Newspaper Reserves Front Page, Fulfilling the Rebbe’s 1991 Call

Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s major Friday newspaper, once ran a surprising notice on its front news section: “This space is reserved for the most important announcement.” Beneath it appeared a rare photo of the Lubavitcher Rebbe with Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes, one of the owners of Yedioth Ahronoth.

The caption read: “The Rebbe during the historic instruction: ‘Then prepare an empty space.’” A QR code was also printed with the line, “For the full story and more detailed information, scan the code.”

The code linked to a video in which Nir-Mozes recounted her visit to the Rebbe’s residence in Crown Heights, New York, on Sunday, 8 Tevet 5752 (1991), during the Rebbe’s daily “dollars” distribution. When her turn came to receive a dollar and a blessing, the Rebbe surprised her, saying:

“Your agency is called ‘Yedioth Ahronoth.’ What will happen at the end of days is that Mashiach Tzidkeinu will come. So prepare an empty space in the newspaper as close as possible, because this itself will hasten his coming. Since he will know the announcement is already prepared, it will pave the way for him.” The Rebbe then gave Mrs. Nir-Mozes an additional dollar, “for that final announcement, which is coming very soon.”

Three decades after the Rebbe’s directive, the newspaper fulfilled his words and published: “This space is reserved for the most important announcement.”