For nearly 20 years, Chagit and Hertzel Boruchov have served as emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in the town of Rechovot, Israel. The many people who have come through their doors were encouraged to turn to the Rebbe and ask for his blessings, through inserting a letter at random into a book of Igrot Kodesh, the Rebbe’s published letters. Very often, the letter published on that page has an uncanny relevance to the dilemma or struggle the person wrote about in the letter.

Over the years, the Boruchovs have collected many such stories, which they share in this article.

The first time they experienced a miracle through Igrot Kodesh was in 1995, when they were still living in the United States. It was a few days before Rosh Hashanah, and Hertzel met a mechanic, Yossi Suissa, who was on crutches and dragging his left leg. Hertzel found out that Yossi had been in a terrible accident a few months back, when he was traveling in Turkey. It was a miracle he was still alive, but his leg was still in great pain.

“Doctors have permission to heal, but not to predict the future,” Hertzel told Yossi. He suggested that Yossi make a good resolution and then write to the Rebbe to request his blessing via the Igrot Kodesh. “These are letters from the Rebbe. You write a letter and place it in this volume and the Rebbe will answer you, with G-d’s help.”

Yossi agreed to commit himself to a good deed. Hertzel suggested that he lay tefillin every day, put up mezuzot on his doors, and give money to charity every day. They wrote a letter, and opened to letter #394 in volume 13 of the Rebbe’s published letters, which said, “In response to your letter of Thursday about the road accident that happened to you ... I will mention you at an auspicious time at the holy gravesite of the Rebbe, my father-in-law … It will all end well and from here on you will no longer know of sorrow and anguish, heaven forbid … It would be proper to have a Siddur, Tehillim and a Tanya in your car from now on.”

Rabbi Borochov was thrilled and Yossi was dumbfounded. He exchanged his tefillin and mezuzot for new ones, and even made a small party when the new mezuzot were put up.

A few months later, on Purim, Rabbi Borochov went to see him, taking along mishloach manos. He arrived and saw Yossi running around! Yossi told him that one morning he got up and simply began walking. The doctors took X-rays and were in shock. In his condition, there was no way the fractures could have knitted together, but they had! He told Rabbi Borochov that he had previously been acquainted with the Rebbe but as a result of this miracle, he could see for himself that the Rebbe is still with us.

“After this story,” said Chagit Boruchov, “I said to myself, I have to inspire everyone in our building, all the 32 families living here. Since it was Adar, a time to sweeten judgments with joy, I thought, who can shake up the whole building? I reminded myself of my daughter’s music teacher, Mrs. Michaeli. I invited her to come and conduct a party for women in my building in honor of Rosh Chodesh, the first of the Jewish month, and in the meantime, I went from floor to floor and invited all the women.

“I got to the fourth floor and spoke with L.H., inviting her to the party and urging her to write to the Rebbe. She came the next day and wanted to ask for a blessing for the transfer of her father’s apartment to her name. Her father was wealthy and had promised to do this, but hadn’t actually done so yet. I told L.H. that when you write to the Rebbe it’s an auspicious time and that she needed to make a vessel for the blessing.

“She committed to lighting candles and to putting up mezuzot on all the doorposts. She then added a request for children after eight-and-a-half childless years of marriage. That’s when I resolved to hold a class in my home on the Jewish laws of family purity.

“L.H. put her letter into a volume of Igrot and opened to a letter dated Adar, in which the Rebbe writes that all the undesirable things should be transformed into goodness and blessings, and that he would mention her at the gravesite of his father-in-law.

“Three months later, as we were about to get into our car, she came running towards us to tell me the good news that her father had transferred the apartment to her name, and that she was expecting a baby.

“Following this story, I went up to the sixth floor and urged the women living there to write to the Rebbe and to come to the Rosh Chodesh party. Two more women wrote to the Rebbe. R.T., a traditional woman, asked for a blessing that her 27 year old brother get married and B.S., not yet religious, asked for a blessing for more children. She had a son and daughter, but 11 years had passed since then and she wanted more. I discussed making a vessel for the blessing, and told them to check mezuzos and tefillin and attend the class in family purity. They agreed to do this.

“Three months later, I went upstairs to invite B.S. to another Rosh Chodesh party. She told me she was expecting a baby! Then I knocked on R.T.’s door but nobody answered. At one in the morning, as I escorted the lecturer after the party, R.T. came towards me and excitedly told me that she had just come back from her brother’s engagement party.

“Naturally, I told her not to forget to give us the privilege of hosting a Sheva Brachos for the young couple by way of thanks to the Rebbe.”