‘ENOUGH EXILE!’ IS A LEGITIMATE 4 COMPLAINT MY DEAR … · HEBREW EDITOR: Rabbi Sholom Yaakov...

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HEBREW EDITOR:Rabbi Sholom Yaakov [email protected]

contents

THE POWER OF PRAYERShlichus | Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz36

11TH EUROPEAN MOSHIACH CONGRESSNews39

OF STORIES AND STORYBOOKSInsight | M. Liebson28

GEULA - WHAT WE AWAIT!Moshiach & Geula | Rabbi Gershon Avtzon26

FLYING SNAKESMoshiach & Science | Dr. Aryeh Gotfryd20

A BRACHA FROM SKY-HIGHMiracle Story | Nosson Avrohom 16

AND THEN THE REBBE LAUGHEDFeature | Nosson Avrohom10

‘ENOUGH EXILE!’ IS A LEGITIMATECOMPLAINTD’var Malchus

4

MY DEAR FRIEND LEVIShloshim | Rabbi Chaim Leib Hildeshaim6

WIKILEAKS AND THE CHABAD REBBEIMFeature | Rabbi Naftali Estulin34

TO CATCH A BIG FISHStory | Nosson Avrohom22

767_Beis Moshiach 06/12/2010 9:05 AM Page 3

3 Teives 5771 BE IS MOSHIACH4

THE CLAIM FOR A GOOD, LONG LIFEThis week’s Torah portion

relates the complaint of YaakovAvinu: “Few…have been the daysof the years of my life, and theyhave not attained the days of theyears of the life of my fathers”(for Yaakov lived only to the ageof 147; he did not merit thelongevity of his father, Yitzchok,who lived to 180).

From Yaakov’s concern aboutlongevity we learn that it is withinthe power of every Jew to ask fora good, long life. And when a Jewmakes this claim, certainly it willhave an impact - and so it shallbe!

How much more so is it withinthe power of a Jew to demandthat the redemption should finallycome, for “All of the predicateddates [for the advent of theredemption] have passed and thematter is only dependent uponrepentance.” Indeed, the leader ofthe generation has ruled that allJews have already repented –“immediately to repentance” –and now there must already be“immediately to redemption.”Thus, we cry out [with thelegitimate complaint] “Ad masai!(Until when?!)”

WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO REMINDME ABOUT THE SUFFERING OF EXILE– ON SHABBOS?

There are those who argue:

How can it be that a person sitsand torments Jews for severalhours, speaking about this andthat, and then all of a suddenstarts screaming “Dalai galus!(Enough with exile!)” And heasks that they too scream “Admasai?!” – insofar as Friday hasalready passed, many hours ofShabbos have gone by, and now itis Shabbos in the afternoon, afterseveral hours of speaking here,and still [Moshiach] has notcome!

They argue: Why is itnecessary to remind them of thesuffering of exile on Shabbos?And in so doing he is in effectcoming with complaints againstG-d Himself (as it were) andvoicing his opinion to G-d! Wewant to live with G-d peacefullyand not to start up with Him!

Especially since G-d knowswhat He’s supposed to do and Heknows what it says in the Gemara- that “All of the predicated dateshave passed and the matter isonly dependent uponrepentance.” He even knows thatthe leader of the generation hasruled that Jews have alreadyrepented. Therefore, how could itbe that this big shot gets up anddemands the redemption?!

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS OTHERTHAN GEULA

The answer to their complaintsis that no calculations can be

considered here. What matters isnothing other than that theredemption should already behere in actuality, in a manner of“achishena (I shall hasten it)”and “achishena sh’b’achishena”!

What about the fact that thereare Jews sitting here at thefarbrengen and sleeping –nestled, sleeping on “clouds ofheaven”? When they wake upfrom their sleep they’ll open theireyes and see that all of a suddenthey find themselves inYerushalayim the Holy City. Ifthey wonder how they got there,tell them. And after they washtheir hands [upon waking fromtheir sleep] tell them whichblessings to say [for the advent ofthe Messianic redemption]according to Shulchan Aruch!

What about the fact that thereare those who have difficulties?May they be well! - but let thattake place before the redemptionunfolds. Because surely thenEliyahu HaNavi will have mercyupon such a person, seeing thathe can’t sleep, bothered from hisquandary - and Eliyahu willresolve it.

The main thing, however, is:Jews, get out of exile!

[The Rebbe paused for amoment, smiled, and said]“L’chaim, l’chaim u’l’v’racha [andmotioned with his holy hand].

From the address of Shabbos Parshas Shmos 5746, bilti muga

d’var ma lchus

‘ENOUGH EXILE!’ IS ALEGITIMATE COMPLAINTTranslated by Boruch Merkur

OUTAGE


It’s very hard for me to writeabout my dear longtime friend, Levi.I don’t know where to begin, so Iwould like to focus on ourfriendship, as this will be a reminderto myself as well as to others, on theimportance of staying close.

FRIENDSHIPLevi and I grew up together: our

birthdays were celebrated just aweek apart, we were classmatesthroughout our years of schooling,staring from preschool, we spentmany summers together - thousandsof hours of friendship andconversations.

Levi loved reminiscing about

different childhood memories,among them special moments andencounters in 770...

There’s another memory thatsprings to mind, a memory of oneof the so many people that felt soclose to you, Levi! After the levayawas over, most of the chaverim juststood there crying and simplycouldn’t leave. I noticed Ami, a guyfrom your mivtzaim route standingand crying with everyone else, and itbrought back vivid memories.Although we didn’t regularly go onmivtzaim together, you used toschlep me along to farbreng withAmi in his Manhattan apartment anumber of times. It’s hard to believe

that you were doing this at such ayoung age! We were farbrengingwith someone so much older thanus. You really taught me what itmeans to farbreng with someone,the good feeling that is gained fromdoing so, by becoming much closerwith the other person, and greatlyenhancing the relationship. Later,on the way back home to CrownHeights - either on the train orwhen we took a taxi - you spoke ofthe geshmak that we had justexperienced and how you wish wecould do this much more often. Thiswas just the beginning of Leviacting as a shliach!

This was something that youenjoyed so much and what you toldme many times that it was the mostenjoyable part of being on shlichus:farbrenging and becoming friendswith new people, and through thatbeing mekarev them, and how thatis the best job in the world!

A TRUE CHAVER - WHOMADE SURE WE ALWAYS

STAYED CLOSE1. When my younger brothers

were born, you came to the ShalomZochors, although it requiredspecial effort. You had to arrangefor an older bachur friend (whichyou had no shortage of!) to walkyou over, since your father had aweekly shiur at your house. It meant


sh losh im

To mark the Shloshim of Rabbi LeviDeitsch O.B.M. – the Rebbe’s Shliachto Tysons Corner, Virginia, BeisMoshiach presents a series ofmemories and essays dealing with“and the living shall take it toheart.” With the pain still raw in ourhearts, and still unable to stem theflow of our tears we shout out toHashem AD MASAI?! * Part 1 of 2

MY DEAR FRIENDLEVIBy Rabbi Chaim Leib Hildeshaim


BE IS MOSHIACH Issue 767 7

so much to me that you werecelebrating with us.

2. As a bachur, Levi was onshlichus in Migdal HaEmek, and Iwas on shlichus in Kfar Chabad.Shortly after we arrived, and wewere separated from each other forso long, not seeing each other on aregular basis (as we did since wewere in Oholei Torah preschool ineast Flatbush by Reb Michel’s shul),Levi started calling me regularly,and nudging me: “Nu, when areyou coming to Migdal forShabbos?” Sure enough, I soonwent to Migdal for Shabbos, andLevi welcomed me like only Leviknew how. He gave me a grand tourof the yeshiva and the city, and heintroduced me to all his new friends– which was the whole yeshiva!

I will never forget the Fridaynight Shabbos meal with the wholeyeshiva, where Levi rocked thehouse like only Levi could do, withtremendous chayus and niggunim,including “The niggun” that hewould sing every Friday night. Hegot everyone involved in singing it,to the point that the bachurim calledit Levi’s Niggun! In fact, this pastFriday, I was listing to a CD ofniggunim that his late father, RebZalmen A”H had put together. Oneof the songs he calls “Levi’sNiggun,” and mentions that this isan old niggun that the bachurimfrom Migdal HaEmek would singwhen they came over to the Deitschfamily during Tishrei. Indeed, thiswas the niggun that Levi wouldalways sing and get everyone to singalong with him!

On Shabbos day, he took me toeat at the home of Rabbi Hendel,the esteemed Rav of the community,with whom Levi had alreadyestablished a very friendlyrelationship. On Motzaei Shabboswe both went out together, and Leviwalked me to the bus station. BeforeI even left the city, Levi was alreadyasking and demanding that I comeback to visit again soon.

3. At my engagement L’chaimand at my Kiddush in 770 beforemy chassuna, Levi was there tobring happiness and joy on myspecial day. He made sure to saylots of L’chaim and really helpedbring a tremendous chayus into thefarbrengen that lasted for manyhours.

Before my chassuna, which washeld out of town, Levi insisted thathe should be the one to take me tothe airport. My other siblingsassured him: “Don’t worry, we aregoing to do it. We B”H have a bigfamily, someone will be available totake him.” He said: “don’t eventhink of letting someone else takeyou - I am going to do it!” and so itwas.

4. Shortly after Levi moved onshlichus to Virginia, he startedcalling and nudging: “Nu, when areyou coming to visit with the family?We have to get together, you have tosee my place!” After a number ofsuch calls I made the eleven hourdrive from Toronto to Virginia to

spend two quality days together. Wewent out together to WashingtonDC, we visited the neighboringChabad Houses, and we spent hoursjust farbrenging together.

Whenever Levi was in Toronto,where two of his siblings areshluchim, even if he was there for ashort time - coming in and out for afamily simcha - he always made it apoint on his schedule that we shouldget together.

5. Levi made sure to always stayin touch. He never missed to callme on my birthday, even when hewas sick, r”l, he still called and gaveall of his brachos. Last year, hecalled a day late and he startedapologizing for being a day late. Itold him that he didn’t have to callaltogether, and how delighted I amthat he is calling me at all; hecertainly didn’t have to apologize!He just brushed it off by saying: “agutte chaver darf men rufen (a goodfriend - you have to call)”.

6. After Levi sadly become ill, Iwould call him very often. At one



point he told me that I should fromnow on call him or text him on hiscell phone, since that is the best wayto get hold of him. If he was unableto talk at the moment, he would callme back as soon as he had achance. After he sadly was not ableto see properly, and it was hard forhim to call, he would send me a textby just typing a few letters, tellingme that that was the sign that Ishould call him now that he wantsto talk. I have saved on my cellphone many of these texts and itwill be an everlasting reminder howmuch he loved to farbreng togetherand how important it is to call achaver.

A BIG MAAMIN - WHOGAVE MUCH CHIZUK As mentioned above, after Levi

sadly become ill, we spoke veryoften. I never asked him about hisillness. Whatever he said, he said, Ididn’t ask more.

About two and a half years ago,his brother Nechemia, may he liveand be well, made a bris and Levicame in for the bris to be thesandek. We arranged it that if hewould come in (he didn’t knowuntil the last second if he would beable to come at all), I would pickhim up from the airport and wewould spend the day together.

We hugged each other as soon aswe got into the car, and Levi startedto talk: “Let me tell you everythingfrom the beginning. After Tishrei Iwas in pain. I thought it wasbecause of working hard on Tishrei,schlepping the sukkah, etc. Whenthe pains didn’t go away, I went to adoctor. I was told I have a fewmonths left to live… But the doctorshave no right to say that, I am fine,I feel fine! It will be fine…”

And with the chayus andstrength that only Levi had, with hisloud laughs, he went on and onbeing his regular self.

I tried (a bit unsuccessfully)

holding back my tears and missedthe exit on the highway. Meanwhile,the entire time Levi was talking andtelling me everything he was goingthrough and how it will all be fine.

He said that no one else in hiscommunity knows about it, how hemanaged to hide it from everyone,and he is continuing with hisshlichus like nothing is going on, soall the activities with all the peopleinvolved wont be affected at all!Again and again, he told me how itwill all be fine. I was sitting andlistening, and instead of givingchizuk, I was getting chizuk fromLevi. This happened almost everytime we spoke - he was givingchizuk and lebedikait, uplifting all ofus. This is something that I heardfrom many people that went to visitLevi and from those that called him;he was the one always givingchizuk! We then went out togetherand had a good time together, byjust farbrenging together, which wasLevi’s favorite thing to do.

LEVI WAS ALWAYSTHANKFUL

Just to share a few smallexamples:

1. When Levi was in NY toundergo some treatment, two closeclassmates and myself came by tovisit him on Sunday night. The planwas to go in for a short visit, since Ihad already visited over Shabbos,and I had to drive back to Toronto,and most importantly he had adoctor appointment on Mondaymorning. But Levi just didn’t let usgo… he said a few more minutes…another story, and another story....until it was light outside! He thensent me an email thanking me forthe “all-nighter” and how much heappreciated it, and how much itmeant for him. After that incident,we started learning a sicha on thephone together with a fewclassmates, something that wasdone on and off before Levi became

ill as well.2. Shortly after I moved to

Toronto on shlichus, I did anunveiling for a person whose son‘happened’ to live near Tyson’sCorner. I told him that I have a veryclose friend that lives not too far,and that they should get together.He gave me all of his contact infoand I forwarded it on to Levi. B”Hthey connected very well. The sonbecame involved in the Chabadactivities there; he put his kids inLevi’s Hebrew School, and becomea supporter of Chabad of Tyson’sCorner! On one of my trips toTyson’s Corner, Levi wanted to goout to the same coffee shop wherehe first met this person. He wantedto tell me where they sat, to tell meeverything they talked about whenthey just met, and how the familygot connected with their ChabadHouse. He was so thankful for thatconnection that I made for him, justa simple gesture on my part, yet hekept on thanking me, andmentioned this a number of timeswhen we spoke over the next fewyears.

3. After Levi was, lo aleinu,sitting Shiva for his father, Itravelled to be menchaem avel him.He later made a special call to thankme for coming in and how much itmeant to him. He would tell me allthe time about all the guests he hadthat came to visit him, and all thepeople that would call him, and howmuch it meant to him. He wouldoften tell me: “Please tell everyonethat if they come, they should notcome for two hours and leave. Ifthey come, they should come for afull day!”

4. Once, after a farbrengen formy birthday (after Levi was notwell) and after I had a few L’chaims,I called Levi’s cellphone. It wasaround 3 AM, and I left this longmessage with some brachos. I don’tremember exactly what I said, buthe called me the next day thankingme, saying how happy it made him



feel and how he saved the messageto listen to again and again, andhow he wished that I did it moreoften.

LEVIS BIG HEART Levi was a very giving person

from a very young age. There aremany examples, but just to share afew:

1. As a child, he would bring lotsof cake to school to share with us.He would say that he has to knowhow it tastes, as his mother - mayshe live and be well - needs to getsome feedback, as she was in themidst of working on the Lubavitch‘Spice & Spirit’ cookbook, andneeds to know if she should includethat particular recipe.

2. Levi shared with me on anumber of occasions that he hadhelped out various shluchimfinancially, simply loaning largeamounts of money. Some were ourclassmates; others were oldershluchim, who despite the great agedifference were Levi’s friends. Attimes, I would ask him about hisconnection to that particular shliachthat he just gave such a big loan to.Levi would always say: “if theRebbe’s shliach needs help, and Ican help, I will do whatever I can.”And he did!

3. A number of our classmatesand friends are on shlichus or havejobs, thanks for Levi putting in agood word for them. Whether it was

through making the phone calls ontheir behalf, having other chaverimcall, and making follow-up callsonce they were at their new job;Levi was a truly devoted and caringfriend!

Also, there are many people thatare married today, thanks for Levi’sinput in making their shidduch(directly or indirectly). Levi startedthis even when he was still a youngbachur, caring about others andtheir futures, assisting his mother inthis important work.

BEING HAPPY INOTHERS’ SUCCESS

Levi was very proud of thehatzlacha of his siblings and friendson shlichus. Levi would describewith tremendous nachas and joyabout their Chabad Houses, theirbreitkait, the stories that happenedto them etc.

A few times Levi told me overand over again about ourclassmate’s new Chabad House;how I must go and check it out –“it’s worth the drive in fromToronto!” He would describe how itlooks – “it’s an old mansion, it hasbig windows, its impressive doors,it’s just beautiful ...I can’t describeit (although he did a great job indoing so); you must go check itout!”

