beis moshiach #825

8/2/2019 Beis Moshiach #825

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FEATURED ARTICLES

6 THE MODESTY ANDBITTUL THAT HID

EVERYTHING [CONT.]

11 THE REBBE AND THREESTORIESShneur Zalman Berger

16 ANYTHING TO HELP AFELLOW JEW

24FROM SOUL SEARCHINGTO THE SOUL STIRRINGMUSIC OF THE ALTER

REBBESholom Dovber Crombie

34 IF NOT NOW, WHEN?Sholom Dovber Crombie

1616

66

2424

CONTENTS

744 Eastern Parkway

Brooklyn, NY 11213-3409

Tel: (718) 778-8000

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

M.M. Hendel

HEBREW EDITOR:

Rabbi S.Y. Chazan

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ENGLISH EDITOR:

Boruch Merkur

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WEEKLY COLUMNS

4 Dvar Malchus14 Farbrengen

37 Parsha Thought

40 Young Chassid


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A JEW SITS IN SHUSHAN

AND DECREES:

MOSHIACH NOW!Translated by Boruch Merkur

The Purim story unfolds inShushan HaBira, the capital cityof Achashveroshs vast empire.Issuing forth from the royalpalace there, in Shushan, wereroyal edicts and decrees thatgoverned the subjects throughoutthe entire empire, seven and

twenty and a hundred countries.On a deeper level, Shushan

HaBira symbolizes the capitalcity of the King, King of Kings,

Alm-ghty G-d Himself. Now,since it is said of a Jew that G-dstands with him, therefore, hestands with the Divine strengthof Shushan HaBira, whereverhe may be. Thus, it is a Jew whoestablishes the conduct of the

worlds inhabitants; it is withinhis power and capacity to ruleover and have an impact uponthe entire world, seven andtwenty and a hundred countries.

Of course, the skeptics ask:Where is the legal precedent forthis claim in the Torah? At firstglance, this is merely apshetl(a loosely derived teaching)from Seifer HaTanya [Ch. 41,

where it quotes the verse, G-d

stands with him! What authoritygives us the right to make theclaim that a lone Jew possessesthe power to change the entire

world?]

The response is that it isa clear ruling in Rambams(purely legalistic work) Yad

HaChazaka! There, in the Lawsof Repentance, Rambam writes:Every person must see himself as well as the entire world

as being half worthy and halfliable If one performs a singleMitzva, he inclines himself andthe entire world to the side offavor, bringing to himself andto the others salvation anddeliverance.

This law establishes that it iswithin the capacity of every singleJew to have an impact on theentire world, to the extent that hecan incline the judgment over theentire world to the side of favor,

bringing about salivation anddeliverance to all. Indeed, thisruling supports the notion that

wherever a Jew is to be found,he is at the level of ShushanHaBira, which governs theconduct throughout all sevenand twenty and a hundredcountries.

Now, since the balance ofpower regarding judgment overthe entire world is in the handsof the Jewish people by meansof their service of G-d (expressedin their action, speech, andthought) clearly, salvation anddeliverance is first experienced

by the individual Jew who brings

about the favorable judgment.Since each individual mustacknowledge and proclaim,the world was created for me(Sanhedrin 37a), it is understoodthat when the redemption beginsto unfold in a manner of Andyou, the Jewish people, will

be gathered one by one, theprocess starts with this Jew!

At first glance, the question isbegged: How does one summon

such arrogance and self-indulgence to say that when theJewish people need to be savedfrom exile, all the Jewish peopleremain as they are for a moment

while the redemption begins tounfold for this individual?!

A Jew responds by saying thatthe connection of the essence ofhis soul with the very essence ofG-d (the true Redeemer) is itselfan essential bond. This bond isovertly expressed by means ofTorah and Mitzvos. However,even prior to the considerationof his commitment to Torah and

Mitzvos, there is an essentialconnection of the soul to theessence of G-d. It is not merely a

bond between two distinct things,but a unity that is kulo chad entirely one (in a manner thatis superior to the unity describedas one being a chariot to G-d,discussed earlier). Since a Jewand the essence of G-d areentirely one, a perfect union,there is absolutely nothing that

comes between them; there is justthe Jew and the Divine essence!

In this light it is readilyunderstood that the entire world

was indeed created for theindividual Jew, to the extent thatG-d stands with him. Thus, theredemption first unfolds for him.

(From the address of Purim 5742,

bilti muga)

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DVAR MALCHUS


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WELCOME TO

THE MASQUERADEBy Rabbi Yisroel Harpaz

If Shakespeare thoughtEngland circa 1600 was absurd,imagine what he would havethought of Persia in 400 BCE, or,for that matter Global Civilization2012, where all the world is a

wacky, crooked stage and all thepeople its drunken players.

On the surface, the Megilla,

the Scroll of Esther, reads likea suspenseful story of palaceintrigue that would makeShakespeare drool. It is so easyto get drawn into the drama ofthe storyline and the melodramaof the characters, that you couldmiss the absurdity of the wholenarrative. Every character in thestory is insane. Its like theyreall drunk, or maybe there wassomething in the drinking water.

No one is doing what theyresupposed to be doing: Vashti,the first queen mentioned in thestory, for no apparent reason,refuses to appear when the kingcalls her; Achashverosh is theking, but he cant make a singledecision without consultinghis moronic advisors; the royalpalace guards are trying to killthe king instead of protectinghim; Haman, a power-hungry

megalomaniac gets exactly whathe wants when his is appointed toa high position, and then risks itall to take out his ire against someJew because he cant control hisanti-Semitic twitch; the list goeson.

How do we make sense ofall this? The question becomesmuch more pertinent when we

consider that its not just about atwo thousand year old narrative the same could be said about the

world we live in today. Over thelast century or so, the course ofhuman civilization has taken ona progressively absurd course,and the absurdity quotient seemsto be speeding up exponentially.

No one is doing what theyresupposed to be doing. The CIA,charged with protecting Americansecurity, and hence world order,partners with the Taliban todefeat the Soviets in Afghanistanand essentially fund the birth of

Al Qaida and modern terrorism;Israel, which is supposed to

be a guiding light unto thenations, insists on chasing itsown tail under the glare of the

international media spotlight;universities, once considered

bastions of independent freethought, are merely tools at thehands of ideologues and interestgroups; North Americans, oncethe great frontier people, havesettled into the comfortablenon-existence of the corporateDisneyland otherwise known assuburbia.

