In 1941, while fleeing from the Nazis, the Rebbe spent about a year in the city of Nice in Southern France. Almost 40 years later, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Pinson arrived in Nice as the Rebbe’s shliach, determined to bring Yiddishkeit to that city.

Rabbi Pinson’s activities were blessed with success from the beginning, and he soon had to look for a building to serve as a school and a center for Chabad’s outreach activities.

On four different occasions, he found what he thought was an appropriate spot, and each time he asked the Rebbe whether he should purchase the site. The Rebbe replied by referring him to Rabbi Binyamin Gorodetsky, who served as the Rebbe’s chief representative in Europe and North Africa. On each occasion, Rabbi Gorodetsky took the question back to the Rebbe, who then explained why he thought the location was unsuitable.

Rabbi Pinson is by no means an idle dreamer. And yet, like all of us, there are times when he too can become smitten by a particular vision. On a road leading to the home in which the Rebbe had stayed, there was a large building with ample grounds. “The Rebbe must have looked at this building several times each day,” Rabbi Pinson thought to himself. “This is the perfect location for my school!”

He tried to find the owner of the building, but without success. After several months of searching, while on a visit to New York one summer, he asked the Rebbe for a blessing to help him purchase the building. The Rebbe consented at once.

When he returned to France, Rabbi Pinson realized that the lease on the building he was renting for the school was up; he had to find a different location. One ad in the “For Rent” section of the newspaper attracted his attention. He inquired about it, and it turned out to be precisely the property on which his attention had become fixed.

He offered to buy the property, but the owner explained that he had recently inherited it, and that his accountant had advised him that for tax purposes, it was preferable for him to rent it out.

Not seeing any alternative, Rabbi Pinson agreed to rent the property. Feeling that the gentile owner would have difficulty understanding the Rebbe-chassid relationship, he phrased his agreement in the following manner: “There is, however, one condition. My school is a local branch of an international organization with headquarters in New York. Before I enter into any binding commitment, I must receive approval from the head of the organization.”

The owner was willing to give Rabbi Pinson several days, so Rabbi Pinson phoned the Rebbe’s secretary, Rabbi Klein, and requested that he ask the Rebbe if he should rent the building or not. The Rebbe responded within an hour that Rabbi Pinson should buy the building.

Rabbi Pinson was unsure of what to do. He thought, however, that if he could negotiate a rental agreement, perhaps he could have an option to buy added to the contract. With these thoughts in mind, he contacted the owner again.

When he told the owner that the head in New York had agreed to the rental, the owner told him: “I’ve changed my mind. I spoke to my accountant, and he says he can arrange for me to sell the property after all. Are you interested? If not, I’ll look for someone else.”

Rabbi Pinson told the owner that he would be happy to buy the property. As the negotiations grew serious, Rabbi Pinson realized that he would not be able pay the entire price, and would have to take out a mortgage. Now, obtaining a mortgage in France takes time, particularly for a charitable organization. Since it would be impossible to make all the arrangements before the school year began, Rabbi Pinson decided it would be necessary to rent the property for at least several months.

Before their next meeting, Rabbi Pinson withdrew a large amount of cash from his bank. Shortly after they began speaking, he put the money on the table and offered to rent the property for three months.

“But we spoke about buying,” the owner of the property said.

Rabbi Pinson explained that he was even more interested in buying than the owner was in selling, but that he was experiencing difficulty in arranging a mortgage, and needed to open the school in time for the fall term.

Reluctantly, the owner agreed. When his secretary typed out the rental contract, she mistakenly made it for six months instead of three. Rabbi Pinson was very happy, since it would have been very difficult to complete the process in three months, and now he would have ample time.

After making several applications for a mortgage, Rabbi Pinson was told that as a representative of a charitable organization that had just begun activities in the city, the only way that he would be granted a mortgage would be if the city council agreed to serve as a guarantor. This was an accepted practice in the city, and had been done for several charitable and religious organizations in the past. It had, however, never been done for a Jewish organization.

Rabbi Pinson asked the Chief Rabbi of Nice to approach the council on his behalf, but the Chief Rabbi explained that he was uncomfortable about making such a bold request. He offered instead to make an appointment with the mayor to speak about a different issue, and take Rabbi Pinson along. Rabbi Pinson could then broach the question about the guarantee.

Seeing no other option, Rabbi Pinson agreed. Before the appointment, he wrote the Rebbe for a blessing, and at the appropriate time met the Chief Rabbi outside the mayor’s office.

When they entered, the mayor listened to the Chief Rabbi’s request. Although it was a minor matter, the mayor did not offer any assistance. After such an inauspicious response, the Chief Rabbi was hesitant to introduce Rabbi Pinson, but he had made a commitment, and so he made the introduction.

As Rabbi Pinson started to speak, the mayor began to relax. Without any apparent reason, he offered to bring the question to the city council, and to push for its acceptance.

But this was not the end of Rabbi Pinson’s trials. Although the city council passed the motion, it still had to be approved by a provincial prefect. The prefect had not heard of either Rabbi Pinson or Lubavitch, and did not understand why the city council had offered to guarantee the mortgage. Without giving the matter a second thought, he vetoed the request.

So Rabbi Pinson found himself calling on the Chief Rabbi again, this time asking him to arrange a meeting with the prefect. The Chief Rabbi agreed to use the same ploy as before; he would approach the prefect on his own business, and take Rabbi Pinson along. The Chief Rabbi would make the introductions, but from that point on, Rabbi Pinson would have to speak for himself.

The earliest appointment the Chief Rabbi could receive was Nissan 11, the Rebbe’s birthday. Rabbi Pinson received this news with mixed emotions. He had always spent this day in 770, attending the Rebbe’s farbrengen. If he were to meet the prefect on this day, he would have to forgo the trip. On the other hand, he understood that the appointment falling on the Rebbe’s birthday was an obvious sign of Divine Providence. He told the Chief Rabbi to confirm the meeting, and wrote a letter to the Rebbe asking for a blessing for success.

The prefect greeted the Chief Rabbi and Rabbi Pinson warmly. As Rabbi Pinson explained the nature of Lubavitch activities, the prefect realized that he was dealing with a world-wide organization with a long and proud history of community service. He was prepared to approve the guarantee.

“Just submit your request to the city council again with minor changes,” he told Rabbi Pinson. “They will okay it, and this time I will approve it.”

Rabbi Pinson asked him if it would be possible for him to simply rescind his previous veto.

“No, that is just not done,” the prefect replied. “Once a veto has been issued, it is not overturned. Take the matter back to the city council, and then I will okay it.”

Rabbi Pinson realized that his rental contract was running out, and doubted his chances of receiving prompt approval from the city council a second time. “Today is the birthday of our Rebbe, a great spiritual leader recognized by the entire world,” he told the prefect. He explained that each year the American Congress would declare Nissan 11 “Education Day.”

“You can join in this initiative,” he told the prefect. “Yes, it means doing something out of the ordinary, but help us purchase our school! Consider it a birthday present to the Rebbe.”

The members of the city council were amazed when Rabbi Pinson brought them the letter from the prefect rescinding his veto; it had never happened before. Nonetheless, they checked their protocols and found that it was acceptable.

With the council as guarantor, he had no trouble obtaining a mortgage. Soon afterwards, holding the sales contract in his hand, Rabbi Pinson watched the children leaving the school.

“Did the Rebbe envision this,” he mused, “when he passed this building 40 years ago?”