He listened to a CD from adinner that was produced byanother chaver on shlichus. He said

how they talk so highly about ourchaver: “It’s unbelievable, you mustget it and listen to it!”

The same nachas was heard inhis voice when he was describing somany of our friends and theirsuccess in business. He did it withsuch sincere happiness, as he wouldgo on and on in describing theirsuccesses.

DEAR LEVI, THANKS FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP!

No one will ever be able to takeyour place as a true friend, the onewho always put a smile on my face.There is no one else that I spent somuch time talking on the phonewith, on such a regular basis. Noone was ever as concerned aboutevery detail of my personal andshlichus life as you were!

Levi, you taught me a big lessonin life. Pick up the phone and call achaver, a long-lost classmate. Keepin touch. You showed me how muchit meant to you, and how much itmeans to everyone - to have thefeeling that someone is thinking ofthem!

Dear Levi, I never told you this,but thanks to your living example, Ihad started calling more chaverimover these last few years, to wishthem happy birthday, or just to stayhello. I hope that this trend will onlycatch on to more and more people.

Surely, in the z’chus of yourincredible Ahavas Yisroel that is nowserving as an example andinspiration to so many people, it willbring all the necessary brachos to allyour loved ones-to your dear wifeMiriam, a true Eishes Chayil, toyour taiere kinderlach, to yourmother and to all your siblings; andmay we be zocheh very soon to beall together and farbreng by theultimate farbrengen that we’re allyearning to attend - with the Rebbein Yerushalayim - may it be NOW!

Again and again, he told me how it willall be fine. I was sitting and listening,and instead of giving chizuk, I wasgetting chizuk from Levi. This happenedalmost every time we spoke - he wasgiving chizuk and lebedikait, upliftingall of us...


“I saw how the Rebbe sits inBrooklyn and runs the school in theChinuch Atzmai system where Iworked in B’nei Brak.” That is howRabbi Yerachmiel Alperowitz beganhis story. He is one of the seniorLubavitcher Chassidim inYerushalayim and an outstandingeducator who taught thousands ofstudents with the bracha of theRebbe Rayatz.

It was the late 1980’s and hatredtowards the teachings of the BaalShem Tov in general and ChabadChassidus and the LubavitcherRebbe in particular was beingspewed forth from a certainpersonality in B’nei Brak. The longyears of peace between Chassidimand non-Chassidim were over andreplaced with enmity.

R’ Alperowitz worked as an

elementary school teacher fordecades, since 5713, in one of theChinch Atzmai schools (a systemfounded in 1953 by the MoetzesG’dolei Ha’Torah, to serve as analternate school system for religiouschildren in Israel) in the center ofB’nei Brak. Usually lauded by thelocal and national administrationand gratefully thanked by thesatisfied parents, he suddenly foundhimself in the eye of a storm. A bandof quarrel mongers who took controlof the school decided to fire him.Why? The only reason was becausehe was a Lubavitcher Chassid, theirsworn enemy.

“The truth must be said – theywere a small group. But despitebeing few in number they usedintimidation to impose their viewson others.”

EDUCATION MISSIONRabbi Alperowitz began teaching

in 5709, three years before he gotmarried. R’ Zushe Wilyamovsky,known as “the Partisan,” is the onewho drew him into the field. Thatyear many Jews came from Russiaand he put together a yeshiva in Ludwhere he promised to take care oftheir material needs while R’Alperowitz was assigned to providefor their spiritual needs.

“I remember it as though it wastoday,” says R’ Alperowitz. “Zushecalled me and said, ‘You will teachthe children and I will take care ofall the material needs.’ Thisarrangement worked until 5712,when I got married and moved toB’nei Brak.

“When I wrote to the RebbeRayatz in 5709 about my


feature

The Chassid, Rabbi YerachmielAlperowitz, served as a teacher fordecades in Litvishe circles and wasgreatly respected by them. When hostilemisnagdim tried to get him fired heturned to the Rebbe.

AND THENTHE REBBELAUGHEDBy Nosson Avrohom



involvement in chinuch and that Ithought I was suited to this work, hewrote me a long and encouragingresponse. He told me: be successfulin establishing good students whoare successful in their studies and infear of Heaven.

“Unfortunately, the letter wasstolen from me. I tried my best toget it back, albeit unsuccessfully.The Rebbe’s words, however, stillaccompany me till this day in everyaspect of the education of Jewishchildren.

“After I got married I looked fora teaching job. I knew that with thisbracha from the Rebbe, this was mymission in life.

“Not long after my wedding Iwent to the Neve Achiezerneighborhood on the edge of B’neiBrak. I walked into the main shulthere and asked the people of theneighborhood whether there was aschool for their children. Theylooked at me in astonishment andsaid that there was no school wasbecause they had no teacher. Thiswas a period of time when thingsweren’t as organized as they aretoday. It’s not like today where thereare schools in every neighborhoodand there was no law at the timeabout school attendance. When Iheard this, I offered to be theteacher.

“They agreed and every morningI would go to the shul, the childrenwould convene, and I would teachthem. This went on for a long time.Since they had no money to give me,I had to look for additional work tosupport my family.

“One day, R’ Tzvi Kogan cameto observe me at the shul. He wassent by the Talmud Torah ofChinuch Atzmai, which was locatedopposite my home. He got straightto the point and said he had heard alot about me, and the students whocame from me to his Talmud Torahknew how to read better than therest, and their yiras Shamayim (fearof Heaven) was apparent.

“He asked to test the children inmy presence and I was happy to lethim do so. He asked them questionsin Chumash and was very excited bythe knowledge they displayed. Onthe spot he offered me a job in theChinuch Atzmai school in the centerof B’nei Brak, near my home. Hesaid he was sent by the members ofthe administration led by theprincipal, Rabbi Koretz, a KarlinerChassid, to offer me this position. Idid not answer him immediatelysince a Chassid first asks theRebbe.”

“YOU ARE A CHASSID;YOU NEED TO GO TO

CHABAD!”At this time I received another

teaching offer from a school in KfarSaba that was run by Rabbi MosheAharon Zilberstrom. He asked me tojoin his staff. I sent a letter to theRebbe with the two offers and askedthe Rebbe to tell me which to pick.

It is interesting that in theinterim I met the Chazon Ish (RabbiAvrohom Yeshaya Karelitz 1878-1953, leader of religious Jewry inIsrael who lived in B’nei Brak). Ididn’t live far from him. I asked himhis opinion. He knew me well andwe spoke on occasion. He said, “Youare a Chassid and they are makingyou an offer from Chabad – youshould go to Chabad.”

Some days later the Rebbeanswered as follows: wherever youare, be a Chassid who creates anenvironment. The hint was clear.The Rebbe wanted me to accept theoffer from the Chinuch AtzmaiSchool in B’nei Brak.

I began teaching there at thebeginning of the 5714/1953 schoolyear. With Hashem’s help I was verysuccessful. The parents were happyand the administration was happy. Ifelt that the success wasn’t due tomy talents or abilities. Whenever thecentral administration of ChinuchAtzmai would come to the school to

test the students, the principal,Rabbi Grossbard of Yerushalayim,would come into my class and notelovingly, “This is a Chabad school …” On the wall, of course, werepictures of all the Rebbeim and therewas a Chabad atmosphere in theclassroom as the Rebbe hadinstructed me.

I remember one time when R’Grossbard stood near the door ofmy classroom, wanting to hear whatI was teaching. I didn’t know he wasstanding there but afterwards at ateachers’ meeting he related what heheard. I had explained to thechildren the idea of “the earth willbe filled with knowledge of G-d”according to the Chassidicunderstanding that no place isdevoid of G-d.

One of the boys asked how thiswas possible when we don’t see G-dand I answered him with a Chassidicanalogy of a blind person whoattends a wedding where the tablesare laden with delicious food, meatand fish, wine and desserts. Whensomeone tells the blind man aboutall the food, he dismisses it and says:‘I don’t believe you. There is no foodlike that here.’ The childrenimmediately said it’s because hedoesn’t see it; that’s why he doesn’tbelieve it. But the food is reallythere. So too in our situation, I wenton to say. We are limited and cannotsee G-dliness. It’s above us, like theblind man who doesn’t see the food;but does that mean the food isn’tthere?

R’ Grossbard was standing thereand listening the entire time and inthe teachers’ room he was verycomplimentary. “By Alperowitz it’salive,” he exclaimed. Before me Icould see the Rebbe Rayatz’s bracha.

From the Rebbe I had theshlichus to make every place Chabadand so when the Rebbe announcedthe Mezuza campaign, I tried toimplement it. I told R’ Grossbard,“It’s been many years since themezuzos in the school were checked,



if they were ever checked at all. TheRebbe says to check the mezuzos.”At first he tried to get out of it bysaying it cost a lot of money to havesixty mezuzos checked, but I urgedhim to do it. Then he said he wouldbe traveling on a fundraising tripsoon and when he returned hewould set aside money for it. Iexplained that he should do it theother way around, first check themezuzos and then travel, and thanksto doing it this way he would besuccessful.

He agreed to have them checkedand quite a few were pasul; therewere even cases without anymezuzos at all. Back then lessattention was paid to the mitzva ofmezuza until the Rebbe focusedattention on it. Soon everyone sawthat the Rebbe was justified.

I enjoyed my work and boruchHashem the administration waspleased too. Inspectors from theEducation Ministry once came andwhen they saw that I had 36students in my classroom, they

pointed out that I had the right to asmaller class size. I said every childis a diamond and I wouldn’t give upany of them as long as there were nocomplaints. They were veryimpressed.

Things continued in this wayuntil the late 80’s.

BATTLINGTHE MISNAGDIM

In 5749 the troubles began. Agroup of Litvishe parents decided to

GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN CHASSIDIM AND NON-CHASSIDIM

For many years, R’ Alperowitz lived near theChazon Ish in B’nei Brak and he says categoricallythat throughout all those years there was no hatredbetween Chassidim and non-Chassidim; on thecontrary, they got along:

One time, as I passed near his house, I met R’Shneur Zalman Garelik, the rav of Kfar Chabad,together with Rav Zislin. I went over to them andbefore I said a word, R’ Garelik asked me what I wasdoing there. I was impudent and I asked him, “Whatam I doing here? What are you doing here?!” Theysaid they had come to ask a halachic question.

***The Chazon Ish would take walks in the streets of

B’nei Brak. One time we met and he asked mewhether I could take care of something for him withthe rav of Kfar Chabad. Of course, I immediatelyagreed and I asked what he wanted me to do. He saidit had to do with the mitzva of eiruv. Since I wasn’tknowledgeable in the subject, I couldn’t undertake theshlichus on one foot there in the street. We went up tohis apartment and he wrote his halachic response andthen explained to me why he held what he held.

The next time I was in Kfar Chabad, I went to R’Garelik and told him that I had something for himfrom the Chazon Ish. I saw that he was pleased,apparently he had been waiting for this, and heblessed me with a hearty yasher ko’ach.

***Another similar example is something that

happened with the Ponovezher Rav, RabbiKahaneman. In my early years of teaching, after I gotmarried, Rav Kahaneman met me and said he hadheard a lot about me and my teaching and since he

had a group in his yeshiva from Tunisia, he wantedme to take educational responsibility for them and betheir madrich. That group had some tough kids. Iheard that they had even hit their previous madrich.Until that point, my experience was only in teachingsmall children and this meant dealing with youthsseventeen years old and older. Nevertheless, I agreedto take on the task on a trial basis.

I decided to start with the basics. I asked for aclosed room where I could teach them, which was nodifficulty in Ponovezh. I told the boys that I wanted toreveal secrets to them that they would not hearanywhere else. What were those secrets? I took out aTanya and began teaching them that every neshamathat comes down to the world has two forces, a G-dlysoul and an animalistic soul and there is a constantbattle between them as to which will be in control.

They were excited by this. They had never heardanything like it. I followed this up with otherfundamentals of Chassidus and they were fascinated.Within two weeks it was obvious that they hadundergone a radical change.

One morning R’ Kahaneman met me and said,“Yerachmiel, what is this I heard?” I was frightened.Then he went on to say, “I heard that you areteaching Tanya.” The moment I heard this I was sureI was fired. I tried to defend myself. “And so what?They changed their behavior and are good and theystopped hitting one another and they began learningand davening!” He looked at me and smiled. “It’sgood, it’s good!” he said twice in Yiddish.

He told me that the administration had noticed thegreat change in these boys and they wanted to knowwhere it came from. One of the cooks told them thatshe heard from the children that I was teaching themTanya.



take control of the school and turn itinto the type of school they wanted.And they were successful. Withinthat group there was one personwhose sole preoccupation washatred for Chabad and the Rebbe. Iknew that I would be the first to behurt by this course of action, whichof course turned out to be true.

A few days before the start ofthat school year, some parents fromthe Litvishe parent committee cameto me and they were nice enough toinform me that I was going to befired. I asked why, and there was noanswer.

One of them was honest enoughand he said, “Because you are aLubavitcher.” There was tremendoushatred for Chabad at the time. It wasreally terrible. All the stories aboutChassidim and Misnagdim from theearly years of the movement came tolife. The administration decided tofire all the Chassidic teachers in theschool, with me on the top of thelist.

I told these people that I wasdoing a good job and if a letterannouncing my dismissal came Iwould figure out how to handle it.The principal of the school, whoknew me, was unwilling to capitulateto their tactics and to send me aletter firing me. They weren’tdeterred. They decided to find a newprincipal to replace him. One day,the new principal called me in andgave me a letter of dismissal. Theletter thanked me for all the years Iworked for them and said they haddecided to take on younger teachers,which is why they were firing me.

The principal looked at me and Iat him and I saw that he wasembarrassed. I was unwilling to giveup on the work that I loved and sawas my shlichus and I said to him, “Ifthere are complaints from theparents, I would understand; butthere is no genuine reason here.”

“That’s right,” he said. “Thereare no complaints against you. Youare an outstanding teacher and it’s

just that a decision was madebecause of the age issue and wewant to truly thank you for all theyears that you taught here.”

I was in a whirlwind of emotion.As soon as I got home I sent theletter of dismissal to the Rebbe andwrote all the details of the goings-onand about the group oftroublemakers.

A few days later R’ Groner calledme and said that the Rebbe saw theletter and his reply was: You willremain there and much success.

After such a clear declaration Iknew that I would continue teachingthere as always. The days passedand I didn’t tell anyone about theRebbe’s answer. A week later I metsomeone whose roots are Vizhnitzand whose son was supposed to bein my class. He was happy to see meand said, “Are you Rabbi Alperowitzthe teacher?” When I said that I was

he went on to say, “My son will bein your class. We heard a lot aboutyou and we are thrilled.” I decidedto tell him about being fired.

“What?! You were dismissed?”he shouted. “Listen, tomorrow Ihave to fly to Europe on business.Before I go, I will travel toYerushalayim early in the morning inorder to meet with R’ Grossbard andtalk to him.”

I was skeptical. “What can youdo against the entireadministration?” But he wasadamant.

“You will see what I can do,” hesaid, and went on his way.

Just two days passed and R’Neuman, the supervisor of theTalmud Torah approached me andsaid, “R’ Alperowitz, I heard thatthey fired you. You should know thatnobody has the right to fire you. Youwill stay with us. We will fire them.”

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One morning R’ Kahaneman met meand said, “Yerachmiel, what is this Iheard?” I was frightened. Then hewent on to say, “I heard that you areteaching Tanya.” The moment I heardthis I was sure I was fired.



At that moment I felt how the Rebbewas sitting in New York and runningthe Talmud Torah. The Rebbedecided I would stay and so I wouldstay, regardless of the letter ofdismissal.

On the first day of school Iarrived as usual. The member of theparents’ committee who wasresponsible for firing me asked mewhy I had come. He enjoyed firingoff verbal digs and jabs. I asked him

in turn: “And why did you come?”and entered my classroom to teach. Iknew that the parents were happy;the Litvishe roshei yeshivos wouldmeet me and say, “We know thatyou are a Chassid and nevertheless,we insist that our children learn withyou.” I ignored the quarrel mongersand continued doing my job asthough nothing had happened.

The saga did not end that year.The following year the same people

tried to get me fired again. I receivedthe decision about my dismissalwhen I was at the Rebbe in NewYork and was staying with my sonMenachem. One day, the phonerang in my son’s house and thecaller asked to speak to me. I didn’timagine that they would bother tofind out where I was staying andhow to reach me. The person saidhis name and informed me that whatthey did not succeed in doing the

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTESR’ Yerachmiel Alperowitz was born in Moscow in

5689/1929. His father, R’ Chaim Moshe learned inyeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Lubavitch and was withthe Rebbe Rashab in 1920 when he passed away.After the Rebbe’s passing, R’ Chaim Moshe assistedthe Rebbe Rayatz for a year.