The only conclusion is that

something much deeper isgoing on. When things makesense, then its easy to point tocausal factors and say that thisis happening as a result of this.But when everything is out of

whack, when people make themost absurd statements andact completely out of character,and everyone else seems to benodding and going along with it

making, you feel like youre theonly sane protagonist in somekind of Kafkaesque conspiracy.

When the whole world seems tobe in upheaval, then theres reallyonly one way to explain it: TheMaster Puppeteer is having somefun at our expense; its almost likehes saying lets see how much of

this absurdity theyll take beforethey look up and wonder who theheck is pulling the strings here.

The Sages say that when youfind yourself in an era whereeverything seems absurd, youshould anticipate the arrival ofMoshiach. Because thats whatMoshiach is all about liftingthe veils and revealing the trueintent behind the facade. As anera, the times of Moshiach will

present this reality as a globalexperience. On an individuallevel, we can experience it now

by tapping into the teachings ofthat era, which can be found inKabbala and Chassidus. But thatrequires humility, the ability totranscend the self, which is whatthe inebriation of Purim is reallyall about getting outside of theself.

So while a lot of peopleseem to be merrily going abouttheir business, even enjoyingthe incessant absurdity of themasquerade, there are those who

will seek to penetrate its darknessthrough social activism, justiceand mystical depth perception.Or you can ignore the absurdity,don your costume, and enjoy themasquerade.

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VIEWPOINT


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THE MODESTY

AND BITTULTHAT HID

EVERYTHINGRabbi Yaakov Friedman ah was one of

the outstanding individuals of our time.

He was a giant in Torah learning and

chesed, but he hid it all with his humility

and bittul that were part and parcel of

who he was. Part II

WITH THE

KLAUSENBERGER REBBE

Rabbi Yaakov was close with Rabbi Moshe Shusterah. He was one of the people

who pushed him to get more

involved in Lubavitch. The deepconnection between them wasmutual. Reb Moshe called himmy dear brother in his lettersand Rabbi Yaakov mentionedhim for a bracha to the Rebbe

whenever he was in need of one.

The Klausenberger Rebbe was another person who wasgrateful to him all his life forthe years they spent together

during the war. Rabbi Yaakovhad ensured that they would nothave to work on Shabbos. TheKlausenberger Rebbe said, Thecursed Nazis stripped the Jews oftheir clothes and of everything intheir possession (after which they

were given the camp uniformthat looked like pajamas). In my

barrack was a wonderful Jewwho, till today, I cant understandhow, had a small Mishnayos.He did me a great favor byoccasionally lending it to me.

One day, years later,Rabbi Yaakov went to visit theKlausenberger Rebbe. The gabbaitold the Rebbe that a man by

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PROFILE OF A CHASSID


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the name of Yaakov Friedman wanted to see him. The Rebbeasked what he looked like and

when he was described, theRebbe trembled and said to lethim in at once.

When Rabbi Friedman

entered the room, he locked thedoor and they spent two hourstogether, to the bewilderment ofall the Chassidim. When RabbiFriedman left, the KlausenbergerRebbe said to his Chassidim,He is one of the Lamed-Vav(36) tzaddikim, and that is whatLubavitcher Chassidim used tolook like.

His son-in-law Rabbi Sholomrelates, When I was a chassan,

my father-in-law took me to seethe Klausenberger Rebbe and Isaw with my own eyes how herose from his chair in his honor.The Klausenberger Rebbe wasalso one of the people whoinfluenced Rabbi Yaakov to be aLubavitcher Chassid.

One of his friends, who was also his mentor, was theChassid, Rabbi Eliyahu ChaimRoitblatt. Rabbi Moshe Weber of

Yerushalayim and Rabbi MichoelTeitelbaum were also friends ofhis.

HIS VAST KNOWLEDGE OF

TORAH

Rabbi Yaakov cleverlyconcealed his greatness, since he

was truly humble and modest, ah bituldike Yid. One of thethings that is hard to discern issomeones greatness in Torah,for when it comes to chesed, asmuch as a person tries to hide it,the needy can come forward andtestify to his aid. The same is truefor other things, but how much aperson understands of Torah andthe extent of his knowledge, issometimes hard to discern.

In this case, we have some

evidence from his three daughters who were/are (one daughterpassed away) knowledgeable inall of Tanach and the relevantareas of Shulchan Aruch.

Every day between Minchaand Maariv he would attend the

Halacha shiur given by the rav ofthe shul near his home. He satthere like anyone else and evensat at the end of the table as ifhe were the lowest person there.He sat there and listened as

though just learning these simplehalachos for the first time, butthose who paid attention noticedhow he cleverly interjectedimportant points for the benefit

of the participants. Sometimeshe even asked the rav to clarifycertain issues so people wouldnterr regarding what is permittedand prohibited. It was amazing tosee how none of the participantsat the shiur realized that it washe who was making things clear.It seemed as though it was allcoming from the one giving theshiur. However, when the rav of

the shul did not show up, Rabbi Yaakov would substitute. This was in addition to the shiur inTanya that he gave in the shul ona regular basis.

Rabbi Brody of Flatbushrelated an astonishing story that

happened during the Holocaustthat tells us a bit about RabbiFriedmans knowledge:

During one of the mostdifficult times during the war,

when thousands of people were

being murdered, someone I didnot know approached me andasked, Perhaps we can establisha shiur?

I could not believe what I washearing. Here? In this place? Atthis time? Do you even have anysfarim? I asked him.

The man humbly said, Iknow the Order of Nezikin byheart so we can start learningright away.

Later on, I got to know thisman, Rabbi Yaakov Friedman.Thus, without wanting to, but

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HE IS NOT SICK AT ALL!

When he first arrived in theUnited States in the early fifties,he was very sick. At this time,the Rebbe held a farbrengen butRabbi Yaakov, who could notattend, asked his friend Rabbi

Yisroel Munitz ah, to mentionhis name to the Rebbe for a

bracha for a refua shleima.

Rabbi Munitz went to thefarbrengen and approached theRebbe and said: Rabbi Yaakov

ben Alte Chava is very sick.

Hearing this, the Rebbe said:Very sick?! A little sick?! Not sickat all!

