The Fifth Night of Chanukah
Story for the Fifth Night of Chanukah: In 1979, tragedy struck. A Yiddishe girl became friendly with a non-Jewish boy and ran away from home! Do you think she returned home safely? Well, years before, the Rebbe foresaw what would happen… • Full Article
By Baila Brickmn, from the TzaddikStory.org collection
In 1979, tragedy struck. A Yiddishe girl became friendly with a non-Jewish boy and ran away from home! Do you think she returned home safely? Well, years before, the Rebbe foresaw what would happen…
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Greenwald tells this incredible story:
My father, Rabbi Avraham Tzvi, was born in Lodz, Poland in 1912. When he was just seven years old, his father passed away. Hoping to give him a proper chinuch, his mother sent him to his uncle Rabbi Menachem Zemba, a great talmid chacham and huge Torah leader in Europe. Together, they learned a lot of Torah.
In 1929, when my father was seventeen, Rabbi Zemba brought him to Warsaw to attend the “Great Wedding” of the young Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the daughter of the Frierdiker Rebbe. The next day, they went to visit the chosson.
At the end of the visit, Rabbi Menachem Mendel turned to my father: “Chanukah is in a few days. Do you know why chassidim celebrate the fifth night as a special occasion?”
Both my father and Rabbi Zemba didn’t know, so the future Rebbe explained: “The fifth night of Chanukah never falls on Shabbos. This symbolizes great spiritual darkness! However, the light of the fifth Chanukah candle can remove all darkness. The duty of every Jew—whether in Warsaw or London—is to light up even the deepest darkness.”
***
Ten years passed, and the Holocaust began.
My father’s wife and five little children were killed by the Nazis. After the war, he immigrated to America broken and alone. Rabbi Moshe Chaim, his uncle who had moved to Philadelphia before my father was born, welcomed him with open arms.
Time passed and my father found a new wife. Before marrying my mother, he went to New York to get a brocha from the Frierdiker Rebbe.
When the Frierdiker Rebbe heard that my father’s entire family had been killed, he wept bitterly and bentched my father for a long, happy life. Before he left, my father mentioned that he had been at the “Great Wedding” of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s daughter twenty years earlier.
The Frierdiker Rebbe’s eyes brightened. “In that case,” he said, “you should visit my son-in-law! His study is one floor down!”
When my father went downstairs, Rabbi Menachem Mendel recognized him right away and asked about the fate of Rabbi Zemba. Afterwards, he said, “Since my father-in-law sent you to me, I’ll share words of Torah with you.”
“Chanukah is almost here,” he continued, “and chassidim celebrate the fifth night as a special occasion. That night never falls on Shabbos, which symbolizes great spiritual darkness. However, the light of the fifth Chanukah candle can remove any darkness! The mission of every Jew—whether in New York or London—is to light up even the deepest darkness in the world!“
My father was shocked. The Rebbe had just repeated what he had told him twenty years earlier!
***
After my sister and I were born, my family moved to Toronto. We lived there for many years, and in 1969, I got engaged. Just as he had done before his own wedding, my father took me to get a brocha from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
When I entered the Rebbe’s room, I saw the Rebbe for the first time in my life. His piercing blue eyes affected me deeply.
My father held out a note with my name, the kallah’s name, and a request for a brocha. Before unfolding the note, the Rebbe smiled at him. “You were here less than twenty years ago before your own wedding! I’m sure you remember that my father-in-law sent you to me.”
My father was amazed by the Rebbe’s memory. After reading the note, the Rebbe bentched me and my father, wishing us long and happy lives. “Just as you rejoiced at my wedding,” the Rebbe told my father, “You should rejoice at the weddings of your grandchildren.”
What a powerful brocha! Overcome with emotion, my father started crying. Before we left, my father asked the Rebbe a question.
