e mas419 a · Torah begins describing this special day, the day of the assembly of the Mishkan at the end of Parshas P’kudei. Throughout most of Chumash VaYikra and the beginning

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CONTENTS

4 | WHEREVER G-D LEADSD’var Malchus / Sichos in English

10 | THE ROLE OF KEILIM D’TIKKUNMoshiach / Rabbi Yisroel Halperin

15 | “WHAT DO YOU THINK – BEING A CHASSIDCONSISTS OF EATING CREPES?!”Biographical Sketches / Translated by Rabbi Shimon Neubort

18 | WHY HE DOESN’T SLEEP NIGHTSFarbrengen with Rabbi Tuvia Bolton

20 | “GEVALD! YOU ARE A HEAVENLY MAN”Memoirs of Rabbi Yosef Goldstein / Prepared by Avrohom Raynitz

25 | LIVING WITH MOSHIACH (CONT.)Moshiach

28 | BETWEEN THE REBBE AND THESECRETARIESStories

31 | PROPER DIET AND KOSHER T’FILLINMiracles Story

34 | THIS NIGHT WE ARE ALL SHLUCHIM Shlichus

38 | COMPLETE CAPITULATIONShleimus HaAretz / Rabbi Sholom Dovber Volpe

BEIS MOSHIACH - Erev Chag HaShavuos 57634

SHABBOS PARSHAS B’HAALOS'CHA; 21ST

DAY OF SIVAN, 57491. This week’s parsha begins withthe discussion of the continuation ofthe events that took place on RoshChodesh Nissan, a year after theJewish people left Egypt.[13] TheTorah begins describing this specialday, the day of the assembly of theMishkan at the end of ParshasP’kudei. Throughout most ofChumash VaYikra and the beginningof Chumash BaMidbar,[14] the datewas Rosh Chodesh Nissan.

The second part of this week’sparsha discusses the manner inwhich the Jewish people wouldjourney in their travels in the desert.There is a connection between thesetwo narratives: After the Jewishpeople assembled the Mishkan, acloud (symbolizing the Divinepresence) rested on the Mishkan.When that cloud lifted and set forthtowards a new location, the Jewishpeople broke camp and traveled inits wake. Thus the manifestation ofthe Divine Presence in the Mishkandetermined the path of the Jew’stravels. Therefore the details of the

manner in which they traveled arementioned immediately after theTorah finishes discussing theassembly of the Mishkan and itsservice.

Significantly, the Torah discussesthe Jews’ journeys in the sameparsha as the lighting of theMenorah. Furthermore, the name ofthe portion – which communicatesits content – is also associated withthe kindling of the Menorah. Thisindicates a connection between allthe elements of the parsha with theMenorah. Although this connectionis not openly apparent, by focusingon the inner meaning of the serviceof the Menorah, we can understandits connection to the Jews’ journeys.

To explain: Rashi relates that thekindling of the Menorah is greaterthan the initiation of the altar. TheRamban explains this statement,noting that the service of bringingsacrifice on the altar was applicableonly as long as the Beis HaMikdashexisted. In contrast, the service oflighting the Menorah will nevercease. Even after the destruction of

the Temple, we continue this serviceby kindling the lights of Chanukah,illuminating the darkness of exile.Therefore the lighting of theMenorah is considered as afundamental service of the Mishkan,and that is why it is singled out.

All of the mitzvos of the Torahare applicable forever. Even thosemitzvos which cannot be fulfilled inactual deed have continuedrelevance in a spiritual sense andtheir lessons guide our daily lives.This is especially so regarding theMishkan, for our Sages tell us thatwe were told to make a Mishkan – adwelling place for G-d – within eachand every Jew. Nevertheless, thekindling of the Menorah stands outas a service which we fulfill in aphysical manner as well – even in atime when there is no BeisHaMikdash, and even in a placewhich is not only outside theparameter of the Beis HaMikdash,but outside of Eretz Yisroel.Furthermore, the service of a Kohenis not required. Every single Jew canlight his own Menorah regardless ofthe time or place in which he lives.

WHEREVERG-D LEADS

SICHOS IN ENGLISH

13. This includes the passages describing thekindling of the Menorah, the service of the

Levites, and the laws of Pesach Sheni.

14. The very beginning of BaMidbar was said

on Rosh Chodesh Iyar; see Rashi 9:1.

D’VAR MALCHUS

Issue Number 417 - BEIS MOSHIACH 5

This reflects the centralimportance of the spiritual servicereflected by G-d of the lighting ofthe Menorah in our efforts to create“a dwelling place for G-d” in thisworld. “The soul of man is a lamp ofG-d” and it shines brightly whenilluminated with the “candle ofmitzvah and the light of Torah.”

This pure light affects not onlythe body in which the soul isenclothed, but also the people,places and objects with which wecome in contact. Just like the light ofthe Menorah which spread outwardand illuminated the entire world, sotoo, our goal is to bring this lightinto the whole world. Olam – theHebrew word for “world” (olam)relates to the word helam, meaning“concealment.” Our goal is to shineG-dly light within the concealmentthat characterizes this world andthus reveal that the world is reallyG-d’s dwelling.

Although the Menorah was lit bythe priests, every Jew is a part of the“kingdom of priests”[15] andtherefore can kindle his individualMenorah as the Menorah waskindled by Aharon the Priest.Aharon lit the seven branches of theMenorah, which signify sevendifferent approaches thatcharacterize the divine service ofdifferent segments of the Jewishpeople. Furthermore, all the lightsfaced the center of the Menorah,indicating a sense of unity. Similarly,after every individual kindles theMenorah within his soul, theseindividual lights must be forgedtogether a single, united GoldenMenorah.

2. The connection between thelighting of the Menorah and ourdivine service in its totality isexpressed even in the details of thismitzvah: a) As mentioned above, it

was Aharon the Priest who kindledthe Menorah. This indicates that ourservice of kindling our individualMenoros must reflect Aharon’s traits.In this vein, the Mishna tells us to“be a disciple of Aharon [by] lovingpeace, pursuing after peace, lovingthe created beings and bringingthem closer to the Torah.” Thisimplies that we must love even suchpeople whose only redeemingquality is that they are G-d’screations. b) Aharon wascommanded to light, not one candle,but seven, implying an involvementwith the seven different approachesto serving G-d mentioned above.

Similarly, each and every one of ushas the ability to affect and addillumination to Jewish people fromdifferent walks of life. At first glance,a person may feel that he can onlyrelate to a limited number of Jewishpeople. This is, however, animproper assessment of his potential.When a person applies himself inthis direction, his capabilitiesincrease. As we gain experiencedealing with many people, we growuntil eventually we are able to affectmore and more people.

There is a further implicationfrom the fact that all seven candles

are lit every day. This implies thatlight has to be – and can be added –to the divine service of every Jew onevery day. Even if one has reached ahigh level, one can and must striveto improve. And even if one is on alow rung, the possibility of growth isnot beyond one’s reach. c) Rashinotes that the word B’Haalos’cha(loosely translated as “when youkindle”) literally means “when youraise up,” implying that the candleshould be lit until their light extendsupward independently, i.e., thecandle must burn on its ownwithout requiring another candle toassist it. Similarly, our divine servicemust be strong enough for it tocontinue independently withoutrequiring influence from otherpeople.

In a deeper sense, the above canalso refer to the relationship betweenour bodies and our souls. Ourbodies should be permeated with thelight of Torah to the extent that theirlight rises up independently, i.e.,without the influence of the soul.The Talmud tells us about a personwho trained his body so that whenhe was saying the prayer of Modim,his body bowed down as a naturalresponse. He did not have to thinkabout it and command his body toact; it was a reflex reaction.Similarly, our divine service shouldbe so much a part of our nature, thatindependently, our bodies should beprompted to study Torah and fulfillmitzvos.

This concept also applies in ourrelationship with others. Our effortsshould be directed, not only toilluminating their souls with thelight of the Torah and its mitzvos,but also to teaching them to shineindependently. Even when they nolonger receive direct influence fromtheir teacher, they must continue togenerate light.

Our divine serviceshould be so much apart of our nature,that independently,our bodies should beprompted to studyTorah and fulfill

mitzvos.

15. In particular, the phrase “kingdom of priests” is a reference to the level of a High Priest.

We see this concept reflectedeven in the educational practices ofthe world at large. Parents educatetheir children to live a righteous andmoral life. Their ultimate goal,however, is that their children willlive a moral lifestyle independentlywithout adult guidance, raising theirown family and supporting them.

Indeed, this approach is so mucha part of nature that it is evenmanifest in the animal kingdom.Offspring are protected and fed untilthey are trained to protect and feedtheir own family.

And this is the responsibility ofevery teacher: To teach theirstudents until the students’ souls arearoused to the extent that they toocan serve as mashpiim and kindletheir own set of seven candles. d) Asmentioned, the candles must be“raised up.” Although fire by naturerises upward, the fact that the Torahmentions this detail in connectionwith the kindling of the Menorahalso provides us with a lesson: Evenafter our lives are illuminated withthe Torah and its mitzvos, andfurthermore, we have becomecapable of independently generatingsuch light, we cannot continue on aplateau. Rather we must strive torise upward, “going from strength tostrength.”

3. There are two dimensions toour divine service: a) preparingourselves to be a dwelling place forG-dliness. This is accomplished bykindling “the lamp of G-d, the soulof man,” through “The candle ofmitzvah and the light of Torah.” Thisdimension resembles the servicescarried out within the Mishkanitself. 2) Radiating “the light of

Torah” to the world at large. Just likethe light of the Menorah shinedforth from the Beis HaMikdash intothe outside world, so too the light ofour souls must affect all of ourworldly and mundane activities.Although they are not directlyconcerned with the Torah and itsmitzvos, they should also permeatedwith the goal of bringing tofulfillment the G-dly purpose forthis world.

There is an order in which thesetwo services should be performed.Before we reach out to others, wemust first kindle the light of ourown souls and make them a fitdwelling for G-d’s presence. Afterthis is accomplished, we can devoteourselves to the task of creating adwelling place for G-d in the worldat large.

This sequence is alluded to in theorder of the subjects discussed inthis week’s parsha. The kindling ofthe Menorah is mentioned first andthen the journeys of the Jewishpeople. Only after the souls of theJews have been illuminated can ourpeople accomplish the purposeintended in their journeys throughthe world.[16]

We previously explained that thelamps of the Menorah must bekindled until they shineindependently. Similarly, our divineservice must be so much a part ofour nature that our bodies serve G-dindependently. The ultimateexpression of this rung comes in thesecond phase of divine servicementioned above, when a person’sservice is carried out within theworld at large. As long as a person isinvolved directly in the sphere of the

Torah and its mitzvos, he ismotivated by the holiness of theTorah. The true challenge is whenone is outside the parameters ofholiness.

And the guidance for suchendeavors comes from this week’sTorah reading which relates that theJewish people’s journeys followedthe Aron, the Holy Ark. In apersonal sense, this means that aperson’s motivations must not stemfrom his own desires. He mustfollow the Aron, go wherever G-d isleading him. This level of total self-nullification is the ultimateexpression of the concept of thebody serving G-d independently.

Furthermore, as mentionedabove, our divine service must beconstantly “rising upward,”proceeding forward with constantgrowth.[17] And this thrust towardconstant growth must also become anatural function of an individual’spersonality. Although everyone has atendency to desire to relax and resistfurther change and growth, when aperson “follows the Aron,” G-d’sdesire (which includes a will forconstant growth) has become his.

To apply the above in our owndivine service: Every individual goesthrough periods in his life whenboth of the phases of divine servicementioned above apply: We undergoperiods of education when ourprimary task is to light our candleuntil it burns independently andshines forth powerful light. And wehave times when we “journey forth”into the world at large, traveling todifferent locals because of our jobs,or because of different factors in theworld at large.

BEIS MOSHIACH - 20 Sivan 57636

16. The journeys of the Jewish people describedin this week’s parsha had one general goal:to bring the people to Eretz Yisroel.Nevertheless, since each of theencampments of these journeys wasordained by G-d, there was obviously aparticular purpose for each one. Thus, the

analogy between them and the journeys ofthe Jewish people as a whole and those ofeach particular Jew is appropriate.

17. The final words of the Chumash Shmos areb’chol maseihem, literally, “in all theirjourneys.” Rashi, however, in his

commentary, interprets this as referring tothe “encampments” of the Jews. There is animportant homiletic point to derive fromthis note: Even the resting places of the Jewswere considered as “journeys,” because theyenabled them to attain the next phase ofgrowth.

We must realize that thesejourneys are controlled by DivineProvidence. The Baal Shem Tovteaches that the 42 journeys of theJewish people in the desert are aparadigm followed by each andevery person throughout his life.Our lives are characterized byjourneys and resting periods. This isespecially applicable in ourgeneration where so many peoplehave fled or traveled from country tocountry.

This week’s parsha teaches usthat we must realize that thesejourneys – their length and theinterim between them – are alldetermined by G-d’s will. As it iswritten (T’hillim 37:23): “From G-d,the footsteps of a man areestablished and he shall desire G-d’spath.” And the Baal Shem Tovexplains that a Jew must realize thatwherever he goes, his path is notdetermined by personal reasons.Rather, it is G-d who is leading himfrom place to place. The realpurpose for his move is to spread G-dliness in that place.