The Rebbes bracha was

fulfilled and Rabbi Yaakovrecovered and lived many moreyears.

MOSHIACH IS ON HIS WAY

His son-in-law, Rabbi SholomHorowitz, relates:

In 5747, my father-in-law was in a car accident and

was in serious condition in thehospital. Erev Shabbos following

the accident I went to the Rebbeand asked for a bracha on his

behalf. The Rebbe blessed himand said, We have to make a MiShBeirach tomorrow in the firstminyan.

I did not understand what was meant by the first minyanand the secretary, Rabbi Gronerexplained it to me afterward:

Your father-in-law started avasikin minyan in Boro Park and

apparently, to bring this zchusto the fore, the Rebbe said tomake a Mi ShBeirach in this firstminyan.

Shabbos morning, I said aMi ShBeirach for him in the firstminyan in Crown Heights.

When he was released fromthe hospital but still did not feel

well and did not want to eat,

we brought him to the Rebbe. When the Rebbe saw him, heimmediately asked: Did youalready send a letter for the

mosad? (referring to ChadreiTorah Ohr). Moshiach is alreadyon his way and you need toinform us about that.

After a week went by and we saw no improvement in hiscondition and he still refusedto eat, we brought him back tothe Rebbe. His friend, Rabbi

Yerachmiel Kampinsky, a GerrerChassid, got up his nerve andsaid: Rebbe, he doesnt eat! What

should we do?The Rebbe turned to Rabbi

Yaakov and with a fatherly smilesaid: It says And you shall eatand be satisfied and bless. Itsa positive mitzva in the Torah.

What does it mean that you arenot eating?!

Then the Rebbe turned to me(while pointing in my direction)and said: And you let me know

that he is fulfilling this mitzva.

The Rebbes bracha wasfulfilled and Rabbi Yaakov hada miraculous recovery and

continued with all his activitiesfor many more years.

HIS PERSONAL LIFE

There isnt much to sayabout Rabbi Friedmans personallife since it barely existed. He

basically lived for others. If you went to his house, you saw ahouse of a hundred years ago

with a chair, table, bed and lamp.If he hadnt needed a telephonefor Chadrei Torah Ohr, heprobably wouldnt have had aphone.

His relationship with hisfamily was expressed mainly inTorah. When a grandchild cameto see him, he would learn Tanya

with him. He had a special shiurwith his son-in-law Sholom everyMotzaei Shabbos in Tana Dvei

Rabbi Friedman with his sons-in-law, from right to left: Rabbi Sholom Horowitz,Rabbi Yeshaya Hertzel, and Rabbi Yehuda Wolf

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Eliyahu, Tanya, and ShulchanAruch.

SUFFICING WITH LITTLE

Rabbi Dovid Schweitzerrelates:

In general, he had very goodhands and was skilled in manyareas. When he first arrived inthe US, he got a job workingon ships which required greatexpertise. He was suited to the

work and despite not knowingthe language, his employers werepleased with him and gave hima large salary. For the sake ofcomparison, in those days, theaverage person earned fifty cents

an hour while he earned fivedollars.

Rabbi Yaakov would workthere for three hours and returnhome with fifteen dollars, a veryrespectable sum. However, hesoon left his job. My motherasked him: You could have madea good parnasa, why did youleave?

His reply was: I cant. It ismegashem (it makes me coarse,

materialistic).He would often say: The

Rebbe Rayatz says A Yid needsto be healthy so he can serveHashem properly, and perhaps

we can add A Yid needs to be rich. He would immediatelyexplain: A Jew needs to buy anice esrog, nice mezuzos, etc.and he needs money to do that.He considered himself someone

who had no money becausehe really didnt have any. Hegave it all to tzdaka. His family

was supported by what his wifeearned!

The most definitivecharacterization of his personallife is a statement in the Gemarathat his friend Rabbi Moshe Weissapplied to him, The entire world

is sustained because of ChaninaMy son, and Chanina My sonsuffices with a measure of carobsfrom Shabbos to Shabbos.Rabbi Yaakov supported andhelped thousands of needy people

while he himself sufficed with avery small amount.

THE PASSPORT IS FINISHED

In the final months of his life

he was weak and hardly wentout because of a problem withhis foot. He often alluded to hisimpending death. When he sawthat he could no longer walk, hesaid: If I can no longer help Jews,

what purpose do I have in theworld?

A few days later he said: Thepassport is finished.

When they told him that thematzos for Pesach were prepared

for him, he burst into tears andsaid: Who knows? I will nolonger be able to eat matza.

In his final month hecomplained about the need todo tshuva and the difficulty ofmoving from this world to thenext world. One time he said,My mechutan Rabbi Pinchas

ben Reuven Nosson NotteHaLevi (Hertzel) will help me upthere.

He asked his son-in-law todaven and say Kaddish for his

neshama, saying, The RebbeRayatz had no sons, just threedaughters, and his sons-in-law davened after his passing.The same was true for RabbiFriedman in that he had no sonsfrom this marriage. He also

requested of his descendantsand those who knew him and

benefited from him, materiallyand spiritually (the talmidim

with whom he learned), to recitea Mishna every day and givetzdaka for his neshama. Heasked that his acts of tzdakaand chesed be continued, and inparticular that the simple paupersnot be neglected.

He visited a doctor on the

Thursday before his passing. Thedoctor said he was healthy buthad to eat to gain strength. Rabbi

Yaakov said, And you have toput on tfillin and keep Shabbos,and he spoke to him about thisfor some time.

The night of ParshasMishpatim he made Kiddush and

washed his hands for the meal,as usual, and he learned a sichaof the Rebbe and a portion from

the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, asalways.

The next morning he felldown in his home and passedaway.

May his memory be a blessingand inspiration during the finalmoments of galus until Moshiachis no longer on his way, but ishere fully revealed, and they shallarise and sing those who dwell

in the dust.

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THE REBBE AND

THREE STORIESBy Shneur Zalman Berger

WHY THE REBBE TOLD ME

TO STUDY MEDICINE

The scene is set at the Fridaynight meal at the home of theshliach, Rabbi Yehuda Schechterin Miami. Dozens of guests andmekuravim of the Chabad houseare sitting at the table. Even afterthe meal is over, they continue tosit and farbreng.