“The Rebbe Rayatz lived on the top floor and myfather lived on the bottom floor. The ceiling was madeof wood and my father would hear the Rebbe pacingnight after night. My father would speak wistfullyabout that year and I learned that he, too, did notsleep at night.

“I saw the Rebbe Rayatz for the last time inWarsaw before we set sail for Eretz Yisroel in5695/1935. I was a boy of six and a half. The Rebbewanted to give my father a room when we arrived inWarsaw, but my father refused and said he would finda place to stay with an uncle, Sholom Kroll who livedin that city. The Rebbe Rayatz tried several times toask my father to take a room but my father did notwant to be a burden to him. Life wasn’t easy then.

“Before we left Warsaw after a short stay there,yechidus was arranged for us. I remember how myfather prepared us for this special encounter. Heguided us: ‘In the Rebbe’s room you can’t say a word.We are going to see the king, the Nasi HaDor. Whenwe leave the room we do not turn our backs on theRebbe.’

“The entire family went in and the Rebbewelcomed us with great joy. Then he looked at eachone of us and gave his blessing. My mother criedbitterly and asked the Rebbe for a bracha that wecross the sea safely and all remain Chassidim. TheRebbe gave his blessing. I was a child and don’tremember the brachos precisely, but they reassuredmy mother. Then we all left, except for my father whoremained there for two entire hours.”

***R’ Alperowitz met the Rebbe MH”M for the first

time in 5738/1977.“I was very afraid of flying. I would dream

constantly of the Rebbe and see 770, hear the sichosand yearn to see him, but was afraid to get on a plane.One night I dreamt that the Rebbe came to me andsaid: ‘Now, while awake!’

“I woke up immediately. At first I did notunderstand what the Rebbe meant but that lasted onlya few hours. Rabbi Ozer Alperowitz from the LachishTours travel agency came and told me, ‘I brought youa ticket to the Rebbe.’ I was stunned and moved forjust that night the Rebbe had told me, ‘Now, whileawake.’ I felt that the Rebbe had arranged the ticketfor me.

“I boarded the plane and thought in a panic,‘Hashem, there are 400 people on this plane. If theyare all wicked, I am one of them. If they are allrighteous, I am one of them. If they are all crazy, I amone of them, so how come I am the only one who isscared?’

“I strengthened my faith and the flight wasuneventful. My son, Yekusiel arranged a place for meat the Vav Tishrei farbrengen.

“What can I tell you? I saw everything I had seenin my dreams. Nothing was new to me.

“While in New York I told my son that theatmosphere was hard on me and I missed the air ofEretz Yisroel. He suggested that I write to the Rebbeand that is what I did. I gave my note to R’ BinyaminKlein and he came out with a response that the Rebbesaid it would be fine. From then on, the feelingchanged. When I was in 770 I felt uplifted as though Iwas in Eretz Yisroel. When I stuck my head out of770, I felt that I was out of Eretz Yisroel. That wasmy first trip.”



year before, they would succeed withthis year and the decision had beenmade to fire me. “Rabbi Alperowitz,”he said arrogantly, “we took a newprincipal and there is nothing tocome back to.”

I told R’ Groner and asked himto inform the Rebbe. Afterwards, hetold me that he repeated the entirestory to the Rebbe and the Rebbesimply laughed and said, “Withincreased success.”

I realized that they thought I wasfired but there was someone abovethem who decided I was going tostay. After the bracha and mystaying on the previous time, I knewthat this time, too, a miracle wouldhappen and I would retain my job.

On the first day upon my returnto Eretz Yisroel, I got a phone callfrom the new principal who told mehe had been looking for me for along time. He asked me to come tohis office because he had a matter todiscuss with me. I knew that hewanted to give me a letter ofdismissal. Since the school waslocated opposite my home, I wentright away. He began telling me that

he wanted to work together with meand that he had heard only goodthings about me. I listened andchuckled. He looked at me andrealized I did not believe him. Heasked me, “Why are you laughing?”

I told him that I had received aphone call in New York telling methat I was fired. He dismissed thiswith a wave of his hand and said hehad a brother who was an educatorin Kfar Chabad, Rabbi MosheRosenfeld, and he had nothingagainst Chabad.

CHASSIDIM COME OUT ON TOP

Rabbi Alperowitz continuedteaching at this school and futurerabbanim and roshei yeshivosimbibed from him a love for Torah,derech eretz (manners, properconduct), and uncompromisingChassidic faith.

Throughout this interview, R’Alperowitz was careful to stress thatthese were a few fools and that overthe years he got along very well witheverybody, but what wows him eachtime anew is how though the Rebbewas so far away, he was clearly incharge of what went on in theChinuch Atzmai school. “I hope thateven before this interview ispublished, we see the hisgalus ofMelech HaMoshiach.”

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One of the more interestingfamilies that I have met in mywork is the Grinbergschitzkyfamily living in Ashdod. Thecouple emigrated to Eretz Yisroelfrom the Ukraine ten years ago.The husband, Roman, is a nativeUkrainian, while his wife IrenaRina originates from Moldova.Before they came to EretzHaKodesh, their level ofunderstanding and knowledge ofJudaism was virtually non-existent,as they had been raised accordingto educational values based on

total atheism.For three years after their

emigration to Eretz Yisroel, thisstatus quo continued, until Irenasomehow came to a lecture byMrs. Ester Segal, a Chabad womanwho told about the miracle that ledto the birth of her five children.

Mrs. Segal explained to thosein attendance about the uniqueopportunity available today inwriting to the Rebbe, MelechHaMoshiach, via Igros Kodesh,and the tremendous wonders andmiracles that occur as a result.

Irena found herself becoming moreexcited with each passing moment.The latent faith in her heart finallyhad a chance to express itself, andshe gradually began to come closerto Yiddishkait and startedconducting a lifestyle based onmitzvah observance. Later, sheeven transferred her three childrento Chabad educational institutionsin Ashdod and began participatingin Torah classes and other ChabadHouse events until she had becomea full-fledged Lubavitcher.

To her great regret, however,her husband refused to take part inher kiruv process. While heappreciated and showed muchrespect for her new way of life, hecontinued to live his life as he hadin the past.

His approach to Judaism took avery significant turn when he sawthe power of the Rebbe’s brachawith his own eyes. Irena wasdetermined that I should hear thestory directly from her husband, soI waited until the evening, when hefinished his job as a computertechnician. Roman happily agreedto tell his story – since he returnedwith his family from Kiev, thereisn’t a single person at his


mirac le story

Roman’s approach to Judaism took avery significant turn when he saw thepower of the Rebbe’s bracha with hisown eyes. Since he returned with hisfamily from Kiev, there isn’t a singleperson at his workplace who hasn’theard his story. “Everyone raised theireyebrows in amazement,” he said with astrong tone of excitement. Yet anotheramazing Igros Kodesh story.

A BRACHAFROM SKY-HIGHBy Nosson Avrohom Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry


workplace who hasn’t heard it.“Everyone raised their eyebrows inamazement,” he said, theundercurrent of excitement in hisvoice evidencing that thetumultuous miracle he hadexperienced was still quite fresh inhis mind. “People can’t believe thatsuch a thing could have possiblyhappened.”

THE CHILDREN CAN’TBOARD THE FLIGHT!“Ten years after our emigration

to Eretz Yisroel, we decided tomake a trip to the Ukraine. Theflight was scheduled right beforeour eldest daughter’s bas-mitzvah.Being a very orderly person, westarted making preparationsseveral weeks in advance andarranged everything. We madeappointments at the UkrainianEmbassy in Israel, and I arrangedvisas for all the children. I checkedmy wife’s entry visa to makecertain that it was still valid. Whenall these details were finalized andthe passports/visas were in myhand, I requested vacation fromwork and bought airline tickets atspecial low prices for myself, my

wife, and our three children. Wecounted down the days toward theupcoming flight with ever-increasing eagerness. Even thefamily waiting in Kiev for ourarrival was very excited. Everyonewas ready for the visit, with ascheduled tour throughout thecountry of my childhood. It was allwell planned out with a special filefolder.

“When the day finally came, wearrived at the airport three hoursbefore the scheduled flight. Wewaited most impatiently for theUkrainian airline counter to open.When it finally did open, we wereglad to be the first ones standingin line. I went up to the clerk andsubmitted the family’s passports,and she began to check themcarefully, one by one, as shelooked back at her computerscreen.

“I was completely calm. I knewthat I had made all the necessarypreparations. By nature, I am avery organized person and I hadmade certain that everything hadbeen prepared down to the lastdetail, as it should be. Then, like abolt out of the blue, I heard theclerk asking me why the children’s

visas were only valid as oftomorrow. I didn’t understandwhat she wanted, and I asked herto be specific. She proceeded toexplain that my visa and my wife’swere in proper order, but thechildren’s visas showedtomorrow’s date as the day theywould take effect.

“Even after hearing herexplanation, I still didn’tunderstand the trouble we were in.I had difficulty grasping thesignificance of what she was tellingme. Then she stated bluntly thatthe children cannot board theflight! She suggested that wearrange tickets for the flightscheduled for the following day…

“I was stunned and very upset.What was the big deal? We werescheduled to leave Eretz Yisroel atfour in the afternoon, arriving inKiev at nine o’clock at night.Three hours later, it would alreadybe the following day, and at leasttwo of those hours would haveelapsed by the time we would beready to step onto Ukrainian soil.So what’s the problem?

“I still failed to realize theseriousness of our situation.Sympathetically, she explained thatit didn’t depend upon her, and thatUkrainian law did not allow her tolet the children board the plane.‘Go to the travel agent who soldyou the tickets, and ask them topostpone the flight untiltomorrow,’ she proposed. It wasonly at this moment that Imanaged to understand thesurprising and unpleasant realityfacing us.

“I had bought the tickets at aspecial bargain price, and theywere non-refundable. I knew thatif we didn’t board the flight, itmeant that all the money spentwould go down the drain. For thenext fifteen minutes, I stood by thecheck-in counter and pleaded withthe clerk, trying to find someonewho might be able to help us.




Other passengers had alreadybegun to gather in line behind us,moving around uncomfortably.The clerk referred me to hersupervisor in the hope that shecould be of some assistance. Thesupervisor asked me again for thepassports, and once she checkedthem, she too determined that thechildren absolutely could not boardthe flight. ‘Go to the travel agentand buy tickets for tomorrow,’ shesaid. ‘If you get on this flight, Ihave no doubt that they’ll put youback on the same plane, taking offone hour later back to Israel,’ shestated with the utmost certainty.

“I would not relent, and I askedher to try and find me a solution,adding that this was a vacationthat had been planned for severalweeks. ‘I took time off from work,my family in Kiev is alreadywaiting, and the children are allexcited about this trip. There mustbe something creative that you cando.’ The clerk simply shook herhead and wrung her hands. Still,she made an effort by picking upthe phone and speaking with asenior official of the airlinecompany, explaining our situation.But the official simply repeatedwhat we had already heard before– it would be impossible to allowthe children to board this flight.

“The children soon began tounderstand that things had taken abad turn, and they started to cry.Their disappointment wasindescribable. Weeks of anxiousanticipation, preparations, andplans – all gone for nothing. Thechildren joined me in pleading forthe clerk to do something, but shereally wasn’t the person to ask.She agreed to give me the phonenumber of a young man namedNikolai, who worked for thecustoms house in Kiev. But whenwe explained to him our situation,his reply was similar to everyoneelse’s. ‘The only people who canhelp you are the officials with the

Ukrainian Embassy in Israel,’ hesaid over the phone. ‘They havesole responsibility for entry visas.’He also added that it would be awaste of time to try and get on thisflight, as the local Ukrainian policewould escort us on to the sameplane back to Eretz Yisroel.

“My wife is a believer, a regularChabad chassid, and she asked oureldest daughter to go and pray toG-d from the depths of her heart,and she was certain that herprayers would be answered. In themeantime, she proceeded to dowhat she always does in momentsof difficulty or confusion. Shecalled Rabbi Menachem YaakovRainitz from Lod, told himeverything that was happening,and she asked him to write to theLubavitcher Rebbe in request of abracha. She even made a goodresolution that when we arrived inKiev, we would make a onehundred dollar donation to thelocal Chabad yeshiva.

“For my part, I am a realist,and I had already given up. Therewas no hope. The conversationwith the customs official had madeit quite clear to me that thesituation was simply irreversible.

AMBASSADORSUMMONED THE CONSUL

“My eyes began to well withtears, as I felt an indescribablesense of disappointment. Wherewould I be able to get such a largesum of money again to buy moreairline tickets? Thoughts wererunning through my mind abouthow I would ever make up for allthe children’s’ anguish. My wifeand children were not near me, asthey had left the terminal to go callRabbi Rainitz and daven.

“Choking back the tears in mythroat, I went back to the check-incounter to gather the luggage Ihad left there and prepared to head

home. As I was approaching thecounter, I saw facing me a tall manwearing a tie and an elegant suit.He appeared to be an official ofsome kind. Near him stood hiswife and another man who wasapparently his personal assistant. Ilooked at them with growinginterest, but I didn’t have theslightest idea who they might be.

“Suddenly, one of the clerksapproached them, and I saw thatshe spoke to them and thenpointed at me. They looked at herand then back at me, and I realizedthat she was apparently tellingthem about our predicament. Iwent up to them, still not knowingwho they were, and I asked if theycould help us. We had planned thistrip for weeks, the children werecrying, and we were literallydevastated over the wholesituation.

“In the meantime, my wife andchildren had come back into theterminal. The man looked at themand then conferred with hisassistant for a few moments. Whenhe finished, we heard his assistantcalling the Ukrainian Embassy inTel Aviv and informing the consulto come to Lod Airport as quicklyas possible with all the necessaryseals.

“‘There are three children herewith open visas, effective only fromtomorrow. Their flight leaves inanother two hours. Get here rightaway,’ he ordered him. ‘Don’tleave the terminal until you arecertain that the entire familyboards the flight.’ When I heardthese words, I was completelybewildered and confused. Toomany drastic things were takingplace in such a short period oftime. I came to the airport happyover our trip, then all theexcitement vanished in an instant,and now things seemed to beworking out. Only then did Irealize that this elegantly dressedman was none other than the



Ukrainian ambassador to EretzYisroel!

The emotion of the momentoverwhelmed us all.

THE SITUATION WAS REVERSED

“About half an hour later, mywife’s mobile phone rang. It wasRabbi Rainitz. When my wife askshim to write a letter for her, sheusually gets back to him withinthirty minutes in order to hear theanswer, but with all the fast-moving events, she had forgottento call him and ask what theRebbe’s answer was. As a result,Rabbi Rainitz decided to place thecall himself.

“You have nothing to worryabout,” he said with completeconfidence, naturally withoutknowing about the newestdevelopment. “You’ll see thateverything will turn out for thebest, ‘v’nahafochu’ (and it wasreversed), and you’ll board theflight… The Rebbe gave a bracha,and that’s the way it will be,” heexplained.

“My wife was so stunned thatshe was absolutely speechless. Hervoice was choked. Withoutknowing it, he had preciselysummed up the events of themoment.. ‘The situation wasreversed’, in its simplest sense.The unbelievable was actuallyhappening.

The Rebbe’s answer appears inVol. 14, pg. 440:

“…and his matter has alreadybeen explained in numerousplaces, and among them the holyTanya, that the concept ofsadness in whatever form,whether in spiritual or materialmatters, is nothing more than theadvice of the [evil] inclination,and as is explained there atlength, and in particular inrelation to him, who even sawrevealed miracles and G-d’s

Kindnesses with his flesh eyes,there is simply no basis forsadness. On the contrary, hemust increase in joy, and as theLaws of Purim and the portion ofOrach Chaim in Shulchan Aruchconclude, ‘the good-hearted isalways festive’, and especiallysince even now, DivineProvidence has bestowed himwith a fine portion, the educationof the Jewish People, for whichyou have no more holy andpleasant avoda than that, causingtremendous pleasure Above, it isthereby understood that this isalso the reward for the personwho causes this pleasure.

And may it be G-d’s Will thatthe days of this month – whenthese words of mine will bereceived – from the segula of thismonth – will be turned into joyand celebration.