The Previous Rebbe explains that,just as we spend so much time andeffort looking for our financialsustenance, so too we mustconcentrate all our efforts to findour spiritual sustenance. In anultimate sense, what is thissustenance? To play our part intransforming this world into adwelling place of G-d.

This is also what the verse means“and He shall desire his path.” Thereare two paths in life: one is natural,the second, above nature – the wayof Torah and mitzvos. If a personseeks the way of Torah and Mitzvos,spiritual sustenance, he can beassured that G-d “will desire his

path” – because it really is His (G-d’s) path. Consequently G-d willgrant to him his material needs in amanner that transcends the naturalorder.

To take this concept one stepfurther: The term “His way” can beinterpreted as referring to G-d’s way,but also to the individual waychosen by the person himself. Asexplained above, ideally our bodiesshould serve G-d independently.Correspondently, in the presentcontext, G-d’s way should really beour personal way; it should be what

we desire as well. And this will callforth a similar response on G-d’spart. Our desires for our materialneeds will be accepted by Him andbecome His desires, as it were.

While the Jewish peoplejourneyed through the desert, it wasclearly evident that every step theytook was directed by G-d’s will. Atpresent, by contrast, concentratedthought and divine service arenecessary before one comes to therealization that all of our footstepsare decided by G-d. On the otherhand, there is an advantage in our

generation, for we can reach thisunderstanding independentlywithout being compelled to come tothis realization by the presence ofthe cloud of G-d leading the way.

To bring this concept intopractical terms: When we prepareourselves to go on a journey, wemust have two opposing approaches:We should not rely on miracles andtherefore, must prepare ourselves aswould any other responsibleindividual. Simultaneously, however,we must also realize that in reality itis G-d who is leading us. And thereis no contradiction between thesetwo approaches: G-d’s desire whichleads a person to a particular place,for a spiritual purpose, enclothesitself within the framework of thenatural world. (And that is why aperson feels various differentmotivating factors for any journey heundertakes.) Accordingly, it is properfor a person to undertake all thepreparations for the journeypredicated by responsible behavior,for this is also G-d’s desire.

And if a person conducts himselfin such a manner, his life becomes afit vessel for G-d’s Hashgacha Pratisto become manifest within. Just asG-d’s cloud destroyed all the snakesand scorpions in the desert andprepared a smooth and level path onwhich the Jews could travel, so too,G-d will remove any obstacles thatstand in a person’s way.

4. This week we read the secondchapter of Pirkei Avos. The firstMishna of that chapter states: “Rabbisays, ‘What is the just path that aman should choose for himself? Thatwhich is honorable to himself andbrings him honor from man.’ “

At first glance, it is difficult to


18. A similar difficulty arises in regard to theintroduction to Tanya. The Alter Rebbestates that the Tanya is based on the verse,“The Torah is very close to you, in your

mouth and in your heart, to do it” andpromises to explain this concept “in a long,short way with the help of G-d.” One mightask: Does not the Torah itself explain

clearly how a Jew should conduct himself?Why are the explanations of the Tanyanecessary to show how it is very close to us?

A person’smotivations must not

stem from his owndesires; he must

follow the Aron, gowherever G-d is

leading him.

understand the intent of theMishna’s question: It is written, “Allof the precepts of G-d are just.”Thus, obviously, the just path for aJew to follow should be the lifestyleprescribed by the Torah![18] What isRabbi’s question?

This difficulty can be resolved asfollows: There are many levels inTorah observance. There is a justpath, a path which is juster than thejust, and indeed, myriad levels ofobservance. Pirkei Avos intends toteach those dimensions ofYiddishkeit that are beyond the letterof the law, pious conduct that is notan obligation, but an expression of aperson’s internal development. Aftera person has perfected his adherenceto the letter of Torah law, he shouldprogress to a higher level. And thisis the Mishna’s question, “What isthe just path that a person shouldchoose for himself,” i.e., we arespeaking of a person who hasalready perfected himself in theobservance of the path which G-dhas chosen for him and is seeking ahigher rung of pious behavior. Sucha path, a person must choose forhimself.[19]

The Mishna answers that aperson confronted with this choiceshould choose a way “that ishonorable to himself” – that herealizes that is good for him – andwhich “brings him honor from man”– is also appreciated by the peoplearound him.

The two levels mentioned above,the observance of the Torah and itsmitzvos correspond to the two levelsof divine service alluded to in thisweek’s parsha, lighting the lamp ofone’s soul and spreading that lightthroughout the world at largethrough our journeys.

To conclude with a directive foraction: Since it is now ShabbosParshas B’Haalos’cha, it is the fittingtime for us to examine how well weare living up to the spiritualcounterpart of that parsha. Firstly,our G-dly soul should increase itsillumination through the light ofTorah and mitzvos. And this shouldbe reflected in our relations withothers. We must make a strongdecision to increase in our efforts tospread Torah.

The Previous Rebbe said, “Just asevery person must recognize his own

shortcomings in order to correctthem, so too must he recognize hispositive qualities in order to expressand develop them.” Once we realizeour positive qualities, we will bemore aware of the potential we haveto affect others. This in turn willstrengthen and develop our ability.

This will also lead to progress inthe second phase of service,appreciating G-dliness in the aspectsof our life that are not directlyrelated to the Torah and its mitzvos.Ultimately, we should realize thatboth services are interrelated, andeven our physical body will come toserve G-d in a natural manner.

And this will evoke blessingsfrom G-d who will satisfy ournatural needs in a manner whichtranscends nature, granting “anabundance of children, health andparnasa,” a healthy body and ahealthy soul and many long years.

And this will lead to the periodof ultimate blessing in the Era of theRedemption. At that time, we willmerit to see Aharon, the High Priestkindle the Menorah in the BeisHaMikdash. May this take placespeedily, in our days.


19. A similar concept applies regarding theintroduction to the Tanya: After one hasfulfilled the requirements of Torah andmitzvos in a complete manner, he is urged

to progress to a higher level. On this higher,the teachings of the Tanya enableYiddishkeit to become internalized and topermeate one’s heart, speech and action.

Moreover, this inner refinement will affectone’s conduct. Through learning Chassidus,we will eventually attain a higher level ofobservance.

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POLICY

After trying to clarify the goalthat faces us today, we can now turnto the practical side and see how tomatch the lights to the vessels.

From perusing the sichos of theRebbe MH”M, we discover that thereare two central components that aremost vital to the entire process ofthis avoda, and with which we canreach the objective. When one ofthese components is lacking, theobjective becomes more and moredifficult, with subsequent results toprove it...

These are the two components:a) stubbornness (ten who are“obstinate” enough); b) devising aplan of action. The first componentfrom which everything must start isstubbornness. Such stubbornnessrequires striving towards the goalout of complete self-nullificationand pure faith, including therecognition and knowledge that thestrengths we have been given are inaccordance with the task at hand.When you approach the fulfillmentof this task in this manner, even ifthe whole world looks at you as ifyou’re crazy, it shouldn’t bother youin the slightest. If this is what isdemanded of you, this is no reasonto be affected.

Together with this, we also needthe second component: “devising aplan of action,” i.e., to use wisdomand understanding so that themessage in which we truly andfirmly believe will also penetratesomeone who presently does notshare this belief.

If we are missing one of thesecomponents, the road before us willonly become complicated, and thegoal will never be reached. Yet,since there is no alternative, wemust act accordingly with greatvigor and determination towardsthis ultimate purpose.


In order to reach our objective, we

need two vital and central

components: stubbornness and

devising a plan of action. If we miss

one detail, the road towards our goal

will become more complicated...

Another important point: Mistakes

are reason for correction, not

inaction. From a speech delivered at a

Moshiach symposium in 770. * Part 2

MOSHIACH

THE ROLEOF KEILIMD’TIKKUN

BY RABBI YISROEL HALPERINTRANSLATED BY MICHOEL LEIB DOBRY


DEVISING A PLANOF ACTION

The following story is one ofmany that have occurred in theprocess of devising a plan of action,as part of my work as the shliach inHerzliya:

In Herzliya, we try in everypossible way to let the city’sresidents know about the identity ofthe Redeemer and his imminentarrival. It is frequently printed inthe local newspapers. Certain largebillboards in town regularly carry agiant picture of the Rebbe above thewords “Melech HaMoshiach,” andour bus travels constantly aroundthe city’s streets, covered with themessage of the Redemption. Thus,most Herzliyans undoubtedly knowwhat Chabad thinks and believes.

One day, I received a call fromthe gabbai of one of the local shulswith a largely knitted-kippamembership, who invited me tospeak there in honor of Shavuos. Iagreed, and was promptly added tothe list of lecturers.

I obviously knew that themembers of this shul don’t rush outto hear that the Rebbe is MelechHaMoshiach, and needless to say,that he is chai v’kayam eternally. Icould have been a “big hero” andimmediately told them my opinionthat the Rebbe is MelechHaMoshiach, chai v’kayam, etc. But Iknew that if I were to take such astep, it would be the last time that Iwould ever cross the shul’sthreshold... What did I do? I simplysat down and devised a plan on howthe matter could penetrate even thisshul. Here’s what happened.

I was supposed to speak on thesubject of “Shavuos – A Kabbalisticand Chassidic Outlook.” I prepareda lecture based on several of theRebbe’s sichos, in which the Rebbeanalyzes an issue in nigleh inconnection with Shavuos. I also

prepared the lesson with numerousreferences, wearing the hat of ascholar, as it were. (It turns out thatwhen there is a need, the king’smessengers have the help of Heaven,even in this area.) Thus, I assuredmyself that the lesson would leave avery good impression.

As the class progressed, I setaside time for questions. It was herethat I discovered that my listenershad some troubling problems inmatters of faith that were solvedduring the course of the evening. Itried to resolve the questions in the

most appropriate manner possible,so that they will feel that theevening gave them somethingimportant to ponder, issues thatmight have been perplexing tothem. And so it was that Iconducted the class with respect tothe audience, and everyone leftstrengthened in their faith in G-d.

During the class, when Imentioned the Rebbe, I didn’t addthe title “Melech HaMoshiach shlita.”Instead, I just said “the LubavitcherRebbe.” The lecture proceeded, untiltowards the end, when I felt that my

listeners were more receptive, Idecided to do it. So I said slowly(and I admit with a bit of anxiety):The Rebbe MH”M shlita explains...

I looked at the audience andnoticed a few people winking atanother, some smirked, otherspreferred simply to bite their lip onwhat they had just heard, as if tosay, “Let’s not insult the rabbi...”

I continued with the lecture, andagain mentioned the Rebbeanonymously without title. Finally, Iconcluded my words with a wish.“May we merit the immediaterevelation of the Rebbe MH”M, mayhe live forever and ever!”

As a finishing touch, I askedpermission from the congregation toadd a brief footnote. They agreed tohonor my request, and I said thefollowing: “I am certain that younoticed how at the beginning of mylecture, when I quoted words saidby the Lubavitcher Rebbe, I addedno title to his name. Yet, towardsthe end, when I mentioned theRebbe again, I added the title“Melech HaMoshiach shlita.” Inoticed that when I used theseterms, the expressions on your facesappeared somewhat negative andnot supportive – signs of oppositionto such titles.

“Therefore, I want to tell youtwo things. First, if before I learnedthis subject, someone would havecome to me and used the titles thatI said before you this evening, Iwould have been less gentle thanyou were. So first of all, I want tothank you for your kindness.

Secondly, getting to the heart ofthe matter, I must tell you that mypersonal specialty in Torah subjectsis Moshiach and Redemption. I havedevoted hours upon hours to itsstudy, held many conversations withleading rabbanim, within Chabadand without, and compiledconsiderable knowledge on this

issue. As a result, I have come to aconclusion that was perhaps almostimpossible to reach before I beganto delve into the subject: TheRedemption is in fact about to come inthis generation, immediately, mamash!Accordingly, based upon all therequired halachic criteria forMoshiach’s arrival (I then proceededto bring a litany of accompanyingTorah references as backup), we aretalking about the LubavitcherRebbe, and he is actually chaiv’kayam!

“But I have one small request tomake,” I added. “I ask you not tobelieve me in any way. This isbecause it is written in the Talmud,‘Bring a seifer and we’ll see.’ Youmust learn it yourselves, withoutany personal bias in the matter. Thisdoesn’t mean that you’ll reach thesame conclusions I have. I have onlypresented before you myconclusions, which, by the way, areidentical to those reached byhundreds of other rabbanim and

roshei yeshivos who have also learnedthe subject.

“I personally confess to the factthat were it not for the Rebbe’sunambiguous demand to learnabout the Redemption and MelechHaMoshiach, I never would havetouched this vast subject, spread outover a wide range of Torah sources.Rather, I would have remainedunder the influence of erroneousconclusions, due to lack of properstudy and sheer ignorance!

“Therefore, if you wish, I amprepared to give you all thenecessary reference material, so youcan sit down and peruse the subjecton your own. However, to evadesuch an important issue does notappear to me to be an appropriateresponse for a Jew who defineshimself as Torah-observant, andcertainly not for someone whoadheres to the Rambam’s TwelfthPrinciple of Faith, which is no lessimportant than the others!”

