A Segulah for Surviving Children

The Gaon’s daughter lost her children one after another in their early years. When she was expecting again, she left her home in Disna at once and travelled to her father in Vilna for his blessing and advice. When she explained why she had come, he gave her brief instructions. She should name the baby after his late brother and also give him a new name, with the new name first and the name of the deceased brother second. Having given his advice, the Gaon returned immediately to his learning.

They followed his instructions and named the child Zalman Ber, with Zalman as the new name and Ber after the baby’s late brother, Dov Ber. The child survived and grew to adulthood. She used the same segulah, which she had heard from her father, for her other children, and others who had lost children also used it, and it helped them to have children who lived.