It all started ordinarily enough. Avraham and Tuvia Lerner, two brothers from the Lubavitch community in Montreal, had birthdays only a few days apart. They came to New York for yechidus and entered the Rebbe’s room together. Avraham approached the Rebbe, gave him the note he had prepared, and listened carefully as the Rebbe gave him a short blessing.

Then Tuvia gave the Rebbe his note. This was the yechidus before his Bar Mitzvah, and so Tuvia listened attentively as the Rebbe gave him a blessing.

And then the entire nature of the yechidus changed; Tuvia spoke up: “Rebbe, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m sure you want me to appreciate the blessing you gave me. I want to understand it, and know it well enough so that I can repeat it at my Bar Mitzvah. Could you say it again, and then listen while I repeat it back to make sure I’m saying it right? And could you speak a little slower? I wasn’t able to understand it the first time.”

The Rebbe smiled broadly, leaned forward in his chair, and repeated the blessing, speaking slower and using simpler words. After he finished, he told Tuvia: “Now you say it.”

Tuvia began, but made several errors. Before he could finish, the Rebbe interrupted him: “You weren’t listening carefully,” he told him. “I’ll say it for you once more, but this time pay attention.”

The Rebbe then repeated the blessing a third time, speaking even more slowly and using even simpler words. He then listened carefully as Tuvia repeated it, correcting him from time to time. When Tuvia was finished, the Rebbe asked him: “Are you happy now?”

Tuvia answered that he was, and the Rebbe concluded: “I’m happy too.”

This began a unique relationship that continued for 13 years, until Tuvia’s untimely death from cancer. Throughout that time, the Rebbe would frequently call Tuvia to yechidus, affording him the opportunity several times a year. (Ordinarily, a yeshivah student would have yechidus only once a year, on or near his birthday.) The Rebbe would also give Tuvia presents of the new Torah texts printed by Kehot, the Lubavitch publishing house.

Once, after the Rebbe had given him the newly printed collection of discourses from the year 5666 entitled Yom Tov Shel Rosh HaShanah, Tuvia said he did not think himself worthy of such a gift. The text was reputed to be very difficult, and Tuvia did not think he could understand it.

The Rebbe told Tuvia that if he studied only the first page and learned it well, that would be enough to prove him worthy of the present.

Tuvia was not a gifted student. If anything, his abilities were less than ordinary, but he possessed simple faith and great trust. His sincerity was inspiring. The Rebbe took a special interest in his development, offering him encouragement and help.

Once Tuvia came to yechidus unhappy. He wanted to advance spiritually, he told the Rebbe, but was not being given the opportunity. His teachers and fellow students considered him too simple to make real progress, and so they gave up on him before he could achieve anything.

The Rebbe reassured him. “Find study partners,” he told Tuvia, “and find a mashpia (spiritual mentor), and tell me who they are. I’ll make sure they give you the help you need.”

Indeed, throughout the years, the Rebbe paid special attention to the teachers and students who worked with Tuvia, granting them distinctive blessings.

When Tuvia was 16, he wanted to go to Eretz Yisrael to study. Unfortunately, none of the yeshivos would accept him. They felt that the difficulties any student feels acclimating to a new environment, Tuvia’s modest abilities, and his unfamiliarity with Hebrew would not make it a productive experience.

Tuvia took all the letters of rejection and showed them to the Rebbe at yechidus. He told him of his desire to study in Eretz Yisrael , and his difficulty at being accepted.

The Rebbe read each letter, commenting each time: “This letter; it’s not a problem,” and when he completed them, told Tuvia: “Go to Eretz Yisrael. You will succeed in your studies there. Eretz Yisrael needs a boy like you.”

After receiving these blessings, Tuvia was able to prevail on the Lubavitcher yeshivah in Kfar Chabad to accept him. The Rebbe made frequent personal inquiries to see how Tuvia was doing, asking for monthly updates on the lad’s studies. Tuvia studied in Eretz Yisrael for two years, and made significant advances.

After Tuvia returned to America, he wanted to study in the Lubavitcher yeshivah in Montreal so that he could be close to his mother; his father had passed away and he felt she needed his help. The yeshivah ’s administrators, however, felt he should study in New York. “You have a unique relationship with the Rebbe,” they told him. “Why not study in the yeshivah closest to him?”

Tuvia was not convinced, and took this problem also to the Rebbe. “I too think you should study in Montreal,” the Rebbe told him, and so it was.

During the time Tuvia was in Montreal, the Rebbe asked him to keep in contact, requesting that he write at least once a week. And the Rebbe would almost always answer these letters, though not necessarily at length.