The lecture was over. I thenclosed the seifer and left the hall.After a few days, the reactionsstarted to pour in: “What awonderful lecture! This is the firsttime that we heard an explanationabout the belief that the Rebbe isMoshiach!” I accepted thecompliments and thought to myself:What actually did I say? What did Iexplain? Nothing! I simplypresented things in an honorablefashion, and they felt right awaythat everything was explained.

It’s true that it’s much easier tocome right out and say the wholetruth. However, then I wouldn’thave reached the objective. While Iwould have remained a faithfulbeliever, my task to prepare theworld to greet Moshiach would nothave been carried out. It might evenhave been made harder.

Regrettably, since there are stillmany Jews in Herzliya today who


When you act – youmake mistakes; whenyou don’t act – you

don’t make mistakes.When there are

mistakes, this is anindication of action,

and action withmistakes is definitelypreferable to sittingaround with arms

folded.


have not yet gotten the message,and that shul includes such people,therefore, saying the unvarnishedtruth on the first occasion wouldnot have been an act of “g’vura” onmy part, rather pure stupidity andlaziness, which would have merelydetracted from the job at hand.

On the other hand, I could havebeen even lazier and told them: Ifyou won’t let me say that the Rebbeis Melech HaMoshiach, I won’t cometo give the lecture.

These two extreme alternativeswould not have advanced the causein any way, and they are not part ofthe Rebbe’s clear instructions toinstill the lights of Tohu into thevessels of Tikkun. The task ofpreparing the world demanded thatI come to a shul that is totally not fitto be a vessel to receive the messageand then give the message in amanner and language that thecongregants would fully understand.

IF YOU ACT, YOU MAKEMISTAKES – BUT KEEP

GOING!It is imperative to emphasize that

we are only human, and when weact without exercising properunderstanding, mistakes happen.But even here, we must know that itis forbidden for such mistakes tocause us, ch”v, to step back. We haveto know how to relate to themistake.

Once R. Mendel was approached

by a bachur who complained abouthis lowly state in his avodas Hashemand the depression that came as aresult. R. Mendel asked him cleverly,“And what do you do in the middleof Kaparos when the chicken leaveshis calling card – right smack onyour jacket? Do you stop and run tothe dry cleaners? Of course not. Yousimply brush it off and keepgoing...”

The same applies in our avodasHashem. If we sometimes makemistakes, even serious ones, wehave to know where we went wrongand how to prevent it fromhappening again. However, if weallow such mistakes to keep us fromdoing our avoda as is required, thisis completely unjustified!

This point must be emphasized,as for reasons totally unclear, somemembers of Anash have contrivedthis mistaken stigma that it isforbidden to make mistakes on theissue of Moshiach. From the veryoutset, they say that we must goaccording the world’s code ofnormalcy, and ch”v, if we shoulddivert from it for a moment andraise ourselves to a higher plane.

In my opinion, such an outlookon this issue is totally incorrect.This is for two reasons. First, whenyou act – you make mistakes; whenyou don’t act – you don’t makemistakes. When there are mistakes,this is an indication of action, andaction with mistakes is definitelypreferable to sitting around with

arms folded.

Secondly, mistakes don’t happenonly on Moshiach activities. I cantell about many more mistakes thathave happened and happen today toshluchim in their work on all sorts ofmivtzaim. Where are all thecomplaints then? Why is it thatthere everyone understands that anerror was made, but they mustcontinue with all their strength? Yet,when it comes to the subject ofMoshiach, everything has to beerror-free. Suddenly, we have to payattention to world opinion?Suddenly, someone who makes amistake can’t take action? Why?That’s absurd!

It’s a pity that specifically on themain issue there are so many delaysand roadblocks caused by thesebeloved Jews who are so devotedwith all their heart and soul to theRebbe.

Therefore, we say again andagain. There stands before us justone goal: to bring the revelation ofthe Rebbe MH”M shlita,immediately, mamash. The way toreach this objective is to draw downthe lights of Tohu into the vessels ofTikkun, and our job is to devise aplan of action and to determine thebest methods for drawing down thehighest lights – even into thelowliest vessels. This is the only wayto realize our objective!

Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinumelech HaMoshiach l’olam va’ed!

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1. The main sicha (a footnote bythe Rebbe MH”M indicates that thistranscript is copied “From the diary ofmy father-in-law, the Rebbe”):Regarding the present status of thechassidim in general, and particularly inthis country. The great loss caused byfailure to study chassidus, and failure toengage in avoda of the heart. Lack ofobedience, and failure to concernoneself with the welfare of his fellowJew. One is conscientious about thedignity of others so that others will bescrupulous about his dignity. Each oneflatters the other and smiles at him.But it is not love; it is fawning andhyperbole and scheming. Even at afarbrengen, there is not even a drop ofwhat constitutes a chassidic farbrengen –either they fawn upon each other orelse they stab each other. And ifsomeone gives some explanatoryremark regarding a chassidic maamer,where he can indulge his own ego bydemonstrating that he is a maskil, heimagines that this constitutes chassidus.He forgets that the whole idea ofchassidus is to overcome his inborn

middos. This means that one mustwork on himself with respect to bothmiddos and intellectual contemplation.

But now, not only do people fail towork in chassidus and with chassidus,but in addition, they use chassidus as atool for their ego and conceit. I amreluctant to call it by its proper name –that they defile chassidus – but thetruth must be told: they destroychassidus and take chassidus away into

exile.

Someone once suggested to myfather that Toras HaChassidus ought tobe organized by topic, and so, peoplewould know which topics they shouldstudy first, so that one subject couldserve as an introduction to a secondsubject. In this way, it would becomepossible for ordinary people, and evennon-religious people to study andunderstand chassidus. Father replied tothe one who had offered thissuggestion that chassidus belongs in theprivate domain; chassidus cannot becarried out into the public domain. Ifchassidus is studied the same way thatan ordinary science is studied, then itis not chassidus. It is possible tounderstand chassidus only through twomethods: intellectual contemplationduring davening and avoda in actualdeed.

2. Regarding the phrase in theGemara [Shabbos 120a; see alsoMenachos 41a], “the midda of chassidushas been taught here. It is understoodthat chassidus brooks no compromises.In chassidus the concept of compromisedoes not exist. Chassidus follows theconcept of “Let the law pierce themountain.” We must follow the pathwithout detour to the right or the left,and we must accomplish everything


Biographical Sketches * From the Sichos of the RebbeRayatz in America * Seifer HaSichos – Kayitz 5700

Daytime Meal of Shabbos VaEschanan

BIOGRAPHICAL

“WHAT DO YOUTHINK – BEING A

CHASSID CONSISTSOF EATINGCREPES?!”

TRANSLATED BY RABBI SHIMON NEUBORT

It is possible tounderstand chassidus

only through twomethods: intellectualcontemplation duringdavening and avoda

in actual deed.


through the intellectual understandingand the avoda of chassidus. We havegone far astray from the true path ofchassidus. We have already reached theboundary; we have no choice but toreturn to the truth, back to the vitalpoint.

3. We must constantly rememberthat there is a concept of “And I willplace them at your heads.” That is,“your head” singular [the head who isabove all the others], and “your heads”plural [the leaders under the head].There is someone who is at fault [aplay on words: the word “va’asimem”means “I will place them,” but can alsobe read as “va’ashimem.” meaning “Iwill find fault with them”]. In eachsociety, association, group, orcongregation, there is a head, and thereare heads, among the leaders.Sometimes the fault lies only with thehead, and sometimes the fault lies notonly with the [singular] head himselfbut also with the [plural] heads. This iswhat is meant by “And I will placethem [find fault] at your heads.”

“And I will place them [find fault]at your heads” means [Rashi onD’varim 1:13] that the sins of Israelhang upon the heads of their judges,for they should have protested and setthem upon the straight path. Thisconcept, in all its force, is also foundamong chassidim. The concept of “I willfind fault with your heads” is for twothings: for the failure to protest, andfor the failure to set them upon thestraight path. We must contemplatethis situation deeply and help them tobecome different.

4. Chassidim must possess – and dopossess – mesirus nefesh. In each era,each class of chassid had to possess thesort of mesirus nefesh appropriate forhis class: the poor person and themelamed in his manner, the baalebos orstorekeeper in his manner, and themerchant or magnate in his manner.We do not need to mention rabbanimand masters of Torah and avoda, fortheir mesirus nefesh is the genuine

mesirus nefesh of avoda.

For several months during thewinter of 5657, Father and I lived inMoscow. The Chabad chassidim ofMoscow would often gather in one ofthe rooms of our lodgings to farbreng.At these chassidic farbrengens there werefour or five chassidim who were thechief speakers – or more correctly, thechief storytellers: Reb YitzchokRubinstein, Reb Zalman the Sofer, Reb

Binyamin Berlin, Reb Leib Hurwitz,Reb Baruch Shalom Kahn. Since thesefarbrengens were for us alone (i.e.,Father was not present), thefarbrengens would quite frequentlybecome wild: sometimes in a joyousmode, and sometimes in a bitter mode.At one of these farbrengens, RebYitzchok Lebedev was present, one ofthe elder residents of Moscow, whohad himself been a cantonist

[conscripted into the Russian army as ayoung boy] and had suffered reallydifficult torment because of hisreligion.

Reb Yitzchok Lebedev was born inthe county of Polotzk-Vitebsk. At theage of nine he was conscripted into thecantonist army in Smolensk. Duringthe course of an entire year, he andseveral dozen other Jewish childrenwere taken from Smolensk Vladimir.During the next ten years, he and morethan twenty other Jewish children wereput to the most severe torture toinduce them to convert from theirreligion. More than half of them died;he remained among the survivors.When he arrived in Moscow hediscovered there Jews from Polotzkand Vitebsk. He began to studyHebrew reading, and within a year’stime he could already understand averse of Chumash.

Several years later, Reb ZalmanMonievitch, the magnate of Polotzk,settled in Moscow. Being a chassidicyoung man, he brought his tutor, RebNasan of Polotzk, with him. Reb Nasanthe melamed was a chassid of theTzemach Tzedek, a hearty Jew, adavener with an incisive manner ofexpression. He was immediatelyrecognized in the Moscow communityfor his reciting chassidus and hischassidic singing. Reb Yitzchok Lebedevrelated:

Reb Nasan the melamed showedgreat love to us cantonists. Though wewere coarse folk, we were genuinemesirus nefesh Jews, who had beensoldiers of Czar Nicholas. He wouldtell us stories from the Gemara andMidrash, which we enjoyed immensely.Reb Nasan had known my father, RebShlomo the potter, who had known allSix Orders of the Mishna precisely byheart. He would repeat the Mishnayoswhile he stood in the marketplace withhis pots. [Reb Nasan] had also knownmy maternal grandfather, Reb ChayimEliya the baker, a chassid of the AlterRebbe.

“Your charity doesnot release you from

your obligation tostudy or from yourobligation to daven.There is no excusethat you don’t havethe time for it; afterall, you do find time

for sleeping.” He thensaid to him in

Russian: “What doyou think – being achassid consists ofeating crepes?!”

Once, Reb Nasan said to me:“Listen to me, Itcha, it is a great pityupon the souls of your father andgrandfather. They were great scholarsand chassidim, while you are anignoramus.”

This affected me very much, and Iwept profusely. When I returnedhome, I took a T’hillim and recited thePsalms all night with a broken heartand with much weeping. Towardsmorning I fell asleep, and I saw myfather in a dream. He said to me:“Travel to the Rebbe, and it will do yougood. Itcha, travel to the Rebbe!”

When I told Reb Nasan about it, heinstructed me to tell no one about it,but to do what my father had told meto do, to travel to the Rebbe inLubavitch, the sooner the better. A fewweeks later I departed for Lubavitch tothe Rebbe, and I told him everything:how I had been a cantonist and how

they had tormented me. When heheard this, the Rebbe sighed, and tearsran from his eyes. The Rebbe said: “Iknew your grandfather, Chayim Eliyathe baker, and your father, Shlomo thepotter; both of them were greatchassidim. May G-d (blessed be He)help you to be a chassid. StudyChumash with Rashi, the parsha foreach day; study Kav HaYashar andrecite T’hillim with the Maamados.” Hethen blessed me with long life.

When I reported to Reb Nasanwhat the Rebbe had said to me, hewarned me that no one was to knowabout it. And from that time on hebegan studying chassidus with me. Ilearned and heard chassidus from RebNasan for fifteen years, and before thistime was up I could already study aportion of Likkutei Torah by myself.

Reb Nasan would farbreng often,and he would warm us up at every

farbrengen. Reb Nasan demandedmesirus nefesh. He used to say that achassid without mesirus nefesh is daszhaketchortu nie gaditsia (“even to the devilhe is of no use”). Reb Nasan once saidto Zalman Monievitch during afarbrengen: “One must have mesirusnefesh.” Zalman used to give a greatdeal to charity, but Reb Nasandemanded of Zalman that he shoulddevote more time to learning anddavening at length. Reb Nasan said tohim: “Your charity does not release youfrom your obligation to study or fromyour obligation to daven. There is noexcuse that you don’t have the time forit; after all, you do find time forsleeping.” He then said to him inRussian: tchto ti dumayesh bit chassidometo blin skushat? (“What do you think –being a chassid consists of eatingcrepes?!”)