One of the guests, wholooked like a regular Chassid,

wearing a sirtuk, hat and a beard,

got up and announced, Becauseof Rabbi Benzion Grossman Iam a Chassid of the Rebbe, and

because I am a Chassid of theRebbe my life was saved.

Well, that was quite adramatic statement. The roomquickly quieted down. Everyone

wanted to hear the story whichthe man soon related:

It was the end of the 60s. Iwas a student and had joined the

hippie movement and wanderedaround, looking for meaning inlife. I ended up in Eretz Yisroelat some point and met up withRabbi Grossman. He had justopened a yeshiva for baaleitshuva together with Rabbi

Yitzchok Ginsburgh. I joined theyeshiva and was soon invited tohis home.

During the meal, Rabbi

Grossman spoke enthusiasticallyabout the obligation every Jewhas to live life according to theTorah. He emphasized that theCreator has much nachas fromevery mitzva that a Jew does. Hespoke in Hebrew and someonetranslated into English. Whathe said about a mitzva givingHashem such nachas made adeep impression on me.

In the months to follow, I began thinking about the Jewishpeople, its existence, wanderings

and travails. I continued toseek a more meaningful pathin life. When I finished learningin Yerushalayim, I went to theChabad yeshiva in Morristown

where I finally gave myself overentirely to the Jewish way of life. Iabandoned my hippie life and thesecular world that I had belongedto until that time.

After a number of years, inthe course of which I learned very

diligently, I decided that I had tolearn a profession. I consulted

with friends about what avenue topursue. A good friend advised meto pursue medicine, specificallyrecommending that I study to

become a physicians assistant.It entailed a four year programand the salary was high, nearly ashigh as a doctors.

Since I had become a

Chabad Chassid, I didnt doanything without asking theRebbe. I submitted a note andreceived a positive response anda bracha. I began the program

which wasnt easy since it was inaddition to my Jewish learning. I

was studying in yeshiva most ofthe day.

I finally finished the programand received my degree. Then,to my dismay, a few weeks laterthe US government decidedthat from now on, a PA did not

have to spend so many years onacquiring a degree; a shortenedcourse of study would besufficient.

I was very upset, having justspent four years of my life on thiscourse and it had cost a prettypenny too. Now, to become aPA was a fraction of the cost andtime. The more I thought aboutit, the more disturbed I became

by the Rebbes answer to pursue

it. I knew that the Rebbe hasspiritual vision; even if I didntunderstand why I had to gothrough this, the Rebbe surelyknew.

Several years passed andI found out why I had to studymedicine for so many years. I wasin Georgia when I felt terriblestomach pains. After beingexamined, I was hospitalized.

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The doctors told me I had aserious, rare illness. Numerousdoctors came to my bedside tocheck out this interesting diseaseand they immediately began around of treatments.

I was very worried. I called

my family and asked themto come and be with me. Iunderwent a series of treatmentsthat were very peculiar. I hadnever encountered such a thingin the world of medicine. Themedication they gave me wasunfamiliar. My intuition told methat something was very wrong.

At some point, I realized that thedoctors had decided to use me astheir guinea pig and were giving

me experimental medications andtreatments to see whether they

were effective or not (or evenharmful).

Having caught on to this,I asked to speak to the doctorsand the head of the departmentimmediately. They came to my

bedside and I yelled at them,saying why arent you giving methe proper treatment and doingillegal experiments instead? I

warned them that if they didntgive me the proper treatment, I

would call the police.

They were stunned by myoutburst. I was a bearded Jew

whom they considered a fanaticthat didnt know his arm fromhis leg, and yet, I had figured out

what they were up to!

The hospital administration,members of the department and

all the doctors apologized to meand promised to give me theproper treatment.

Now I understood what theRebbe had seen. He knew whyI had to study medicine for fouryears.

This story was told by RabbiBenzion Grossman of MigdalHaEmek, who happened to bepresent that Friday night.

DISAPPOINTMENT

Another story from RabbiBenzion Grossman:

I am disappointed with theLubavitcher Rebbe, said thetaxi driver on the way from BoroPark to 770. He drove quicklyat my request, since I wanted todaven Mincha with the Rebbe at3:15. En route, I had asked theIsraeli driver whether he had ever

visited the Rebbe, and this washis response. I was taken aback.

I asked him what he meantand he told me:

When I lived in Eretz Yisroel, I worked in renovationsin Bat Yam. The economy wasnt

great and for a long time I had ahard time making it until the endof the month on what I earned.Friends suggested that I go to theUS, saying I would surely find agood job there.

I went to New York withhigh expectations. I had a hardtime finding profitable work untilI took a job with a contractor, aBobover Chassid who lived inBoro Park.

I became a regular visitorto the homes of Chassidishepeople in Boro Park and nearbyneighborhoods in the course ofmy work on their homes. I was

very interested in the way oflife of religious people. It was a

whole new world for me.

I found the homes ofRabbanim and Admurim evenmore fascinating because Ialways imagined their homes to

be simple, but I found out thatthey lived very extravagantly.They had beautiful homes anddrove new cars.

My manager liked my workand whenever work needed to bedone in the homes of Rabbanim,I was the man he sent to do the

job. I would write descriptions ofwhat I saw in these homes to my

family and friends in Bat Yam.

One day, the contractor toldme that in a few days I wouldhave to fix the windows in thehome of the Lubavitcher Rebbein Crown Heights. I lookedforward to the visit. I imagined I

would see expensive wall-to-wallcarpets, new, modern furnitureand so on. After all, he wasnt anordinary rabbi but the Rebbe ofall the Jewish people! I had seenthe work of his Chassidim in Bat

Yam and other places in EretzYisroel.

On the appointed day, atthe appointed time, I knocked atthe door and a Chassid usheredme in. He showed me what

needed fixing. I followed him butwasnt listening to what he said;my attention was glued to theold tapestries on the walls andthe furniture that looked manydecades old. The shock left medumbfounded. I had expected a

veritable palace and this housewas modest in the extreme.

On the one hand, I wasdisappointed, but on the otherhand, I couldnt help butconclude that the LubavitcherRebbe is greater than all otherrabbinic figures that I knew,as evidenced by the fact that helived simply and in such modestfashion.

