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On the morning of 22 Shevat, 5772 (2012), the anniversary of the Rebbetzin’s “yortzeit” (she is certainly chai v’kayam); my wife and I found ourselves under significant financial pressure, desperately needing a new influx of income.  But we did not see any salvation insight.

My livelihood at the time was not from a salary, or any steady income, but, rather, came periodically via procuring investors for a certain project I was intimately involved with. Not only was there no potential investor with whom I was then engaged in sales efforts, I also had zero ideas of anyone new to approach. There was absolutely nothing “on the horizon”.  We needed a miracle.   

I surmised that perhaps one’s mazal on one’s yortzeit is also dominant, similar to how it is on one’s birthday. Either way, since 22 Shevat is the Rebbetzin’s hilula, it certainly has a special power.

I further surmised that, even though seeking a brocha from a Tzadik was something I normally did exclusively from the Rebbe; on 22 Shevat it would be appropriate to ask the Rebbetzin herself for a brocha. The Rebbetzin is, anyway, the Rebbe’s zivug, and is unified with him. Additionally, the Rebbe once remarked about the Rebbentzin: “She too is capable of giving blessings.”   Furthermore, the Rebbe had mentioned (in connection to 22 Shevat!) that “only Hashem Himself knows the full extent of the Rebbetzin’s greatness”.   

I also had a heirgesh, a feeling, that the Rebbetzin is like Rochel Imeinu – a kind, sensitive, caring mother to us all – something clearly illustrated by all the stories I had read or heard about her over the years.  

So, after davening Shacharis that morning, in which I asked the Almighty for sustenance, like I had every day, and with a sense of increasing urgency in recent weeks; I made a passionate appeal in my mind/heart that the Rebbetzin please intercede in Heaven on our behalf (“Tzadik [tzadeikes] goizer[es], v’haKodesh Baruch Hu M’kayim”).

Simultaneously and independently, my Eishes Chayil was thinking along the same lines. My wife told me that, since it was 22 Shevat, she had said extra Tehillim in honor of the Rebbetzin, and had posted a reminder for others on her Facebook page about it being the Rebbetzin’s yortzeit. She hoped that in the Rebbetzin’s zchus we would be helped. 

I told her that I had been thinking the same thing! Together, we felt positive that “something” was going to happen that day. 

Sure enough, we saw something very special just a few short hours later! A man who lived in a different city, and whom I had never before met, had traveled, and was at a gathering which I also attended later that day, and was seated right near me. He was a “friend of Lubavitch”, but I would have never normally thought to approach this “stranger” for business, especially not at such a time or in such a setting. This was a social occasion, not a business one.  But the groundwork was laid when another one of the people present asked me about my work.  

Having in mind the special zchus of the day, and the brocha which we had requested just a few hours ago, I went full steam ahead and spoke with passion about the opportunity. Of course, one must make a hishtadlus, do “his part” in receiving his parnassa from Hashem.  So too, a brocha is like rain, but one must sew and plough etc., make a kli, a vessel, because flow from Above always comes down through “nature”. 

The interest of that man was indeed piqued, and he began asking me follow-up questions.  A bit later during the gathering, in a private conversation – which he initiated, he continued the discussion, specifically in the context of considering an investment.  He progressed at very unusual speed, and wound up signing a contract and giving a check on the spot! 

The process of gaining someone’s interest, and then eventually bez”H closing a deal, according to “nature” (Hashem’s usual way of granting parnassa), almost always takes many days, if not weeks, with follow-up sales work during the potential investor’s due diligence etc.  To seal a deal, especially of significant size, within a couple of hours, and with someone from a completely different community, being met for the very first time, is extremely unusual.  Baruch Hashem, this deal provided us with sufficient parnassa for the next third of a year! And, with humble gratitude in our hearts, we exclaimed a sincere THANK YOU to the Rebbetzin! 

Rabbi Dovid & Shulamit Morris

Boulder, CO

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