R’ Chaim Tzvi Groner related the following at a farbrengen:

A misnagdishe rosh yeshiva was in a difficult situation and all attempts at a solution failed. A Lubavitch acquaintance of his convinced him to arrange an appointment with the Rebbe. "The Rebbe will certainly help you," the chassid declared with confidence. The rosh yeshiva reluctantly agreed.

On the morning of his appointment, the rosh yeshiva, together with his friend, composed a letter to submit to the Rebbe. It took some time until they worded it the way they wanted it, but the rosh yeshiva had second thoughts and decided to rewrite it. They worked over the wording of the new letter and finally, towards evening, the new note was ready.

Late that night, the rosh yeshiva had a yechidus with the Rebbe. He emerged pale as a ghost. In a state of turmoil, he asked Rabbi Leibel Groner whether he could use the phone.

As he spoke on the phone, R’ Groner could see the man growing paler. He immediately offered him a chair and a cup of water. Within a few minutes, the rosh yeshiva explained what had happened.

"After I gave the Rebbe the note, the Rebbe answered question after question, but to my surprise, these were answers to the questions in the original letter that my friend had. The Rebbe continued, ‘You asked such and such,’ and he enumerated all the questions in that first letter, one by one.

"I thought I mixed up the two letters and had given the Rebbe the first one by mistake, which is why I ran to call my friend. But he told me that he had the first letter, and I definitely gave the Rebbe the second letter. Now I know that the Lubavitcher Rebbe has ruach ha’kodesh!"

"In what field should I complete my doctorate?" asked young Jonathan Sacks. "Philosophy or law?"

"You should be a rabbi," said the Rebbe, "and then you will be rav of a city and even a country."

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is the present chief rabbi of England.

This story happened when Rabbi Aharon Chazan came on his first visit to the Rebbe for Yud Shvat 5733, which came out on Shabbos that year. When special days were on Shabbos, the Rebbe would make two farbrengens, one on Shabbos and one on Motzaei Shabbos.

At the end of the first farbrengen, when it was nearly sunset, Rabbi Chazan went to eat the Shabbos meal, which extended into the night. Then the chassidim davened Maariv, made Havdala, and ran to grab places for the next farbrengen.

When R’ Chazan returned to 770 that Motzaei Shabbos, he asked the rav sitting next to him a halachic question. "What about Melaveh Malka? Since our meal extended into the night, did we fulfill the obligation of Melaveh Malka, even though it was before Havdala? I remember that when the Machnovka Rebbe, zt’l, would have a tish at the third Shabbos meal, when night fell, he would cut into a whole challa in order to fulfill the obligation of Melaveh Malka."

His question wasn’t answered because the Rebbe walked in and the farbrengen began. The Rebbe spoke for hours. Then, Rabbi Chazan heard the Rebbe explain the topic he had brought up earlier:

"Therefore all inyanim of Motzaei Shabbos are davka after Havdala is made, because the meal eaten before Havdala (extending the third meal into night) is not the same concept as the Melaveh Malka on Motzaei Shabbos; it is not the Seudasa d’Dovid Malka Meshicha." (Sichos Kodesh 5733, Vol. 1, p. 301).

When R’ Chazan returned to Eretz Yisroel, he told everybody he met, "They can’t tell me any stories. The Rebbe has open ruach ha’kodesh. I saw it with my own eyes."

Rabbi Shlomo Galperin relates: It was in the days of persecution of Jews throughout Communist Russia. The Iron Curtain was shut tight. No one could leave the country without permission from the K.G.B. and the Interior Ministry of Russia, and both of them raised tremendous obstacles.

Any request to emigrate involved a complicated bureaucratic process. The person had to show an official invitation from a relative living in the country to which he wished to emigrate. Then he had to wait an unspecified period of time to receive an answer, which was usually "no." The document from his relatives was valid for only a year, so if he repeated his request to leave over a year later, he had to get new documents.

The Lubavitcher Galperin family asked to emigrate. Their aunt, who lived in Kfar Chabad, sent them an official invitation each time they presented their request. She also sent a letter to the Rebbe asking for the Rebbe’s bracha. The response was always "Hashem will help."

The Galperin family presented their request five times, and each time their request was denied. They didn’t give up, though. They asked a sixth time. They also asked their aunt to send them another invitation.