During the days that Ispent working on the windows,I expected to meet the Rebbe,at least once. However, sinceI finished my work in the

afternoon, I did not see theRebbe who arrived home in theevening and once again, I wasdisappointed.

Continued Rabbi Grossman:

I heard this story from thetaxi driver and felt I must bringhim to see the Rebbe. I explainedto him that the Rebbe wouldsoon be davening Mincha andit was a good opportunity to see

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him. He agreed to accompanyme, at which point we realized

we had been so engrossed inconversation that he had taken a

wrong turn.

We arrived at 770 at 4:00. Itold the driver that the Rebbe hadsurely finished davening and wasin his room. I saw that he wasdisappointed that he had missedseeing the Rebbe yet again.

I wanted to pay him, but

I only had big bills. I got out ofthe taxi to get change and saw agroup of bachurim standing near770. They were saying how lateit was and the Rebbe had still notcome down for Mincha.

I went back to the taxi andtook the driver into 770. A fewmoments later the Rebbe camein for Mincha. At the end ofdavening, the driver said, Whenthe Rebbe entered the shul, hegave me a special look, as thoughto say I know you wanted tosee me so I waited especially foryou!

HE EXPERIENCED

THE REBBES RUACH

HAKODESH

A Litvishe fellow in Kollel

came to New York for Shavuos.

He went to 770 and asked RabbiGroner for an appointment foryechidus. When Rabbi Groner

was told that the man would notbe spending Yom Tov in 770, hetold him that only those guests

who spent Yom Tov in 770 couldhave yechidus. The man beggedhim for an appointment and wasfinally allotted five minutes.

When it was his turn andfive minutes had gone by, Rabbi

Groner went in to indicatethat the mans time was up.The Rebbe motioned that theman should stay. He finally leftafter fifteen minutes and heemotionally told Rabbi Groner

what happened.

Before I went in to see theRebbe, I had prepared manytopics that I wanted to discuss.

When you told me that I had only

five minutes, I picked three of

the topics and wrote them on thenote that I handed the Rebbe assoon as I walked in. The Rebberead the note, looked up, and

began discussing a topic that Ihadnt written. At first, I thoughtthe Rebbe was continuing totalk about the topic he haddiscussed with the person whohad yechidus before me. Then Isuddenly remembered that I had

wanted to discuss this topic with

the Rebbe but had left it out.The Rebbe finished talking

about that topic and went on tothe next topic which, amazingly,

was also one of the topics I had wanted to discuss. The Rebbe went from topic to topic, all of which I had wanted to discuss but hadnt written in the note.My conclusion is the Rebbe hasruach hakodesh!

The Rebbe read the note, looked up, and begandiscussing a topic that I hadnt written about. At

first, I thought the Rebbe was continuing to talk about the

topic he had discussed with the person who had yechidus

before me. Then I suddenly remembered that I had wanted

to discuss this topic with the Rebbe but had left it out.

Issue 825 13


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ON THE FRONT

LINES FROM

BEHINDTHE SCENES

By Rabbi Akiva Wagner

Mrs. Geula Cohen was amember of the Knesset, and

was also a long-time admirerof the Rebbe. She understoodand identified strongly withthe Rebbes position regarding

various crucial issues pertainingto Eretz Yisroel and was activelyinvolved in furthering the Rebbesgoals.

Once she attended afarbrengen of the Rebbe in 770.She listened from the veibershul while the Rebbe spokepassionately about the terribledanger in returning territories,areas of land that were captured

by Israel, to our enemies.(According to another version,the Rebbe was discussing thescandalous law regardingMihuYehudi and the urgent need tohave it changed.)

After the farbrengen, she wasasked for her impressions. I am

very much in agreement witheverything the Rebbe said, washer reply, but I dont understand

why he speaks about it here, tothe Chassidim in attendance ofhis farbrengen. These are mattersthat need to be dealt with byIsraeli politicians and publicfigures; what assistance can beprovided by Crown Heights-

based Lubavitchers?

When the Rebbe was toldabout her query, he responded:

Zog ir, az oib di yungeleit vellen ton in taavos heter, vetdos brengen di yeshua in Eretz

Yisroel [Tell her that when theChassidim here put their effortsinto abstaining from worldlyindulgences, this will bring aboutthe betterment of the situationin Israel]. According to another

version, the Rebbe said this aboutthe bachurim applying themselvesdiligently to their learning.

We are the Chassidim,the batlanim of Crown Heights(or its various branchesthroughout the world). Yet, asthe Rebbe pointed, we can havean even greater impact thanthe Israeli politicians or thegovernment officials. Its merelyour methods that differ. Ourinfluence is through the spiritual

war that we wage. It is throughlearning, koching zichinlearning and throughavodabpoel. It is through increasingour efforts to live as Chassidim to (occasionally) forego worldlypleasures, even those that arefully permissible.

As Yidden, we believe andknow that there is more thanmeets the eye. We have to focuson the fact that our dedication

to fulfill the Will of Hashemand serve Him better, althoughnot having visible bearing onthe war that the Rebbe wagedfor shleimus haaretz,are in fact

vital weapons that are critical tothe war effort and its ultimatesuccess.

The Frierdike Rebbe oncerepeated a story that was toldto him by Reb Chaim Brisker,about his father, the BeisHaLevi: The Beis HaLevi had ashiur every day with two greattalmidei chachomim. (One ofthem was known as Reb Eizik

Klotz, because he spent so manycontinuous hours each day sittingon a klotz a block of wood that he left a mark on the klotz.)

One day a group of askanimcame to meet with the BeisHaLevi about a very urgentmatter affecting the entirecommunity. The Bais HaLevi,however, who was in the middleof his shiur at the time, firstcompleted the shiur and only

then attended to the communalmatters.

One of the askanim was upsetat this practice, and questionedthe Beis HaLevi, saying that theshiur could wait, while the matterabout which they had come wasof utmost importance. The BaisHaLevi, however, disagreed,and attached more importanceto the learning of these two

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FARBRENGEN


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great scholars, explaining that ifEizik would shorten the time ofhis learning by even one hour,that would set in motion a chainreaction, that would ultimatelyresult in the Jew in Pariscommitting shmad rl.

We are going to read thisShabbos Parshas Zachor, when

we remember the evil done tous by Amalek. The Torah tells usclearly that Amalek is present inevery generation Milchama

LHashem BaAmalek MiDorDor. Incidents such as what ishappening now with Iran remindus that Amalek is very real andtangible, an enemy that is activelyfighting us to this very day.

