Shortly after the Rebbe assumed the nesius, several young American men from secular backgrounds began studying in the Lubavitcher yeshivah. One of them, a student from Chicago, received his draft notice a few short months after he had begun studying.

He was very upset. “While I was not observant,” he explained to his friends, “I had all the time in the world and misused it, and yet I was not drafted. Now suddenly, when I’ve started to appreciate the importance of time, and have begun using it wisely, I am no longer my own master. How could G‑d do this to me?”

With complaints of this nature, and with some practical questions such as “Should I claim to be a conscientious objector, or should I flee to Canada and begin studying in the Lubavitcher yeshivah in Montreal?”, he approached the Rebbe at yechidus.

The Rebbe told him to enter the army and not to worry about the lost time. “It is a descent,” the Rebbe explained, “for the purpose of an ascent.”

And then the Rebbe stood up to illustrate what he meant. “Standing next to the chair like this,” he told the student, “I would never be able to jump over it. But if I were to take a few steps back” and the Rebbe did so “and get a running start, I could jump over it.”

The student spent two years in the army, serving in different posts in Western Europe. Throughout this period, he fastidiously observed the mitzvos, finding time to pray and study in even the most difficult of circumstances.

When he completed his tour of duty, he returned to New York and prepared to enter yechidus. He had several serious questions concerning his future: Should he return to yeshivah, or should he begin contemplating a career? Should he start considering marriage? And he had some questions regarding religious observance. Should he begin growing a beard, for example.

All in all, he had 10 major questions, each with several minor inquiries associated with it. For example, if the Rebbe told him to grow a beard, how should he deal with his mother’s objections? If the Rebbe told to think about a career, in which area should he start looking?

He wrote down his 10 major questions, but instead of handing the list to the Rebbe, he held it in his own hand and asked the questions verbally. To each of his major questions, the Rebbe answered in great detail, anticipating all the minor questions that were in his mind.

As the young man asked question after question, he began to grow more amazed at the Rebbe’s answers. Obviously, he was reading his mind! On every point which he wanted clarified, the Rebbe answered in precise detail, foreseeing all the secondary issues he had thought of bringing up.

After having five questions answered in this fashion, he froze in amazement, unable to continue. The Rebbe, however, continued for him, stating both the questions and the answers, until in this fashion he had dealt with all 10 issues that the young man had wished to resolve.