“You do your Rebbe a disservice by telling so many miracle stories about him,” a friend once told me.

“What do you mean?” I responded.

“The Rebbe changed the direction of traditional Jewry,” my friend began to explain. “Before he assumed leadership of Lubavitch, religious Jewry was on the defensive. He turned the tables and enabled it to advance. For this, every observant Jew, whether or not he is his chassid, owes the Rebbe a debt.

“In cities and countries where Jewish observance would never have been given a chance, the Rebbe made it a reality. These are the Rebbe’s true miracles. Whatever private salvation he was able to achieve for individuals detracts from these greater achievements.”

For the Rebbe, these efforts have never been looked at as private matters, and he has inspired thousands of young men and women to devote themselves to these goals.

This is the point of this chapter: To shed some light on the personal side of the Rebbe’s efforts to inspire the spread of Jewish awareness and practice throughout the world.