License Plate DD-770 Brought Back a Flood of Nostalgia

By Rabbi Avrohom Brashevitzky – Chabad of Doral, Florida

On a JetBlue flight, about to say goodbye to New York, I took one last look at COLlive, hoping to find one more report of the wonderful International Kinus Hashluchim we had just experienced. What caught my attention instead was a photo of a New York State license plate. A flood of nostalgia, an avalanche of memories followed.

DD-770.

I actually had the zechus over a period of time, to follow the black Cadillac which sported that tag. Of course, it wasn’t the tag, nor the car that we were after. It was the Rebbe we were following as he returned from davening for hours at the Ohel.

Together with another bochur, I had the privilege of setting up the room for the Rebbe. We turned on a generator to provide lights, heat in the winter and A/C in the summer. We cleaned the area and stood guard so that the Rebbe and the Mazkir (Rebbi Yehuda Krinsky sheyichye or Rabbi Binyomin Klein OBM) wouldn’t be there alone.

When The Rebbe was ready to return back to 770 after many hours of standing in his feet, we had the merit of following the car close behind, serving as an escort, to ensure nothing goes wrong along the way.

That license plate is ingrained in my memory. That New York vehicle tag is indeed very special. It is very close to my heart. It makes so much sense to me, that someone would wish to cherish it, to shell out a pretty penny over it.

Or does it?

Not too long ago, as I was putting my Sukkah back into the garage, I had an interesting experience. Only now, I realize its significance. Across my garage door, perched up there in the playroom, were several license plates that I’ve mounted on the wall. There’s one from the first car I owned and there’s a Florida one that represents our permanence in our place of Shlichus.

As I looked at these metal tags which caught my attention, I had a thought. Although when I affixed them to the wall, it meant so much to me, the fact is that I haven’t been noticing them. All the thousands of times I’ve passed that spot over the years, I never paused. I never had a moment of reminiscing. In other words, it meant something for a few moments, and that’s it, nothing more.

Every one of us wishes to have a “piece of the Rebbe.” It’s so natural, it is so obvious, that we want a connection, a reminder of the Rebbe. We all have a burning desire to feel close to the Rebbe, to hold on to something of his, to hold on to him.

In Sipurei Chassidim for this week’s Parsha, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin OBM tells stories about great tzadikkim who were able to detect a previous presence of another tzaddik in a certain place. Just by “smelling” the physical location, they were prompted to inquire whether a tzaddik had once been in that place. This is amazing as it teaches us how the presence, the touch of a tzaddik, indeed permeates the material. It leaves an everlasting, lingering presence in that physical thing or place.

So am I wishing to own the license plate DD-770 and add it to my garage decor?

The answer is no (and not because I can’t afford $18,000).

If one wants to feel a pnimiyus’dik, real belonging to our dear Rebbe, here’s my advice: buy yourself a “real piece of the Rebbe.”

If you have that kind of funds, buy yourself a piece of the Rebbe’s institutions. Donate to a Chabad center or a Mikvah. Cover a child’s tuition or a few children.

If you can’t afford a large donation (and even if you can), buy the Rebbe’s seforim for yourself or someone you know. Learn from them. Do Mivtzoim at work or on Fridays.

Let’s not become so superficial and shallow. Let’s not waste good resources on nonessential things. Let’s make real connections with, authentic contributions to the Rebbe’s true history.