11 Nissan (2): a Life Saver Story

00:01 The hemsach and continuation to the earlier installment in regards to Yud Aleph Nissan and a story benegeah to the Rebbe. We continue this evening with an additional story which was told by the person himself and it relates to a matter of hatsolas nefoshes, saving one's life. A Lubavitcher avrech, a young man, decided one day of his bein hazmanim, his break, to visit Yidden in a local hospital to see if he can be of help. He was rewarded with the following story by an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor who he helped to put on film. Seeing that his benefactor was a Lubavitcher chasid, he said, I'm going to share a story about your Rebbe which I have never shared with a single soul. And here it is. After losing my entire family in the war, during World War II, I found myself all alone, the sole survivor, 18 years old in Brownsville, New York. The local rabbi set me up with a girl who also lost her entire family and we agreed to get married and rebuild. Some time before the wedding, I became increasingly depressed to the point that I felt incapable of going through with the marriage. But rather than break my kallah's heart, I decided to throw myself off the Brooklyn Bridge and end my life. So one evening during Sukkos, I began to walk down Eastern Parkway on my way to carry out my plan. And I hear jubilant singing coming from a large sukkah. I decided to check it out. I entered, sat

02:04 myself down in the back, not wanting to be detected, and instantly sunk into my thoughts of suicide. A few minutes later, some chasidim turned to me and asked me, are you Asher Halevi Epstein? I said yes. And they said, maybe you didn't hear, but the Rebbe just called your name and asked you to say l'chaim. I couldn't believe it. How did he know my name? A few minutes later, I was about to leave. And this time I hear the Rebbe say, Asher Halevi, zog l'chaim. Asher Halevi, say l'chaim. I couldn't believe what was happening and began to feel really uncomfortable. I wanted to run out of the sukkah. And then I hear the Rebbe say, Yehuda Halevi, zog l'chaim. I stumbled out of the sukkah trying to figure out why the Rebbe just called me Yehuda. He obviously knew my real name, Asher. And then it dawned on me, the Rebbe wants to remind me that I can be strong like a lion and overcome my sadness. With this thought, I returned home. Realizing that the Rebbe saved my life, I had a strong desire to return to 770 after Sukkos and personally thank him. As soon as I entered the Rebbe's office, the Rebbe stood up, opened his drawer and handed me $50, a small fortune in those days, saying it was for me to buy my kallah something nice. He then said, Asher, I often end my talks with the words, b'simcha v'tuv levav. Most people understand what I mean by simcha, but

04:01 few, I suspect, know what I mean by v'tuv levav. Would you know what I mean by those words, Asher? Yes, Rebbe, what do you mean by v'tuv levav? I mean, the Rebbe says, don't worry. He smiled and I left a changed man.