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A well-dressed, middle-aged coupleknocked and entered Rabbi Shvartz’soffice. He immediately recognizedthem – they were the parents of one ofhis pupils.

Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Shvartz was thehead and founder of a very successfulJewish school in Brazil with severalhundred young pupils (most of themfrom non-religious families).

The parents sat down oppositehim, and they looked at each othernervously. The husband nodded to hiswife, and she leaned over towards theRabbi and began speaking in almost awhisper.

“Rabbi, you must help us. We donot know where to turn; it is a tragedy!Our oldest daughter just announcedher engagement to a non-Jew!”

She became choked up with tearsand began whimpering into herhandkerchief. They both wereobviously beside themselves withanguish. “It is true that we were neververy observant ourselves,” the fathercontinued, “but we never dreamed itwould go this far. Oy, if we would haveknown. Oy, Rabbi, we will do whatyou want, just bring our daughterback!” And he, too, began weeping.

The Rabbi nodded silently, thoughtfor a while, and agreed to do what hecould. Right then and there he tookthe phone and called her. To his

surprise the daughter answered verypleasantly and even said that she waswilling to speak face to face. The nextday the Rabbi was sitting in the younglady’s apartment using every argumenthe could think of to convince her tochange her mind. He appealed to heremotions, her loyalty, her logic, faith,etc., until after three hours, he wassimply out of ideas.

“Well, thank you, Rabbi,” she saidas she stood up, indicating that theconversation was over. “I appreciateyou taking all this time out for me.Really I do. But, you see, Rabbi,Eduardo and I love each other and weare going to get married, the date forthe wedding is already set. I know thatthis is not what you want to hear, butjust as you live your life, so I must livemine. Again, thank you for your goodintentions,” she said as she showedhim politely to the door. The Rabbiwalked down the apartment buildingstairs in low spirits, it was hopeless –he had failed. And you can imaginehow her parents felt when he calledthem.

A week later he was sitting in hisoffice when a thought suddenlyoccurred to him. “I’ll call the LubavitchRebbe! Why didn’t I think of it earlier!”

Rabbi Shvartz was a Munkatchchassid but he was very attached to theLubavitcher Rebbe and would ask his

advice frequently. In fact, the Rebbewas the one who advised him over tenyears earlier to move to Brazil and lookfor work, and now, thanks to thisadvice many hundreds of souls hadbeen saved from certain assimilation.

One of the Rebbe’s secretaries,Rabbi Hodakov, answered the phoneand listened to the problem. “Pleasetell the Rebbe my name,” concludedRabbi Shvartz. “Perhaps he willremember me, I really need an answeras soon as possible; it is very urgent.”

The secretary told him to wait onthe line, and a minute later he wasback with an answer. “The Rebbe saysyou should go to her and tell her thatbecause she wants to marry a gentilethere is a Jew in New York who can’tsleep nights.”

Rav Shvartz was totally confused.“A Jew in New York can’t sleep? Whois he what is his name?” Suddenly thecall was interrupted; the Rebbe’sunmistakable voice cut in and said,“His name is Mendel Shneerson.”Startled but no less confused, RavShvartz thanked the Rebbe and saidgoodbye.

“How will this help?” he wasthinking to himself after he put downthe phone, “it makes no sense! The girlwill just laugh at me!” While he wasstill lost in thought his phone rang,and when he lifted the receiver he

BEIS MOSHIACH - Erev Chag HaShavuos18

FARBRENGEN

WHY HEDOESN’T SLEEP

NIGHTSBY RABBI TUVIA BOLTON, MASHPIA IN YESHIVA

OHR TMIMIM OF KFAR CHABAD


heard the Rebbe’s secretary speakingonce again. “Hello, Rabbi Shvartz? TheRebbe says to tell you that a chassiddoes what he is told with joy, not withpessimism. Also the Rebbe said thatyou can tell the young lady that shehas met him and she knows him.”

No less confused, Rav Shvartzcalled the girl once again andconvinced her that he had somethingnew to tell her, they would meet againtomorrow.

“That is what you have to tell me!”she shouted indignantly the next daywhen they met in her parent’s home.“Listen Rabbi Shvartz,” she fumed,“last week I listened to you for threehours, today I took time off fromwork! I want you to leave me alone orI will call the police! I don’t know anyJews in New York and I can’t imaginewhy my conduct would disturbanyone’s sleep over there! Now pleasestop bothering me!”

But the Rabbi was in it too deep tostop now. “You know this man,” hecontinued. “He is a famous Rabbi!”

“Listen, the only Rabbi I know isyou, and I’m beginning to regret that!”she said as she rose from her seat toleave.

“Wait, wait! I’ll show you hispicture,” said Rav Shvartz, beginningto feel a bit crazy himself. He begansearching together with her parentsand in a few minutes he presented herwith a picture of the Rebbe they foundin some magazine.

“Here, do you recognize this man?”She grabbed the picture and gave a

quick angry glance when suddenly herface became serious and she sat down,still looking at the picture.

“Who is this man?” she asked, andafter hearing the answer she continued.“This man has been appearing in mydreams for the last several nights andbegging me not to intermarry, but Ididn’t pay any attention. I thought thatbecause I had met you I was dreamingabout rabbis. Now I understand whyhe doesn’t sleep at nights... he’s busytalking to me!

One week later they postponed the

wedding and shortly thereafter it wascancelled completely. In addition to thethousands of Jews the Rebbe ‘woke up’in Brazil (there are over 20 Chabadhouses there) he had time for one more.

* * *This week’s section begins with the

commandment of lighting the neiros,the seven lamps in the Tabernacle. Thiscommandment has great spiritualsignificance today; it is connected tothe Moshiach.

In the third blessing after theHaftora reading it says: “His (TheMoshiach’s) neir (lamp) will never beextinguished.”

Namely, Moshiach will illuminateevery Jew (and eventually the entireworld – Tanya end of Chap. 36),because his lamp burns constantly,everywhere.

Let us examine this idea. The soul

of every Jew is called a lamp (Prov.20:27). One reason is because eachJew, like a lamp, is made to illuminatethe world.

In fact, that is why we are called theChosen People, because it is our G-d-given job to bring light, i.e., blessingand meaning, into every aspect ofCreation through the Torah and itscommandments.

But the analogy goes even deeper.A lamp consists of four things: a vessel,a wick, oil, and fire.

Similarly every Jew: His physicalbody is the vessel and its enliveningsoul is the wick. The Torah he learnsand the commandments he does arethe oil. But the fire, which is the mainthing, is his genuine enthusiasm forand his love of G-d. The Midrash callsit the Sh’china, or the G-dly soul. Thisfire is very hard to obtain.

The only way it can be acquired isthrough the inspiration of tzaddikim,the righteous Jews found in everygeneration. It is their job to illuminateas many souls as possible. Withoutthem, Judaism can be a very self-centered, cold, and businesslikeproposition.

But each Jew is different and eachis kindled by different things: Some areinspired by doing kindness, others bythe regimen of the commandments, yetothers by the beauty of the Torah,others by prayer, by the land of Israel,etc., etc.

Kabalistic works classify them intoseven general categories(corresponding to the seven emotionsof G-d and the seven branches of themenora]. Only Moshiach will light allof them, all the seven lamps.

But what do we need tzaddikim andMoshiach for? Isn’t it only G-d Whowe are supposed to believe in?

That is what is hinted at in the titleof this week’s section, B’Haalos’cha. Itdoes not just say that Aharon shouldignite or light the lamps, but rather, heshould “raise up the lamps,” i.e., frombelow to above.

In other words, G-d doesn’t do italone (from above). Rather, the arousalmust be from below. From someonelike Aharon the High Priest.

Just as we are inspired by musicwhen we hear a master musician, sotoo inspiration to love Hashem canonly come from an expert, someonethat really feels the infinite oneness ofG-d. Only the light of such tzaddikimcan arouse the inner identity (the fifthand highest soul level called Yechida or“spark of Moshiach”) in each and everyJew.

This is the lamp of the Moshiachthat will eventually illuminate theentire world with the oneness of G-din the final Redemption, as it says inthe Prophet Zecharia (14:7-9); “And itwill be at the time of evening that therewill be light: “And G-d will be theKing of the whole world. On that dayG-d will be one and his Name will beone.”

Now I understand whyhe doesn’t sleep atnights – he’s busy

talking to me!


GET UP, WE NEED A“YISROEL”

When the Rebbe Rayatz lived inthe U.S. he was not in the best ofhealth. As I already mentioned, Ihad the privilege of living on thebottom floor of 770, where theoffice of the hanhala ruchnis ofTomchei T’mimim-770 is nowlocated. This enabled me to be awitness to various incidents thattook place in 770.

One of those incidents tookplace in the winter of 5705 (1945).I was sleeping in my room when Iwas suddenly woken up by strongknocks at my door. I opened thedoor immediately and saw R’Shmuel Levitin standing theretrembling, and he said, “Comeupstairs quickly; we need ‘aYisroel.’”

I realized that something terriblehad happened with the RebbeRayatz and that they fearfullyanticipated his imminent histalkus.In s’farim it says that when the soulleaves the body it’s a segula to have aKohen, Levi, and Yisroel standingnearby. R’ Levitin was a Levi, R’Sholom Ber Eichorn was a Kohen,and they woke me up because I ama Yisroel.

In great fright I went up to thesecond floor. On the way I sawdoctors running with theirinstruments towards the Rebbe’sroom. Just as I was about to enterthe Rebbe’s room, the Rebbe’s son-in-law (the Rebbe MH”M) arrived.He is a Yisroel and so he motionedto me to go, as he would take myplace.

Later on I learned that the Rebbe

Rayatz had had a severe heartattack. He ultimately recovered fromit, but from that point on, newdecrees were enacted whichprevented people from approachingthe Rebbe at yechiduyos andfarbrengens, in order to make thingseasier for him.

I once heard that the Rebbe’sdoctors said that they had norational explanation as to how theRebbe continued to live after such aserious heart attack. The Rebbecontinued to have yechiduyos and tofarbreng, but it was quite limited.

THE REBBE!The events surrounding the

passing of the Rebbe Rayatz havebeen written in many places. I willjust mention some details which Iremember. In general, it is difficultfor me to relate the events of thosedays. It is engraved deep within meand I find it difficult to even speakabout it. Our lives were with theRebbe, with farbrengens, the imageof the Rebbe, the spodik, the beard,as well as the face that alwaysappeared aflame. We were asattached to the Rebbe as bees tohoney, and suddenly...

I was in Boro Park that Shabbos,

“GEVALD! YOUARE A HEAVENLY

MAN”PREPARED BY AVROHOM RAYNITZ

Part 4 from the

memoirs memoirs

memoirs of Rabbi

Yosef (Uncle Yossi)

Goldstein, who has

marvelous stories to

tell from the first

years of the Rebbe’s

nesius.

MEMOIRS


at my parents. On Motzaei Shabbos,after Havdala, Rabbi Sholom MendelSimpson called. He could not say aword except for, “the Rebbe...”

I blanched, and my mother, whogot scared, asked me what hadhappened, but I couldn’t answer herand just said, “the Rebbe...”

I went to Crown Heights, andthe atmosphere was horrendous.“Upon whose shoulders has he leftus,” bemoaned one of the chassidim.Years later I reminded him of whathe had said, and I said, “Now youknow upon whose shoulders he leftus.”

“GEVALD, YOU ARE AHEAVENLY MAN”

When we got to 770 all thedoors were open. One could walkall the way in, and this itselfdemonstrated what a churban hadtaken place. I shuddered as I

entered “lifnai u’lifnim” (the innerchamber). The holy body of theRebbe Rayatz, which was coveredwith a tallis, lay near the door fromeast to west. The Rebbe MH”Mstood on the side and said T’hillim.I also began saying T’hillim. When Igot to the verse, “the One Who sitsin heaven yis’chak – will laugh,” Iaccidentally said, “Yitzchok,” andthe Rebbe gave me a sharp look.

The Rebbe looked tightlyconstrained. His facial features wereextremely severe, but he was on topof things, taking care of every detail.As someone entered, the Rebbeasked whether he had gone to themikva, and if he hadn’t, he was notallowed to come in.

R’ Mordechai Groner entered theroom, and, using his gartel, hemeasured the length of the Rebbe’sbody in order to be able to preparethe aron. Downstairs, carpentersbuilt an aron out of the shtender the

Rebbe Rayatz had used for davening.It was a terrifying sight. I rememberR’ Yisroel Altein standing and cryingbitterly, while in his hand was apiece of wood that the carpenterhad left over from the shtender.

All the Rebbe’s relatives werethere. They looked positively greenin their great pain. In the hallwaystood Rabbis Rothstein, Ushpal, andRivkin. R’ Ushpal said that at thetime of the passing of the RebbeRashab, one of the chassidimstanding there refused to believewhat he was seeing and criedbitterly, saying, “Gevald, gevald,Ribono shel olam! Even a murderer inthe forest wouldn’t take a Rebbefrom his chassidim!”

Rabbi Rivkin, who wroteAshkavta D’Rebbe in which hedescribes the passing of the RebbeRashab, said, “I saw the firstchurban, and now I’m seeing thesecond churban. I am certain that


the third ‘bayis’ will last forever!”

When they took the aron downthe steps and out of 770, I stood offto the side and watched. My heartcried within me and tears didn’tstop rolling down my cheeks.

