Tekia Child

On Rosh Hashono of the year of 5734, while most of the tekios went as usual, when it came to the final tekiah, it appeared ‘not to go’. The Rebbe was repeatedly ‘trying’ to blow this final tekiah through various efforts – turning over the shofar and blowing from the opposite side, wiping it off, shaking it out etc. But all of this appeared to be to no avail. The shofar did not produce any sound.

During the emotional wait for the last tekiah that year, there was one chosid in the crowd who was experiencing turmoil in his own life. Having been married already for a few years, he had not yet been blessed with a child. Moved by the troublesome tekiah and by the unseen adversaries that the Rebbe was clearly facing, this chosid burst into tears, and began to cry about his own personal troubles as well. Then and there, he resolved that if he would be blessed with a child, he would take pains to ensure that the child was never exposed to any secular publications (apparently in the home of this particular chosid, the presence of secular reading material was commonplace). He further resolved to cancel any subscriptions he had to magazines etc. that fall under that category.

Immediately following the hachloto of this chosid was when the final tekiah was finally successfully blown! The yungerman took this as such a clear indication that his emotional teffilah was indeed answered, that immediately after Rosh Hashonoh he went about carrying out his side of the deal; - cancelling his subscriptions and removing “foreign presences” from his home. Sure enough, within the year he was the ecstatic father of a newborn son!

The chosid never informed the Rebbe of his hachloto during those tense moments on Rosh Hashono. The first time he brought his son the Rebbe for kos shel brocho, the baby was about a year old. Presumably it was a shock to him when, after pouring the wine, the Rebbe suddenly turned to him and asked: “Ah, dos iz di tekiah yingeleh?” [this is the tekiah child]!