And the substance of theconcept of ‘it will be reversed’ isthat even matters that do notappear good in a revealed sensecan be transformed by the days ofthis month into joy andcelebration apparent to thephysical eye, [and] they shallhave this effect in hisaforementioned matters.”

“The Rebbe not only wrote thatthere would be a reversal, hesimply didn’t understand why wewere in state of melancholy. Onceagain we were all standing andcrying, but this time it was due tojoy and optimism.

“As per his instructions, theambassador’s assistant remainedwith us in order to get the consul

to complete the process with alldeliberate speed. In fact, theconsul arrived about an hourbefore the scheduled take-off anddealt with us most cordially. Hetook our passports, pulled out hisofficial seals, stamped thepassports one by one, and thenquickly gave them to the clerk tohasten our check-in, as time wasrunning out before the flight wasdue to leave. It was only when theclerk promised him that the flightwould not leave until we boardedthat he shook all our hands, and Ithanked him profusely.

“When we were finally seatedon the flight, we had some time tothink about what had happened. Icame to the conclusion that therewas a G-dly Power that causedeverything.

“From a logical standpoint, thissimply couldn’t have happened.How many ‘coincidences’ couldthere be already to arrange for theambassador to take the same flightas we did and then agree to do thispersonal favor for us? He was theonly person who could havesummoned the consul to comewith the official seals at such shortnotice, something that could notbe done according to the acceptedrules and regulations. In addition,there’s the fact that the airlinecompany agreed to hold up theflight until we had all boarded…

“For the first time in my life, Isaw the power of a tzaddik. Untilthen, I hadn’t believed in suchthings. While I had much respect

‘Go to the travel agent and buy ticketsfor tomorrow,’ she said. ‘If you get onthis flight, I have no doubt that they’llput you back on the same plane, takingoff one hour later back to Israel.’

[Continued on page 21]


Life was simpler back then.Peace. Love. Joy. Health.

Prosperity. All the things we hopefor down the road, we already hadthen, back in the garden.

At that point, however, the two-legged snake came to visit. No, notthe door-to-door home renovationsalesman, although their ilk alsoincludes slicksters who enticevulnerable populations to buy intothings that aren’t good for them. Weare talking about the granddaddy ofthem all, the scheming and seductiveprimordial serpent who tricked ouroriginal ancestress into eating the

forbidden fruit and we have beenpaying the price ever since.

Some say the whole story isbasically literature. Some call it amoralistic allegory. To me, it’s fact,not fiction, although it’s a great readand deeply symbolic too. More thandivinely inspired, I believe it’s G-d’struth. In any case, the story goes -

Adam shifted the blame to Eveand she shifted it to the snake. Asthe ultimate instigator, that crittergot cut down to size, literally. Legsgone, lick the dust. Game over, allyou get to do is slither. And that’sthe end of it. Or so we thought.

As we wriggled down theserpentine path of history, and madeour way to the woodlands ofsoutheast Asia, we discovered thatthere seems to be a loophole in thedivine decree, a loophole that allowssome snakes, at least, to reverse thecurse and even more. Not to walk –but to fly, or glide to be moreprecise.

The premiere example is onecalled The Paradise Tree Snake(Chrysopelia paradisi), a creaturethat can leap from a branch andglide up to 80 feet to the next tree.

Until recently, no one reallyunderstood how a wingless,cylindrical creature like a snakecould fly so well, but Jake Socha, abiophysicist from Virginia Tech haspainstakingly worked out theaerodynamics in detail.

The key factors are (a) that itflattens its body fully mimicking awing shape, (b) it glides at a slightangle to the air flow it creates, and(c) it keeps its head still for steering,its body slithering for lift, and its tailflapping for propulsion.

Chassidus teaches us to look fora life lesson in everything. It alsohighlights kabbalistic teachingsabout how events in the world areinfluenced by the Torah times, suchas the weekly Torah portion andspecial days on the Jewish calendar.

What can we learn from flyingsnakes and from the fact that theresearch was publicized during theweek of Yud-Tes Kislev, the RoshHaShana of Chassidus?

The first thing to note is thatnothing is impossible. No one wouldever expect that a snake would flybut does the Paradise Tree Snakecare? Not one bit. The Creator saysjump and the creature goes and doesit with no hesitation whatsoever.

Many times we feel that amitzvah is an impossible mandate.We have statistics to prove it – mostpeople don’t do mitzvos so how canI? We cite nature – I’m not madefor this lifestyle. We even blame evil


mosh iach & sc ience

FLYINGSNAKES By Dr. Aryeh Gotfryd



itself – how can I be good when theworld is so bad, when I am so bad?

Along comes the Paradise TreeSnake and says, “Ha! The statisticsare just as loaded against me as theyare against you. You Jews compriseabout 0.2% of people on the planet.The five known flying snake speciesare also about 0.2% of the 3000known species of snake.

“You say it is against your natureto soar with Torah and mitzvos?What about me? I have no wings, infact no appendages at all and still Ifly! You at least have a head to studyand hands to do mitzvos.

“You say that evil holds you back,but look at me. I am evil incarnate,but that doesn’t stop me from doingwhat I’m told.

“So stop with the excuses andlearn the a-b-c’s of self-transcendence and personaltransformation from me. The firstthing is to flatten out. This is thenotion of bittul, self-nullification andhumility. I too used to be a terribleegotist, in fact much bigger thanyou, as everyone knows. If you wantto elevate yourself, you have to ridyourself of this quality.

“Second, no matter how badthings seem, look for the positiveaspect. When I leap off a tree from

50 feet up, it looks like certain deathfor a wriggly reptile like me. But myfall creates a breeze and when Iangle myself just right, the breezelifts me up.

“Third, you have to keep yourhead still while you keep your bodymoving. In other words stay focusedon the fly. I’m fixated on mydestination the whole time I slitherthrough the air creating the illusionof a wing, and flap my tail to propelmyself forward.”

Yud-Tes Kislev marks theliberation of the founder of Chabadfrom prison and the consequentexpansion of his teachings andinfluence. Like Chanukah thatfollows it, Yud-Tes Kislev carries amessage of transforming darkness tolight.

Indeed both holidays focus onMoshiach as a central theme.Moshiach himself is said to have toldthe Baal Shem Tov that his comingwill be heralded by expansiveteaching and promotion of Chassidicthought and that is what Yud-TesKislev is all about. Chanukah is auniversal celebration of therededication of the Temple inJerusalem, an act which we will oncemore relive with the imminentcoming of Moshiach.

What better time to learn from asnake, in Hebrew a nachash. Theword nachash and Moshiach bothhave a gematria or numericalequivalent of 358. Indeed Moshiachis the ultimate antidote for originalsin, as perpetrated by the originalnachash.

Chanukah has anotherconnection to Moshiach and that isthe lettering on the dreidel, Nun,Gimmel, Hei, Shin, an acronym fornes gadol haya sham – a big miraclehappened there. These four letterstoo add up to 358, the value ofMoshiach.

Finally it is also a specific act ofDivine Providence that this creatureis referred to as the Paradise TreeSnake. I don’t know thetaxonomist’s reason for calling itthat, but for me the lesson is clear.Through the bittul of the Snake, thesin of the Tree is atoned, and wereturn to Paradise.

Then life will be simple onceagain. Peace. Love. Joy. Health.Prosperity.

And no nasty snakes, just theantidote, Moshiach, may he comespeedily now.(To contact, visit www.arniegotfryd.comor call (416) 858-9868)

for my wife and the path she hadtaken, I felt no connection to thislifestyle. Now, my opinions hadchanged completely.”

*The Grinbergschitzky family

remained in Kiev for two weeks.Their visit included regular prayers

at the city’s central Chabadsynagogue. The tour throughoutthe country also included the holygravesites of several tzaddikim.This time, Roman wasn’t there justto accompany his family or as apassive observer, as he personallyrecited chapters of T’hillim.

“We told this story to chassidimin Kiev, and they responded with

amazement. None other than theconsul himself in all his glory hadcome to Lod Airport to take careof us… For the first time in mylife, I felt and experienced formyself the fact that there are G-dlyPowers that run the world. I haveno doubt that the Rebbe performeda great miracle for us.”

[Continued from page 19]

ADD IN ACTSOF GOODNESS & KINDNESSTO BRING MOSHIACH NOW!


Mrs. Devorah Hasofer is knownto many people for being a giftedsinger and songwriter. She madealiya with her family in 1998 andlives in the Chabad community ofRechovot, a result of a series ofamazing answers from the Rebbe viaIgros Kodesh.

Other clear answers, no lessamazing, led her to realize a dreamand to develop her musical career.She appears often at Chabad eventsfor women at Chabad houses, atgatherings, and farbrengens in EretzYisroel and around the world. Theworld of music is not unfamiliar toher. Before becoming religious shestudied music and now she is using

it for k’dusha (holiness).She has a heart-stopping story

about an event she experienced withher father, after the Rebbe’ssurprising instruction given at thefarbrengen on the 6th of Teves,5747, a day after the victory in thecourt case regarding the s’farim.

Her father is a man with a strongJewish identity and Jewish pride.Although he was not religiouslyobservant and did not study Torah, itwas always important to him that hischildren marry Jews. He told hischildren that in his youth he hadonce gazed at the sky and theconstellations and asked himselfAvrohom Avinu’s question: Who

created all this?When his daughter, Devorah,

began becoming religious, he greatlyrespected her decision and new wayof life which was so different fromthe way he had raised her.

The following special story, a“Baal Shem’ske mofes” (a miracleworthy of the Baal Shem Tov) hasbeen kept by the family for nearlytwenty years. Now, after receivingpermission from her father topublicize it, Devorah shares it withus.

SURPRISINGINSTRUCTION

The story began after the judgesruled in the Rebbe’s favor that thes’farim are not the privatepossession of any individual butbelong to Agudas Chassidei Chabad.The Chassidim of Crown Heightsand around the world rejoiced. Thefollowing day, the Rebbe deliveredan astounding sicha in which heasked Chassidim to write letters andsend them to the secretariat,promising to bring them to thegravesite of the Rebbe Rayatz. As forthose who lived far away, the Rebbeasked them to bring their letters tothe gravesites of Tzaddikim wherethey lived.

People knew that this was an eisratzon (auspicious time) for requestsand that they shouldn’t miss thisgolden opportunity. Chassidim,


story

A day after “Didan Natzach” the Rebbesaid an astounding sicha in which heasked Chassidim to write letters thatshould be sent to the secretariat. TheRebbe said he would take them to thegravesite of the Rebbe Rayatz. As forthose who lived far away, the Rebbeasked them to place their letters at thegravesites of tzaddikim where theylived. People knew this was anauspicious time for requests...

TO CATCH A BIG FISHBy Nosson Avrohom



young and old, wrote letters and toldthose outside Chabad to do thesame. They say that that day, whenthe Rebbe went to the Ohel, therewere over ten sacks of letters that hetook in his car!

Before we get to the specialHasofer story, it would beappropriate to quote some excerptsfrom that unusual sicha:

… All those who, for whateverreason, did not yet give tz’daka,along with their name and theirmother’s name (in connection towhat was said earlier) – shouldhasten to give a certain amount totz’daka (for in this matter theamount makes no difference, justthe act of participating in givingtz’daka, including doing sograciously) and to include theirname and their mother’s name, assoon as possible, before my goingtomorrow, bli neder, to thegravesite of the Rebbe my father-in-law, in order to mention them atthe gravesite.

It would be worthwhile forthem to give the notes separatelyand the money for tz’dakaseparately (at the same time but indifferent envelopes) to save thebother of separating the notes fromthe money, for there will surely bemany in quantity and all the moreso in quality.

To add, since it will not bepossible to read all the notes, butonly to leave them at the gravesite,

everybody can write whatever theywant (without shame) for it is inthe manner of writing to Hashemthrough the Nasi HaDor.

They can do likewise in allother places where there is acemetery where a great person isburied, a tzaddik and spiritualleader, as is known that allcemeteries are connected with oneanother and all of them togetherare connected with the M’erasHaMachpella via tunnels (as isexplained in s’farim).

… May this activity increase inthe wholeness of Yisroel, as isemphasized also at the end of thedaily portion of Chumash, “Yaakovand all his descendants with him,”“his sons and grandsons with him,his daughters and granddaughtersand all his descendants,” and ascontinued in the following verses(in the daily portion of the nextday), “and all the soul(s) of thehouse of Yaakov … seventy.”

DOZENS OF MEKURAVIMWRITE TO THE REBBELike many Chassidim, Rabbi

Mordechai (Motty) Hasoferreturned home all excited. It waseasy to get his wife caught up in hisenthusiasm. It was obvious to them,as it was to all Chassidim, especiallywith the tone in which the sicha wassaid, that this was an auspicioustime. They both decided to speakwith all their relatives andacquaintances so they too wouldwrite to the Rebbe and ask forbrachos.

“We lived in Sydney,” said Mrs.Hasofer. “We had exchanged homeswith our good friends, the Lieders.They were living in our home inMelbourne and we were in theirhome in Sydney. Their large homewas located across from the yeshivaand the shul.

“When my husband came fromshul and told me about what theRebbe said, we realized we had to

take advantage of this specialopportunity. It wasn’t every day thatthe Rebbe made announcements likethis, and so specifically, too. We alsounderstood that the Rebbeconsidered this very important.Without losing a moment wegathered our children and told themwhat the Rebbe said. We gave thempaper and pen and they began towrite. It was moving to see whatfaith and t’mimus (wholeheartedfaith, simplicity) they put into theirletters.

“We were taken aback to see howseriously the children took it andhow they asked for brachos forthings we hadn’t thought they hadeven considered. To our amazementthey did not ask only for thosethings that children yearn for, butalso for serious matters.

“Many other people came to ourhouse and were in and out all day.They were in addition to ourrelatives, friends, and acquaintances.We explained to each of them whatthe Rebbe said and told them thatthey would surely see later on howwhat they asked for had worked outin the best possible way. Most of thepeople wrote letters in a spirit ofrespect and awe. We spent time withthe few cynics too. We decided todevote this day to writing letters. ‘Ifit won’t help, it certainly won’t hurt,’we told them.

“By the end of that day our tablewas piled high with letters, but I wastremendously bothered by the factthat my father was the only one wehad not convinced to write to theRebbe. We tried, we begged, weexplained, but he didn’t want to. Allthe approaches that had helped withthe other skeptics and cynics were tono avail with him. It just seemedbizarre to him and he saw no needto be a part of it.

“In order to understand hisstubborn opposition, I will tell you alittle about his personal odysseywhich led him to the brink betweensecular and religious life.”



THE STORY OF PETER DYCE

“My father emigrated from pre-war Europe as a child together withhis parents, and so they were sparedthe horrors of the Holocaust. Mygrandfather was the one whoconvinced his wife to leave Europesince he realized the fascists weretaking over and this meant the Jewswere in big trouble. He was unableto convince the rest of his extendedfamily. They thought it was an uglywave of anti-Semitism that wouldpass. Most of them perished at thehands of the Nazis. Mygrandparents felt terrible about thisand this feeling was passed along totheir son, my father.

“They had some Jewish traditionbut were not religious. They were incontact with many Jews as well aswith Jewish organizations inAustralia.

“They were very successful inbusiness and became well-to-do.They sent my father to a Christianschool. He was educated within thegentile culture. The fact that hisparents were wealthy led to hisassociation with those in the upperclass and distanced him further fromhis Jewish heritage. Whenever thetopic of Judaism and faith in G-dcame up in their house you wouldhear the refrain: ‘But where was G-din the Holocaust?’ He couldn’tunderstand it. Intellectually, hegrasped that G-d is compassionateand merciful and takes care of Hispeople. As much as he tried tounderstand the existing reality, hecould not arrive at satisfactoryanswers. He wasn’t anti as much ashe was hurt.

“In any case, my father had astrong Jewish identity and he lovedpeople.

“An interesting incident that Iremember from when I was a childis when I asked him if he believes inwhat I heard that G-d is good anddoes good. He instinctively

responded as he usually did: ‘If thereis a G-d, where was He during theHolocaust that happened to ourpeople?’ But after a few moments,before I fell asleep, he kissed me andsaid: ‘G-d should watch over you.’It’s like the Alter Rebbe says, a Jewcannot and does not want to bedisconnected from Judaism.

“One of the years that we visitedCrown Heights for a family simcha,he decided to go to 770 on ErevShabbos. He returned from theremoved to tears. For many hours hespoke in wonderment about thespecial bond he saw between theRebbe and the Chassidim, a bondthe likes of which he had never seenor heard about before between aleader and his followers. My fatherhas a warm spot in his heart for theRebbe, despite everything.”

