The Rebbe’s Kerchief

An  elderly woman and her son once visited Reb Aharon of Belz zt’’l while he was vacationing in Bad-Homburg.  “I have to share a story with the Rebbe,” the woman said. “I still merited knowing the Rebbe’s great-grandfather, the Sar Shalom of Belz zt’’l.”

“I became blind as a little girl, and the Sar Shalom once traveled through our town.  My father went to the Sar Shalom for a Bracha that I should be healed from my ailment, and the tzaddik told one of his gabbaim (aides) to bring him a kerchief. The Sar Shalom waved the kerchief in front of my eyes, and suddenly I could open my eyes and see! I still remember what the kerchief looked like,” recalled the elderly woman. “It was a red kerchief with white designs, smeared with brown streaks from the Rebbe’s tabbik (smelling salts.)

Reb Aharon of Belz was captivated by the story that he asked the woman to repeat it three times.