Rabbi Moshe Weiss
My wife Ruty and I got married in 1983, and after a few years went by without any children, it became obvious that there was an issue. This began our long struggle with infertility; private, painful, hard – and amazing.
At first we hoped that it could easily be fixed, but the doctor we went to gave us the bad news that it was not so simple. I needed to undergo a couple of surgical procedures, which the Rebbe encouraged, and even though the results were negative, his encouragement gave us the belief that it would all work out.
At one point in this arduous journey, the Rebbe advised us to follow the counsel of “a doctor who is a friend,” and so we went to more doctors. We also tried various spiritual remedies, special food, and Kabbalistic prayers, but nothing seemed to work.
Once, I was complaining about all this to my father, Reb Berel Weiss, who had a very close relationship with the Rebbe, and he decided that we would make a special trip to New York to ask the Rebbe for another blessing for my wife and me. The holiday of Lag B’omer was coming up, and traditionally, on this auspicious day in particular, the Rebbes of Chabad would give blessings for couples to have children. There was also a large children’s parade being held that year, and my father had been asked to sponsor it.
And so, in 1990, we traveled together from Los Angeles, arriving on the morning of Lag B’omer. The parade, held in front of 770 and presided over by the Rebbe, was amazing, and when it was finished, he looked like he was in heaven. “You can’t approach the Rebbe right now,” one of his secretaries said. “It’s not an appropriate time.”
Shortly after, though, the Rebbe would be going to immerse in the mikveh, and so we stood in the driveway outside of 770, hoping to see him when he left.
When the time came and the Rebbe walked out, he went straight over to my father. “Did you get a medallion yet?” he asked.
That year, the Rebbe had given out a special commemorative coin in honor of Lag B’omer and by then we had already gone to his secretariat’s office to receive one. (more…)