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Dream Dollar
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A few days before Shavuos, there was a gala dinner for two landmark Chabad institutions, Hadar HaTorah and Machon Chana. Hadar HaTorah is a yeshiva for men of college age who have come to study Torah, and Machon Chana is its counterpart for women.
The dinner honored the work of Rabbi JJ Hecht of blessed memory, former Head of Hadar HaTorah, and Rabbi Itchka and Rebbetzin Gita Gansbourg of blessed memory, who were the dormitory parents for the girls in Machon Chana for over 30 years.
At the dinner, there was also a raffle for a dollar from the Rebbe. The dollar had recently been sent in by mail by an unknown woman, who wrote that she just wanted to help and support the work being done at Machon Chana.
The next night, Wednesday, Rabbi Mordechai Nemni and his wife, Chana, were having a serious discussion. During this past year, the Nemnis have been acting as dorm parents for the girls, taking over the role of the Gansbourgs. It’s not an easy job. The quarters are rather small for a growing family with children, and you don’t have much of a private life. There is always someone who needs advice and guidance. The Nemnis were thinking that maybe this was not really the role that was best for them.
“We didn’t choose to be here,” Chana said. “We were asked. It’s really a question for the Rebbe, if we should stay on.”
“All right,” her husband said. “I will write a letter to the Rebbe tomorrow morning, and see what he says.”
Many people do this. They write a letter to the Rebbe, and then look in one of his talks, or his letters, to see if the Rebbe might have spoken or written about the issue that is on their mind.
That was fine with Chana. She was glad that her husband felt sure about what needed to be done.
The next morning, however, as soon as he woke up, Mordechai told her, “I’m not going to write to the Rebbe. Last night I had a dream. The Rebbe suddenly appeared in my dream, and asked me if I was making Hakhel gatherings for Hakhel Year. [The year following the seven-year sabbatical cycle is the year of Hakhel, when in ancient Israel the king would gather the people and read verses of the Torah. The mitzvah of Hakhel continues to this day, with gatherings to strengthen our spirits and fortify ourselves to observe the Torah.]
“I said, ‘Yes, but I could do more.’
“He asked me again, if I was making Hakhel gatherings for Hakhel year?
“I said, ‘Yes, but I will do more.
“’Good,’ said the Rebbe, and then he handed me three dollars. With the first one he said, ‘Brachah v’hatzlochah (Blessings and success).’ I understood in my dream, that this was a blessing for parnassah (livelihood). The second dollar was for a personal issue which I knew about. And with the third dollar, the Rebbe said, ‘This is for Machon Chana.’
“So I don’t have to write in.”
But there were no dollars on the night table when he woke up. It was only a dream.
That day, Thursday, Chana went to Machon Chana to teach. When she left the school in the afternoon, Mrs Yehudis Cohen, the assistant principal, gave Chana an envelope, which she put in her purse. Then she went to do her grocery shopping. She assumed that the envelope was a bi-weekly paycheck.
When she got home, and unpacked the groceries, she took out the envelope and found that it was not a paycheck; it was a handwritten letter with a dollar from the Rebbe enclosed. Written on the dollar were the words, in Hebrew, “From Kevod Kedushas Admor Shlita, 9 Sivan, 5749, For Machon Chana.”
In the letter, the writer said that Rabbi Gansbourg used to ask people to give him their extra Rebbe dollars, and he would take them to Israel and give them to soldiers in the IDF. She often gave him her dollars for this project. “Yesterday,” she wrote, “I was going through my collection of dollars, and found this one marked for Machon Chana, but without a name on it. Since you are taking the place of Rebbetzin Gansbourg in the dorm, and you never received a dollar from the Rebbe, I thought it would be appropriate for you to have it.“
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Light Candles
