RAV BINYAMIN KNEPELMACHER: THE TERRIBLE ILLNESS DISAPPEARED
Rav Binyamin Knepelmacher, shlita, is one of the biggest influential figures within Breslov chassidut today, and the maggid shiur (main lecturer) at the Sha’arei Torah yeshiva. Recently, Rav Kanfelmacher came to visit Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, at his home.
The connection between the two men stretches back many years, and includes a dramatic turnaround where Rav Kanfelmacher almost succumbed to a serious illness, lo alenu, before Rav Berland intervened.
Rav Shmuel Stern, another leading light in Breslov, head of the Nachalei Netzach educational institutions, and one of Rav Berland’s oldest students, takes up the story:
(translated from the original Hebrew account in ‘Lehavot Esh’):
“One of the times that I merited to really see the power of the Rav’s prayers, was in relation to a good friend of mine, Rabbi Binyamin Knepelmacher,” begins Rav Shmuel Stern. “While Rabbi Knepelmacher was on a trip to America, he suddenly didn’t start to feel too good. He came back to Israel, and then it was discovered that he had cancer. He actually lost consciousness for a couple of weeks, and the doctors gave up on him at that point, and called his family in to say their farewells to him.
“One night, the Rav showed up at the hospital with a few students, and I also had the merit of being part of the group that came to visit. He entered Reb Binyamin’s room, and saw him lying unconscious there. He started to recite the Tikkun Haklali next to him, very loudly, together with the rest of the group.
“The nurses came from all over the ward to see what was going on. The Rav told us to say the Tikkun Haklali together three times, and then as he was leaving he told Reb Binyamin’s children: “In another 24 hours, your father is going to wake up.”
“And so it was! After 24 hours, to the utter shock of all the doctors and his relatives, Rabbi Binyamin woke up, and started moving around. Hashem helped him to have a complete refuah shleima and return to his avodat Hashem.” [1]
[1] The Rav often used to ask his driver to take him directly to the bedside of a seriously ill person who’d been hospitalized. Whilst there, the Rav would recite the Tikkun Haklali, and on many occasions, the sick person would recover.