One of the prominentChassidim of the Alter Rebbe wasfirst attracted to Chassidus byseeing the intense and genuinehatred that a Chasid displayedtowards Amalek. While it may

be difficult for us to relate to ordespise the spiritual evil that

Amalek represents, it becomesmuch easier when he manifestshis evil into the physical plane, inphysical acts of terror.

During WWII, one of thegenerals of the allied forces,after capturing and liberating aconcentration camp, made allof his soldiers pass through and

witness what had been taking

place there, stating I dont knowif they understand what theyrefighting for; let them at leastunderstand what theyre fightingagainst.

But this doesnt changethe nature of the fight, which

remains a spiritual one. We hate Amalek with all of our being, but the way to defeat him is by combatingkaltkeit asherkarcha and eliminating doubt,

sofek. The only certain way for usto defeat Amalek is by increasing

within ourselves and thosearound us the light and warmthof Torah and Yiddishkait.

This and only this will weakenhim, until he will be completely

eliminated. Then, and onlythen, will Hashems throne becomplete, when G-dliness will berevealed throughout the world.

Then, and only then, willwe finally be able to make senseof all the madness, and seethe purpose behind the pain,

when all of the Kdoshim andall of the tzaddikim of all of thegenerations will return to the

world, when we will once againhave truly and literally OraVsimcha Vsasson Viyekar!

Lchaim! May we all joinforces to combat Amalek,

beginning with the one contained

within each of us, and throughthat, obliterate the evil in the

world, and may this Purim beovershadowed by the greaterGeula with the coming ofMoshiach Tzidkeinu TeikefUmiyad Mamash!

From a written farbrengen directed towards Alumni ofYeshivas Lubavitch Toronto. Theoriginal article was written withregards to the Itamar massacreone year ago.

Reb Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveychik Beis HaLevi

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Issue 825 15


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ANYTHING TO

HELP A FELLOWJEW

Rabbi Yossel Tewel(Tevel) ah of Crown

Heights was taken

from us two years

ago. Beis Moshiach

presents a few stories

that illustrate his

tremendous devotion

to his fellow Jews thatwas infused with his

signature zest for life.

If we could have asked Yossel(Rabbi Yosef is too formal)

what he thought of ourwriting this article about him,

he would have given it to us overthe head. He was a pnimiusdike

Chassid who did his work with alot of excitement and simcha, but

without a drop of showiness andpride. Sounds impossible? Only tosomeone who did not know him.

Chassidim dont eulogize;they tell stories about thedeparted, because from stories

we can learn a lesson in avodasHashem. From Yossel there isplenty to learn. He wasnt an

16 8 Adar 5772

MIVTZAIM


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askan (communal activist) butmany askanim could learn whataskanus is from him. He didnot have the title of shliach buthis entire life was a shlichus to

be mekarev Yidden, and manyChassidim can learn that from

him. Above all else, his Ahavas Yisroel was enormous and thisis something every one of us canand must learn from him.

Without getting paid, he was able to rope in top lawyersin Manhattan and top doctorson Long Island on behalf of hisfellow Jews. He got involved inmivtzaim with people that others

would prefer to skip such asprison inmates, dropouts, and the

like. And its not like he wasnt busy enough with the doctorsand lawyers mentioned above.

Despite all the tzaros andhardships that he endured, itdidnt stop him from perpetuallysmiling. He was always happyand always ready to help.

THE REBBE NAMED HIM

Yosef Tewel (Tevel) was born

on 3 Shevat 5715. His parents were Reb Avrohom and Doba(nee Reitzes). The Rebbe wasinvolved in all the details of theshidduch of his parents whohad come over from the refugeecamps. The Rebbe even chose thename Yosef for him and notYosef Yitzchok, and the storygoes like this:

Since he was born on 3 Shevatwith the bris on Yud Shevat, they

thought of having the bris doneat the Ohel. When they presentedthe idea to the Rebbe in yechidus,the Rebbe said: The main thingis, dont forget to name him fortheshver (i.e. the Rebbe Rayatz Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok).

When they left the Rebbesroom, it dawned on them thatthey had a problem. Mrs. Tewels

fathers name was Reb Shmuel Yitzchok, so the name Yitzchok was not available. Ashkenazimdo not name for people who arealive.

When Reb Shmuel Yitzchokheard the Rebbes instruction,he accepted it with characteristicChassidishe matter-of-factness.He assumed that the baby would

be named Yosef Yitzchok and

he thought that this meant hewould soon leave this world. Hestarted doing tshuva from thedepths of his heart to rectify hisfew decades spent in this world.His wife quickly sent in a noteto the Rebbe with a request for a

bracha.

The Rebbes response was:I did not mean that at all. Heshould be named just Yosef. Themain thing is not to mix [namesof Rebbeim with names ofChassidim].

BIKUR CHOLIM

Yossel began his work withBikur Cholim organizations inBoro Park and Williamsburg inthe 80s. His children relate thatat Shomrei Shabbos in Boro Parkthey would pack hundreds of

packages of food, coats, shirts,etc. and he would have them putthe packages near peoples doorsand then run away so nobody

would know where it came from.

Together with Rabbi AvrohomLeider, they started AhavasChesed in Crown Heights. Theyarranged for doctors in CrownHeights to take part in an on-call rotation in the event that

a woman had to give birth. Insuch a situation, the woman

was also taken to the hospitalfree of charge. When he becameaware that there were homes inthe community without heat, he

bought a few hundred heatersand distributed them so nobody

would be cold in the winter. ForPesach he would bring about twohundred suits to distribute tothose in need.

BIRTHDAY MIVTZA

Its hard to say that there was one particular AhavasYisroel-related mitzva that Yosselexcelled in more than any other.Chesed, Bikur Cholim, Tzdaka,Hachnasas Orchim they wereall favorites. Birthdays were also

very important to him and they

Issue 825 17


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were always great celebrations.Why? Listen to this:

Friday morning, 13 Elul5752, Yossel went to see a bigdoctor at SUNY DownstateMedical Center in order to showhim X-rays of someone whom the

doctors feared had a malignancy. As soon as he walked in, thesurprised doctor (Yossel didnot make an appointment, ofcourse) said, Yossel! Are you aprophet? Come in! and he toldthe secretary that he was in animportant meeting and couldnt

be disturbed. This was a doctorfor whom you had to wait threemonths in order to see him andyet here he was, in an important

meeting with Yossel Tewel.Yossel, said the doctor, who

was Jewish but not religiouslyobservant, tell me aboutSchneersohn.