“Some people in Toronto say that Lubavitchers shouldn’t help non-religious Jews do mitzvos. Doesn’t Dovid Hamelech say that those who hate Hashem are hated? So why do Lubavitchers go out of their way to help those who go against Torah and mitzvos?”
The Rebbe became serious. “How would your ‘super-religious’ neighbor react if his own daughter, chas v’shalom, made bad friends and moved away from Yiddishkeit?” he replied. “Would he try to convince her to return to Torah and mitzvos, or would he say that ‘those who hate Hashem are hated’? Do you really think that he would break off all contact with her?”
Without waiting for an answer, the Rebbe continued. “Of course, he could answer that his situation is different, since she is his daughter. However,” the Rebbe continued, becoming very serious and pounding on the table, “To Hashem, every Yid is as important as the daughter is to her father! Every Yid is a part of Hashem Himself!”
Then the Rebbe said, “I should conclude with a brocha. Chassidim celebrate the fifth night of Chanukah as a special holiday. You see, the fact that the fifth night of Chanukah never falls on Shabbos means it’s a great spiritual darkness. But the light of the fifth Chanukah candle can remove any darkness. This is the job of every Jew—whether in Toronto or London! Every Yid is a piece of Hashem above. With the light of his neshama, he can light up the darkest places and reawaken the neshama of another Yid—even someone who is far removed from Torah and mitzvos.”
My father was stunned. The entire way home, all he could do was repeat three words: “This is incredible! This is incredible!”
***
Ten years passed.
In 1979, a few days before Chanukah, we flew to England for my younger brother’s wedding in London. On the way, my father looked troubled. After asking him a few times, my father told me what was wrong.
Shortly before our flight, my father was visited by his friend, a respected member of the local non-Chassidic community. “I didn’t want to tell anyone, but maybe you can help me,” his friend cried. “My daughter ran away to London together with her non-Jewish boyfriend.”
“Since that day,” the worried father continued, “it feels like Tish’a B’Av in our house! Could you look for her while you’re in London? Maybe Hashem will help you find my daughter and save her from disaster!”
After my brother’s wedding, my father asked the kallah’s father if he knew of anyone who could help find the missing girl from his hometown. “Go to Rabbi Abraham Yitzchak Glick, a shliach of the Rebbe,” the kallah’s father advised him. “Maybe he can help you.”
Right away, my father called Rabbi Glick, explaining that there was no time to lose. “As soon as I find her, I’ll call you!” Rabbi Glick promised.
Ten days later, Rabbi Glick called. “Come to my house! I have a surprise!”
When my father arrived, he saw a girl crying in the living room. Somehow, Rabbi Glick had found her and convinced her to go back to her parents! At the entrance to the living room, my father noticed a Chanukah menorah. He took a closer look, and almost fainted! Five Chanukah candles were burning with a steady flame.
Father stared at the candles, remembering the words spoken by the Rebbe fifty, thirty and ten years earlier: “The light of the fifth Chanukah candle can remove any darkness … The duty of every Jew, wherever in Warsaw or London … New York or London … Toronto or London … is to light up even the deepest darkness … How would your ‘super-religious’ neighbor react if his own daughter, chas v’shalom, made bad friends and moved away from Yiddishkeit? To Hashem, every Yid is as important as the only daughter is to her father!”
Shaken, my father felt that he had to meet with the Rebbe. When he arrived, he burst into tears. The Rebbe looked at him and said, “My father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe, is able to see far into the future…”
***
The story does not end here. In 1989, my eldest son got married. My father passed away just after the wedding sheva brachos ended. He passed away on the 14th of Kislev, the date of the Rebbe’s anniversary.The Rebbe’s brocha that my father would rejoice at his grandchildren’s wedding came true exactly sixty years after the “Great Wedding” in Warsaw, exactly sixty years after their first meeting!
From the TzaddikStory.org collection.
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*Many people have asked questions on this story and I thank Rabbi Yerachmil Tilles for doing the research and confirming the facts of the story from people first hand.
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