Flashback to Andrew: Chasidim Heed Rebbe’s Advice

As hurricane Irma barrels towards south Florida, members of the Miami Beach Lubavitch community reminisce about Hurricane Andrew, the 1992 category 5 storm that was aiming right for them, and the Rebbe’s seemingly-strange instruction that they should stay put.

When that hurricane suddenly changed directions, striking many of the areas that Miami Beach residents had evacuated to, the Rebbe’s prophecy suddenly became clear.

Below we present a clipping of the Miami Herald from shortly after the 1992 storm, as the newspaper reports on the unwavering faith of the Chassidim – who were the only people left in Miami Beach as the hurricane passed them by.

 

Click on image below to enlarge

19 Comments

  • This time the rebbe didnt say stay

    But this time the rebbe say not to evacuate. He didnt say it would be ok this time

  • Mendy Rimler

    Although we don’t have clear instructions this time as to what route to take physically, we do know exactly what needs to be done spiritually to ward off this tzoroh:

    1. Every home and business should affix Mezuzos to the doorposts and ensure the cases are fully waterproof.

    2. Every home and business should affix pushkas securely to a wall and throw in coins daily ensuring your home and business turns into an everlasting edifice as it is a bayis shel tzedokoh.

    3. The Rebbe waved his hand and hurricane Andrew changed course. We must be the Rebbes hand now in ensuring every Jew puts on tefillin…
    ותשובה ותפילה וצדקה מעבירין את רוע הגזירה

  • Great Dane - agree with #1

    It seems foolish to extrapolate that people should stay now because in a different hurricane the Rebbe ob”m said to stay put. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם – all Floridians in the path: please evacuate!

  • Whose advice?

    People believed the Rebbe had told them to stay, and had emunah, and it helped. But was the message really from him, or was it from LG?

    • Whose advice?

      At that time the Rebbe’s ability to communicate his wishes was severely compromised. LG claimed that he had put the question to the Rebbe several different ways and received a consistent answer, but one is not obligated to believe this.

      He was also reported years later to have spoken of this being “his” miracle. Of course even if the report is true it wasn’t his miracle. People relied on the message because they believed it was from the Rebbe, and that emunas chachomim pulled them through even if it was in error. In other words, a check was written in the Rebbe’s name and he made sure the Bank honored it, but that doesn’t mean he signed it in the first place.

    • Richard Roe

      Very well, then, you can have R. Groner as your eighth Lubavitcher Rebbe. The rest of us will be just fine with ours.

  • Sad!

    I’m sorry but it is very irresponsible to post this. The Rebbe spoke specifically about Andrew. This reminds me of people that didn’t evacuate by Katrina b/c of this article.
    People’s lives may be at stake. Posting this does not help.

  • Larry

    If I don’t hear it from the Rebbe’s holy mouth I would be packing my bags and bailing out

  • Let the Rebbe choose how to answer us

    This is dangerous.
    Our job is to ask the Rebbe, it is his choice how to answer us.
    I used to live by looking in Igros Hakodesh. That waansuch an irresponsible and reckless way of.living.
    Again, let the Rebbe find a way to answer us.

    • Avoda Zara

      “Our job is to ask the Rebbe, ”
      NO!
      Our job is to ask Hashem,
      The Rebbe just communicates His wishes.

  • Milhouse

    Where in this article did all these commenters see any suggestion that people should not worry now, just because they didn’t have to worry then?

  • fyi

    Shluchim who followed the original directives from Andrew, have also evacuated florida because Irma is a different hurricane.

    Though I believe that they should be there for their communities, I can’t judge EVERYONE needs to do what is best for their families.

    Please support Florida families in the aftermath

  • Different situation Now

    Just bec 25 years ago Andrew didn’t hit Miami doesn’t mean that everything with Irma is gona be the same, there is a video I saw on another website that shows a video of testimony that ppl asked the Rebbe about Andrew & the Rebbe said stay, it was through RLG (Rabbi Leibel Groner) however he asked the Rebbe, in this article it says that Lubavitchers look 2 the Rebbe as a deity, that is total false, the Rebbe is our leader & Moshe Rabbeinu of our Dor but that doesn’t mean it was the Rebbe’s Miracle that nothing happened in Andrew, it means that it was done through HKB”H, the Rebbe isn’t G-d Almighty everything that the Rebbe said is through G-d, which means that it all came through Ruach HaKodesh, that HKB”H gives the Nasi HaDor the knowledge to predict what’s gonna happen, this we have to get clear, the Rebbe isn’t G-d & that’s 1st, 2nd being that it’s 23 years after Gimmel Tamuz, we don’t physically have the Rebbe here to ask what we should do, so being that the Forcasters are saying to evacuate then so we should do, we can’t rely on what happened 25 years ago or Igros it’s not the same, we don’t physically have the Rebbe with us & therefore we have no choice but to listen to the local police & city officials what they tell us to do & so far they are saying to evacuate, so then we should do what they say, the same thing with St Marnteen, Santo Domingo & all those Islands in that area they should all get out & go somewhere else out of the vicinity. I know the Mishichistim wouldn’t be happy with this answer but what could we do, the Rebbe isn’t here physically & that is a fact that no 1 can dispute, it’s the reality of the situation & ppl have 2 accept that, that’s all.