Oh, you mean RabbiSchneersohn, Yossel gentlycorrected him.

Fine, Rabbi Schneersohn.Tell me about him.

How does a Chassid describe

his Rebbe as a Tzaddik, Navi,etc. when this isnt even the tipof the iceberg of who and whathe really is?

Well, we recently had thePersian Gulf War in which theIraqis used Scud missiles. InIsrael, people were terrified.The only one who said thereis nothing to be afraid of wasthe Rebbe. He said they shouldpublicize the words of the Yalkut

Shimoni: Humble ones, the timefor your redemption has arrived.

And just two weeks ago,there was Hurricane Andrewthat was heading for Miami. Thecity was evacuated except forthe Lubavitchers who remained

because the Rebbe shook his headno when asked whether to leave.The hurricane unexpectedly

veered off and headed directly for

the city where many had fled.

Enough of the global stories;here is a personal story. Myfather, a Holocaust survivor,came to America in the 50s.His father had been murderedErev Yom Kippur when he took

the Nazis (supposedly) to showthem where Jews were hiding. Heled them somewhere else whichenabled the Jews to flee, and waskilled on the spot. My father, hisoldest son, endangered himself

by running to get a tallis with which to wrap my grandfatherand bury him. When he came to

America, he could have boughta butcher store and supportedhimself. He chose not to since

his father-in-law, Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchok Reitzes, said G-dforbid, it shouldnt happen thathe provide treif meat to Jews.

My father had a yechidus with his children in order toask for a bracha for his mother,Miriam Baila, who was also a

war survivor and was seriouslyill. They all submitted their notesto the Rebbe. The Rebbe lookedup and said, Whose birthday is

it? When nobody responded,the Rebbe asked the questionagain and went back to readingthe notes. Before they left theRebbes room, the Rebbe askedthe question a third time.

When we left yechidus, we were bewildered. We all went tosleep except for my father whocouldnt settle down. He tossedand turned as he wondered,When is my birthday?

In the days before the war,people often did not know their

birthdays. The date writtenin their passport was usuallyinaccurate and the Jewishdate was of no interest toanyone except for parents whoremembered it in order to makea bar mitzva.

The next morning, my

father went to the hospital. Thatday was one of her better daysand as soon as he walked in, heasked her, Do you know whenmy birthday is? She replied, Ofcourse, the 18th of Av. Needlessto say, that was that days date.

My father went to 770. When the Rebbe came out forMincha, he stood in the Rebbespath and said, Rebbe, I know

whose birthday it is. The Rebbesmiled and blessed him with ayear of success and blessing.

The Rebbe is like Moshe.Moshe Rabbeinu was chosen tolead the Jewish people becausehe cared about even a little sheep.The Rebbe, who gets more mail

than the White House, whorecords Torah insights nonstop,

who meets with people aboutthe most vital of issues, foundthe time to remind a Holocaustsurvivor that he has a birthday.The Rebbe strongly emphasizedcelebrating birthdays, and so acomputer program was devisedthat can convert the civil birthdayto the Jewish date.

Really?! exclaimed thedoctor. You can find out whatmy Jewish birthday is?

Definitely, said Yossel as hetook the phone and called Tzach.Nechemia Kessler ah answeredthe phone; when he heard what

Yossel wanted he sighed. At thetime, the program wasnt easyto use, so he asked him to call

back on Monday. Its Fridayand people are rushing off to do

mivtzaim. But when he heardwhy Yossel was calling, he agreedto look it up for him. A fewminutes later he had the answer 13 Elul.

Yossel immediately excusedhimself. The doctor, who wantedto know if he had an answer forhim, had to wait until Yosselreturned. Come back! I stillhavent explained why I asked

18 8 Adar 5772

MIVTZAIM


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about Rabbi Schneersohn!

Yossi had already left. Hedrove quickly to Crown Heights

where he picked up his brotherPinny and went to the bakery

where he bought a birthday cake.He grabbed a bottle of mashke

and hurried back to the hospitalto the doctors office. He burst in,holding the cake and with a loud,Happy Birthday! greeting.

It took the stunned doctor afew moments to digest the factthat Yossel wasnt kidding and it

was, in fact, his Jewish birthday.He took a yarmulke out of adrawer and said, See, Im alsoJewish. It was the first time inhis life that he was celebrating his

Jewish birthday and he wanted todo so with a yarmulke.

After a brief birthdayfarbrengen it was Friday, afterall Yossel got ready to leave.The doctor stopped him andsaid, Do you know why I askedyou whether you are a prophet

when you came, and why Iasked you to tell me about RabbiSchneersohn?

This morning I got a phonecall from a colleague, a gentile, who yelled, Irving, he answeredme! I got an answer! I had noidea what he was talking about.Then he told me, A few yearsago, I got home late at night andsat down to watch television. AsI flipped through the channels,I saw an angel, a man wholooked angelic. I watched himand listened to some of the

translation of his talk. I did notunderstand it all, but the little bitthat I understood I loved. At theend of the broadcast, a telephonenumber was posted. I called thenumber and found out whenthe next event would take place.Since then, each time the angelspoke, I would sit and watch.

For several years I would watch his broadcast. I came to

the conclusion that this man is very righteous and worthy of being the true Messiah. A fewmonths ago, the rabbi had astroke and I felt terrible. I missedthis good man with the face of anangel whose name, I now knew,

was Rabbi Schneersohn. After afew months, in which I saw thathis condition did not improve, I

decided I wanted to send him get- well greetings. I bought a cardand added a few lines of my ownin which I said I hoped he wouldsoon be better, and I included anote with some questions that

were on my mind that I wantedto ask him. I concluded by sayingthat I hoped we would soon beable to sit together and resolvethese issues.

Several weeks went by andmy friend, the gentile doctor,could not understand why he didnot receive a reply. Even whenyou write to the president ofthe United States you get somesort of response, and here there

was nothing. He was somewhatdisillusioned.

