26 | Jew Perfect
Think well and all will be well
Avraham Rothenberg, had taught in Brazil for five years. On one of his trips back to Israel, he had stopped off in New York, visited Chabad, and had been very impressed. He eventually moved to Crown Heights.
One night, the shrill ringing of the telephone woke him from his sleep. His brother was calling from Israel with some very worrisome news: Their father had suffered a serious heart attack a few hours ago. His condition was serious, almost critical.
As soon as he put down the receiver, he considered immediately booking a flight to Israel, but on second thought, he realized that his traveling there could not help the situation. Instead, he decided to write a letter to the Rebbe asking for his Bracha.
With a trembling hand, confused thoughts, and fearing the worst, he began to write. It was extremely difficult for him to concentrate. His mind would not let him rest. “I don’t know what to think,” were the final words in his letter.
With a heavy heart, he handed the letter to the Rebbe’s secretary. While he was waiting for an answer he took out his Sefer Tehillim and began to recite some chapters. The tears choked him… Ribono shel olam…. Why?!
A few minutes later, the Rebbe’s secretary handed him back the letter he had written. The Rebbe had struck a line through the words, “I don’t know what to think,” and wrote the following in the margin.
“Amazing. The command of our Sages in such situations is well known: Tracht gut vet zain gut (“think well, and it will be well”) and I expect to hear good news”
Instantaneously, his mood changed from one extreme to another. He was filled with optimism and hope for a better future, as if someone had shaken him out of his lethargy, out of those destructive thoughts that had brought him to depression. The color returned to his face. He opened his sefer Tehillim with renewed faith. The words flowed from his mouth with joy. His faith in the Rebbe and the Rebbe’s instructions to him to think well put hope for immediate salvation in his heart.
He went to phone his family in Israel for the latest news about his father. The news was encouraging: “Father’s condition is no longer listed as life-threatening.”
But the big surprise came a few days later, after Mincha, when he met the Rebbe on his way out of the Beis Midrash. “Nu, do you have any good news for me?” the Rebbe asked him.
“Yes, I spoke with my family on the phone, and my father’s condition has improved.”
“When did this happen?” the Rebbe asked again.
“Two days ago.”
“And when did you begin to think well?”
“As soon as I received the Rebbe’s response, two days ago.”
“You see,” the Rebbe said. “I hope that such things will never happen again. Know that one should always think well.”
Avraham Rothenberg’s father merited seventeen more years of life. He was even able to travel to the United States to meet the Rebbe himself.
By Mendel Stiefel