THE REQUEST: A GOODDAY’S FISHING

“I’m going back to that day, tothe day we convinced people to writeto the Rebbe and to take advantageof the eis ratzon. Whatever we triedto tell my father and whatever wedid to convince him, failed. Headamantly refused. I, who alreadyknew the significance of “Rebbe”and what it means to follow hisinstructions, was no less determined.In the end, after much time, whenthe sun had already begun to set, wearrived at a compromise in that hewould tell me what he wanted torequest and I would write it for him.

“He was all smiles and I was veryexcited that my father, despite hisviews, would write a letter to G-d(as the Rebbe put it in the sicha: ‘hewrites to Hashem through the NasiHaDor’).

“‘Dear G-d,’ he dictated.‘Tomorrow, at four in the morning Iam going fishing and I want to bemore successful than ever.’

“One of my father’s big hobbiesis fishing. Till today, despite his age,he goes fishing every week as he has

done for decades.“I was disappointed. I wanted

him to ask for loftier, more seriousmatters, but that is what he wantedand I respected this just as he hadrespected my wishes although hehad raised me otherwise. Weincluded this letter with the otherson the big pile that had collected.”

A TRIP AT MIDNIGHT TO THE CEMETERY

Towards midnight, when the lastguest had left our house, myhusband and his brother Nachi(Menachem) went to the cemeteryin Sydney to put the bundle ofletters on the gravesite of RabbiAsher Abramson who was a greatChassid, an Av Beis Din, and agreatly admired rabbinic figure. Healso officiated at our wedding.

“The trip to the cemetery wasscary. It was very dark but with thehelp of a powerful flashlight theylocated the grave and after aheartfelt prayer that all the requestsbe accepted favorably by Hashemand be fulfilled, they placed theletters there and left for home.

“At about six in the morning,while everybody was sleeping,especially after the exhaustingprevious day, we suddenly heardknocks at the door. We woke up in afright. We couldn’t imagine who itcould be. It wasn’t even our houseand who would be knocking so earlyin the morning? Was this anemergency?

“My husband and I raced to thefront door and to our great surprise,it was my father standing there. Hewas the last person we would haveexpected at that hour. He is arational and very well manneredperson. Even if something bad hadhappened, he would not havereacted in this way. From thepeephole I could see he wasemotionally overwrought and wequickly opened the door.

“The three of us sat down at the



kitchen table and waited curiouslyfor him to say something. After herelaxed a little, he looked at me andsaid, ‘I will tell you somethingastounding that if I hadn’texperienced it myself, I would notbelieve that things like this couldhappen.’”

DO YOU HAVE A DIRECT LINE TO G-D?

“As you know, I left with myfriend to go fishing as I do everyweek. As always, I sat on one sideand my friend Richard sat on theother side and we both set out tocatch our fish for the week. On theway out to sea, we saw a largeItalian boat with a large crew andnets out on the water and we wavedat them. When we found a spot tostop our boat and begin fishing,something amazing happened. Icaught a big, fat fish, the likes ofwhich I had never caught before. Myfriend caught nothing. Thishappened time and again. I cast myrod into the water and shortlythereafter pulled out a fat fish, whilemy friend caught nothing!

“At first we just laughed andjoked around, but when more timepassed and Richard still had yet tocatch a single fish, something toldme this wasn’t luck.

“Richard began to get annoyed.His ego was bruised. We decided toswitch places and amazingly, Ibrought up fish after fish, big ones,while Richard’s luck did not change.At some point I connected this tothe request I had made the nightbefore.”

“My father related this and wasstill dumbfounded by the turn ofevents. He wasn’t sure it wasbecause of the bracha. He told hisfriend about it and his friendthought that he was merely trying toassuage him for his bad luck. Theyusually spend four of five hours atsea or even more, to have time tocatch enough fish for the week, but

now after two hours their boat wasfull and they decided to return toshore.

“On the way back they saw theItalian boat approaching themrapidly. At first they were nervousand tried to avoid it, but the otherboat was much quicker and caughtup with them. When they were inhearing distance, the Italian captainshouted: ‘How did you manage tocatch so many fish? Do you have adirect line to G-d? We have beentrying to catch some fish for a fewhours now and barely caughtanything. We are going back toshore with nothing to show forourselves.’

“My father looked at Richard andtold us that he was suddenlyovercome with an inner fear that hewas unaccustomed to. He wassuddenly struck by the thought thatthere is a G-d in the world and herealized his amazing success wasconnected with the letter he hadwritten the day before. At first hehad tried dismissing the thought andlaughing it off, but now he wastrembling.

“He had been going fishing forforty years and had never had suchsuccess. This feeling was in responseto the voices within him that tried tocool him off to the enormity of themiracle.

“My father brought a lot of fishto Richard to appease him.

“When we finished talking wewent with him to his boat and sawlots of fish (which were all kosher!),and we took some for Shabbos. Myfather gave out the rest of the fish tohis friends and he told them allabout the fantastical experience hehad while fishing.

“A few Shabbasos later, he toldus that he saw Lubavitcher childrentalking amongst themselves. Theywere pointing at him and saying,‘There’s the man who could haveasked for anything and all he askedfor was to be able to catch fish …’”

***This is the story Mrs. Devorah

Hasofer told. She concludes it bysaying, “We are in the final momentsof galus and this is an auspicioustime.” She said she was in a storeand one of the ladies there blessedher and she returned the blessing,including a blessing for theimminent Geula and Moshiach now.The other woman asked, “Are youLubavitch?”

She responded, “Do onlyLubavitchers want the Geula? We allbelieve in it!” This is an opportunitygiven to us, this generation, to putour focus on the importance of ourtask of realizing the brachos ofGeula as something real and forright now. “I pray that bypublicizing this story it will hastenthe immediate hisgalus of the RebbeMelech HaMoshiach.”


Dear Reader sh’yichyeh:Before we begin to describe the

details of Yemos HaMoshiach, it isvery important that we get theHalachic description. It was writtenby the Rambam (Hilchos MelachimChapter 12):

1. One should not entertain thenotion that in the Era of Moshiachan element of the natural order willbe nullified, or that there will be anyinnovation in the work of creation.Rather, the world will continueaccording to its pattern.

2. Our Sages taught: [Brachos34b] “There will be no differencebetween the current age and the Eraof Moshiach except [ouremancipation from] subjugation tothe [gentile] kingdoms.”

3. In that Era there will beneither famine nor war, neither envynor competition, for good things willflow in abundance and all thedelights will be as freely available asdust. The occupation of the entireworld will be solely to know G-d.The Jews will therefore be greatsages and know the hidden matters,and will attain an understanding oftheir Creator to the [full] extent ofhuman potential; as it is written

[Yeshayahu 11:9], “For the worldwill be filled with the knowledge ofG-d as the waters cover the oceanbed.”

One may ask, why is theRambam so descriptive about theatmosphere in the world whenMoshiach comes? Isn’t the Rambama codifier of Jewish law?

The Rebbe explains (Hadran5746, chapter 10) that knowing theatmosphere of Yemos HaMoshiachis part of believing in Moshiach! Wemust believe that the world willreach a point that its atmosphere

encourages, and is conducive to,Torah and Mitzvos.]

The above description by theRambam is describing the beginning– the first era - of YemosHaMoshiach. Chazal say (GemaraBrachos) “Lo nisnavu chachamimelah l’yemos HaMoshiach aval OlamHabah, ayin lo raa Elokimzulasecha” - The sages only “hadvisions” of Yemos HaMoshiach, butOlam Habah - the second era - onlyHashem knows what will be! In theera of Olam Habah, the world willget a completely new look.

What is the difference betweenYemos HaMoshiach and OlamHabah?

There is actually a famousargument between Rambam andRamban:

Rambam holds that while inYemos HaMoshiach, we will be inphysical bodies, all the miracles ofMoshiach – like the resurrection ofthe dead etc. – will be in the era ofOlam Habah, when all souls willleave their constricting, limitedbodies and enjoy eternal bliss in GanEden.

Ramban holds - and this is theopinion that the Rebbe follows - thateven in Olam Habah we will be inthis physical world, as the entirepurpose of creation was (MidrashParshas Naso) “To make a dwellingplace for Hashem in this physicalworld”. In Olam Habah, thecomplete truth of creation - that theJewish people are one with Hashem,and that the world is consistentlybeing created by Hashem - will berevealed to all. Many miracles willtake place in that era.

We now have to address thefollowing question:

According to the acceptedopinion (Ramban), that in OlamHabah we will be living in thisphysical world, will we be eatingand drinking?

Chazal write (Brachos, 17a) “InOlam Habah there will be no eating


mosh iach & geu la

GEULA -WHAT WEAWAIT!Part 2By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon



and drinking, no jealousy andcompetition etc., rather theTzaddikim (the entire Jewish peopleare referred to as tzaddikim - seeMishnah Sanhedrin Perek Chelek)will be sitting with crowns andenjoying the Sh’china.”

From this Gemara, it would seemobvious that there will be no eatingand drinking in Olam Habah. Butthis seemingly contradicts otherGemaras (P’sachim 119b and BavaBasra 74b) that clearly state thatHashem will make a feast forTzaddikim in the times of Geula.

The Midrash (VaYikra, 13)actually describes the following:

There will be a great war in thefuture between the Shor HaBar (thewild mountain ox) and the Leviasan(Leviathan).

“…How will they be slaughtered?Beheimos (the Shor HaBar) will,with its horns, pull Leviasan downand rend it, and Leviasan will, withits fins, pull Beheimos down and

pierce it through…”One may be able to answer

simply, that the meal will take placein the era of Yemos HaMoshiach,while in Olam Habah, we won’t beeating at all. However in LikkuteiTorah (from the Alter Rebbe,Parshas Tzav), it seems that the feastwill take place in Olam Habah.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe (IgrosKodesh Volume 2, page 65, infootnote 26) gives a fascinatingexplanation:

There will be a physical feast, butthe eating of Olam Habah will be fora different purpose than the eatingin the time of Exile.

Why does one eat? We eat to liveand exist. Without food, we wouldnot be able to survive. Our physicalbody can’t be sustained by spiritualenergy, so we need to eat physicalfood, which produces physicalenergy. But in Olam Habah, whenour body will be refined andelevated, it will be sustained from its

own divine energy, to the extent thatChazal say that in Olam Habah, theNeshama will be sustained by thespirituality of the body!

If, indeed, we will not need foodto live, why will there be a meal inOlam Habah?

The Baal Shem Tov said (KesserShem Tov, 194) that in reality,eating is a spiritual exercise. Thereare many lofty spiritual sparks in ourfood that get elevated when we eatfood, especially if we do so l’sheimShamayim. That is the real purposeof eating. It is just that in exile, wewould not be inspired to eat if it wasjust a spiritual activity, so Hashemcreated us with a material need andphysical desire to eat.

The eating and feasting in OlamHabah will be entirely for a differentpurpose than why we eat today. Itwill be an entirely spiritual activity.

I am sure that many of you wantsome more details of this feast. Wewill elaborate in our next article.

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We know that in their youth,most of our Rebbeim wrote dozens,or even hundreds, of stories thatthey heard from their parents orChassidim from the previousgeneration, about the chain ofChassidus and the earlier Rebbeim.

The Rebbe Maharash said (onthe Motzaei Shabbos after the barmitzva of his son, later to becomethe Rebbe Rashab), that starting

from his bar mitzva he would writedown whatever he heard from hisfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, as wellas stories that he heard from olderfamily members, especially his uncleR’ Chaim Avrohom, the son of theAlter Rebbe, and from elderChassidim (Likkutei Dibburim).

The Rebbe Rayatz was unique inthat he did not only relate storiespublicly but he even wrote them for

publication in his unique style. Thus,thousands of stories were printed inthe series of Likkutei Dibburim andhis Seifer HaSichos and inthousands of printed letters. Todaytoo, more and more stories that hewrote are being discovered –memories of his childhood or storiesthat he heard from his parents andgrandparents, from the elders of hisgeneration or from the Chassidim ofthat time.

THE FEET OF CHASSIDIMIn the sicha of the second night

of Chol HaMoed Sukkos,5707/1946, the Rebbe Rayatzrelated:

In the summer of 5646/1886,my father [the Rebbe Rashab]traveled and he left me under thesupervision of the melamed(teacher) R’ Nissan. R’ Nissan toldme many stories from our Rebbeimand when my father returned, hewas grateful to R’ Nissan for thestories he told me. When I becameolder my father told me: “You needto be grateful to R’ Nissan. He putyou on your feet. The feet ofChassidim are stories, and that risesto the head.”

On another occasion my father


ins ight

“Hearing a story from the Rebbe wasthe Written Torah to us,” said the AlterRebbe. The Rebbe Rayatz and the RebbeMH”M attributed great importance tothe memoirs of Chassidim. They askedthat they be written and encouragedpublishing them. * The following is asmall compilation of quotes from theRebbeim about the importance given towriting stories and memoirs. *Presented for Hei Teves, which marksthe victory of the s’farim.

OF STORIESANDSTORYBOOKSCompiled by M. Liebson



told me that through stories onedraws down the essence of the soul.The essence of the soul is concealedand only a glimmer of the neshamathat comes down below is revealed.Serving Hashem makes that spiritualradiance shine and also causes atremendous elevation in the soul upabove. The illumination of theneshama is good for the essence ofthe soul because through the workof illuminating the soul here, byfulfilling Torah and mitzvos, theWorld of Atzilus is envious of theWorld of Asiya; the lights of Atzilusand the essence of the soul arejealous of the illumination of thesoul down below. Through stories,the essence of the soul is revealed.

MY FATHER TESTS METhe Rebbe Rashab told his son

to write down the stories he told himand even tested him on this. TheRebbe Rayatz relates:

14 Menachem Av, 5701/1941,marked fifty years from the day myfather told me to start writing downthe stories he told me (see HaYomYom for 14 Av).

My father tests me occasionallyto see whether I remember thestories he told me in Yalta and forthe most part I remember themaccurately. The points I forget my

father reminds me and tells me toreview several times so I rememberthem (Seifer HaMaamarim 5711).

YEARNING TO HEAR STORIES

In every free moment onweekdays, and especially onShabbos, I run to my teacher, R’Yekusiel the melamed. Because ofhis nice stories, I remained bondedto him with great love, and I askedthe other students which stories hetold them while I had been awayfrom Lubavitch. I boasted that I,too, had heard many stories from myfather and I remembered themaccurately, and since they asked meI told them a few stories.

The talmidim told the melamedR’ Yekusiel about the stories I toldthem and one Shabbos, when I wentto him and he was sitting therewearing his yarmulke and withouthis jacket, drinking tea after anafternoon nap, he told me to tell himthe stories I heard from my father.(ibid)

THE SOURCES… Every week after candle-

lighting I would go to mygrandmother [Rebbetzin Rivka] andshe would read from her big bookand tell me nice stories … Thestories of my grandmother and ofmy teacher R’ Yekusiel aroused inme a longing to hear stories. Since Isaw that my father respected theguest who lived with us in the roomnext to mine, and his luminouscountenance was very apparent tome and I had already gotten over myfear of the distinguished Chassidimwho I had seen in Charkov duringthe days we spent there on our wayback from Yalta – I got up mycourage to ask the honored guest totell me Chassidic stories. For theseven weeks that Rashdam [RebShmuel Dovber of Parisov] stayed inour house, I heard many stories

from him, most of which Iremember till today (HaTamim, 5thvolume).

My grandmother, RebbetzinRivka was an able transmitter of oraltradition and each of her stories wasprecise, including when and fromwhom she heard it. And she wouldgive a broad description of thestoryteller and the time period of theevent and the story itself. Every day,when I came home from school, Iwould go and visit her and ask for astory. My visits to my grandmothercontinued throughout the years untilher passing. Her stories take aspecial place in my journal and inmy memories. (Seifer HaMaamarim5711)

Every melamed I learned withand from whom I heard stories ofmy holy ancestors, the fathers ofChassidus and of Chassidim, I heldin high esteem, and above all I heldmy teacher R’ Nissan in highestregard. His orderly and clear storiesenabled me not only to absorb thecontents with all the details, but alsoinspired me with a desire to reviewthe stories in thought and speechand in accordance with my childishunderstanding to delve into themoral lesson or the idea exemplifiedin each story (ibid).