I miraculously managed to get aride to the cemetery, and I arrivedthere before the funeral procession.

A few minutes later the car withthe aron arrived at the cemetery. TheRebbe MH”M meticulously oversawevery detail while restraining hisemotions. He indicated what had tobe done with a motion of his head. Istood very close to the kever.Suddenly, Rebbetzin Nechama Dina,the wife of the Rebbe Rayatz,approached, and as the aron waslowered into the ground she criedout, “Gevald, du bist doch a himelmentch, vos lozt men dich arup? Vu firtmen dich?” (Gevald, you are aheavenly man! How do you allowthem to lower you? Where are theybringing you?) This exclamation ishard to forget and good toremember.

TAPING THE FARBRENGENSOn 11 Shvat 5751 the Rebbe

MH”M formally accepted theChabad leadership. The farbrengenin honor of Yud Shvat was held inthe small zal upstairs. The Rebbe satunder the window between thesmall zal and the second room(today the window is covered by thelibrary). In the middle of thefarbrengen, R’ Avrohom SenderNemtzov (the father-in-law of RabbiNissan Mangel) stood up and said:Rebbe, chassidim want to hearchassidus!

Everybody was thrilled when theRebbe acceded and began saying themaamer, “Basi L’Gani.”

Whoever did not witness the joyof the chassidim after the maamer,never saw simcha in his life!Immediately after the farbrengen, the

On Motzaei Shabbos, 5 Elul 5706, I married my wife Chana. TheRebbe Rayatz was informed of every detail of the shidduch, and in hisletter to the mother of the kalla, he spoke highly of me, saying, “It’s agood suggestion; you ought to agree to the shidduch happily, for yourdaughter is selecting one of our best talmidim, who is devoted toproper chinuch with all of his good heart. And her goal is to try andteach Jewish girls with a proper chinuch. May Hashem bless themmaterially and spiritually, and may you receive nachas from all yourchildren.”

In a letter to me, the Rebbe Rayatz wrote that “in accordance withproper Torah behavior in respect for parents, when it comes toshidduchim you ought to ask their opinion, and with their agreement,I agree to this shidduch for goodness and blessing. May Hashem giveyou success, both materially and spiritually.”

The wedding took place in Williamsburg and I had the privilegeof having the Rebbe MH”M be the mesader kiddushin. Before thechuppa the Rebbe told me to open my shoelaces, and he even helpedme arrange my tie in a certain way, without the knot.

A TIE WITHOUT A KNOT

The Rebbe Rayatz’s blessing for R’ Goldstein’s release from the U.S. army


maamer was typed up and sent to allChabad centers.

In the early years I was one ofthe few who taped the Rebbe’sfarbrengens. The older chassidim whowere not used to this, andconsidered this a dishonor to theRebbe, were against taping thefarbrengens. As a result, I had tohide the tape recorder under thetable, or sometimes even outside theroom. Of course, back then the taperecorders weren’t as small as theyare today, and it wasn’t that easy tohide them.

It reached the point where I waseven told by the secretaries thatsince I had taped withoutpermission, I had to give them thetapes. That’s how it was back then,but with time people got used to theidea and saw how vital it was tomake recordings.

Years later, R’ Chaim BoruchHalberstam asked me for my tapesso he could copy them for everyoneto hear. Thus, thousands ofchassidim have been able to hearsichos from the early years thanks tothose tapes.

TASHLICH OVER THE WALLIf Rosh HaShana is a special day

for every Jew, how much more sofor a chassid! All year long chassidimwaited in anticipation for theRebbe’s t’kiyos, and in the early yearsof the nesius there was anotherspecial event: marching off toTashlich. Whoever was around inthose years will never forget thesight of the Rebbe leading theparade that went from 770 to theBotanical Gardens. Chassidicmarches were sung, and chassidimdanced in great joy. It was amarvelous sight to behold the Rebbeencouraging the singing with hishand motions while a huge crowdfollowed behind him.

One year it was pouring at thetime for Tashlich. The chassidimwaited at 770, hoping the rainwould let up when the Rebbesuddenly came out, put his Machzorunder his coat, and began walking.Naturally, when they saw the Rebbeleave, everybody left their shelterand began walking in the torrentialdownpour. Young and old walked inthis odd parade, singing all the way.The Rebbe stopped a number oftimes and turned around to thecrowd and strongly encouraged the

singing with his hands.

When we arrived at the Gardens,we saw that the guard had beencertain that nobody would show upin the pouring rain, and so he hadlocked the gates. There’s a highfence around the Gardens, but theRebbe decided he would enterregardless. The Rebbe called over R’Yisroel Duchman, gave him hisMachzor, and climbed the fence.

It was a marvelous sight. The

Rebbe was not a young man, andthis was after the avoda of the RoshHaShana davening and the t’kiyos,which took a lot of strength, yet theRebbe nimbly climbed the fence likea young man who did this everyday!

Rashag stood next to the Rebbeand he also tried to climb up. Somechassidim helped him and he alsomanaged to get over to the otherside. One by one, everybodyclimbed the fence. Some neededhelp while others managed on theirown, but everybody entered theGardens and walked to the pond.Miraculously, nobody was hurt.After Tashlich was recited everybodydanced a joyous chassidic dance withgreat fervor.

Leaving the park was easy, sincethere was a revolving door thatenabled us to exit in the normalfashion. Those with brains, left thatway. Others didn’t pay attention andclimbed back over the fence. Nu,they’ll probably get s’char for that,too...

When we arrived back at 770,the Rebbe went to his room and afew minutes later went to the beismidrash holding a bottle of mashke.The Rebbe stood on a chair and saidthat everybody who had gone toTashlich should come over for somemashke, and they would be fine (i.e.,walking in the miserable weatherwouldn’t prove harmful to theirhealth).

The Rebbe felt people’s hats tosee whether they were soaked ornot. Actually, it was quite amazingthat nobody got sick as a result ofour Tashlich in the rain.

Correction to the story entitled “The Secret ofthe Open Window” in issue 417 – the story didnot take place in the Yud’s, but most likely onChol HaMoed Sukkos 5706

It was a marveloussight. The Rebbe wasnot a young man, and

this was after theavoda of the RoshHaShana davening

and the t’kiyos, whichtook a lot of strength,yet the Rebbe nimblyclimbed the fence likea young man who did

this every day!

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Rabbi Gold: We just discussed aRashi referring to the situation inIraq. Maybe you can briefly discussthat Rashi that the Rebbe mentions,the first Rashi in Chumash, and howit relates to the so-called roadmapfor “peace” in the Middle East.

Rabbi Greenberg: The roadmapto peace in the Middle East is theroadmap of Torah; the Torah is theonly path to peace. The Torah refersto itself as, “The Torah of peace,” “Allits paths are peace.” The path topeace is to follow the Torah. TheTorah begins with “B’Reishis,” – “Inthe beginning, G-d created Heavenand earth.” Rashi, the mostimportant commentator of theTorah, that is, of the Bible and theTalmud, in his very first commenton the Torah, quotes an early sourcethat indicates that the Jewish rightsto the land of Israel were alwayschallenged. That source says thatthe reason why the Torah starts withGenesis, with the story of Creationand then the stories of thePatriarchs, and so on, is so that

when the nations of the worldchallenge the Jewish people, andthey say to them, “You have takenthe land that belonged to othernations, to the Canaanite tribes,” wewill know what to answer them.When the world tells us that this isnot our land, that we should “give itback,” or give it away to others, theanswer that we’re supposed to givethem is not Balfour Declaration. TheTorah doesn’t say that Israel is oursbecause of political factors; rather,the Torah says that it’s ours becauseG-d created the whole universe, andHe gave the land of Israel to theJewish people. Initially, G-d gave theland of Israel to others, such as theCanaanites. He then took it awayfrom them and gave it to us,because to begin with He created itin order to give it to the Children ofIsrael.

The Midrash actually addsfurther clarification by using theparable of a tailor who makes a suitfor a specific person. If it was tailor-made for one person, then it doesn’t

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new program making waves (Tsunami style) on the radio:

LIVING WITHMOSHIACH

can be heard live every Thursday evening, 10:00, on the clear, strong signals of 620-AM,WSNR, a station with a listening audience of 25,000-50,000 people per program. *

Living With Moshiach can also be heard at Talklinecommunications.com (live simulcast),Chabad.info (all week), and (twice daily) on Radio Moshiach And Redemption 1620-40-AM. Hosted by Rabbi Eliezer Gold, Living With Moshiach features various experts on the

Rebbe’s teachings on Moshiach and Redemption, and focuses on the relevance of theseteachings to our current era. * Part 3 of 3 * Transcript: Alexander Zushe Kohn

Issue Number 419 - BEIS MOSHIACH

The Midrash bringsthe parable of a tailorwho makes a suit fora specific person. If itwas tailor-made forone person, then itdoesn’t fit anyone

else. Israel wastailor-made for the

Jewish people. It wasgiven to us by G-d.

It’s not our choice. Itwas given to us forthe benefit of the

world, including theArabs.

MOSHIACH

fit anyone else. Israel was tailor-made for the Jewish people. It wasgiven to us by G-d. It’s not ourchoice. It was given to us for thebenefit of the world, including theArabs. They should not try to takethe land of Israel away from theJewish people. That’s the firstcomment of Rashi, and it’s soimportant for us in these times,when people are talking aboutgiving up land, thinking that it willbring peace. That’s not the roadmapto peace; it’s the roadmap tofragmenting the land of Israel andfragmenting the peace.

Rabbi Gold: Thank you RabbiGreenberg for an extremelyilluminating evening – about Iraq,about the Rashi regarding EretzYisroel, and about accepting theRebbe Melech HaMoshiach as theultimate human authority, who givesus direction through the Torah,which is the blueprint for Creation.Thank you very much, RabbiGreenberg.

* * *

After Break:

Rabbi Gold: It’s a great honor tohave on our show tonight RabbiSholom Dover HaLevi Volpe. RabbiVolpe is rav of the Chabadsynagogue of Kiryat Gat, EretzYisroel. He is a distinguished talmidchacham, an author of numerouss’farim, and a tireless fighter forShleimus HaAretz and the Rebbe’sposition on the integrity of EretzYisroel.

Less than six months ago, RabbiVolpe personally experienced atremendous miracle through theRebbe Melech HaMoshiach,concerning his mother, may she liveand be well.

Thank you, Rabbi Volpe, forjoining us this evening in order toshare your wonderful story with ourlistening audience.

Rabbi Volpe: Thank you, RabbiGold. I am really happy to relate themiracle that we experienced withmy mother. It began approximatelya year ago. She felt bad pains in herlegs, and then, slowly but surly, lostthe feeling in her legs until shecouldn’t walk. She had to use awalker. Two days before YomKippur, she fell down and broke oneof her legs. They put a cast on her,and she was not able to walk at all.

We went to a few doctors, and atfirst, each had a different opinion asto what the problem was. On CholHaMoed Sukkos of this year, theymade her a special test, and theyfound a tumor on her spine. It wentlike a snake from top to bottom,inside the spine, and on the spine’soutside. That was the reason thatshe was not feeling her feet.

We got very nervous about it, so

we went to the best doctors in EretzYisroel, and they said that we musttake care of it immediately, and takeher to the hospital for surgery onher spine. We went to a fewrabbanim in Bnei Brak andYerushalayim to ask them if theythink we should make the operationhere in Eretz Yisroel, or in chutzla’Aretz (outside Israel). Rabbi Firerfrom Bnei Brak told us that the topsurgeon for these things, Prof.Brudshy, lives in Brussels, andworks in Erazma Hospital, and thatis where we should go.

But, you know, for an old couple– baruch Hashem my mother andfather are eighty years old – it’s veryhard to travel to chutz la’Aretz,especially in such a condition, andthey absolutely refused to go. So weasked the Rebbe MelechHaMoshiach through the IgrosKodesh, and on the page that weopened to there was a blessing for a“refua shleima for your mother.” Italso said that “Regarding thequestion about whether to go tochutz la’Aretz or to stay in EretzYisroel, I think you should go tochutz la’Aretz, and it should beb’hatzlacha rabba, and you should gol’shalom, and come back b’nachas,but you must combine your trip tochutz la’Aretz with hafatzasha’yahadus ve’hamayanos (thedissemination of Judaism and thewellsprings of chassidus).”

We then told this to my parents,but they didn’t want to hear aboutit. They said, “It cannot be; wecannot go. It’s very hard for us. Howcan we take Mother chutz la’Aretzwhen she is in such a condition?!No way!”

We didn’t know what to do. Wetold our parents that we will writein to the Rebbe again, and that theywill be able to see the Rebbe’sanswer for themselves. So we wroteto the Rebbe again, explaining thatthey cannot go, because it is very


For an old couple –baruch Hashem my

mother and father areeighty years old – it’svery hard to travel to

chutz la’Aretz,especially in such acondition, and they

absolutely refused togo. So we asked the

Rebbe MelechHaMoshiach through

the Igros Kodesh

hard for them, and we asked theRebbe what we should do. We putthe letter into the Igros Kodesh, andsure enough, we got a differentletter with the same answer: “Yourmother should have a refua shleima,and you should go to chutz la’Aretz,and you should make sure todisseminate Judaism and thewellsprings of chassidus on yourtrip.