The aunt was surprised, because a year hadn’t gone by since her previous invitation. She hurriedly consulted with the Rebbe and this time the Rebbe said, "Hashem will help you see each other very soon," and he gave a directive to send another official letter to the family regardless of the fact that a year hadn’t gone by.

Within a few months, the father of the Galperin family was called to the minister of the interior. The anti-Semitic woman in charge informed him that his request had been approved, but she mockingly added that the time limit for the invitation from Israel had passed and, therefore, he wouldn’t be allowed to leave.

But Rabbi Galperin wasn’t fazed. To the great disappointment of the clerk, he removed the new documents sent by his aunt.

Shortly after the histalkus of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, a’h, the Israeli ambassador to Peru, Mr. Turgeman, sent a condolence letter to the Rebbe. The letter was sent along with other letters from the Jewish community in Peru.

Months passed, and every member of the community received a letter and thanks, leaving only the ambassador without a return letter. Four months later, on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, the Rebbe’s answer arrived at the ambassador’s house.

In the letter, the Rebbe defined the ambassador’s job as one of great responsibility, and wished him freedom from all worries. The ambassador couldn’t refrain from asking the Rebbe’s shliach to Peru, Rabbi S.Z. Blumenfeld, "Why was I the only one to receive my letter so late, and what worries is the Rebbe wishing me to be free of?"

Rabbi Blumenfeld shrugged his shoulders in surprise and said, "Who can understand the Rebbe’s ways?"

Three days passed and then the telephone rang at the Chabad House. The ambassador was on the line and he excitedly said, "Rabbi Blumenfeld, now I understand! It’s an open miracle!" The ambassador said that the day before, Peruvian security forces caught three terrorists who came to attack Jewish institutions – their first goal being to kidnap the ambassador. "The Rebbe knew exactly when to send his letter!"

Graduates of the vocational program of Beis Rivka seminary in Kfar Chabad were getting ready for a party for the end of school. Preparations were underway when the teacher, Mrs. Penina Slonim, remembered that they hadn’t written the Rebbe for a bracha.

Although it was late, Mrs. Slonim decided to write a general letter and to sign it with the names of all the girls in the class. If they would get a response during vacation, she would send a copy to the girls’ homes.

The party was planned for Tuesday. On the previous Thursday, the girls signed their names l’bracha v’hatzlacha in their future lives.

Faxes were not in use at that time. A letter to New York took days to get there and a return letter would take another two or three weeks. So Mrs. Slonim decided to send the letter with a chassid who was traveling to the U.S. on Sunday night, two days before the party.

On Sunday night, after a few hours, the phone in Mrs. Slonim’s home rang. The office of Tzeirei Chabad in Eretz Yisroel informed her that the director of Tzeirei Chabad, Rabbi Yisroel Leibov, had just arrived in Eretz Yisroel from New York with a letter for her from the Rebbe.

When Mrs. Slonim opened the letter she couldn’t believe her eyes. The letter was dated Friday, and it addressed the graduating girls of Beis Rivka in Kfar Chabad! The Rebbe said he received her letter and gave his blessings.

Mrs. Slonim’s letter was still on the plane, but the Rebbe wrote that he already read it!

Rabbi Akiva Schmerling, shliach in Switzerland, relates:

"After every yechidus with the Rebbe I would go to Rabbi Chadakov’s office to consult with him about what the Rebbe had said and to find out if there were any particular directives about activities in Switzerland.

"At one yechidus the Rebbe told me to ask Rabbi Chadakov to give me the pages of the Marienbad. After the yechidus, I asked R’ Chadakov for the pages. While preparing them, R’ Chadakov asked if I knew a rav in Zurich. I said I knew him, but that we didn’t have a personal connection.

"I returned to Switzerland. Some time later I received an invitation to a gathering of rabbanim organized by Agudas Yisroel. At the convention I saw the leaders of Agudas Yisroel, including the rav who R’ Chadakov had named.

"The main speaker was the chairman of Agudas Yisroel. During the course of the convention, the question was raised as to why Agudas Yisroel didn’t have a branch in Europe. It was said that Chabad had taken the role that Agudas Yisroel should have had. Those present said it was time to formulate a plan to act independently and retake the role from Chabad.

"Hearing this, I couldn’t remain silent. I loudly said that Chabad didn’t take anything from anyone. I walked out of the meeting angrily, and I saw that the other rabbanim looked shocked at my outburst.

"On my way home, I thought about the meeting. I remembered that the rav R’ Chadakov mentioned had been present, and I wondered if there was a connection.

