REBBE - There is a Jew in Brooklyn...

One day Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Schwartz, of Brazil, gets a phone call from a very distraught parent:

"Our daughter has informed us that she intends to marry a non-Jew. We have tried everything to dissuade her, but our arguments, appeals, threats and tears have all been to no avail. She refuses to discuss the matter with us and has moved out of our home. Rabbi! You are our only hope! Perhaps you can impress upon her the gravity of the betrayal against her people, her parents and her own identity!"

"That evening I rang her bell", he relates, "She listened politely to me and promised to consider everything I said, but I came away with the feeling that I had had little effect on her decision. And so I called the Rebbe's secretary, and asked for the Rebbe's advice as to what might be done. A few minutes later the secretary calls me back and says: "The Rebbe says to tell the young woman that there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because she intends to marry a non-Jew."

"Who is this Jew?" I blurted out.

"His name is Mendel Schneerson."

So early the next morning I once again was at her door. "Listen", she said before I could utter a word, "whom I marry is my business. I respect rabbis and I heard you the last time, now please go away and stop bothering me."

"But there is one more thing I need to say",I told her. "There is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because you intend to marry a non-Jew."

"And who is this Jew?" she questioned.

"A great Jewish leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe," I replied. "The Rebbe is greatly concerned about the material and spiritual well-being of every Jew, and agonizes over every soul that is lost to its people."

I can show you a picture of him, I then rushed home, found a picture and hurried back to the young woman's apartment.

One look at the Rebbe's likeness and her face turned pale. "All week long", she explained, "this man has been appearing in my dreams and imploring me not to abandon my people. I have never met this man in my life, or even heard of him. But this is the man I have been seeing in my dreams..."