3 years ago

“Tzvika Can’t Die Yet, He Never Learned Tanya!”

The very next day, my husband opened his eyes! A few minutes later, they closed again and he went back into his coma. His situation was still very serious, but the doctors said it was a good sign. He seemed to be doing a little better, and I knew it was because of the Rebbe! • By Baila Brikman, Beis Moshiach Magazine • Full Story

By Baila Brikman, Beis Moshiach

Just two days before Yud Tes Kislev, an unfamiliar man came over to me in shul.

“Shalom aleichem!” he said. “I’m Rabbi Tzvika Gottesman from Elad. Would you be able to help me out? I just realized that my jacket button is missing!”

He pointed to a loose thread hanging in the spot where his button used to be. “Would there be an extra gartel somewhere in shul to help keep my jacket closed during davening? I don’t have one because I’m not a Chassid, so I don’t usually wear a gartel.”

I was happy to help. Sure enough, I found someone with an extra gartel and gave it to Rabbi Gottesman. “You know,” I said. “Tomorrow night is Yud Tes Kislev, the Alter Rebbe’s Chag HaGeula. Maybe you should start wearing a gartel in honor of the Alter Rebbe’s special day!”

Rabbi Gottesman’s eyes opened wide. He looked at me in shock, as if I discovered a big secret of his! I wanted to ask him what the big deal was, but shacharis was starting. It was time to focus on our tefillos.

After shacharis, Rabbi Gottesman came over to me. “You know something?” he said emotionally. “I have a very deep connection with the Alter Rebbe! I feel like I am only alive today because of him! Let me tell you my story:”

***

“Last year, I was in New York and got dangerously sick with Covid. I was rushed to the nearest hospital, and I fell into a deep coma. The doctors said I would die any day! When my wife heard that, she rushed to the Ohel. She cried and cried, begging the Rebbe for a miracle. ‘Tzvika didn’t finish his job in Olam Hazeh!’ she sobbed. ‘He never learned Tanya yet, so he still has so much to do in this world!’

“She also went to Ukraine and davened at the kever of the Bal Shem Tov. That same day, on Yud Tes Kislev, I woke up from my coma! The doctors all rushed into my room to see me, because they couldn’t believe that I woke up! They said it was a miracle!

“Of course, I made sure to keep my wife’s promise to the Rebbe. I learn Tanya every day and even go to a Tanya class! I really feel connected to the Alter Rebbe, because my life was saved on his Chag HaGeula.”

Wow! I really wanted to hear more, but I had to go to work. I decided to call Rabbi Gottesman later to hear more of his story… but I forgot to ask for his number!

***

For the next few days, all I could think about was Rabbi Gottesman’s story. I wished that I knew his number! I especially wanted to hear the story from his wife, who probably knew many more details. I asked some people who lived in Elad if they knew him, and I finally managed to get his number.

Here is his wife’s side of the story:

My husband works with a tzedaka organization in New York that helps poor families have food for Shabbos. He usually flies in a few times a year to do his work, but once Covid hit, it became very hard to travel anywhere. Because of that, he wasn’t able to go to America to do his job.

A few months later, in Elul 5780, the world finally started opening up again. Since he hadn’t been to America in so long, my husband felt that it was time to go back.

He flew to America, planning to return to Eretz Yisrael right after Yom Kippur. Hashem, though, had other plans. On Erev Yom Kippur, he started to feel a little sick.

On Yom Kippur day, my husband collapsed in shul. Soon, he couldn’t breathe properly. A visit to the doctor confirmed our fears: he was sick with Covid. He got sicker and sicker until he was rushed to the hospital.

The doctor called me to tell me that his situation was serious. He said that my husband was put on a breathing tube! When he told me that, I got very scared. That meant that his lungs weren’t working properly and he couldn’t breathe on his own!

I was alone with my kids in Eretz Yisrael while my husband was dangerously sick in New York. It was very hard to stay happy and calm, but I tried to make Yom Tov as nice as I could so my kids wouldn’t get scared.

