33 years ago, a young bochur passed by the Rebbe by dollars and received an unusual bracha for arichus yomim. Yesterday, when Rabbi Moshe Weber of Dnipro and his family were saved from a direct missile hit, the meaning of that bracha became clear.

By Anash.org reporter

A fascinating video has surfaced of the Rebbe giving a bracha for arichus yomim to a young bochur whose family miraculously survived a Russian missile attack yesterday – 33 years later.

That bochur, Rabbi Moshe Weber, is today one of the veteran shluchim in Ukraine. Together with his wife, Shoshi, they serve as Chabad shluchim in Dnipro, where he also heads Kolel Torah, a global network of organized Torah study programs – particularly active across Europe and the former Soviet Union – with over 5,000 participants.

At the time, however, he was a regular, unassuming bochur. On Sunday, 12 Cheshvan 5752 (1991), he passed by the Rebbe for dollars. In the video, the Rebbe is seen giving him an unusual bracha for a young man: “לאנגע געזונטע יארן” – ” long, healthy years”. It was a strikingly uncommon bracha to receive at that age.

Now, 33 years later, the bracha’s relevance has become strikingly clear.

On Shabbos, the Russian military launched hundreds of missiles and drones at densely populated cities throughout Ukraine. Over 100 missiles and suicide drones were fired on Dnipro, known as the “capital of Ukrainian Jewry.” One missile struck the upper floors of an apartment building in the city center – home to the Webers. The attack claimed the lives of two people and left dozens injured.

Although their home sustained partial damage, the Weber family emerged completely unharmed – a clear miracle.

According to Rabbi Weber, “We experienced an incredible miracle this Shabbos. The missile hit our building, the balcony and part of our apartment were damaged, but baruch Hashem, we are totally fine and unscathed. The upper portion of the building caught fire, and the fire alarm systems activated. We had to flee into the street with the children in the middle of the night, still in our pajamas.

“We stayed outside with the kids for several hours until the fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze. Once they determined the building was not at risk of collapse, we were allowed to return home. Everything is fine now. It was a miracle completely beyond the natural order.”

He added, “I attribute the miracle to the zechus of our shlichus here, which we carry out with mesiras nefesh. We had only just returned a few days ago from Poland, where we ran a summer camp for hundreds of Jewish children from Ukraine. It was far from easy to come back, from the peace and quiet of Poland, straight into a war zone. But as shluchim of the Rebbe, this is our life. We are here for every single Jew who needs us.”

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