Throughout all the days with myfather, for six weeks, he told mestories that he saw by his father,grandfather Maharash and by hisfather-in-law, grandfather R’ YosefYitzchok, both when he was inLubavitch and in the few days hespent in Ovrutch, and of his conductuntil his bar mitzva and from his barmitzva and onwards. From everysingle story he drew a moral lessonin fear of heaven and behaving withproper middos (character traits).(Seifer HaSichos, kayitz 5700)

WRITING A JOURNALOne time I complained to my

teacher R’ Nissan that I forget thestories I hear. He advised me to



write down everything I heard with aname, number and date. I listened tohis advice and all my free time frommy studies I used for writing. Myhandwriting at the time was hard todecipher and I myself had to workhard to figure out what I wrote. Theinnocent obedience to my teacher R’Nissan’s advice, despite the heavyburden it put on me, led to myhaving written quite a few storiesand incidents that later on my fatherexplained to me. (SeiferHaMaamarim 5709)

The practice of R’ Pinchas themelamed is that every day afterlearning, he would tell a certainstory of the Admurim or theChassidim from those printed instory books or recounted from oneperson to another. This story hourwas very precious to us all and weoften fought with one another aboutwhere we would stand or sit, foreach of us wanted to stand next toour teacher. After a contemplativesilence, R’ Pinchas would describethe one who related the story,whether one of the Admurim or oneof the elder Chassidim, and withbroad verbal strokes he woulddescribe the place and time in whichthe story took place. (ShmuosV’Sippurim vol. 3)

A STORY IS AFOUNDATION

When we take walks my fatheruses this time to tell me stories andmemories about my grandfather, theTzemach Tzedek’s appearance,stories from him and stories heheard from his mother. From day today I am getting better acquaintedwith the life and ways of conduct inlearning Chassidus, learning Nigleh,and the ways of avoda, and myjournal is enriched daily with moreof my written pages… For myfather, every story is “foundational.”(Seifer HaMaamarim 5709)

My father educated me withinner values in my youth, and told

me that Chassidic stories providegeneral improvement that makes aperson into a baal middos (man ofgood character) and a servant ofHashem. My father went on at greatlength in explaining this… Stories ofTzaddikim are the improvement;korbanos (sacrifices) are a matter ofslaughtering, slaughtering one’s evilinclination, iskafia – forcing oneself(Likkutei Dibburim).

When Chassidim in general, andChabad Chassidim in particular, telltheir own stories – whether in theirhomes or at farbrengens – theirnarratives are illuminated in turn bythe stories and practices of theirRebbeim and elder Chassidim. Theirhomes are then more radiant andmore refined (Seifer HaMaamarim5701).

About the stories that we heardin school, we children had to reviewthem amongst ourselves under ourteacher’s supervision. Typically,wanting to show that we rememberand understand what our teachertold us, we raised our voices to out-shout one another and there wassuch a racket that our teacherswould sit and be moved by ourshouting (ibid).

HOW SHOULD ACHASSIDIC STORY LOOK?

The Rebbe Rashab once said:You need to know how to tell aChassidic story so that the story isvivid. Furthermore, you need toknow how to listen to a story,because from hearing, an entirepicture forms in the mind of thelistener as though he is livingthrough the incident (LikkuteiDibburim).

The story of a tzaddik or of aChassid ought to be told with greatprecision. An excerpt from a storyalso ought to be told in an orderlyway and as it happened. This isregardless of the content of thestory. Even a story that seems at firstglance to be devoid of meaningful

content has great depth lying within.(Igros Kodesh Rebbe Rayatz vol. 6p. 280)

You need to learn how to tell aChassidic story. Everything must betold in the proper order. The storyshould not be “prettied” up withexplanations of the storyteller(Likkutei Dibburim).

A Chassidic story ought to leadto an opening of the mind and thestraightening out of the crookednessof the heart. This is why the book ofB’Reishis, which is mostly stories, iscalled “The Book of the Straight,”for the holy stories straighten outthe heart and mind so they arereceptive to receiving the Torah andavoda (ibid).

THE PURPOSE ANDADVANTAGE OF A STORY

The Alter Rebbe said, “Thestories told at Chassidic farbrengensare the dew of resurrection thatinstill vitality in haskala and avoda”(ibid).

The Alter Rebbe would often say:“Hearing Torah from the Rebbe [theMaggid of Mezritch] was to us, theOral Torah. Hearing a story fromour master was, to us, the WrittenTorah.” (Igros Kodesh Rebbe Rayatzvol. 4 p. 65)

The Rebbe Rashab once said, “AChassidic story illuminates andwarms a Chassidic home.” (LikkuteiDibburim)

“The Chassidic process of“Exodus from Egypt” includes“hagada”, that is, telling Chassidicstories and internalizing themdeeply. We need to know that everystory is a life lesson. Every storymust lead to a good character traitand inner vitality in beautifyingmitzvos and lead to feeling thepleasant ways of TorasHaChassidus” (HaYom Yom 26 Av).

A WONDROUS SEGULAIt is related in the name of the



Rebbe Maharash:They say that when you tell a

story of the Baal Shem Tov onMotzaei Shabbos, it is a segula(good portent) for parnasa(livelihood). In this there are threeexclusions: 1) not only stories of theBaal Shem Tov but of all Tzaddikim,2) not only on Motzaei Shabbos butat any time, 3) it is a segula not onlyfor parnasa but for everything –children, health and livelihood,which include within them allmatters of this world for good andblessing (quoted in the introductionto Shmuos V’Sippurim).

FARBRENGEN STORIESThe true “service of Torah” is a

Chassidic farbrengen, because at afarbrengen – when it is held as itwas by the senior Chassidim in everygeneration – they relate stories ofTzaddikim and Chassidim with themoral lesson to be learned. Theyexplain what ought to be learnedfrom them, and people are infusedwith inspiration according to thecontent of the stories. And to acertain degree this comes to actualpractice in avoiding bad and doinggood. It is for this reason that ourholy Rebbeim, leaders of Chabadand the famous Tzaddikim, leadersof Chassidus in general, cherishedChassidic farbrengens and tellingstories. (Igros Kodesh vol. 6 p. 75)

CHABAD CUSTOMBy Chabad Chassidim, in

addition to niggunim, the storiesimbued their behavior with greatwealth. By elder Chabad Chassidim,telling a story that they heard 45years before … meant to relive itagain, aside from the preciousnessand the importance of the storyitself, it placed them back in thesituation of Chassidim andChassidus of that time (SeiferHaMaamarim 5711).

The start of an orderly Chassidic

education is stories told at home toone’s wife and children on Shabbosand Yom Tov. He should say whathe heard from the Chassidicmelamed who experienced it or fromhis father who experienced it, or thatthe father and teacher heard it fromtheir parents and teachers as atradition passed down through thegenerations. (Seifer HaMaamarim5710)

CHASSIDIC SENTIMENTOUGHT TO DEMAND IT

It would be very dear to me ifeveryone of Anash and the T’mimimwould write what they rememberedfrom what they saw by their parentsand grandparents – the Chassidim,from their conduct in general andfrom the holidays in particular, thateach one write down as he iscapable, and if he errs between oneletter and another it’s not terrible…An order or even an outside arousalcannot be given regarding this, butChassidic sentiment ought todemand it of itself. Great benefit willaccrue – for him it will be the bestmusar work, and it will have a greateffect on the children, on the family,and the environment.

The Rebbe MH”M also put agreat emphasis on the importance of

writing down stories and memories:It is known how greatly our holy

Rebbeim valued … stories ofTzaddikim and Chassidim. Thesicha of the Rebbe my father-in-lawis known, that the book of B’Reishisprecedes all the other books of theTorah even though most of itconsists of stories of Tzaddikim andthe books that follow deal with thecommandments. (Igros Kodesh vol.5 p. 327)

In a letter from 22 Adar, 5723,the Rebbe writes to the editors ofBitaon Chabad: “The story sectionshould take up a large part of thepublication for obvious reasons.”

In a letter to R’ Shneur ZalmanBespalov, the Rebbe writes: “I wasgiven your letter which containsstories about R’ Hillel of Paritch.How good it would be if you wouldwrite these memories and memoriesof Chassidic history and ofChassidus, which you surelyremember, in general – you surelyheard many in your home and inLubavitch etc. And surely you alsoremember the names of who youheard them from and their reliability.It is known how greatly the Rebbemy father-in-law cherished givingover an idea or story in all its details,even those details which seemextraneous, such as what the



conditions were and who waspresent etc. (Igros Kodesh vol. 9 p.271)

THE CALL OF THE HOUROver the years, the Rebbe told

many elder Chassidim to write theirmemoirs and the stories they heard.Many books of stories and memoirswere printed. The following aresome of the Rebbe’s commentsabout these books:

R’ Chaim Mordechai Perlow,editor of Likkutei Sippurim, says inthe introduction to the book that inthe year 5722, the Rebbe urged himto write the stories he heard in hisyouth and he received constantencouragement to do so. When hefinally published the book in 5725,he gave a copy to the Rebbe before itwas bound. At the Yud Shevatfarbrengen of that year, the Rebbesaid that he had just received thepages of the book of stories of R’Perlow and he publicly repeated oneof the stories.

R’ Folye (Refael) Kahn, who putout three volumes of books calledShmuos V’Sippurim and publicizedother stories, tells in his bookLubavitch V’Chayaleha that when hetold the Rebbe about plans for abook, that it would include adescription of Lubavitch, theyeshiva, the talmidim, etc. the Rebbesaid: Every description and truestory of Lubavitch is obviously goodand the call of the hour.

When he had yechidus beforePesach 5732/1972, the Rebbe toldhim: Sometimes people are inspiredto fear of heaven from a story morethan from other things. When heasked whether he should printShmuos V’Sippurim, the Rebbe said:k’dai, k’dai (it is worthwhile). In theyechidus he had after Pesach5737/1977, the Rebbe asked himagain to print stories and todistribute them far and wide.

He writes about the aboveincidents in the introduction to his

books. R’ Shneur Zalman Duchman,author of L’Shema Ozen, was alsoasked by the Rebbe to do the same,and in the additions printed at theend of the new edition of the book(in 5750), a number of interestingepisodes are recounted inconnection to this.

R’ Yehuda Chitrik, author of theseries called Reshimos D’varim –four volumes – tells of what inspiredhim to write his memoirs. He oncewrote to the Rebbe a story that heheard from the mashpia inLubavitch, R’ Shmuel GronemEsterman. The Rebbe thanked himand asked him to continue writingwhat he heard. This went on for afew years. From time to time hewould write to the Rebbe stories thathe heard, until a lot of material wascollected out of which he printed hisbooks. In the Rebbe’s letters to himit mentions the following: “Thedelivery was delayed and I justreceived your notes of stories ofTzaddikim, and surely you willcontinue and many thanks inadvance.” “Surely you will continuewriting your memoirs.”

THE HISTORY OF CHASSIDIM AND

THEIR STORIESThe Rebbe Rayatz begged his

Chassidim who left Russia to writetheir memoirs. R’ Benzion Shemtovworked a lot on his fellow Chassidimin this area, and on 18 Teves, 5709,the Rebbe wrote him: “you shouldenter into correspondence in myname with our friends, Anash andthe T’mimim in Eretz Yisroel and

other locations where it is possible todiscuss this matter with them inwriting, and send it all to me, and Ihave appointed someone to arrangeall the letters and information thatwill come in on this topic.” (IgrosKodesh vol. 10 p. 62-3)

On 24 Shevat of that year, hewrote to him: “I was very pleased byyour good decision to fulfill myrequest to urge our friends theT’mimim and Anash…to join youand through you to carry out what Ihave placed upon them, to write oftheir work in strengthening Torahand the study of Chassidus in theland of our birth.” (ibid p. 92)

The Rebbe was involved in givingthese stories to the Rebbe Rayatz,and in 5706, in the introduction toSeifer HaSichos Toras Sholom, hewrote, “As per the desire of theRebbe my father-in-law for sometime, to gather information aboutthe elder Chassidim, the mashpiimetc.”

You also see this a lot in hisletters:

“What will finally be with yourwriting up the holy talks that youknow and remember and “accepted”stories (with citations of theirsource)?” (9 Tammuz, 5708)

“Thank you especially for thestory of the Rebbe Maharash … andI told it to the Rebbe my father-in-law in your name and he enjoyed it.”(4 Sivan, 5708)

“It is surprising that you stoppedwriting stories and holy talks thatyou remember.” (10 Adar, 5709)

“And therefore be so good as tosend from your memories,” “surelyyou will continue sending your

You need to learn how to tell aChassidic story. Everything must be toldin the proper order. The story should notbe “prettied” up with explanations ofthe storyteller.



writings frequently,” “it’s surprisingthat you stopped writing yourmemoirs,” “thank you for thewritings that you continue to write,”(these excerpts were compiled fromLikkutei Sichos vol. 24 p. 556-560).

The Rebbe himself would tellstories at farbrengens along withtheir lessons. These stories werecollected in special booklets and arealso on tape. Additionally, hecontinued to emphasize the need forstories of Chassidim themselves, ashe told R’ Abba Pliskin in yechidus:

“You must tell stories ofChassidic Jews, by which I meanspecifically Chassidim and notRebbeim. When you tell a storyabout a Rebbe one can think that thedistance is incomparable, unlikewhen you tell of Chassidim that youlearn from this etc. (HeichalMenachem vol. 3 p. 221)

STORIES TAKEPRECEDENCE OVER

CHIDDUSHEI TORAHWe will conclude with a story

that the Rebbe Rayatz wrote in aletter dated 20 Cheshvan,5702/1941:

The Tzemach Tzedek wanted tosend the genuine gaon, the well-known Chassid, R’ Yitzchok IsaacEpstein of Homil to the holy R’Yisroel of Ruzhin regarding acommunal matter.

R’ Isaac, being educated in theways of Chabad, was very interestedin knowing the ways and conduct ofthe Ruzhiner Chassidim in generaland the ways of the Rebbe inparticular, and he applied his broadmind and heart to every detail.

By R’ Yisroel Ruzhiner thecustom was, as typical of PoilisherChassidim, that when he receivedpeople – praven zich, and when heread kvittlech (notes with requests),there would be an elder Chassid(called a mekurav) that would act asa mediator standing on the Rebbe’sright and the first gabbai standing to

his left.Among the guests then in Ruzhin

was one of the great rabbanim inBukovina, famous as a big scholarand one of the close Chassidim ofthe Ruzhiner tzaddik. He broughthis scholarly manuscript along for R’Yisroel’s approbation. There wasalso a Chassid who had spent someyears collecting stories of Tzaddikimand Chassidim, and he, too, broughthis manuscript for R’ Yisroel’sapprobation.

These two Chassidim stood onthe reception line, the rabbi and theChassid with their manuscripts. Theaide took their manuscripts and readsome selections from the rabbi’swork and then some stories from theother work.

R’ Yisroel sat in d’veikus (aspiritually transcendent state) andthen began to talk about how great itis to recount tales of Tzaddikim andthe tremendous impression thismakes in the chambers of Tzaddikimin Gan Eden. Then he spoke aboutchiddushei Torah on the topics thathad been read to him. Then he toldhis aide to write approbations forboth books.

R’ Isaac noted how R’ Yisroeladdressed the two individuals andmarveled at the depth and style ofwhat R’ Yisroel said in response tothe rabbi’s chiddushei Torah. Hewas puzzled by why R’ Yisroel hadgiven precedence in his comments as

well as in his instruction to write hisapprobation, to the book of storiesover the book of chiddushei Torah.

Two days later it was RoshChodesh and R’ Isaac was invited tothe Rosh Chodesh meal. R’ Yisroelsaid divrei Torah and before theBirkas HaMazon he said:

It was surprising to theLithuanian gaon that I first spokeabout stories of Tzaddikim and onlyafterwards about chiddushei Torah,and that the approbation for thestories was given before theapprobation for the chiddusheiTorah. This question is an old oneand the holy Rashi, who was anincredible genius in the Revealedand Hidden parts of Torah, asks thison the first verse in B’Reishis – theTorah should have begun with thecommandment “this month is toyou” – why did it start withB’Reishis? Because “Hashem wasrelating His might,” i.e. the soul ofall acts of creation, in every time andat every moment.

My grandfather, the holyMaggid, had a tradition from theholy Baal Shem Tov about how tosee the neshama in every physicalbody. You understand? We arefollowing the same order thatHashem did in His Torah, first withthe book of B’Reishis – stories ofTzaddikim, as it says in the Midrash– with whom did G-d consult? Withthe souls of Tzaddikim. And onlythen do we go on to the book ofShmos – with the mitzva of “thismonth is for you.”

