The Rebbe on When to Give Advice

Gimmel Tammuz Special: Binyomin Wulliger, a diamond dealer, was active in Hassidic circles and spent many years as a liaison between the Chabad and Sanz communities. After a prolonged absence, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, told him, “There’s something I’ve wanted to speak to you about for a long time.”

The Rebbe then explained why he hadn’t summoned him. The Rebbe said, “If you want to give someone money, you could give it anytime. If you want to give someone advice, regardless of how brilliant and apt it may be, if he or she does not come to you, do not offer the advice. You can only provide advice when the individual approaches you.”

A Hospital is for Healing

During the Holocaust, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam was wounded by a stray bullet. He was afraid to go to the clinic in the Nazi concentration camp in which he was imprisoned, for fear of his life. Instead, he plucked a leaf from a tree and covered his wound. Three days later, his wound healed, and he made a resolution. He promised that if he survived the war, he would build a hospital.

His criteria for his dream institution was that “the doctors and nurses would believe that there is a G-d in this world. They would know that when they attend to the sickly, they are fulfilling one of the greatest commandments of Judaism.”

Rabbi Halberstam, who later became the leader of the Sanz-Klausenberg Hassidic dynasty, kept his word. In 1976, he set out to build a medical center, which he called “Laniado Home for the Sick.” The hospital was named after the brothers Alphonse and Yaakov Avraham Laniado, who donated a vast sum to the cause.

Looking for a blessing and a letter of approbation for the new hospital, Rabbi Halberstam sent a delegation to the Rebbe. Rabbi Binyomin Wulliger, a diamond dealer and confidant of Rabbi Halberstam, described the endeavor to the Rebbe. The Rebbe told them, “What is needed is financial assistance. A letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe will not pay the bills.”

The Rebbe then wrote a check with the accompanying instructions:  “Make sure to cash the check. If you want to make a copy to show that I support the hospital, you may do so, as long as you make use of these funds.”

The hospital was also considering a nursing school, but Rabbi Halberstam was concerned it would attract students who would not adhere to their religious aspirations. The Rebbe responded, “You do not have to worry about who will attend. If the school creates the correct atmosphere, this will generate an attitude in the spirit you seek to craft.”

The Rebbe then explained that the hospital should be called by a more popular name, such as Sanz. He added that the name of the hospital should have have a positive connotation: “A sick person goes to the hospital for a cure. Why call the hospital a Home for the Sick? Call it a Home for Healing.”

The hospital’s name was changed to “Sanz Center for Health: Laniado Hospital.”

An excerpt from the forthcoming book Stories for Life to be published by Hassidic Archives.