Baruch Hashem, after this answer,my parents decided that they wouldallow us to take them to chutzla’Aretz. All of us – my father,mother, sister, brother, and myself –went to Brussels right after SimchasTorah. It was very, very hard to takemy mother to the plane, into theplane, out of the plane, and to thehospital. But baruch Hashem, we gotthere.

It was a Thursday, and thedoctor was in Morocco, havingperformed surgery on an official ofthe Moroccan government. Hereturned to Brussels on Friday. OnThursday, all kinds of tests weredone on my mother in the hospital.Originally, the doctor said that hewould perform surgery on mymother on Monday. But later he toldus that the x-ray shows that theproblem is so bad that he cannot

wait until Monday for fear that herwhole body could becomeparalyzed, G-d forbid. He said thathe cannot perform the procedure onShabbos because he has the Shloshimof his sister, who had recentlypassed away, and his mother wantshim to go to shul to say Kaddish. Sohe would open the operating roomon Sunday – although it is usuallyclosed on Sunday – and bring hisstaff, which never works on Sunday,in order to perform this very urgentoperation.

On Sunday, they operated on mymother for eight hours. When thedoctor came down, he wasexhausted from working on mymother, and he told us that, baruchHashem, the operation was asuccess, and the tumor had beenremoved. It was still too early, hesaid, to say whether or not shewould be able to move her legsagain, but he would know in abouttwenty-four hours.

A day later, he came to our roomand said that, baruch Hashem, shecan move her feet. It was very hardfor her. She had her foot in a castand was confined to bed. Shesuffered very much. But after twoweeks we wentback to Eretz

Yisroel. The trip back was alsodifficult, especially such a shorttime after the operation.

Baruch Hashem, today my motheris walking on her own two feet,without a walker or any othersupport. Big, big miracles. When wegot back to Eretz Yisroel, we tookher to a special hospital in Tel Aviv,just to recover. She underwentspecial therapy there for her feet.While she was there, she spoke withone of the big doctors who saw thex-rays. She asked the doctor if it’strue that only one out of a thousandsuch operations is successful. Thedoctor said, “One out of athousand? Judging from the x-rays,only one out of a hundred thousandsuch operations are successful.” Thedoctor then told her about a youngman, twenty years old, whounderwent the same operation inJerusalem when he was a young boy,and he remains handicapped eversince.

Rabbi Gold: Thank you verymuch Rabbi Volpe for this trulymiraculous story that happenedthrough the Igros.

(End of Program.)


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CARING ABOUTTHEIR MONEY

You can often see that theRebbe’s answers were written ontorn paper. One of the secretariestold a story about this that when hefirst started working as secretary, henoticed that the Rebbe took tornpaper to write on.

The secretary immediately ran tobring the Rebbe a package of paperbut the Rebbe told him to put itback, saying that he didn’t need itbecause he had plenty (pointing tothe scrap paper).

IF IT’S NOT TOO HARDIn the early years there was an

area in the secretaries’ room called“dem Rebbe’ns vinkel” (the Rebbe’scorner) where they put all theletters sent to the Rebbe. The Rebbehimself would go over there andtake the letters. In later years theRebbe would call the secretaries andsay, “If it’s not too much trouble,bring the letters...”

THE KING’S SEALThe routine all the years was that

the Rebbe himself signed the letters.

The secretary, R’ M.L. Rodstein,once suggested that they use arubber stamp. The Rebbe said: AJew asks me for a bracha and Ishould give him a rubber stamp?

YOU DID THE RIGHT THINGOne of the secretaries related:

Each time I went to Eretz Yisroel, Itold the Rebbe, and the Rebbe

blessed me. One time I was going toEretz Yisroel and when I informedthe Rebbe, the Rebbe said, “...if it’swith your wife’s consent.”

I realized that I was supposed tostay. A short while later the Rebbeasked me what had happened withthe trip. I said that I hadn’t gone.The Rebbe said, “You did the rightthing.”

PERSONAL SIGNATURERabbi Chadakov said that it

often happened that he gave theRebbe a letter with a number ofcopies (for example, when theidentical letter had to be written toa number of people). When theletters were brought to the Rebbefor his signature, the Rebbe took thetime to read each one, and said,“When I sign something, I can’t saythat I signed it because I assumed itwas the same as the other letter.”

RESPECT FOR THESECRETARY

R’ Binyanim Klein said, “I onceflew to Eretz Yisroel for one day ona shlichus of the Rebbe. When Iboarded the plane for the return

BETWEEN THEREBBE AND THESECRETARIES

STORIES

The secretaries whowent with the Rebbeto the Ohel, said that

the Rebbe oftenanswered questions

they thought of alongthe way. One of them

said: There weretimes I was afraid to

think altogether.

trip, a member ofthe border guardwas suspicious andchecked mypassport and beganinterrogating me.He sent me to ahigher rankingofficer, and when Isaw how thingswere going I toldthem that I was theRebbe’s secretary.Hearing that, theyimmediatelyallowed me toproceed, giving meall the respect.

IT’S NOTFOR ME

All letters weresent into the Rebbeprecisely as theywere received, andthe Rebbe openedthem himself. R’Rodstein oncesuggested that theybuy a specialmachine to helpopen the letters.The Rebbe said: It’snot for me.

“RESPECT HIMAND SUSPECT

HIM”R’ Meir M. relates: I was once in the secretaries’

room, and the secretary, R’ Quint, asked me to go to theRebbe’s house on President St. in order to bring theRebbe an express letter that had come for him.

When I got tothe house, theRebbetzin openedthe door and gaveme the letter. Aftera moment she gaveme a look andtook the letterback, sealed it, andthen sent me onmy way.

WHY DID THESECRETARY

KNOCK?A person who

went in foryechidus for thefirst time was therefor over fortyminutes. Thesecretary knockedon the door andentered and saidhis time was up.The Rebbe smiledand said: Hedoesn’t want youto leave; he justwants you to comeback another time.

KNOWS WHATYOU’RE

THINKINGThe secretaries

who went with theRebbe to the Ohel,

said that the Rebbe often answered questions theythought of along the way. One of them said: There weretimes I was afraid to think altogether.


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THE REBBE’S TAAVAThe Rebbe once said that limud

ha’Torah (Torah study) is a taava(passion) for him. What shall I do,asked the Rebbe, when my passion isthat all those associated with meshould know how to learn?

CHIDDUSHIMThe Rebbe once told a secretary:

Why is it that everybody listens whenI talk about current events andpolitics at a farbrengen, but not withother sichos? Why is it that way whenso many inyanim in nigleh andchassidus are nis’chadesh (innovated)during farbrengens?

IS THAT AN ADDITION?On Simchas Torah 5715, one of

the T’mimim went to the Rebbe to getmashke. The Rebbe looked at him andsaid out loud: Like last year?

The bachur trembled and didn’tknow what to say.

The Rebbe said: A year ago youcommitted to increase your study ofchassidus, but what additional materialdid you actually learn? Six maamarimin Likkutei Torah and two and a halfmaamarim in Samech Vav – you callthat an addition?

Then the Rebbe made some

dismissive motion with his hand andsaid, “So be it,” and poured him somel’chaim.

WHO ARE THE NOTES FOR?A secretary once found the Rebbe

writing a note on a maamer of theRebbe Rayatz. The Rebbe put downhis pencil, looked at him, and said:Why should I write? Is there anybody,at least one or two, who read it?

TO WRITE OR TO LEARNA young boy had committed on

Yud-Tes Kislev to learn a number oftractates of Gemara and Mishnayos bythe next Yud-Tes Kislev. All the cards(which stated people’s commitments)were sent in to the Rebbe. A few dayslater the boy received his card backwith the Rebbe’s notation: to write orto learn?

WHO UNDERSTOODTHE SICHA?

The Rebbe spoke for an hour andtwenty minutes at someone’s barmitzva. Then he turned to one of theyoung people there and asked himwhether he understood what he hadsaid. The boy remained silent and theRebbe said: You have no reason to beashamed – even the adults standingon the side didn’t understand.

FOR HASHEM IS ACONSUMING FIRE

A mashpia told the Rebbe that hewanted to drink a lot of mashke inorder to warm himself up. The Rebbeyelled at him and said: if you want towarm up then learn a lot of chassidus,“For Hashem is a consuming fire” –that’s the way to warm yourself upproperly.

TO UTILIZETHE “MARA SHCHARA”

To someone who complained thathe was a mara shchara (of a gloomydisposition), the Rebbe said: Use themara shchara to learn Torah.

LIKE SHABBOSThe Rebbe told a shliach regarding

his set times for learning that when helearned he should treat the telephoneas he did on Shabbos (i.e., ignore it).

TO REVIEW NIGLEHR’ Shmuel Levitin, a”h, related that

in 5714 the Rebbe wanted chassanimto review something in nigleh inaddition to reviewing a maamerchassidus. The Rebbe added that evenif not at every meal, but at least morethan once.

BETWEENREBBE AND

TALMID


The voice of the pilot over theloudspeaker reverberated throughoutthe plane. “Ladies and gentlemen, inanother few minutes we will belanding in Mexico’s internationalairport. Please return to your places,straighten up your seats, and put onyour seatbelts.”

The passengers got ready to land.As they complied with theinstructions, they gazed out thewindows to feast their eyes onMexico City as seen from the air.One of the passengers didn’t feel partof the excitement. Various thoughtsflitted through his mind and hefound it difficult to concentrate.

* * *

Nissim recalled that just a fewweeks before, when he had had aprolonged stomachache and had losta lot of weight, he had consultedwith his family doctor. The doctordid not diagnose anything inparticular. He just dismissed himwith some pills to ward off the fluand said he hoped the pain wouldquickly subside. Just to make certain,he told Nissim to get himselfchecked out with a specialist at thehospital.

Something on the doctor’s face

didn’t bode well for Nissim. Inresponse to Nissim’s question abouthis worried look, the doctor wasevasive. At the end of hisexamination, the doctor told him totake a series of examinations.

Nissim took care of it right away

and arranged for an appointment,but he was told that he’d have a longwait. After non-stop pestering on hispart, Nissim finally got an earlierdate.

It was an unusual series of teststhat necessitated hospitalization and

general anesthesia. When it was over,Nissim was taken to the recoveryroom while still unconscious.

A few hours went by and he wokeas though from a dream, in a strangeroom. For a moment he wasfrightened when he didn’t recognizehis surroundings, but after a fewseconds he remembered that he hadbeen through a series of tests. Hewas about to get off his bed when anurse said, “The doctor said to tellyou that when you regainconsciousness he wants to talk toyou.”

“No problem,” said Nissim as achill went down his spine. A fewminutes later the head of thedepartment and two doctors showedup.

“We are sorry to inform you ofthis, but the tests showed aproblem.”

“What problem,” asked Nissim ashe tried unsuccessfully to remaincalm.

“There’s a malignant tumor in thearea of the pancreas.”

“What?! I don’t believe it!”exclaimed Nissim. Withoutunderstanding how, he found himself

MIRACLE STORY

PROPER DIETAND KOSHER

T’FILLIN

A few hours went byand he woke as

though from a dream,in a strange room.

For a moment he wasfrightened when hedidn’t recognize his

surroundings...


crying like a child.

The doctor gave him some timeto recover and then continued,“Since the tumor is in the area of thepancreas, it cannot be removedthrough surgery because of thesensitivity of the area. What we cando is give you chemotherapy, but wecannot guarantee anything. Thestatistics show that this treatmentdoes not have a high success rate.

“If you want to go ahead withchemotherapy, we’ll be happy to helpyou, but you have to think about it.Again, we can’t guarantee anything.”

And with that last point madeemphatically, the doctor left theroom.

Nissim felt as though his headwould burst. His thoughts raced, forhis entire world had collapsed. Hebegan to think of all the people hehad heard about who had been sickwith this illness and hadn’trecovered.

Having no other choice, Nissimhad to make peace with his situation.He told his relatives what was goingon. When his brother heard about it,he immediately discouraged the ideaof chemotherapy. He maintained thata natural approach would have ahigher chance of success, and hesuggested that Nissim go to Mexico.In Mexico there’s an institute thatprovides a special diet for its patientswhich has proven helpful to many inthe past.

Nissim didn’t have many optionsand he preferred pursuing naturalmedicine, and so one wintrymorning he found himself in BenGurion airport on his way to Mexico.

* * *

Aryeh, Nissim’s brother, is abusinessman who lives in New York.Like many other Jewish businessmenin the city, he is visited byLubavitchers every Erev Shabbos.

These brief visits bore fruit, and hewent from daily t’fillin to havingfixed times for Torah study.

Aryeh is also aware of thenecessity of connecting to the nasiha’dor. For this reason, he beganvisiting 770, and over time thesevisits became more frequent, until itbecame his weekly ritual to learnchassidus with a chavrusa.

When Aryeh learned about hisolder brother’s illness, he wasdevastated. When he heard thatNissim was going to Mexico, hedecided to join him, as did Eli, athird brother who lives in N.Y.