The two authors are Chassidim,men of stature, and bothmanuscripts contain wondrouschiddushim. In the chiddushei Torahthe author reveals his tremendousscholarship and the straight thinkingthat he innovated in the holy Torah.In the stories of Tzaddikim it tells ofthe mighty chiddushim of Hashemthat He innovated in the world. Sothat is why I gave precedence to thebook of stories of Tzaddikim overthe book of chiddushei Torah.


TO LOOK AT THELIGHTS, OPEN OUREYES, AND THANK

HASHEMMany years ago, religious

askanim in New York found outabout the government’s plan to passa law that could adversely affectreligious matters. I think it had todo with shechita. The askanimconvened meetings, madeappointments, exerted pressure, andultimately the idea was shelved.

Shortly thereafter, one of theseaskanim had yechidus with theRebbe and he asked: Why wasn’tChabad involved in this?

The Rebbe reacted in surprise: Iwasn’t involved?! I said a maamar inthe middle of the week!

It’s an accepted fact that Chabadleaders influence world events and asthe Rebbe Rayatz once said aboutthe Tzemach Tzedek that when hewas in Lubavitch he made “order“ inPetersburg, the capitol of Russia inthose days.

If that was so with all Chabadleaders, then all the more so with theRebbe MH”M, for his role asMoshiach is “to rectify the worldwith the Kingdom of G-d,” and inthis capacity he was certainly giventhe ability to make “order” in theworld. Certainly, since the Rebbetook on the Chabad nesius, he hasinfluenced nations around the world.

Most of these matters remainedhidden from us and only on rareoccasions were they revealed such ason Purim 5713/1953 when theRebbe orchestrated Stalin’s death.So too on Rosh Hashana 5743/1982when the Rebbe mentioned that theTzemach Tzedek made “order” inPetersburg and shortly thereafterBrezhnev, General Secretary of theCommunist party, died (inNovember 1982). A year later, onRosh Hashana 5744/1943 the Rebbesaid the same thing and hissuccessor, Yuri Andropov died(February 1984).

That is how it went for fortyyears, from 5710-5750 (1950-1990). In 5750 the Rebbe spoke alot about how after forty years“Hashem gave you a heart to knowand eyes to see and ears to hear,”and it is possible to also see those


feature

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whohas recently devoted much of her time toapplying pressure to Israel is nowcompelled to work round the clock inorder to put out the diplomatic fires thatare raging across the world. * Since theyear 5750 – as the Rebbe told us in hissichos – we have been given the abilitiesto hear, see and understand – we merelyneed to open our eyes and see.

WIKILEAKS ANDTHE CHABADREBBEIMBy Rabbi Naftali EstulinShliach of the Rebbe in Los Angeles



things which were hidden until now.Indeed, from that point on

upheavals took place in the world ata rapid pace and the Rebbe spoke atlength about them. For example, theRebbe said in the sicha of Shabbosparshas Mishpatim 5752 that all theactivities taking place in the world inrecent years in order to bring aboutworld peace, were a result of theactivities of Melech Ha’Moshiachwho is in New York and is preparingthe world to greet Moshiach.

For forty years this was hidden,“and Hashem did not give you aheart to understand and eyes to seeand ears to hear,” but all that was“until this day,” until 5750. Since5750 – said the Rebbe – we havebeen given the ability to hear, to see,and understand. We just need toopen our eyes and see.

WHY AM I REFERRINGTO THIS NOW?

American governments havecome and gone over the decades.There were those that were better forIsrael and those that were less so, butwe have never had the likes of BarakObama and Hillary Clinton. Nearlyall the American governments

pressured Israel regardingsettlements, for example, but thosewere just words. As the Rebbe oftensaid in his sichos that the Americansdid so just to be able to tell theSaudis that they pressured Israel.But the Obama-Clinton team areexerting unprecedented pressure andare causing Israel tremendous harm.

Of course, PM Netanyahu is toblame for the situation. He broughtthe pressure on to himself when heannounced to the Americansimmediately after the elections thathe was no longer interested incontrolling Yehuda-Shomron andthat he was prepared for territory

exchanges. This was exposed lastweek through WikiLeaks and showshow foolish he is for inviting thepressure.

Last week, starting with FridayYud-Tes Kislev, we see how Obamaand Clinton are sustaining blow afterblow. It began with an actual blowthat Obama got on the face forwhich he needed twelve stitches. Butthe bigger blow began at thebeginning of this week whenWikiLeaks publicized hundreds ofthousands of documents that throw amonkey wrench into all of Americandiplomacy. Clinton, who devotedmany hours of her time lately toexerting pressure on Israel, has hadto work around the clock in theattempt to put out the manydiplomatic fires that are burning allover the world.

The Italian prime minister calledthe leaking of these documents the9/11 of diplomacy and the one whohas to deal with the mess is HillaryClinton.

We need to open our eyes andunderstand that all these worldevents are being conducted by theRebbe MH”M on the way to the trueand complete Geula when there willbe no more secrets.

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FEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF DAVENING

The following story took place inBeit Shaan:

Tziyon (a pseudonym) came tothe Chabad house wearing alambskin coat, a backpack, holding ashepherd’s staff in one hand and areed flute in the other hand. Theodor of sheep wafted through thebuilding and perfectly suited hisunusual appearance. He introducedhimself as coming from Beit Shaanand working as a shepherd in themountains of the Galilee. He spokeabout periods of time that he lived incaves and experimented with drugs.Prayer and mitzvos were not part ofhis life.

I actually liked Tziyon and Icalled my young children to comeand see a real shepherd. He playedhis flute for them and let them touchthe lambs’ wool, which wasreminiscent of the story they hadlearned in school about Rivkadressing Yaakov in the garments ofEisav. Tziyon enjoyed the friendlywelcome, something he did notreceive elsewhere. He promised tovisit again.

He began attending t’fillos andshiurim. He was a sensitive youngman and at nearly every class he hadsomething to contribute of histhoughts and experiences. Heespecially took to Chassidic prayer.He learned to prepare for daveningand to daven at length and heoccasionally related what new thinghe learned with each prayer.

One day he said he wanted toask a question that had botheredhim for a long time. He said that ithappened to him more than oncewhile praying that as he focused onthe idea of Hashem standing abovehim and opposite him, he wassuddenly seized by a great fear. Heliterally saw with his mind’s eye howthe Sh’china (Divine Presence)hovered near him and he didn’tknow what to do when thishappened. He asked me whether Ialso felt this frightening holinesssometimes … It wasn’t pleasant forme to admit that I still did not attainsuch high levels but I reassured himthat it was all right and he shouldn’tbe afraid. Hashem was trulystanding over him but he couldcontinue praying.

He continues till this day anddraws many other Jews closer tot’filla, to serving Hashem, and theways of Chassidus.

BOWING DURING AWEEKDAY MORNING

DAVENINGThe following story happened in

a Chabad house in India. A youngman walked in, a tourist with abackpack, and he wanted to daven.The shliach realized that the manwas taking his first steps in t’fillaand he gave him a T’hillas HashemSiddur with instructions in themargins of every page and told himto start with Modeh Ani.

The shliach went to anotherroom and the young man beganpraying with all his heart. An hourlater the shliach returned to seewhere he was up to and to hisamazement he saw that the man waslying on the ground (belly down)with arms and legs spread out andreading the Shmoneh Esrei. Theshliach retreated. He didn’t knowjust what to do under thecircumstances. He left the room andthe man continued davening.


sh l i chus

With the power of prayer one can attain“bittul atzmi” (negation of self) and thebonding of the neshama in Elokus.

THE POWEROF PRAYERBy Rabbi Yaakov ShmuelevitzShliach, Beit Shaan



Some time later the man finisheddavening and sat down. The shliachasked him why he had been lying onthe floor and the man did notunderstand the question. He showedthe shliach that at the beginning ofShmoneh Esrei it says to bend theknees at “boruch,” to bow at “ata,”and to straighten up at “Hashem,”so he had bent and bowed andcontinued reciting the entireShmoneh Esrei this way until hecame to the word “b’sheim” inTachanun, “… ka’yom va’yikrab’sheim Hashem v’sham ne’emar,”and that is when he got up!

THE PRAYER FORPRAYER WITH A MINYAN

Rabbi Roi Tor, shliach to thekibbutzim in Emek Beit Shaan:

In Elul 5769 I was sitting andlearning with someone from thekibbutzim. The topic was RoshHashanah, the blowing of the shofarand the Rosh Hashanah prayers inlight of Chassidus. He understoodthe special quality of the first day ofthe year and the significance of thecoronation of Hashem, and hedearly wanted to be part of a minyan

on this holy day. Since there is nominyan and no shul on his kibbutz,R’ Roi suggested that he and his wifego somewhere for Rosh HaShanawhere there is a shul. He said hewould have to ask his wife.

His wife wasn’t excited by theidea. “It’s enough that you are awayfrom home all day on Yom Kippur.Now you want to go away for RoshHashanah?” He made his peace withthis and said, “It’s a shame that youdon’t understand the importance oft’filla on Rosh Hashanah. If youknew how important it is, you wouldagree.”

Rosh Hashanah was approachingand he was getting progressivelymore pained and he prayed for amiracle so he could daven with aminyan on Rosh Hashanah.

Then a group of people on thekibbutz suddenly asked R’ Roi toarrange a minyan on the kibbutz forRosh Hashanah. R’ Roi got somepeople together led by Rabbi SholomBlau of Beit Shaan. They brought aTorah with them, Siddurim, food fortwo days and arranged a place todaven, a place where they could stay,etc. and voila, there was a shul. Over

100 people (from that kibbutz and anearby kibbutz) heard the shofarthat Rosh Hashanah. The place wasfull and more men and womenlistened outside to the t’fillos andshofar. They were all satisfied withthe new shul but the happiest one ofall was that member of the kibbutzwho davened with a minyan andwhose prayer was answered.

PRAYER AT THE KOSELRabbi Yosef Halperin and Rabbi

Shmuel Weiss run the Chabad t’fillinstand at the Kosel plaza. Every daythey meet hundreds of people whocome to pray, to put on t’fillin in thisholy place, the remnant of ourMikdash where the Sh’china stillresides. Because of a prayer,sometimes exceedingly short, peopleare inspired to t’shuva, they aremoved, and sometimes they makesignificant changes in their lives.

R’ Halperin relates:Someone came over to the t’fillin

stand, stood there for a minute andwatched our work in amazement.He came over to me and said, “Yousee me? You see that I am areligious Jew. My son learns in ayeshiva in Brooklyn and it’s allthanks to Mivtza T’fillin of a youngbachur in New York.

“I was not religious. I had anoffice and a successful business.One Friday a Lubavitcher yeshivabachur came into my office andwanted to put on t’fillin with me. Hecame every Friday until I suggested– why put your t’fillin on with me?Take money and buy me t’fillin soI’ll have my own. He continuedcoming every Friday and he taughtme something new – another prayer,a d’var Torah, a Halacha etc.

“I began attending shul (at first Ishowed up on Shabbos with t’fillin)and then we registered our childrenin yeshiva and our entire homebecame observant. It is all thanks toa short prayer with a young bachurwith a pair of t’fillin.

The Chabad t’fillin stand at the Kosel



PRIESTS PUT ON T’FILLIN

R’ Shmuel Weiss (whoseexpertise is working with Englishspeaking people at the Kosel)relates:

Yesterday a group of priests cameto the Kosel. Their tour guide wasJewish and as part of the tour hestopped at the t’fillin stand andasked all the priests to wait a fewminutes while he put on t’fillin!

As I helped him I glanced over atthe priests and saw that two of themlooked Jewish. I quietly asked theguide whether it was possible thatthere were two Jews in his groupand he said it was impossible forthey were all Christian priests. But Isaw Jewish faces. I went over to oneof them and asked, “Are youJewish?”

“I am not Jewish,” he said, “butmy mother is Jewish and this is myyounger brother.” Of course thebrothers were given a briefexplanation about their Jewishidentity (the younger one heard forthe first time in his life what t’fillinare; the other one had once seenthem) and both rolled up theirsleeves and joined the Jewish people.Thanks to their guide.

ANOTHER PRIEST WHOPUT ON T’FILLIN

Four years ago, on RoshChodesh Kislev – continued R’Weiss – I noticed an older manstanding at a distance from thet’fillin stand and watching us. Helooked somewhat Jewish. I motioned

to him to come over but he did notwant to. I went over to him andasked him whether he would put ont’fillin. We got into a brief friendlyconversation in the course of whichI asked him when he last put ont’fillin. He said he hadn’t put themon in a long time. I began puttingthem on him and continued to talkto him and listen. Within a fewminutes he corrected himself andsaid that he had never put on t’fillin.After I removed the t’fillin he toldme his story:

“When I was one year old myparents were able to flee Europe andwe arrived in the United States. OnRosh Hashanah my father went toshul but there stood a guard whoasked for a ticket.

“What ticket?” asked my puzzledfather.

“The guard explained that onlythose who bought a ticket couldenter the shul. My father was sooffended that he decided that hewould never go back to shul and hedropped all Jewish observance. Myparents so distanced themselvesfrom Jewish practice that theyregistered me in a school for priestsand that is what I’ve been all my life.I am a priest in the US.

“We continued talking and I toldhim that he is 100% Jewish. Iexplained that the name Hershel(Yiddish for deer) signifies that heneeds to make speedy progress (likea deer) in the direction of Judaismand he ought to change careers. Hesighed and we parted ways as hepondered his past, present andfuture.

“We have been in touch. Wespeak nearly every week bytelephone. He told me that he lefthis job at the church (he retired atage 70) and tries to do mitzvos tothe best of his knowledge. He cameback to the Kosel two years ago. Ididn’t recognize him. An older manapproached me and said loudly,“You don’t recognize me? I’mHershel!” He showed me that he hadcome with a group of retirees and allof them wanted to see “Hershel’sfriend” who stands at the Koselplaza and puts t’fillin on with Jews.

THANKS TO ONE DAYWITHOUT T’FILLIN

I was at a wedding in KfarChabad – concluded R’ Weiss –when suddenly a Lubavitcher cameover to me and said hello. Irecognized the voice but not the facewith the beard. “I don’t know if youremember me, but three years agowe had a short conversation nearyour t’fillin stand.”

He reminded me that three yearsearlier he spent time learning in theJewish quarter of the Old City. Hesometimes put on t’fillin. One day,he came to the stand a few minutesafter sunset and said he hadn’t puton t’fillin yet.

“You told me it was too late but Icould make a good resolution thatfrom that day on I would neverforget to put on t’fillin everymorning. I listened to you and fromthen on I never missed a day. I leftthe school I was in and went to OhrT’mimim and I am engaged to aLubavitcher girl.”

the crowd advertisments one afterthe other which were printed in theJewish Press with headlines like“Open your eyes” or “Saying goodbye to Golus, Ad Matai”, all of theseadvertisements were signed by

litvishe (!) organisations. “We mustwake up” urged Rabbi Kalmanson.The crowd was mesmerised by hiswords.

The farbengen continued untilShacharis on Sunday morning.Many resolutions were made by all

those participating in the Congressand everyone was strengthened andencouraged in anticipation ofredemption and complete realisationof the prophecy that HeneiMoshiach Bo!

[Continued from page 39]


Shabbos was ushered in with ajoyous Kabbolas Shabbos, thesinging of Yechi at Lecha Dodi leftno one in their seats as everyonejoined the circle of dancing.AfterKabbolas Shabbos, over 100 peoplesat down for a sumptuous SeudasShabbos and ChassidisheFarbrengen. Rabbi ZusheSilberstein Shliach in Montrealrelated stories from the RebbeMHM about the importance ofworking together B’Achdus and theNachas the Rebbe derives from it.

Rabbi Eli Dovid Borensteinchazzered the Hayom Yom whichwas peppered withquestions,vertlach and some veryinteresting answers to the delight ofthe assembled. The Seudacontinued well in to the earlymorning developing into aChassidishe Farbrengen led byRabbi Zushe Posner from Lud,Eretz Yisroel.

SHABBOS DAY - CHOFKISLEV, CHAG HAGEULA

Seder Chassidus commenced at8am before the davening started andthe tables were already prepared andset up for the farbrengen afterdavening. Even before the SederChassidus, each guest learnt hisown Maamar followed by a verylively Davening. Many continuedway into the afternoon..

