Weekly Chasidic Story #742 (s5772-21 / 21 Shvat 5772) The Full Name The Rebbe HaRayatz of Lubavitch blessed that the critically ill man should have a complete recovery and also suggested that he add to his name. Connections (2): Seasonal - see Editor's Note at end; Weekly Torah - healing is discussed
The Full Name
However, after he was home only a number of hours, he began to feel a lot of pain, and the pain kept growing and becoming more intense. He saw that the place of the surgery was greatly swollen, which appeared to be the result of a serious infection there. The infection worsened, the pain kept increasing, and he soon found himself hospitalized a second time. But this time the doctors were unable to find a solution for his problem. Whatever they tried did not help. His medical condition worsened quickly, to the extent that the doctors told him sadly that his days were numbered. His family was totally shocked to find out that nothing more could be done medically to help him. They resolved to do all that was in their power to help him spiritually. They increased and intensified their prayers, and gave a lot of tzedaka ("charity"). Mr. Wolf's son-in-law in the New York area decided to consult the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef-Yitzchak Shneersohn, of blessed memory. The Rebbe blessed that the critically ill man should have a complete recovery. Also, he suggested that to his name Yosef be added the name "Zelig" ("happy" in Yiddish). The relatives hurried to comply with the Rebbe's instructions, and added the second name. Amazingly, in just a short interval after the name change, they received word that there was a recognizable improvement in the sick man's condition! Over the next few days, Mr. Yosef Wolf, now called Yosef-Zelig Wolf, continued to recover and become stronger. Before a week passed, he was released to go home with a clean bill of health. Not a trace remained of the deadly infection which had taken such a strict toll of his health. The astonished doctors could barely believe the drastic change that had occurred in front of their eyes: after they had given up hope, a man on his death-bed had returned to being a completely healthy person. Yosef-Zelig Wolf returned to his regular life, full of gratitude and praise to G-d Al-mighty. A few months later, he decided to go to pray at the gravesite of his grandmother. He felt a special closeness to her, because he had been named Yosef after her father. Much to his great astonishment and delight, he realized that he had never paid sufficient attention to the inscription on the tombstone. Engraved on it was (in Hebrew) "Here lies Sasya bas Yosef-Zelig"! Up until that point he had been certain that his grandfather's name was simply "Yosef." Now it had been made clear to him that his full name, his real name, was Yosef-Zelig. Suddenly the current Yosef-Zelig was struck by why the Rebbe requested that particularly "Zelig" be added to his name - in order to restore him to his true name, since his parents had intended to name him for his great-grandfather, and that this would facilitate his healing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editor's note (worth reading!): Biographic note:
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