During his tish on Friday night, following Birkas HaMazon, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak shared an impactful story about a dream that he had, relating the details with Chassidim who had come to spend Shabbos with him after he returned to Bnei Brak from his resting place in Netanya.
The rebbe began: “I want to share a story that happened to me this week, early Monday morning, at my place of rest in Netanya. A Jew, whom I knew personally, who passed away a few years ago, appeared to me in a dream. He came to ask me for a tikkun (a rectification) because he has no rest in Shomayim.”
The rebbe continued: “I asked him, ‘What happened that you have no tikkun?’ He answered that he had wronged a Jew many years ago and no longer remembers who it was, but for several years, he has had no rest in the upper world.
“I asked him, ‘Why are you coming to me?’ The Jew replied, ‘I was told in Heaven that the Rebbe is ‘the man of peace,’ and therefore, I should come to the Rebbe to ask for a tikkun.'”
The rebbe went on: “I am indeed a man of peace, and I inherited this from my elders, the Imrei Chaim, who was opposed to all those who are baalei machlokes. I, too, am against those who are baalei machlokes.”
The rebbe continued to elaborate on the importance of shalom, explaining that this concept is emphasized on Yom Kippur, regarding which it is written, “Yom Kippur does not atone until one makes peace with their fellow.”
The rebbe further explained: “I told this Jew who came to ask for the tikkun that I would pass this on to the public, for since you have no rest in the World of Truth, through this, you will, G-d willing, find a tikkun. This will be a source of great encouragement to many people to not harm others, chas v’shalom, in their interpersonal relationships.”
The rebbe then expressed as follows: “People come to me, not in a dream but in waking life, with all kinds of issues, and I tell them to think carefully if they have ever wronged a Jew. After a while, many of them return to me, remembering who they wronged, and they ask for forgiveness. Boruch Hashem, everything works out for the better.”
The rebbe concluded: “All the great stories of tikkun done through embarrassment belong to the great rebbes, but we, the simple folk, must be careful and not demean others. This is the moral lesson. Do not belittle others. See how the neshomah has no rest. I am telling people to understand the severity of the judgment for those who hurt others. I say all the time: One must never harm a Jew, chas v’shalom.”
{Matzav.com Israel}