The Heavenly Healer’s House Call

Elazar Nissan was the only son of Rav Moshe Teitelbaum of Uhjel, author of Yismach Moshe. When Elazar Nissan was nine years old, he fell dangerously ill. The Yismach Moshe and his wife watched with growing despair as their child burned with fever, while the doctors gave little hope for his recovery.

The Yismach Moshe decided that his son’s life depended on the tefillos of someone greater than himself. He appointed two faithful Jews as his emissaries and sent them to Lizhensk to beseech Hashem in the merit of the tzaddik, the Rebbe Reb Melech. “When you arrive at the beis hachaim,” Rav Moshe explained, “say out loud that you vow a neder to give a coin to tzedakah for the sake of the neshama that will approach the holy soul of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech on High.

“Tell him that we have come to daven to Hashem at his tziyun. What will happen,” Rav Moshe went on, “is that your vow will stir up all the neshamos that are hovering near the tziyun. Each of them will wish to deliver the coin to the holy tzaddik for charity, since in the world of truth, olam ha’emes, the merit of a mitzvah is a very precious and valuable asset. All the neshamos will vie to be the one that reaches the Rebbe Reb Elimelech first, so that the coin’s merit will be ascribed to their own neshama. After all this has transpired, you can approach the tziyun of the Noam Elimelech and daven there for my son’s refuah.”

The Yismach Moshe then added, “Please pay attention to your watches and note the time when you daven at the tziyun, so we can compare the timing when you return.” The shluchim listened carefully to the Rebbe’s request and set out on their way to fulfill it.

Sometime later, the child awoke from his feverish dreams and called out, “Tatty, Tatty,” When the Yismach Moshe hurried over, young Elazar Nissan told him, “From now on I will get better. I won’t be sick anymore, and I will get up out of bed and be healthy again.” Overjoyed, the Yismach Moshe asked, “My son, how do you know this?”

“Because, Tatty,” the child explained, “just this very minute a great Rebbe came to see me.” He then described exactly how the Rebbe Reb Melech looked. “He gave me a berachah that I would get better and be healthy from now on.”

The Yismach Moshe checked his watch. When the shluchim returned and they compared notes, the time of the child’s miraculous recovery matched exactly the time that they had been davening at the tziyun.