Words cannot express . . .

I have been sitting here with tears trickling down my face; tears of happiness, of regret, of longing, of gratitude, of possbility. I just took in my mail and saw a handwritten envelope in what looked like a familiar hand, somehow. Then I saw the printed return address and for a wild moment I thought - could the letter possibly, somehow, be from that dear friend from so many decades ago? I opened it and was stunned. It was from that friend, a friend I have thought of, who has influenced me over the years (and years . . . ) who, through some miracle wrought by Hashem, encountered my blog entry containing an experience he once told me about, so long ago I can hardly believe it. That story has remained with me through thick and thin, and I have repeated it to many people over the years because of its message. There are many lessons in it, of course, about Hashem and the way He works in the world, about our mission in this world, too; but also it teaches us to look behind what is obvious to see the sublime - to look behind a crazy old woman giving compliments and see the angel sent by Hashem.  And it reminds me of the importance of even the tiniest act of good we do in this world.

At any rate, my friend's story opened my eyes to look for the wonder and the meaning of what lies behind our physical world; a priceless gift.

To hear from this friend now, after decades and decades; now, when I have been longing for the Rebbe zt"l and the Bostoner kehillah, and thinking of writing or calling the Rebbe's office to see if I could arrange a visit and spend a Shabbes there . . . I can't capture the immensity of the feeling in words, but I will say that the note from my friend is more precious to me than gold; and I think of him and his wife and his family with such warmth and affection.
Thank you.