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Weekly Chasidic Story #1443 (5785-45) 10 Menachem Av 5785 (Aug.4, 2025) "The Missing Pen" He knocked on the Ramash’s office door, and entered—as was the custom then in 5710—and explained his problem. The Rebbe listened carefully, then said, "With us it is customary to write our requests. Give me a pen, and I will write yours for you." Why this Week? Shabbos is also the holiday of Chamisha Asar (15th) b'Av, when unmarried daughters would go out to the fields and join in large circle dances, and unmarried men would go to see and to seek an appropriate match. Story in PDF format for more convenient printing.
The Missing Pen
Rabbi Yom Tov Ehrlich, a Karliner chasid, was a renowned chasidic musician, composer, lyricist, and recording artist, best known for his Yiddish music albums. Born in 1914, in the year 1950 he was still unmarried and struggling to find his match. That year, someone suggested that he go to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for advice. "What's the point?", he responded, "The Rebbe has recently passed away[1]; how am I supposed to talk to him?" They suggested that he go instead to the Rebbe's son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (known then by the acronym of his name, Ramash, for he had not yet formally accepted the responsibility of being the seventh Rebbe, even though many already related to him that way). He arrived, knocked on the Ramash's office door, and entered-as was the custom at that time in 5710, when there were not so many people seeking the new Rebbe-and explained his problem. "Rebbe, I'm getting older, but I can't seem to find a wife, even though many people have tried to help me. What should I do?" The Ramash listened carefully. Then he said, "With us it is customary to write our requests and then deliver them to the resting place of my revered father-in-law. Give me a pen, and I will write yours for you, and I will bring it with me on my next visit to his 'holy place'." Rabbi Yom Tov patted down his jacket, searched all his pants pockets, and checked his shirt pocket. No pen, even though he thought he might have had one with him. "No problem," the Rebbe said with a smile. "Just step outside, ask someone for a pen, and then come back and I will write the request." So Yom Tov walked over to the main synagogue, scanned the room, and asked a likely person for a pen. Then he returned to the Rebbe, who wrote the request for him and handed the pen back. Rabbi Yom Tov then went back to the synagogue and returned the pen to its owner. But, the latter-an elderly gentleman from Poland-didn't leave it at that. He was too curious. Having noticed that Rabbi Yom Tov had come from the Rebbe's room, he asked him, "What happened in there? Why did you need to borrow a pen from me?" Rabbi Yom Tov replied, "I was with the Rebbe, and there was no pen there, so I borrowed one from you." The man looked confused. His eyebrows rose in astonishment. "The Ramash sits and writes Torah insights and commentaries and responses to letters all day. How is it possible that he has no pen? Something deeper must be going on! What did you ask him?" Although feeling a bit embarrassed, Rabbi Yom Tov shared his dilemma: he was already thirty-six years old, yet still was experiencing great difficulty to find an appropriate match. Suddenly the elder man's expression changed. His eyes lit with recognition, as if puzzle pieces were falling into place before his very eyes. Slowly he said, "Maybe this whole pen thing wasn't just a coincidence-I think the Rebbe knew exactly what he was doing! I have an unmarried older daughter, and I have been struggling to find a match for her as well. I've been quite concerned for a long time already. Surely a match between us must be precisely what the Rebbe intended!" And indeed, Rabbi Yom Tov Ehrlich ended up marrying this man's daughter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the lessons that
can be learned from this story: Why this Week? Shabbos is also the holiday of Chamisha Asar (15th) b'Av, when unmarried daughters would go out to the fields and join in large circle dances, and unmarried men would go to see and to seek an appropriate match. Biographical notes:
(in order of appearance) Footnote: [1] The sixth
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef-Yitzchak Schneersohn, went to Heaven in Jan.
1950.
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Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.