"A short time later I was in the U.S. again, and when I had a yechidus, I told the Rebbe what happened. The Rebbe thought for a moment and then said that in another two weeks I would be invited to attend another gathering. At that gathering, I should present the pages of Marienbad that R’ Chadakov had given me previously.

"Two weeks later I received an invitation to a meeting, in the course of which they decided to open a European branch of Agudas Yisroel in Zurich. They appointed the rav that R’ Chadakov had mentioned to be the director of the branch.

"After the decision had been ratified, I took out the pages that reported about a previous meeting in Marienbad (a resort city) in which leaders of Agudas Yisroel decided that their public work had to concentrate primarily on the maskilim in Germany.

"After giving out the papers I loudly asked, ‘Nu, what do you say? The main problem is in Germany, is it not? So open a branch in Germany.’

"They had nothing to say, but they were determined to open a branch in Zurich.

"At the end of the meeting, I went to the rav who was appointed director of the branch, and said, "You should know that the only point of this office is to oppose the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s work. I suggest that you do not accept the position. I’m sure the branch won’t last long, and in the end you will be out of a job." The rav nodded politely, but refused to listen to my idea.

"After a few months passed, the new branch closed. For a long time afterwards that rav looked for a decent job. At some point he came to me and with great emotion he asked me to convey his apologies to the Rebbe, and added a request for a bracha for parnasa.

"I realized that he thought what I had told him was what the Rebbe told me to say. I made sure to tell him that I said it on my own with the hergesh of a chassid who was sure that if the Rebbe wasn’t satisfied with something, it wouldn’t last.

"We sat down together and wrote to the Rebbe the chain of events and the request for forgiveness. At the end of the letter, I added my own apologies for having said things that seemed to be quoting the Rebbe, which had led to something undesirable.

The Rebbe responded with a prophetic answer: In a short time the rav would get a job through me (which is what happened), and at the end of the letter the Rebbe added, "Do you think that the entire matter happened without my knowledge and consent?"

Rabbi Leibel Groner told the following story at a farbrengen in Beitar:

A shliach in the U.S. arrived in 770 for "dollars" one Sunday accompanied by a wealthy member of his community who contributed nicely to his work. The man’s wife and children were also present.

The shliach passed by and introduced the wealthy man to the Rebbe. The Rebbe gave the man a dollar for tz’daka and said that this dollar is "for helping the Chabad House." Then the man’s wife and three children passed by.

The Rebbe gave the first son to pass by an extra dollar and said it was "for helping your parents." The second son received an extra dollar "for helping your father," and the third son got an extra dollar "for the good work." They seemed like routine brachos.

As soon as they walked out, the shliach saw how excited his wealthy friend was. "He’s a G-dly man," murmured the man in amazement. "You don’t understand what was special about what the Rebbe said, but I’ll explain it to you.

"The first son, whom I introduced to the Rebbe and who received a dollar "for helping your parents," is my oldest son, and the third son, to whom the Rebbe gave a dollar "for the good work," is an adopted son.

"This was the first time the Rebbe saw me. He has never met me before, and he knows everything about me."

In 5710, a few months before accepting the nesius, one of the bachurim who learned in 770 received a letter from his father asking him to learn the halachos for smicha. The father added that he should consult with the Ramash (the Rebbe).

The son did what his father said, and went to the Rebbe’s room. Before he could open his mouth, the Rebbe said, "Meir’ke, I think it’s a good thing to begin learning for smicha."

Another incident took place at the same time. Shortly after the histalkus of the Rebbe Rayatz, the members of the board of Tomchei T’mimim of Montreal visited the Rebbe and told him what was going on at the yeshiva. The Rebbe asked them to write a detailed report about the yeshiva.

One of those present decided to write the report, but didn’t know what title to give the Rebbe, for he still hadn’t officially become Rebbe. While he was still pondering this, he heard the Rebbe say, "It’s fine if you start the letter with ‘Shalom u’bracha.’"

When Rabbi Moshe Ashkenazi, rav of a Lubavitcher community in Tel Aviv, went to the U.S. for a family simcha, he and his wife had a private audience with the Rebbe. As soon as they walked in, the Rebbe smiled and said, "Mazal tov far da (for here)." A few seconds later the Rebbe said, "Mazal tov far dorten (for there)."

A few hours after the yechidus, they found out that just as the Rebbe bentched them, a grandson was born in Eretz Yisroel.