Aryeh knew that before tryingnatural medicine, they had to turn to“a supernatural doctor,” the Rebbe,nasi ha’dor. Thus, armed with t’fillinand a Chitas and a volume of IgrosKodesh, Aryeh landed in Mexico andwent in search of a mikva beforewriting to the Rebbe. He was unableto find a mikva, so he waited until hecould do so. It was his last day inMexico and he still hadn’t found amikva. Having no choice, he satdown to write, despite the fact thathe had not properly prepared.

In his letter he wrote the detailsof his brother’s illness and the

negative opinion of the doctors inEretz Yisroel regarding an operation,and concluded with a request for abracha for good health. He addedthat he committed to fulfillingwhatever the Rebbe would tell himto do. His brother signed the letter,too.

After reciting a few chapters ofT’hillim, and making a hachlata tova(good resolution), he put the letter atrandom in volume 25 of the IgrosKodesh.

The answer he opened to on page294 absolutely stunned him:

“No doubt it’s unnecessary toemphasize the necessity ofstrengthening one’s daily conduct sothat it is in accordance with theinstructions of our Torah, the Torahof life, and the fulfillment of itsmitzvos, about which it says, “andyou shall live with them.” For inaddition to the main thing, that theyare a commandment of Hashem, thisis also the means to receive theblessings one needs.

“It would be proper to check thet’fillin of your husband and of yourson as well as the mezuzos of yourhome, if they were not checkedwithin the last twelve months, to seeto it that they are kosher accordingto halacha.

“With blessings,

“In the name of the Rebbe shlita –the Secretariat

“P.S. Regarding your son,obviously the doctors who opposethe operation are right. You mustheal it via the proper diet. As towhether your move to another placewill make it easier to keep to thediet, etc., it pays to move, and mayHashem make you successful.”

Upon his return to N.Y. Aryehimmediately took care of theinstructions in the first part of theletter. He asked a friend he knew

It was his last day inMexico and he still

hadn’t found a mikva.Having no choice, he

sat down to write,despite the fact thathe had not properly

prepared...


from years before to check his sickbrother’s t’fillin. He also told the soferabout the letter and the Rebbe’sinstructions.

The next day when Aryeh went tothe sofer’s home to find out how thet’fillin were, the sofer asked, “Is yourbrother the oldest in your family?”

“Yes,” said Aryeh, “but why doyou ask?”

“The t’fillin you brought me arepasul, but the interesting thing iswhere the p’sul is located. The firstp’sul is in the word ‘b’chor,’ (oldest)and as you said, your brother is theoldest.

“The second p’sul is in the word,‘u’b’shochbecha’ (and when you liedown), which is also connected toyour brother since the Gemaradescribes a choleh (a sick person) asone who is “nafal l’mishkav” (lies ill).

Aryeh was flabbergasted by theserevelations. He bought a beautifulnew pair of t’fillin for his brotherright then and there.

“We fulfilled the first part of theanswer, and now the time has comefor the fulfillment of the second part,‘and Hashem should make yousuccessful.’“

When Aryeh heard the chassidicsaying, “what a chassidic farbrengencan accomplish, even the angelMichoel cannot accomplish,” heaccompanied his brother to 770 fordavening and then organized achassidic farbrengen for the health ofhis brother.

In the meantime, Aryeh says thathe is completely hopeful “eventhough, generally speaking, a tumorin this location grows rapidly, the X-rays show that the tumor hasn’tspread for three months now. Wehope that from now on it will shrinkand disappear.”

Nissim started putting on weight,too. We can only wish Nissim aspeedy refua shleima.

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Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’RabbeinuMelech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed

Wednesday, 9 Iyar

Hello to all the girls of BeisChana of Tzfas!

I’ll try to continue writing whathappened on Pesach (remember? westopped in the middle of thesuspense) and we’ll see how far I’llget before the children wake up.

THURSDAY, 12 NISSANWe are moving. That means that

some things have been put in theguesthouse to be sold to a goy, andwhat we need – we’ll take with us.We carefully clean tables and chairswith the help of a goya (yesterday weused them for the Yud-Alef Nissanmeal).

A “rickshaw-truck” that broughtone of the T’mimim from somewhereor other, is loaded and leaves onanother trip. My job is to directthings at the new house, so that

everything goes where it’s supposedto go – clothing, books, Pesachdishes.

My boys are working all day inthe “winepresses of Poona,” (locatedin their locked room so that no goysees what they’re doing). They haveto strain the wine, boil it, transfer itinto bottles, and get drunk on thesmell alone.

We organized our own wine-making plant. Why? Can’t we buywine? Yes, sure we can, but add $12to the cost of every bottle of winefrom Eretz Yisroel for “overweight”and you’ll understand why we’remaking our own.

The wine was prepared some timeago by me, the T’mimim, and thechildren. With sugar and withoutsugar, accommodating each person’shiddurim. I found clay pitchers madeespecially for wine in the market.When I wanted to buy more itturned out there weren’t any more,and there won’t be any more,

because the place where they aremanufactured is in the same city thatwas destroyed in the earthquake. Atthe time I felt that the city hadfulfilled its intended purpose whenChabad of Poona bought its pitchersto prepare wine for Shabbos and YomTov!

Tomorrow, my sons will squeezethe grapes in our homemademachine for grape juice. One of theT’mimim is taking the new keilim tothe river. After immersing them inthe river of India, I don’t have to tellyou how thoroughly they have to bescrubbed. I plan on washing them atnight, along with the keilim from lastyear.

It’s evening. We have the usualguests for supper, but I’ve got nostrength. The keilim will have to waitpatiently for tomorrow!

At night some of the T’mimimhung up huge cloth signs from themain street until the new Chabadhouse so that everybody will know to

THIS NIGHT WEARE ALL

SHLUCHIMThe Kupchik family of Tzfas went on shlichus to Poona, India. They are there alone, nine

souls: R’ Betzalel and his wife Rochel, and seven of their ten children, who reach out toJewish tourists in India. * In a series of poignant as well as humorous letters that RochelKupchik wrote to the students of Beis Chana, where she worked until she left for India,

she describes the challenges and adventures they are experiencing. * Part 4

SHLICHUS


come for the seider.

FRIDAY, EREV SHABBOS ANDEREV PESACH

Wow! I’ve got a sink in thekitchen!

It reminds me of that tzaddik whoin answer to his chassid’s complaintabout his cramped quarters told himto take some goats and chickens intohis house and to come back in aweek. When the chassid returned aweek later, he was told to send theanimals out of the house and toreturn in a few days. Oh, what a sighof relief did the chassid breathe!

It seems that sometimesyou have to live a fewmonths without a sink inthe kitchen in order toappreciate a “normal”kitchen.

In the midst of thework there was no water. Ilearned later that there’s awell (don’t exaggeratenow, it’s not a manual one,but an electric one) thathas to be operated inorder to get water. Thenthe sink got stopped upand the eggs didn’t comefrom the store, as well assome other mishaps. I amreally trying to keep mywits about me, though Idon’t believe I’ll finish intime.

Last year when Rabbi Goldsteinand his wife were on shlichus inPoona, fifty people attended the firstnight’s seider. I make larger amountsand count on let’s say seventy peoplecoming. And then there’s theextended Chabad house family,which is another twenty, so I preparefor ninety.

“I prepare” – what do I mean bythat? I’m not a professional chef andI don’t know how to prepare aprecise amount for a certain numberof people. I try to see what looksright and that’s it. Later on it turned

out that this was for the best ... Thechevra help out. No offense to them,but if not for the big Helper upabove, there’d be nothing.

We regularly murmur “b’ezratHashem” (with G-d’s help). It’s almosta habit. I really don’t know how Imanaged, but I got to the “oldhouse” for candle lighting.

“Shabbat shalom” is always abracha, but this time especially, forwhat a blessing it is to have an entireday to rest before the seider!

SHABBOS MORNINGWe eat the famous Poona chulent.

We have hardly any guests because

it’s early in the morning, which iswhy it’s slightly less tasty than usual.

After the time for burning thechametz, we walk to the new house,which is clean of chametz. I lookback towards the guesthouse wherewe had been all this time. I getemotional, for those were specialdays of shlichus.

We get to the main street and wehave to turn into an alley, towardsthe new Chabad house. Wait aminute! Where’s the sign?

I try to talk to some rickshawdrivers with the aid of hand motions.

Where’s the sign that hung here? Thedriver keeps repeating: yes, yes, gostraight and then turn left.

No, no, I don’t need directions toget to the Chabad house! I’m justasking who took down the sign?

Yes, he tells me, go straight andthen make a left.

I know! After the twentieth time Irealize he won’t understand me. Icomfort myself with the thought thatat least the rickshaw drivers willknow how to direct anybody whoasks for the Chabad house!

Anyway, it turned out thatalthough the city council doesn’t

exactly take care of thegarbage, the municipalservice which removessigns from the street isastonishingly quick. Thereason soon becomes clearwhen two days later, athree-man team shows upfor their money (whichthey didn’t get, of course).They need to live, no?Give money and the signswon’t bother anyone. Thisis the famous “bakshish.”After all, remember? “Thisis India.”

I arrive at the newhouse. The kitchen isflooded with a fewcentimeters of water.Apparently there’s a

special faucet for water from the“government” (as opposed to thewell), which provides water only atnight. Aha, so when we didn’t getwater out of it yesterday, we left itopen, and at night...

MOTZAEI SHABBOS,PESACH NIGHT

Allow me to tell you the truthabout the seider, and what reallyhappened behind the scenes. Thesecret is one we learned in ouryouth, “I didn’t work yet I found –don’t believe it!”

But when I worked, I found! Big

T’mimim peeling vegetables


Time!

So – get ready.

Two T’mimim had a difficult walkto the Jewish shul in Poona wherethey made a seider.

Another Tamim ran around onthe street trying to take care of thesign problem. Our Jewish brainsprovide us with ideas. Another sign,which was found in the meantime,was held by two Indians at theentrance from the main street to thealleyway. Afterwards, they’ll hang itup on a parked rickshaw.

Some of the chevra arranged thechairs upstairs. There are also manykirzarba seats which you’llhear more about later.

The gentile workerswho prepared a kind ofnice Indian covering overthe roof (the Indians aregood at externals) as asolution to our losing thegarage (if you recall), justfinished putting lights onthe roof.

Yehudis is dressing thechildren.

I enter the kitchen totake care of things alongwith Etti Dunar. Shenotices something or otherthat I’ve forgotten toprepare and tries not toget frantic.

The guests begin to arrive. Yes,with or without a sign they come andcome and come.

I go up to the roof to hearKiddush, for we have to beginalready.

“It’s absolutely full” is not just anexpression but the literal truth. Thereis no room. None.

I run back to the kitchen and tryto get organized, what goes up now?What happened to the karpas I forgotabout?

No! I am far from being a“superwoman.” I’m just one woman

who wants to be a shlucha! And loadsof guests have come!

They organize things up on theroof. Candle-lighting (The childrenlater reported to me about onewoman who couldn’t stop cryingwhen she lit candles. It teaches usthat your stress, when you think youdidn’t prepare well enough, andthere’s some chaos, has no effect on“avoda v’taamula” (the work you putin), which pays off in the end).

8-year-old Moshiach and 6-year-old Avichai, the dedicated soldiers incharge of hand-washing, supervise“rachtza.” Sometimes I think it’s with

excessive hiddur...

The T’mimim run up and down,up and down the steps. My 12-year-old Mendy, and 10-year-old Shlomiwho sweats from the effort, are withthem.

SEIDER NIGHTAll the chevra sit in white shirts

near the beautiful tables and sing“Ma Nishtana,” and Ima and Savta sitcalmly (though tiredly) and havenachas. This night kulanu mesubin (allrecline). And their father explains theHaggada.

Mendy and Shlomi’s father also

fulfills the mitzva of “v’higadtal’bincha” (relate to your son), andhow!

“Mendy! Bring charoses! Shlomi!The egg!”

And the children run from theirfather, who is running a seider on theroof, to their mother in the kitchen.

Why is this night different thanall other nights?

This night we are all shluchim.

“We will go with our youth andour elders.” What do you mean by“go”? How about run?

The stream of guests doesn’t stop.That’s it. The roof is overflowing with

people. The number ofguests sitting on the chairswe rented is about 150!

Uri Dunar and anotherTamim keep calm, andquickly start schleppingtables outside to the alley.Chairs, white tablecloths,the collecting of suppliesfor the kaara from thekitchen, and anotherseider is under way. Nowthe kitchen staff (that’sEtti Dunar, baby Yudele,and me) gets orders fromtwo directions: “We needkarpas on the roof!” “We’remissing cups on thestreet!”

And the shluchim andT’mimim now go in two differentdirections.

Later on, Rav Zimroni will tell usthat the Rebbe once said that s’darimshould be made on the street, andapparently this was the first time thisever happened.

“Lettuce on the roof!” Yes, but thelettuce that was carefully washedErev Shabbos and was supposed tohave dried over Shabbos, has apeculiar smell. It turns out thelettuce is moldy. Don’t ask.

“Lettuce on the roof!!” This timeit’s a shriek.

Binyamim Itach and Yosef Yitzchok Kupchik with a fish


What should we do?

The only solution is to stop upthe (new!) sink and rinse the lettuce.Yes. The smell remained but weended up with a strange mix ofpartial leaves, somewhat shredded.

“Lettuce on the roof!” Myhusband tramps down the two flightsfrom the roof. “What’s going on? Youleft me alone with the crowd.Where’s the lettuce?”

