Sunday, May 18, 2008

It's Story Time. ;)

An international dealer in high-end fabrics once visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. As an active member of the Chabad community in England, the businessman was quite familiar with how the Rebbe’s advice and blessings had impacted many people’s lives in virtually every area of human experience. At one point in their discussion, he put forth a tongue-in-cheek proposal for the Rebbe to partner with the entrepreneur in a business venture. The Rebbe turned serious and said, “Fair enough. Remember though that in a partnership, neither partner gets to make a move without the consent of the other. Do we have a deal?”
Though skeptical about the Rebbe’s knowledge of his trade, the man was nevertheless excited about this opportunity to “partner” with the tzadik, and readily took the deal. The Rebbe then advised him to make a large purchase of a certain material that hadn’t even been on the man’s radar screen. The dealer went home and placed a large order for this unusual fabric. When he reported back to New York, the Rebbe responded that the buy was way too conservative. A much larger quantity should have been purchased. On the Rebbe's say-so, the man went out and bought astronomical quantities of the stuff -- to the point of investing his entire personal fortune to pay for the shipments.
All pleas to the Rebbe were met with the same answer: “Don’t sell.” To the man’s chagrin, shortly after the acquisitions the value of this material began to plummet. Perhaps, he thought, he should sell at least some major portion of it. As promised, he contacted the Rebbe for his consent. To his surprise, the Rebbe did not grant consent and reminded him of their agreement with regard to unilateral moves.
As the price of the material continued to sink so did the man’s spirits. Every day, he watched his fortune slipping further and further away. All pleas to the Rebbe were met with the same answer: “Don’t sell.”
Facing financial ruin, the man began to question his entire relationship with the Rebbe and Chabad-Lubavitch. Perhaps it was all a mistake. With each day’s devaluation of his inventory, his distance from the Chabad community widened.
The bleeding continued for several months. One day, the price took a slight tick back up. He again consulted the Rebbe. But the Rebbe still withheld consent. When the price rose to where he could break even, the Rebbe still would not green-light the sell-off. The man’s disillusionment turned to bitterness.
Shortly thereafter, a famous fashion designer put out a line that called for extensive use of an unusual material. The man in England had the market cornered. When he reported this to the Rebbe, he was told that the time had come to sell. The inventory went fast. The man made many millions in profit. He excitedly boarded a plane to hand the Rebbe a check for his “share.” The Rebbe declined, requesting that the man give the money to charity instead.
The man then asked the Rebbe if they could perhaps pursue another venture together. The Rebbe smiled as he demurred: “I’m sorry... You’re a shvacher shutaf, a weak partner.”

5 comments:

chaymushka k. said...

ouchieeee.

what this story teaches us is...

the Rebbe knows. We don't.
need any more elaboration?

Rivkie said...

how about the fact that it'll happen either way. we may as well be a shtarke shutef, not a shvacher shutef, and do what the rebbe says with REAL emunah.

achoshatmimim said...

WoW!

shayna said...

Seriously!
And just like the story with the Rebbe seeing far...the Rebbe knows what's best for us! We just have to have Emunah and believe!
So the Rebbe said Moshiach's coming now...guess what? He is!!! :)

MusiaG said...

There is so much to learn from that story...But I think it's all been said already...