Once the Rebbe did not answer a letter, and the following week, Tuvia did not write. Shortly afterwards, he was called to yechidus. “Why didn’t you write?” the Rebbe asked him.

“Since you didn’t answer my previous letter, I thought you were no longer interested,” Tuvia replied.

“I was busy,” the Rebbe responded, “and I didn’t have the opportunity that week. I have many responsibilities. You’re a yeshivah student; you have more time. Even if I don’t have a chance to answer you, you must continue writing.”

At one point, the Rebbe asked him: “Do you have a special feeling for a mitzvah that I can help you with?”

Tuvia told the Rebbe that he had been looking to purchase tefillin prepared according to the views of Rabbeinu Tam.1 He had tried to find a pair that were written and whose compartments were fashioned behiddur (with meticulous care, so that the mitzvah could be performed in a beautiful and conscientious manner), but had been unsatisfied with the tefillin he had been shown.

“I will help you,” promised the Rebbe. “I’ll find tefillin that are written and prepared with the proper care.”

“I’m glad you will help me find such a pair,” answered Tuvia, “but I want to pay for them myself.”

“How can you afford to pay for them?” replied the Rebbe. “You’re a yeshivah student; you have no income.”

But Tuvia was adamant. He would let the Rebbe find the tefillin for him, but he wanted to pay for them. The Rebbe contacted Rabbi Aronow, a veteran Lubavitch scribe from Toronto, and gave him precise instructions with regard to how the tefillin should be written, and the compartments fashioned. Rabbi Aronow communicated the instructions regarding the compartments to Rabbi Shneur Zalman Gafni in Israel, for it was more likely that the Rebbe’s specifications would be met there.

Thus began a four-year effort. The specifications set by the Rebbe were so difficult that the professionals chosen by Rabbi Aronow wanted to give up. They did not see how it was possible to make tefillin that met such standards. Over 30 pairs were submitted for the Rebbe’s examination, but he rejected them all. “The specifications are too difficult for anyone to meet,” Rabbi Aronow told the Rebbe.

“These tefillin are for a unique individual,” the Rebbe answered. “All the particulars should be adhered to.”

When, after four years, an acceptable pair was finally completed, the Rebbe called Tuvia to yechidus. He was extremely happy to give him the tefillin, and Tuvia was happy to receive them. “But I want to pay for them,” Tuvia insisted. “How much do they cost?”

“Ninety dollars,” the Rebbe answered.2

Shortly afterwards, Tuvia came to the Rebbe with a problem. He wanted to receive semichah (rabbinic ordination). At that time, the Rabbis of the Lubavitcher yeshivah would convey this status on a student when he had demonstrated proficiency in the details of the kashrus laws. Tuvia knew those laws well, but because his knowledge of Talmud as a whole was lacking, the Rabbis did not want to grant him semichah.

“So I will test you,” said the Rebbe, and he proceeded to ask Tuvia 10 questions with regard to the laws of kashrus.

“You know the laws well,” concluded the Rebbe. “I am giving you semichah.”

“Would the Rebbe give it to me in writing?” Tuvia asked.

“Why have it in writing?” the Rebbe replied. “This way, your study is lishmah, for the sake of the mitzvah itself.”

“Studying lishmah is very nice,” Tuvia answered, “but having it in writing would be even better.”

This was one time when Tuvia did not prevail. The Rebbe did not give him a written semichah.

Then Tuvia asked the Rebbe if he could help him find Rashi tefillin that met all the specifications required for his Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. The Rebbe agreed, but told Tuvia that it would take some time. In the interim, he showed Tuvia how to correct the Rashi tefillin which he already had.

At one point, the Rebbe told him that he had found a pair of Rashi tefillin. “Are they the very best in the world?” Tuvia asked.

“Are you sure you want to wait for the very best? ” the Rebbe asked, and looked sad when Tuvia answered affirmatively.

Shortly afterwards, the reason for the sorrow became evident: the cancer that was to claim Tuvia’s life began spreading throughout his body. He did not live long enough to have “the best tefillin in the world” prepared.

He passed away in Montreal, and there was a question as to whether he should be buried there or in the Lubavitch cemetery in New York, near the Previous Rebbe’s grave. Between 3 and 4 a.m., Tuvia’s brother Avraham received a call from the Rebbe’s office. The Rebbe had advised that Tuvia be buried in New York.

On the following day, the Rebbe went to pray at the Previous Rebbe’s graveside, so he was only several yards away from Tuvia’s funeral, and at night he held a surprise farbrengen.

Perhaps this was the Rebbe’s way of saying farewell to this unique neshamah in whose development he had shared.