On Sukkos, I sang with my kids and tried to be as happy as possible. I knew that simcha poretz geder—simcha has the power to save us. But Simchas Torah passed, and my husband was still sick. He was fast asleep in a coma, so I couldn’t even talk to him.

A week after Sukkos, I got a terrible call from the doctor. “Your husband will die any day,” he said sadly. “Come to New York to say goodbye.”

I was stunned. How could that be? I wanted to book flights right away, but I had a problem with our passports. How would I get to New York in time?

I felt helpless, but I kept davening and begging Hashem for a miracle. I went to a rav and asked him to daven for us. “Add the name Chaim to your husband’s name,” he instructed, “and move to a different apartment. The Torah teaches us that changing your surroundings can change your mazel.”

I added a name and moved apartments. Baruch Hashem, someone helped us figure out the problem with our passports and we flew to America. We went straight from the airport to the hospital, and for the first time in weeks, I was able to see my husband. He was asleep in a coma, attached to so many machines and wires. I wished I could wake him up, but he was totally unconscious. All I could do was sit next to him and daven.

Soon, the doctor came into the room. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Gottesman,” he said. “I don’t think your husband is going to last a full week. Prepare yourself. He will pass away before Shabbos.”

Hearing those words was the worst feeling in the world. I felt helpless and scared. For hours, I just cried and cried. I was really nervous the entire Shabbos, but Sunday came and his heart was still beating!

Since I was raised in a Chassidish home, I wanted to daven by the kever of a tzaddik. I went to the Ohel and said, “My husband didn’t finish his job in the world yet! He wasn’t raised in a Chassidishe home, so he still needs to learn Tanya!” I don’t know why I said that, but I just felt that my husband needed to start learning Chassidus. I promised the Rebbe that if he saved my husband, I would make sure he learned Tanya. I stayed in the Ohel for hours, davening and saying Tehillim.

On Tuesday, only two days after my first visit, I went back to the Ohel. There was a video of the Rebbe playing on a big screen, so I watched it for a few minutes. “In the zechus of adding in ruchniyus and doing more good things, the bad things will stop happening,” the Rebbe said. Hearing the Rebbe’s words made me feel that everything would be okay.

I spent the next month in the hospital by my husband’s side. He was getting better, but he was still very sick. Despite what the doctors said, he continued to grow stronger. It was proof that Hashem truly controls the world.

I started to feel hopeful, but the doctors told me that his situation was still very serious. They said that even though he was doing a bit better, he could still die!

I wanted to stay with my husband, but my children were waiting for me at home. With a tearful goodbye and one last visit to the Ohel, I let my brother-in-law take my place beside my husband. I went back to Eretz Yisrael to be with my children, and a week later, my friends convinced me to go to more Tzaddikim:

“We will take care of your children,” they said. “Go daven for your husband at the kivrei tzadikim in Ukraine.”

I flew to Ukraine and met a group of Chassidim there who promised to daven for my husband. On Yud Tes Kislev, they davened with me at the kever of the Baal Shem Tov. They also davened at the kever of Reb Avraham der Malach, who was the Alter Rebbe’s chavrusa. Then they danced and sang, promising to spread simcha for my husband’s refuah sheleima.

On that same day, 70 days after he fell into a coma, my husband mysteriously woke up! He seemed to be in excellent health! The doctors were shocked. They couldn’t understand how it was possible!

On Chof Daled Teves, the yahrzeit of the Alter Rebbe, my husband was released from the hospital and was finally able to come home! He kept my promise to the Rebbe and learns Tanya every day with the Chabad Tanya shiur in our neighborhood.

We are so grateful for the miracle my husband had. The Zohar says that tzaddikim live forever. We saw clearly how when we turn to tzaddikim, they can make miracles for us to overcome any challenge.

As told by Shabtai Weintraub of Nachalas Har Chabad, Kiryas Malachi

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