When the Rebbe Said, “Gracias!”

On Purim day, 1988, our family was in the middle of the festive meal when it was announced that the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, was distributing dollars to be given to charity. Living in Crown Heights, we did not usually go for dollars. When distributing dollars the Rebbe would stand on his feet for hours and hours – we did not want to make the Rebbe stand for longer. As such, we limited our attendance to special occasions, such as a wedding or birthday.

We always dressed in our finest clothes when we went to see the Rebbe, and my husband felt that the children, who were in their Purim costumes, weren't dressed respectfully enough. I, on the other hand, felt that the Rebbe would enjoy seeing the children in costumes. After all, it was traditional to dress up on this day! Finally we decided to take our three youngest children.

By the time we got to where the Rebbe was distributing the dollars to give to the charity, the doors were closed. We decided to wait. After a few minutes the doors opened again. The Rebbe’s aide said that the Rebbe had waited for more people to come and had insisted that he open the doors and let the latecomers in.

My daughter Dobie, age ten, was dressed as a Mexican with an oversized sombrero. As she passed by the Rebbe and received her dollar and blessing, she thanked the Rebbe. The Rebbe looked at her with his holy eyes and answered, "Gracias!"

When we went outside, my daughter asked me what the Rebbe had said. I told her, "The Rebbe said ‘thank you’ in Spanish."

Mashie, age seven, was dressed as a soldier with a big “Tzivos Hashem” emblem on her jacket. “Tzivos Hashem”, literally, “The army of G‑d,” is a children’s group the Rebbe established in 1980. She received a dollar and the Rebbe lifted his hand to his hat and saluted her.

Rivkie, age five, was dressed up as a clown. After giving her a dollar, the Rebbe gave her an enormous smile.

Was it worth taking the children to the Rebbe for dollars that Purim? Certainly!

Moreover, I learned an important lesson from the Rebbe. I learned to notice and appreciate the effort others invest into anything they do, down to the very specific details, and to make mention of it to them. The Rebbe noticed and appreciated each of my children’s Purim costumes and made sure we knew.