Go tell him...

What should we do? Quick! Newlettuce (what mazal that the Dunarsbrought a lot of lettuce). Remove itfrom the plastic, rinse it, dry it.Baruch Hashem, we can goon.

“Lettuce downstairs!”

Varda, one of thetourists, summed up herexperience at the seider:

“Generally speaking, Ifind seiders to be boring,but over here there wasn’ta dull moment. This oneis running with matza andthat one is running withlettuce. It wasn’t at allboring...”

Yup, boring it wasn’t.

I ask Yehudis to makea seider with the littleones. So a third seiderbegan in one of therooms, on the floor (there

were no more chairs).

“Yehudis! Don’t forget the mainthing! Pesach, Matza, and Maror!” Icall to her from the depths of potsfor Shulchan Aruch that alreadybegan on the roof.

The seider is comprised of “fours.”So Etti and I began a fourth seider. Inthe kitchen.

“Why is this night different thanall other nights?” We send the karpasoutside.

“We were slaves.” We take out themaror and lettuce.

The second cup. I quickly cutmore and more cucumber salad.

Salads (they didn’t spoil! APesach miracle) and fish for theseider down below (I had put it inthe freezer for lack of space in thetiny refrigerator, and with great effortI managed to get them out at the lastmoment, for they had frozen andgotten stuck).

Meat (the first and last time afterfive months!) and tzimmes, and ofcourse – potatoes.

I hear singing and Hallel from theroof.

The seider upstairs is over. Istagger from the kitchen. I smile atthe guests who come to say goodbye

and thank me. It’s good tosee once again that whenyou put in, you seeresults. After all, they allenjoyed it, baruch Hashem!

“A seider?”

Of course there was! Itwas all according to a“seider” – kadesh, urchatz,karpas, yachatz ...

“Seider?” It seems thatwhen there are four sons,there is some semblanceof “seider.”

Anyway, we had somany “fifth sons” that itwas b’seder gamur(perfectly fine).

“Therefore we mustthank and praise and

laud...”

Arbel the kibbutznik comes tothank us. He learned so much. Hehad never seen a seider like this.Apparently, aside from running afterlettuce, my husband managed toteach something up there, too.

The last of the guests leaves. Ourchevra sits down, each one to hisown seider.

“L’Shana ha’baa b’Yerushalayimha’benuya!”

Rochele

A meal for our guests. Rabbi Kupchik on the right.

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COMPLETECAPITULATION

BY RABBI SHOLOM DOVBER VOLPE


In the weeks preceding theapproval of the cursed Oslo Accords, Iwent to a distinguished Admur, zt”l. Myofficial reason for going to him was inorder to give him my book, ShemenSasson Mei’chaveirecha, but I took theopportunity to beg him to dosomething on his own, and throughthe Moetzes G’dolei HaTorah, so thatall frum Jews would go demonstrateagainst the bloody government, andprotest against a plan that wouldendanger millions of Jews. I spokefrom my heart and quoted the RebbeMelech HaMoshiach.

(I also brought him proof that thechareidim have the power to changethings in the country, as some monthspreviously about 200,000 Jews wentout to French Hill in Yerushalayim toprotest against the desecration of thedead which was taking place becausebridges were being built there. As aresult of the demonstration, the plansfor the bridge were adjusted, despitethe loss of tens of millions of dollars.)

The Admur heard what I had to sayand even added his own commentsabout the terrible danger which theOslo Accords entailed, but then hesaid, “This is not our way, to go outand demonstrate!” He added that whenhe had had a yechidus with the Rebbe,the Rebbe had told him to strengthenthe traditions of their own chassidus.When I tried to continue and talk, heheld out his hand, letting me know Iwas dismissed.

The next morning I visited the gaonRabbi Menasheh Klein of Boro Parkwho had come to Kiryat Ungvar in

Yerushalayim. I sadly told him whathad happened and he said, “When theMisrad HaDatot will stop its supportthat it presently gives to yeshivos andkollelim, then you’ll see whetherdemonstrations are our approach ornot.”

I must admit that at that time Ithought he meant it as a figure of

speech, because I couldn’t imagine thatthe Ministry of Religions would everstop supporting yeshivos, and even ifthey were to cut the budget, I thoughtpolitical efforts would suffice. I didn’tbelieve there would come a time whenit would be necessary to demonstrateabout it.

Well, reality has proven the gaon’swords to be on the mark, for they

don’t go out to demonstrate aboutcivilians being murdered, but they dodemonstrate for money for yeshivos.Not only adults; even schoolchildren,kollel men, girls, young and old.

Of course, I understand theimportance of the goal of thedemonstrations, but all would agreethat pikuach nefesh takes precedenceover Torah study, and if you haven’tprotested about murder (and yourrepresentatives even supported, r”l, orrefrained from voting, and until thisday they do not protest the Roadmap)then why protest about money?

* * *

This week I heard a d’var Torahfrom my friend Rabbi Boruch Marzel.Why did Hashem have Pharaoh’smagicians interpret Pharaoh’s dreamand only then did Pharaoh call forYosef? Hashem could have givenPharaoh the idea of calling Yosefimmediately!

If the magicians hadn’t stated theirviews first, Yosef’s greatness wouldn’thave been as apparent, for themagicians would have said, “We wouldalso have interpreted the dream thatway. It’s obvious!”

The same applies to us today.Without denigrating all the g’doleiha’Torah and chassidus, the fact is thatwhen it comes to pikuach nefesh ofmillions of Jews, the Rebbe was theonly one who warned from the verybeginning and said openly what theresults would be according to Torah.And of all the g’dolei Yisroel (even realones), very few joined him, and the

SHLEIMUS HA’ARETZ

rest either mocked what he said, orspoke and worked against it.

Why did Hashem do this?Wouldn’t it be better if they didn’t saytheir opinion at all and leave things tothe nasi ha’dor? Well, apparently thingsworked out as they did to enable all tosee that there’s a King and Prophet inIsrael, and all other leaders and theirtalmidim must accept his malchuswhich is the Malchus Beis Dovid.

* * *

Each time an unusual attack takesplace (I emphasize “unusual” because ifone or two get killed, we don’t caremuch, r”l), the police hold a pressconference and answer “veryimportant” questions, which repeatthemselves with every attack like abroken record.

Even during the wave of attacksfollowing Sharon’s first unfortunatemeeting with “his colleague, the leaderof the Palestinian government,” therewas a press conference, and I took apen and jotted down the idioticquestions:

Mr. Chief of Police, were theystandard explosives?

(It’s really important to the deadthat they know what sort of explosiveskilled them.)

How big was the explosivepayload?

(The little bit of shrapnel thatentered the brain of a severelywounded boy could have flown off aquarter of a kilogram of explosives too,and he’d still be paralyzed and lyingthere like a vegetable, r”l.)

Did anybody claim responsibilityfor the attack?

(As if to say if we knew it wasHamas, for example, Israeli soldierswould enter the territories and notcome out until they destroyed theorganization, in the same sort of warthat President Bush waged in Iraq.)

Did you have prior warning?

(Didn’t Rashi warn us and theRebbe repeat what Rashi said, that “the

entire country is open before them.” Sowe were warned nearly 1000 years agoabout the “entire country.”)

* * *

After all the responses (the answerswere usually “it’s still too early to say,”“the incident is not over yet,” and“there were general warnings,” etc.),began the bombastic declarations ofthe Chief of Police, whose sole purposeis to remove any responsibility fromthe police and the security forces andto show how they’re doing all they cando. I wrote this down too, word forword:

Our forces were on specialdeployment. We mobilized everypoliceman and supplemented themwith many volunteers. We’ve hadmany successes lately in preventingterrorist acts, but this time we couldn’tstop it. Terrorism today is a worldwideproblem.

(When they’re successful atpreventing an attack it’s because of “mystrength and the power of my hand.”They’ll never use the word “miracle.”But when they fail, it’s never theirfailure but a worldwide problem.)

We are trying to limit the numberof attacks.

(They don’t mention eradicatingterror at all. It doesn’t occur to them towipe out all terrorists, for if we do,there won’t be anybody with whom tomake “peace.”)

Am Yisroel knows there is nohocus-pocus here.

(Right, the attacks are not hocus-pocus. The Israeli government broughtthem upon us in a very well-plannedand orderly way).

Now is the time to thank AmYisroel for continuing with their dailylives.

(Shocking words. The governmentand the police are accustoming thenation not to be moved at all by thedeaths and maiming of thousands ofpeople. The rule is: as long as it hasn’treached your home, nothing

happened, and even if it does reachyour home, ch”v, you’ve got to take itin stride. You must understand andinternalize that this is the way life ishere.)

Kol ha’kavod to the people, whohave found the way to live in the midstof a wave of attacks.

(I think that those who have beenkilled are no longer finding their way,

Arik Sharon and his

government are

“standard explosive

material,” a local

product of the “blue

and white.” They

represent only the

Palestinian people,

while leading their

own nation to the

slaughter. We deserve

to be congratulated

for learning to “live

with it,” with

incredible coldness.


and the wounded lying in the hospitalhearing His Honor, the Chief of Police,on the radio, are certainly running togive their thanks for the“humanitarian” compliment. They alsoinvite him to visit them and to see withhis own eyes how they live with thewave of attacks.)

Our approach has proven itself.The presence of security preventedeven worse results.

(Hmmm, what number of peoplemust die in order for us not to beconsoled with “it could have beenworse.” With the attack at theDolphinarium, for example, does thisidiotic consolation work? Does this“approach that has proven itself” workfor the massacre at the Park Hotel inNetanya Pesach night?)

The premise of our work is that weare in the midst of a large wave ofattacks.

(Congratulations, O Chief, you area living example of the Talmudicdictum, “a wise man is greater than aprophet.” How did you arrive at such asurprising conclusion? And now thatyou’ve arrived at it, maybe you’d liketo call your Minister of Police, so thathe can recommend to the PrimeMinister that he open the blockade andfree up the checkpoints, in order tomake things easier for the unfortunatePalestinian population who will thenno longer have the motivation to carryout these attacks?)

It’s clear to us that there is amastermind behind this wave ofattacks.

(This demonstrates his uncannyprophetic powers. How fortunate weare that we have such people to protectus. We can all sleep soundly at night,for now that we know that there’ssomeone behind it all, surely the I.D.F.forces will enter the Muktaa andannihilate the one behind it.)

Not, ch”v, that I have anythingagainst policemen doing their job, butwhen will those police officials, andthe most senior ones of all, stoprepeating the same hollow clichés, and

instead of holding press conferencesafter each attack, cry out against theleaders of the government:

“You are creating conditions whichthe police can’t work with! Stopplaying with our lives! How long areyou going to continue gambling withthe security of millions of men,women, and children? How manycivilians, police, and security forceshave to be killed and wounded beforeyou stop your bloody “process”?

The P.M. did us a big favor when

he coldly said that the Arabs livinghere are “under occupation.” Thus hevalidated Arafat’s historic claim andpoured some homemade kerosene onthe conflagration of terror. I am certainthat the terrorist organizations neverdreamed that the capitulation to terrorwould be this complete, where eventhe P.M. of a government of the Rightin Israel, would agree with theirideology.

So what’s the big favor you ask?Because there were those among uswho, these past elections, didn’tmanage to understand what the Rebbesaid 21 years ago (Gimmel Tammuz

5742) that “it is forbidden to vote forMr. Menachem Begin or Mr. ArielSharon or their disciples, since theycan only represent the Arabs and notthe Jews.”

So we merited that Sharon fulfilledthis messianic promise of “matters willbe clarified and ‘whitened,’” andrevealed that which was hidden in hisheart for twenty years, and proved thathe can certainly be the ideologicalspokesman of our worst enemies.

I heard that a complaint waslodged against Boruch Marzel that thesigns he carried referred to the P.M. asa traitor. I am sure that if a trial is held,our friend will know what to say andwill sanctify the name of G-d. But inorder that he won’t be the only one, letus say the bitter truth out loud:

To agree to the establishment of aterror state within Eretz Yisroel is anact of treachery!

To announce to the world that theenemy is within our land, “underoccupation,” is betrayal!

To transfer hundreds of millions ofdollars to terrorists while in the midstof war is an act of betrayal!

To open the blockades when weknow for a fact that murderers will goright through, immediately, is an act ofbetrayal!

Sharon and his government are“standard explosive material,” a localproduct of the “blue and white.” Theyrepresent the Arabs but lead their ownpeople to the slaughter.Congratulations to the nation that has“learned to live with it” with amazingcoldness, as it stands on the edge ofthe abyss and continues to salute itsleaders, representatives of the enemy,that brought us to this point.

How did Tommy Lapid put it? “Wewon’t allow terrorists to establish themap.”

That’s right. We won’t allow it. Weourselves will establish a Palestinianstate – in our land, with our money,with our blood. To the glory ofMedinat Yishmoel!

I am certain that theterrorist

organizations neverdreamed that the

capitulation to terrorwould be this

complete, where eventhe P.M. of a

government of theRight in Israel, would

agree with theirideology.


Documents

e mas419 a · Torah begins describing this special day, the day of the assembly of the Mishkan at the end of Parshas P’kudei. Throughout most of Chumash VaYikra and the beginning