Rabbi Kimmel is for Real

Years ago, Rabbi Kimmel and I worked regular hours at a job by day, but we would meet again at night in Rabbi Kimmels home and did work that originally, few people knew about. The extraordinary work that we did at night did not stay secret for long.

Rabbi Kimmel would see 2 to 3 people per night who had heard of him through the grapevine. There wasn't a session that ever completed without some incredible miracle. You would think staying up till 3:30am or 4:30am in the morning would be exhausting and it some ways it was. But just being in the room and seeing miracles take place each night before my eyes gave me a burst of energy that kept me encouraging Rabbi Kimmel to keep going on. He thrived on his ability to help people and drove himself past exhaustion each night to keep doing it.

That Rabbi Kimmel could see in detail both the good and bad points of each person was a given. I never got tired of being amazed at this but there were some moments so great, they changed me forever.

I will never forget one Chassidic couple It was clear that they cared for each other deeply, yet the man wanted to divorce his wife. They had been married almost 10 years and were childless. No matter which doctor he went to, he kept being told that he was incapable of having children ever.

“How could I ever condemn my healthy wife the joy of having and raising a child?” he argued. His wife was equally insistent. “I love my husband and I want to stay with him for life. I am willing to give up having children forever to stay married to him.”

It took every ounce of self control for me not to burst out in tears, seeing this great devotion and love that a husband and wife could have for each other. I glanced at Rabbi Kimmel and could see he was affected as much as I was.

There's a certain look that sometimes comes over Rabbi Kimmels face. If you know him well enough, you know that when that look appears, something is changing in Shomaim (heaven.)

Then, for the very first time, I heard Rabbi Kimmel make a promise. He looked at them and said. “You will have children. I promise you.”

The couple looked at each other wordlessly not knowing what to say.

Rabbi Kimmel saw their hesitation and continued.

“You don't believe me?” he asked.

They stared at him still not knowing what to say.

“OK, I'll even describe your baby, I can see him now in your arms.” Rabbi Kimmel then proceeded to describe in minute detail the features their baby would have. The hair color, the eye color, the fact that it was a boy and even a description of the baby carriage he could see him in. By the time Rabbi Kimmel was finished with the details, I could see the couple were in tears since they believed and accepted everything he said.

They had walked into the room resigned to never having children but they floated out of the room on the high that within a few years they would have the zchus (merit) to be parents.

I cannot describe the personal joy I experienced when 14 months later, I saw this same couple come in to see Rabbi Kimmel with their baby that matched in every detail the description Rabbi Kimmel had given before. They proudly presented the tiny infant to receive a Brocha directly from Rabbi Kimmel. Once again, Rabbi Kimmel had proved the doctors wrong. My happiness could not even hold a candle to the obvious happiness of these people who had seen Rabbi Kimmels Brocha (blessing) to them come to fruition.