The Seudas Shabbos andFarbrengen was led once again byRabbi Zushe Posner, with Rabbi’sDovid Nachshon, Borenstein,Silberstein and the guests fromFrance Rabbi Pinchas Pashteur andRabbi David Turgeman. Actively

participating in the farbrengen.Other distinguished speakersincluded Rabbi Chaim Sasson.

Mincha was followed by SederNigunim and a chazoro of a Mamarby Rabbi Zalman Liberow whoshared words of inspiration andthanks to Hashem Yisborach,during the speech while mentioninghis son Avraham Dovid A”H, heemotionally choked up with tearsbegging Hashem that we should seehis son again in the Geula ShleimaNOW!

MOTZOEI SHABBOS -GRAND BANQUET AND

MELAVE MALKAThe tables were laden with

delicacies as over 200 people satdown for the last major event of thecongress.

Rabbi Chaim Yitzchok Cohenformally opened the event andintroduced Rabbi Reuven Flamerfrom ChabadLife.TV based in NYC,as the evening’s emcee.

Then followed the recital of theTehillim of the Rebbe MH”MShlita’s Kappitel. Rabbi ChaimShmuel Menachem MendelLiberow, from Beis Moshaich UK.,the father of Rabbi ZalmanLiberow, was called to lead theTehillim.

The emcee then called therepresentative from Belgium, afamous artist and designer, R’Daniel Von Weinberger. R’Weinberger spoke about therevolution his work is causing in theworld of art by promoting theconcept of G-d and the RebbeMH”M. He presented to the crowd

art books which were sponsored bythe official art institutes in Hollandcosting up to 50,000 Euro for theproduction. In the book (except forhis work) there was articles abouthis life as a believer and how it ispossible to write to the Rebbe todayand receive answers through theIgros Kodesh. “The message is”said R’ Weinberger, “everyone canand must do all that they can tobring Moshiach into the world”.

At this point, the emcee invitedthe guest speaker of the evening, theChief Rabbi of Ukraine, RabbiMoishe Reuven Asman to addressthe Congress. Rabbi Asman startedby saying that he is rededicatinghimself to ship to Israel the fournew Mitzvah Tanks which hepromised at the Kinus HaShluchim,recently held in 770. He revealedthat one of the Tanks is actuallysponsored from his own pocket andhe urged everyone to help RabbiNachshon with the Tanks in Israel.

Rabbi Asman spoke about theletter he received from the RebbeMHM for his Chasuna which wasbefore the end of the “Iron Curtain”and how the Rebbe was involved inthe date of his Chasuna which wasset for Yud-Tes Kislev.

Rabbi Zushe Silberstein relatedthe amazing story of his Shlichus toRussia in 1987 and related aboutthe mesiras nefesh the Chassidimhad then to build Mikvaos. Heurged the audience to be inspiredfrom these actions to have MesirasNefesh in each one of their dailyactivities.

The formal part of the eveningended with Rabbi Sholom BerKalmanson, Head Shliach of theRebbe MH”M in Cincinatti,Ohioand Executive Vice President ofChabad in Cincinatti. “The Rebbewants us to prepare the world forMoshiach. If we won’t do it he willfind someone else”.

To prove this point he shows to


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11TH EUROPEANMOSHIACH CONGRESS

[Continued on page 38]


When the Alter Rebbe was sittingin a Russian prison, arrested onslanderous reports of treason, he wasinterviewed by a Russian ministerwho was learned in Jewish mattersand an expert on the entire Bible.One of the questions he posed to theAlter Rebbe was concerning themeaning of the verse in B’Reishis,“And G-d called to Adam and said,‘where are you?’”

“Did the Alm-ghty not knowwhere Adam was,” asked theMinister, “that He had to ask, ‘whereare you?’”

The Alter Rebbe answeredaccording to the commentary ofRashi: “G-d knew very well whereAdam was, of course, but Henevertheless asked, “Where areyou?” in order to enter into aconversation with him withoutstartling him [thereby giving Adam achance to ask forgiveness for havingeaten of the fruit of the Tree ofKnowledge]. But if G-d had suddenlycome upon him to punish him, hewould have been too bewildered torespond.”

The Minister said: “What Rashisays I know myself. I would like,however, to hear an explanation fromthe Rebbe.”

The Rebbe answered, “When aperson is at the age of such and such,for example,” saying the precise ageof the Minister, “the Alm-ghty askshim, ‘where are you?’ Do you knowfor what purpose you were created inthe world? Are you aware of whatyou must do and have you takenaccount of what you have done thusfar?”

Although the release of the AlterRebbe was a day of great joy andcelebration for world Jewry, theRebbe Rayatz explains that the AlterRebbe himself was celebrating evenbefore he was released from prison.In fact, the incarceration itself wasthe cause of the Alter Rebbe’s greatjoy, having merited sitting in prisonand having self-sacrifice for theteachings of the Baal Shem Tov andthe Mezritcher Maggid, the foundersof chassidus. For it was in oppositionto chassidus that slanderous reportswere issued, leading to the AlterRebbe’s arrest. His pleasure wascompletely unbridled andoverwhelming to the extent that hewas literally on the verge of soulexpiration (k’los ha’nefesh).

If it wasn’t for his conversationwith the Minister, the soul of theAlter Rebbe would have surely

departed. Only by recalling how theAlm-ghty asks every person, “whereare you? Have you yet done what youmust do?” was the Alter Rebberevived, allowing his soul to remain inhis body, for by this point in time theAlter Rebbe had by no meanscompleted his life’s work.

In fact, the release of the AlterRebbe, which we celebrate on the19th and 20th of the month of Kislev,marks the beginning of the stage ofhis leadership in which he renewedhis commitments to “spreading thewellsprings of chassidus outwards,”and thereby preparing the world forthe imminent coming of Moshiachand the true and completeRedemption.

And as the Rebbe Rayatz writes:“At the present time, when the worldtrembles, when all the worldshudders with the birth pangs ofMoshiach, for G-d has set fire to thewalls of the Exile..., it is the duty ofevery Jew – man and woman, oldand young – to ask himself: Whathave I done, and what am I nowdoing to alleviate the birth pangs ofMoshiach and to merit the completeRedemption, which will comethrough our righteous Moshiach?”

When the Alter Rebbe left prisonon Yud-Tes Kislev, he wrote about hisrelease to his colleagues, the holytzaddikim, R’ Levi Yitzchok ofBerditchev and R’ Boruch ofMezhibuzh “Hashem has donewonders and made Himself great inthe land. He has made wondrous andgreat His glorious and holy Name,which was exalted and sanctifiedpublicly, especially in the eyes of allthe ministers and each nation inevery country of the king, so thateven in their eyes the matter istremendously wondrous. Indeed, theyhave announced that certainly ‘this isfrom G-d - it is wondrous in oureyes.’”

In other words, the Alter Rebbeconnected his release from jail withthe effect and impact on the ministersand nations, who also recognized that


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SPREADING THE WELLSPRINGSOF MOSHIACHOUTWARDSpeech by Rabbi Chaim Yitzchok Cohen, menahel, Beis Moshiach UK at the 11th Annual European Moshiach Congress, London UK

abbi chaimhen, menahel,ch uk at theeuropeanngress,



this was from Hashem, influencingthem to the extent that even theirbehaviour would be proper and inaccordance with Hashem’scommandments.

The Rebbe MH”M asks (LikkuteiSichos, Vol. 25, p. 186): This idea,that even the non-Jews recognizedthe miracle and that it influencedtheir behaviour, as important andwonderful as it is - what value does ithave relative to the geula and therevelation of pnimiyus ha’Torah?Through pnimiyus ha’Torah, theinnermost part of the neshama wasrevealed - the “spreading of thewellsprings outward” - which leads to“k’asi mar“ (Moshiach’s coming)!?

This question is especiallysignificant because it involves g’doleiYisroel, who were great in pnimiyusha’Torah, who had an understandingof the geula and its import.Concerning the amazing chiddush itbrought about Above and below inthis world, and throughout the entireseider hishtalshelus, who cares aboutthe impact it had on gentile ministersand nations?

Whoever has tasted of theteachings of the Rebbeim is awarethat the entire episode of theimprisonment and release of the AlterRebbe on Yud-Tes Kislev is muchmore than a local story, much morethan relevant to only one isolatedgroup of people - it is a fundamentalevent that affects all the Jewishpeople, and contributes to thebringing of Moshiach.

The imprisonment was only amirror-effect of a judgment upAbove, which dealt with the questionas to whether it was permissible andnecessary to continue spreading thewellsprings of chassidus, especially ina way of chochma, bina, daas. UpAbove there was a complaint: Theworld was not yet ready forchassidus. It is forbidden to grind the“crown jewel” if its true value is notappreciated, if its preciousness will bewasted.

Even if permission was already

granted to spread chassidus in orderto save the life of the “prince,” it wasenough to give a drop, and that’s all,as did the Baal Shem Tov and theMaggid. It should not be in the wayof Chabad, which is a far greater“waste” of the treasures. Up Abovethere was reason to claim that this“waste” was not necessary then inorder to save the Jewish people, butwas only for the sake of granting aforetaste of Geula, for which theworld may not have been ready.

This was the quarrel Above andbelow. This is what the Alter Rebbegave his life for b’gashmius andb’ruchnius, suffering greatly - to thepoint of the sufferings of death. ChagHaGeula (Yud-Tes Kislev), RoshHaShana L’Chassidus, when, as itsays in T’hillim, “He redeemed mysoul in peace and I left in peace, theG-d of peace,” was not only apersonal release and geula of aprivate individual, or even of an ishklali. This day was the confirmationthat the decision had been renderedAbove (and therefore below, as well)giving both permission and ability tospread the wellsprings of chassidusoutward, in the way of Chabad.

As Moshiach promised the BaalShem Tov: when his wellspringswould spread outward, he wouldcome.

Why is it the spreading of thewellsprings that brings Moshiach?

The Rebbe explains: This statementdoes not mean to indicate thatspreading the wellsprings is a segulain whose merit Moshiach comes. Asthe Rambam says, every deed orword or thought of Torah andmitzvostips the scale to bring the Geula.What is it about spreading thewellspring of chassidus that bringsMoshiach? Spreading chassidusisitself the beginning of the Geula.

The fact that when Moshiachcomes there will be no hunger, nowar, no hatred and competition, andgoodness will be bountiful is not theessence of Geula, but the results ofGeula. Because of Geula, we’ll haveall these good things, bothb’gashmius and b’ruchnius. Theessence of Geula is, rather, “therevelation of the Ohr Ein Sof BoruchHu in this physical world,” as it says:“The glory of Hashem will berevealed and all flesh together will seethat the mouth of Hashem hasspoken”; “And the earth will be fullwith the knowledge of Hashem aswater covers the sea.”

Since Hashem is the ultimate intruth and goodness, beyond alllimitations, when He is revealed,utter goodness will be experienced asa matter of course.

What are “your wellsprings”?What is the point of the teachings ofthe Baal Shem Tov? The point of allof the teachings of the Baal Shem Tovis that “everything is Elokus, andElokus is everything.” When thewellsprings of chassidus spread forth,when the world recognizes and feelsthat everything is Elokus, which is“the revelation of the Ohr Ein SofBoruch Hu in this physical world” -this stage of existence is not asegulato bring the Geula; this stage ofexistence is the Geula.

The reason the Baal Shem Tovhimself did not usher in the era ofMoshiach in his time was not becausethe wellsprings were not completelyrevealed then, but because they stillhadn’t reached and penetrated the“outside.” There was a “revelation of

BE IS MOSHIACH 39



the Ohr Ein Sof Boruch Hu,” but itstill hadn’t fully penetrated thisphysical world. When the teachingsof the Baal Shem Tov fill all of thechutza, all of this physical world, sothat it is saturated with Elokus - thisis actually the true and completeRedemption.

This was also the primary reasonfor the founding of ChassidusChabad. Chabad was not foundedbecause of the importance of intellectfor its own sake. On the contrary,Chabad chassidus explains how it isimpossible for true hiskashrus toHashem to be based on intellect.After all, intellect can err. But even ifthe intellect would be absolutelyunerring, it would still be limited.And hence, hiskashrus to Hashemwould, therefore, also be limited,ch’v, according to the seichel of eachperson. (The teachings of the BaalShem Tov are not intellectually based;they speak specifically in terms offaith, without intellectualunderstanding).

The revelation of the Ohr Ein SofBoruch Hu in this world must bebrought down into seichel in Chabadchassidus, because as long as therevelation does not penetrate theintellect, it remains “up Above” in theseventh heaven, on the level of emuna(which is above the world), withoutpenetrating the physical world. Theseichel is the highest level of thisphysical world, therefore thebeginning of the path of bringing thewellsprings outward is by havingthem penetrate the seichel. Drawingthe revelation of the Ohr Ein SofBoruch Hu down from the seventhheaven (to the sixth heaven) openedthe pathway, granting permission tocontinue this further, throughout theseven generations of our Rebbeim.

The goal is reached in ourgeneration, the seventh generation,“to draw down the Sh’china,” notonly from “heaven to heaven,” but“from the heaven to earth,” the literal“revelation of Ohr Ein Sof Boruch Huin this physical world,” within the

physicality of this lowest world. Andin our generation this revelationcontinued to penetrate more andmore deeply as time passed, furthercompleting the plan of making forHashem a “dira ba’tachtonim,” sothat even within the lowest of the low,the cry of “ein od milvado“ and“everything is Elokus and Elokus iseverything,” bursts forth.

This is why Geula is connectednot only with the Jewish people butwith the entire world becomingrefined and redeemed. In theredemption from Mitzrayim, Hashemwanted the Egyptians to know “that Iam G-d.” It wasn’t enough tovanquish Mitzrayim; the Egyptianshad to recognize G-d. And “as in thedays of your going forth from Egypt,I will show you wonders,” the finalRedemption also entails the entireworld being redeemed. Geula is notonly for the “lost ones in the land ofAshur and the outcasts in the land ofEgypt,” but even for Ashur and Egyptthemselves.

When we left Mitzrayim, theEgyptians came to know Hashem bybeing broken by the plagues. But inour time, they will see andacknowledge that “the glory ofHashem will be revealed, and all fleshwill see that the mouth of Hashemhas spoken.” “And the earth will befull of the knowledge of Hashem likethe waters cover the sea.”

This is why, the Rebbe MH”Mshlita explains, it was particularlyimportant to the Alter Rebbe thateven the nations and ministersrecognize that hisgeula came fromHashem, and that their realization ofit impact their conduct, and this iswhat he stressed in the letter he wroteto other tzaddikim about his geula.This is because an importantcomponent of the Alter Rebbe’srelease from jail was that thewellsprings would begin to reach theoutside, so that even the nations andministers of the nations of the worldrecognize the greatness of Hashemand the oneness of Hashem - not just

Hashem’s hashgacha in general, butin the way that chassidus explainsHashem’s oneness in ShaarHaYichud V’HaEmuna.

Although according to someopinions, gentiles were notcommanded to refrain from shituf(believing in more than one G-d),their knowledge of the oneness ofHashem (as it is explained inchassidus) contributes a great dealboth in regard to their personalconduct and in their interaction withJews. Therefore, we should work toensure that everybody recognize “thatHe alone is emes.” Even non-Jewsshould know that nature and its lawsare nothing and have no existenceindependent of Elokus, so that evenwithin the lowest of the low, andspecifically from it, G-d’s onenessbursts forth in the clearest way.

This goal is achieved throughwhat Hashem commanded in theTorah and what He conveyed to usthrough Moshe Rabbeinu. A mostimportant part of our job is to bringall nations of the world to theawareness of the greatness and therule of the Rebbe MH”M.

Presumably, this includesinspiring them to ask for the Geulaand to proclaim “Yechi,” becausealthough “crowning the king” isconnected with Jewish souls, ourgreatness is especially expressed bybringing along the entire world indoing likewise. When Adam crownedHashem as king, it was necessary forall of Creation to accept Hashem’srule.

It is clear that we have a missionto disseminate the “belief in Hashemand in Moshe, His servant” - i.e., theRebbe MH”M - along with the ShevaMitzvos Bnei Noach. This resolutionto influence the entire world shouldhasten the fulfilment of the promiseof Geula with the revelation of theRebbe MH”M!

Yechi Adoneinu MoreinuV’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiachL’olam Va’ed!


‘ENOUGH EXILE!’ IS A LEGITIMATE 4 COMPLAINT MY DEAR … · HEBREW EDITOR: Rabbi Sholom Yaakov...

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