The first time I met the Rebbe was in 1971, when I came to New York with my parents, right after we were allowed to leave the Soviet Union. It was a very emotional encounter because of my family’s history, and because of the Rebbe’s role in our release.

My father had been imprisoned twice for teaching Torah in an underground yeshivah at the behest of the Previous Rebbe. His crime was being a “Schneersonski”—a chassid of the Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The first time he served five years in prison, and the second time he served ten years. My mother also served almost ten years in prison. She was a messenger for the underground, and she paid dearly for her activities.

I was only a toddler when they were jailed, and I was raised by my grandfather. I didn’t see my parents until I was 11 years old, when they were released during a general amnesty following the death of Stalin.In 1971, we were suddenly granted an exit visa. It was hard to believe that it was really happening

From the moment they had been let out of prison my parents tried to leave Russia, but every time they applied they were refused. It was a never-ending cycle of applications and refusals, applications and refusals. Meanwhile, I was educated in the Soviet system and earned a degree in electrical engineering, all the while trying my best to avoid school and work on Shabbos and Jewish holidays, which was a never-ending struggle.

And then, in 1971, we were suddenly granted an exit visa. It was hard to believe that it was really happening. We flew to Vienna, and from Vienna to Israel, where we were taken to Kfar Chabad. There we learned that we were being sent for a short visit to New York, so that we could have a personal audience with the Rebbe, to whose efforts we credited our release.

By the time we arrived in New York for our meeting with the Rebbe, we were emotionally spent. The Rebbe’s kindness and goodness helped us regain our composure and come to our sensesWe had been on an emotional rollercoaster since landing in Israel, reuniting with long-lost relatives and friends, and when we walked into his office my mother broke down in tears right away; my father wasn’t himself, and neither was I. But the Rebbe’s kindness and goodness helped us regain our composure and come to our senses. When he looked at us, a feeling of calm and wholeness permeated us.

He asked us many questions, which my mother answered because she had been the messenger during those difficult times, and she knew the people whom the Rebbe was asking about.

After With the Rebbe’s blessing I got married and went to work for the Israeli Air Force as an electronics engineer this audience we returned to Israel, where I started learning at the Chabad yeshivah, Tomchei Temimim. With the Rebbe’s blessing, I got married and went to work for the Israeli air force as an electronics engineer.

Then came the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In the first few days of the war, the Israeli air force suffered many casualties—our planes fell like flies. The reason was that we were still using old technology from the Six-Day War, which was several years out of date, while the Arabs had very advanced and sophisticated equipment supplied by the Russians.

Fortunately, the Americans immediately sent reinforcements and established an air bridge, so that anything the Israeli air force needed was provided within twenty-four hours or less.

But after the war ended, it was clear that Israel had to resupply itself with the latest and the best. And I was one of two candidates chosen to investigate and find the equipment in the United States that would be appropriate for Middle Eastern warfare.

As I was flying to Austin with a stopover in New York, I took the opportunity to arrange my second audience with the Rebbe. In preparation, I wrote out a note requesting the Rebbe’s blessings for my Torah studies, for my work helping Russian immigrants, and for other personal matters, but I didn’t mention anything about the mission that brought me to the U.S.When I came into the Rebbe’s office and handed in the note, the Rebbe looked at it and immediately asked, “What brings you to New York?”

When I came into the Rebbe’s office and handed in the note, the Rebbe looked at it and immediately asked, “What brings you to New York?”

In response I described my mission, and this led to many questions from the Rebbe—highly detailed questions—which made me realize that I was missing some vital information that I needed if I were to succeed in my assigned task.

Of course, going in I knew that the Rebbe had studied engineering, but I was surprised and impressed that he was able to conduct a discussion like this, on a very technical engineering level.

And moreover, he actually taught me something. I had been looking at the problems we were trying to solve in the air force from too close a perspective—one foot away from my face. But the Rebbe lifted me up fifteen thousand feet, and from there I saw a very different picture. And I realized that there were holes in that picture.Even though I thought I was the expert on this subject, I didn’t have the answers to some of the issues he raised

Even though I thought I was the expert on this subject, I didn’t have the answers to some of the issues he raised. For example, he asked me about frequency hopping, which has to do with protecting the location of a radar unit. And he asked me about infrared technology, specifically about an evasive technique used to get away from an infrared missile. And his questions were very technical, like “What is the spectral footprint of the engine?”

I didn’t know what it was.

The Rebbe’s questioning and desire not to leave any stone unturned caused me to examine a whole slew of things that, truthfully, I hadn’t given any credence to, or hadn’t thought about, or didn’t know about. And because of that, we could have ended up with inferior equipment.

It was only later on that I realized what had happened in that audience—the Rebbe ensured the success of my mission.

The best way for him to help me was to do exactly what he did—to analyze, to examine and to bring me to understand where the gaps lay. And I suspect that this was his intention all along.