By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
A neighbor of the Bukiets in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn was having a difficult time financing the wedding of a daughter. The father of the bride realized he’d need to fundraise, and went from rabbi to rabbi, rebbe to rebbe. There were six children in the family, but he figured that if he would tell the rabbis he had ten children, they would see the need was dire and support him accordingly.
When he came to the Lubavitcher Rebbe with a letter that professed his circumstances, the Rebbe asked him for the names of his wife and ten children, so that he could pray for them.
The man wasn’t able to stammer a response due to the great discrepancy between the six children he had, and the ten he claimed to have. The Rebbe then repeated his question. When the man still did not respond, the Rebbe asked again. After a third time, the man ran out of the room.
He went directly to the Bukiet home. Seeing his neighbor’s great distress, Rabbi Chaim Meir Bukiet asked what happened, and the man shared what had occurred. The following morning, the Rebbe’s secretary called, and Rabbi Bukiet explained the entire story.
The next day, Rabbi Bukiet’s son, Avrumie, a student at the central Lubavitch yeshiva, was called to the Rebbe’s secretariat. “Please give this to your neighbor,” the aide told the teenager, handing over a sealed envelope.
The secretary concluded, “Tell him that the truth is important, but giving money towards a wedding is important, too.”
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Thank you for sharing these stories!
Interesting and inspiring!