A Mazel Tov Waiting to Happen

by Dovid Zaklikowski for Hasidic Archives

When the Rebbe suffered a sudden, massive heart attack in 1977, it plunged the world of his chassidim into chaos and left the doctors wondering whether he would pull through. After an urgent phone call from the Rebbe’s office, Dr. Ira Weiss, a Chicago-based cardiologist, flew to New York to serve as one of the lead physicians.

He diligently cared for the Rebbe, and from then on formed a close relationship with both the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin. He would regularly fly in from Chicago as their cardiologist and made sure to join the Rebbe’s weekday farbrengens. When he had a daughter in 1978, it brought great joy to his family, and also to his New York patients.

While he came to care for this special couple, they took particular interest in his life. The Rebbetzin worried about his biking home late at night from the hospital. The Rebbe, too, had his concerns. “It has been six years,” the Rebbe told him one day, “that I did not hear a mazel tov from you.”

Referring to the fact that he had not had more children, the Rebbe wondered if any medical or marital issues had arisen since the birth of their daughter.

“I am still on very good terms with my wife,” the doctor said, “but there are times that I don’t make it home.”

The Rebbe understood, and knew: he was a workaholic, and caring for his patients was his priority. His family understood and appreciated his selflessness, and they tolerated his frequent absences. However, his patient did not appreciate that he did not place a high priority on having more children.

The Rebbe, the doctor later recalled, “took a detailed medical history of him and his wife,” and discovered that although he had plans to come to New York for the next farbrengen, “it would be a poor time to come,” considering his ability to have another child.

The Rebbe told him not to come, and that he “shouldn’t either be too busy with your time at the hospital.”

Soon afterward, they had their third child, Rochel Chana.

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