was covered with clouds. So Meir Premishlan said, "You know, when the Yidden were in the Midbar, as you know, kindalech, that when the Yidden were in the Midbar, Hashem surrounded the Yidden, the whole camp of the Yidden, with clouds. There was clouds above their camp, there was a cloud underneath them, and there was a cloud in front, in the back, and on alt-- and on the, on the

03:36 two sides. That means they were surrounded completely with clouds." So Reb Meir Premishlan asked if the Jews were always surrounded by clouds from every side, how did they do Kidush Levana in the desert? You can never see the moon because there's always clouds around you. Yes, the clouds were there to protect you, but you couldn't see the moon if you had clouds. So the Meir Premishlan said, "You know what? When the Yidden had to do Kidush Levana, Moshe Rabbeinu stood outside with all the Yidden, and he took out his handkerchief, and he waved it towards the clouds. And when he waved it, the clouds dispersed and opened up, and they could see the moon, and that's how they made Kidush Levana." And Reb Meir Premishlan, when he told this, he showed how Moshe Rabbeinu did. So Reb Meir Premishlan took his own handkerchief, he says, "Here," and he demonstrated, "This is how Moshe Rabbeinu did it." And he, and he wo-- He started waving his own, his own, his own handkerchief. Reb Meir Premishlan, his own handkerchief. And as he was telling this is what Moshe did, the clouds in Premishlan also parted, and they were able to do Kidush Levana. And the Tzemach Tzedek was telling that story about Reb Meir Premishlan, he also took out his handkerchief and showed how Reb Meir Premishlan was doing, and waved his handkerchief to the sky, and the clouds opened up, and they were able to, they were able to, to, to, to, to do Kidush Levana.

05:11 Now, the Rebbe is telling the story about the Tzemach Tzedek, who is telling the story about Reb Meir Premishlan, who is telling how Moshe Rabbeinu did it. When the Rebbe finished telling the story, the Rebbe said, "Is there anyone here who can do what the Tzemach Tzedek and Reb Meir Premishlan were able to do with a handkerchief, Moshe Rabbeinu too?" And the Rabbi Leibel Groner, the Rebbe's secretary, said to the Rebbe, "The Rebbe should do it." So the Rebbe smiled and said, "Well, I just told the story." He didn't-- The Rebbe didn't wave his handkerchief, but he said, "I have to go for a moment." He-- The Rebbe's mother was still there. So he went to her apartment to make Havdalah for her. It was Motzaei Shabbos. Made Havdalah for her, and then he came back. When he came back, the moon was clear, and the clouds parted. Look, the Rebbe was able to do it without moving The handkerchief. Just by telling the story, he was able to make a miracle, and there was a clear sky. So this is a story about how telling stories of tzadikim about miracles that they were able to perform. That means they were able to reveal how Hashem is in charge of the world, and therefore, Hashem can make Nissim through those tzadikim. So when you tell stories like that, that that can help you also, that Hashem will make a, a nes for you now by telling the story of the tzadik. So I wanna share

06:39 with you another story, which is a beautiful story. Told in a Sefer from Rov. He says he heard it from someone who was at the story, saw the story. There was a tzadik by the name Reb Cheske of Shinof, the Shinover Rov. He was the son of the Tzemach Rov. He was a great man, a great tzadik. Uh, he was once traveling in a wagon. It was like wintertime, and certain tzadikim used to smoke a pipe. For them, it was not just to smoke because they enjoyed it, because tzadikim don't do things because they enjoy things, the f-- the body enjoys things, but it was a spiritual thing. They, they had deep kavanahs and meaning which they had when they smoked something. But, uh, he asked someone who has a match, "Can you please light my, my s- my, like my pipe, my cigar, my cigar?" Whatever he had, he smoked. And because there was a wind, e- every match that he struck went out. So they tried again and again. Like, they went through 25 matches, and they weren't able to keep the fire going, and they couldn't light the Rebbe's pipe. So Reb Cheske of Shinof took out his pipe from his mouth and he said, "I wanna tell you a story. There was a tzadik by the name Reb Mendel of Rimanov, famous tzadik. Mendel of Rimanov used to always prepare the candles before Shabbos, and many people, many Jews, they do have a minhag that before the woman light the candles

08:22 for Shabbos, the men prepare the candles and light the candles for a few seconds to make the wick black from the fire which they light, so that they would burn better when the woman light them. 'Cause when the wick already had burned once, it, it, it, it burns better the second time. So many people, they light the, the, the wicks before Shabbos, before the ladies light the candles, and they prepare them in the candlesticks, right? In the candelabra. And they light the min- the, the candles for Shabbos for a moment, and then they put them out so that the woman can then light the candles later. Reb Mendel of Rimanov would light the candles before Shabbos like this. Once it was a summer day, the windows of the shul were wide open, and he tried to light the candles on Erev Shabbos. But there was always... Even though it was the summer, it was pretty warm outside, that's why the windows were open, but there was a breeze coming in, so every time he li- lit a match to light the candles and prepare them for Covert Shabbos, it, it, it didn't go. The, the, the wind would blow out the, the match. He couldn't light the candles. And when he lit the candle, the wind blew out the candle. Wasn't able to get it to burn for a little while so they would get... the, the wick would get black. So Reb Mendel went to the window and said to Hashem, "Rebbono Shel Olam,

09:54 Mendel needs to have candles for Shabbos. Please make sure that I can light candles for Shabbos." And he went inside, and the wind did no longer come inside the house, the shul. There was wind outside, but for some reason it did not come inside through the window, and inside there was no wind. It was a nes. And that's how he was able to light the candles. Reb Cheske of Shinof is telling that story about Reb Mendel of Rimanov. And then he says to the Jew next to him, "Now you can light my pipe." And the guy lit the pipe and everything was fine. No wind was blowing it out. So Reb Cheske explained, "This is not a nis-- a nes that he made, a mofes, a miracle that he performed. It shows that anyone who tells a story of a tzadik who did a mofes, then Hashem helps you, that you can... If you need that nes in your life, then Hashem makes sure that it happens." And, and, and so the stories that we tell in Klimovitch are stories that you can tell over and over again. And by telling those stories with Hashem's help, you will create miracles in your life and the life of everyone else.