The Husiatiner Rebbe Ztz"l

At my Shabbos table I like telling the children stories of tzadikim. It is more interesting to them than the pilpulim I enjoy saying ["OK Leebie, let's chazer the Abarbanel's six kashas". Leebie is 3...]  and it strengthens their emunah in tzadikim.

This week I told them stories about Admor, Rebbe Yisrael Friedman of Husiatin [d. 1948]. He was a grandson of R' Yisrael of Rizhin and was thus his namesake. He had some really crazy ruach hakodesh. His biographer [Dr. Meir Gruzman of Bar Ilan University] remembers him well from his childhood and there are still people around today who can testify to his tzidkus and unique powers.

He felt the Holocaust coming and at the age of 80 made aliyah with some of his chasidim. To the others who remained behind he said that they should get out of Europe as soon as possible.

A secular women who had emigrated from Europe and wanted to leave the ancient traditions of her ancestors behind, was extremely nervous about the fate of her parents and siblings back in Europe. She was convinced by a brother in law of a close friend of hers to go see the tzadik and get a bracha for them. She finally went and had the gabbai write out the names of her parents and 8 siblings. The tzadik looked at the kvittel and went down the list. He picked out two of the names and blessed them that they should be zoche to come to Eretz Yisrael [which they ultimately did]. She was distraught when she realized that this meant that everyone else had perished. Of course, this was proven to be the case. This formerly cynical woman became a great admirer of the Rebbe and even had his picture on her wall.

The Holy Rebbe, R' Aharon of Belz would do the same. When someone would ask him for a bracha for a relative back in Europe, if he saw with ruach hakodesh that the person was alive he would give the person a heartfelt bracha. If he saw otherwise, he would say "Hashem should have nachas from all of his children". He was consistently on the mark.

זכות הצדיקים יעזור ויגן ויושיע!