He continued, Last night,

I had a dream. In my dream, Iwas standing in a crowd waitingfor the Rebbe. When the Rebbestrode in majestically, he looked

beyond his staff (the secretaries)and said to me, in English,Thank you for your good

wishes. There is no need to besad. And the Rebbe went on torespond to all my questions.

I woke up in confusion and

Hey Mario, what kind of people do you

employ? Yossel heard Rabbi Hecht say. Mario

Cuomo was the governor of New York at the time A

few minutes later, the anti-Semitic guard was brought

out in handcuffs. The warden said, Rabbi, heres my

card. If you ever need anything, you can call me directly;

you dont have to call the governor.

Issue 825 19


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shock. I pinched myself to see whether I was still dreaming.I began thinking about the

questions and the answers I hadreceived and was amazed. All mydoubts had been resolved; everyquestion had an answer! I felt Ihad to share this with a Jewishfriend and thats why I calledyou.

I got that phone call thismorning, said the Jewish doctor.I was wondering who wasthe angelic-faced man who soimpressed my friend and thenyou showed up. Thats why my

first question to you was: who isRabbi Schneersohn.

***

On Chol HaMoed Sukkos,about a month later, YosselTewel took his children on anouting, as he did every year, tothe attractions in Boro Park. Hischildren related, Suddenly, weheard shouting: Its his fault! He

did it!From among the straimlach

of the Chassidim standing thereemerged the doctor with theyarmulke on his head. Youdont know what you did tome! he said to Yossel. After

what happened, I couldnt calmdown. On Rosh HaShana I wentto shul. On Yom Kippur I fastedthe entire fast for the first time inmy life. I even built a sukka near

my house. But since there is noJewish community where I liveand nothing going on, I decided

to bring my grandchildren hereso they can see what a Jewishholiday looks like.

The son Mendel picks upthe story. Before my fathers

birthday, I thought about what would make him happy [in thenext world] in honor of his

birthday. I remembered thatmy father always regretted thathe hadnt offered tfillin to thatdoctor. So I called the doctor andarranged to meet him. When I

met with the now older man, heremembered the extraordinarystory and the impression my

father made on him. I told himthat my grandfather had died

while wearing tallis and tfillinlike a tzaddik, and maybe this was

because he buried his father in atallis with mesirus nefesh. Thismade a tremendous impression

on him.He said that he had bought

tallis and tfillin and once a week,on Sundays, he put on the tfillinand davened. He asked me whenhis birthday is and wrote it down.

We sat together for nearly anhour while all those waiting tosee him waited outside. He hadmany questions about Judaism,from the laws of kashrus to theHolocaust.

Since that incident with thedoctor and his birthday, Yosselmade a big deal about every

birthday. HisKoch

in Mivtza YomHuledes is something anybodywho knew him was familiar with.

Reb Yossel, who passed onthe day after his 55th birthday,participated in a birthdayfarbrengen held by his family fromhis hospital bed, via telephone.One of the participants in theconference call was SholomMordechai Rubashkin, someonefor whom Yossi fought tirelesslyin the face of his legal difficulties.

On the previous Shabbos, he hadan aliya and held a Chassidishefarbrengen before collapsingon his way home from 770. Onhis birthday, Henoch Junik puttfillin on him and reviewed amaamer at his side, so he fulfillednearly all the customs that pertainto a birthday. Like his father who

was moser nefesh for burial ina tallis and who himself passedaway while wearing his tallis,

Yossi was moser nefesh for thebirthday campaign and he passedaway after fulfilling the birthdaycustoms for the last time in hislife.

In the sicha of ShabbosParshas VaYeitzei 5752, theRebbe speaks at length abouttzaddikim who die on their

birthday which symbolizesthe completion of their avoda.Perhaps it was the same for

Yossel, except Heaven did not

want to take him in the middle ofhis birthday, something that hehad cherished so much.

PRISON VISITATIONS

Yossel served as an unofficialshliach to prisons in New York.How did he get involved in thisunglamorous pursuit? One day,he was standing in front of 770

when someone asked him for adonation for Meir Kahane who

All my doubts had been resolved; every question

had an answer! I felt I had to share this with a Jewish

friend and thats why I called you. I got that phone call this

morning, said the Jewish doctor. I was wondering who

was the angelic-faced man who so impressed my friend and

then you showed up. Thats why my first question to you

was: who is Rabbi Schneersohn.

20 8 Adar 5772

MIVTZAIM


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was in prison. The famous MeirKahane? Why does he needme?!

The man bitterly replied,Meir Kahane is sitting like a dogin jail.

What! How can I get to seehim?

Five minutes later, Yossel was in Mermelsteins restaurant, buying franks and some otherfood. He then drove off to the

jail in the Catskills, an hour and ahalf from 770. When he arrived,the guard refused to let him insince his name did not appear onthe list of approved visitors. Aftera few phone calls to Rabbi J. J.Hecht, he was let in.

Yossel had to wait untilthey brought Meir Kahane out.He looked terrible. He told

Yossel that he couldnt eveneat the kosher food since theyprepared it in the dirty kitchen

with unwashed hands that hadhandled treif. The only things heate were fruits with peels whichthe Moslem inmates broughthim since they respected him. As

for a prepackaged kosher meal,something that is readily availabletoday after nearly forty years ofChabad outreach, they didntdream of it then. When Yosseloffered him the food he had

brought, Meir Kahane refusedto eat until they brought another

four Jewish inmates so they couldeat too.

This was the impetus forthe tremendous outreach work

Yossel did in prisons. Hugequantities of kosher food,menorahs, mishloach manos, thePiamenta band and lots of simcha

were only some of the things hebrought with him.

One time, Yossel entereda large prison lugging large

packages of food for the Jewishprisoners. A burly, bald anti-Semitic guard wearing boots wasstanding there, giving off the airof an actual Nazi. When he sawJews coming in with bags of food,he told one of his underlings tothrow it all in the garbage. Theytried explaining that they always

brought food, but he didnt care.

As they argued with him, theman snarled, If only Hitler hadfinished the job!

When Yossel heard that, hedemanded that they allow himto leave and the rest of themshould remain inside. Thats nota simple thing to do in a prison,

but it was hard to refuse him.When he went out, he went overto a public phone and calledRabbi J. J. Hecht. Rabbi Hechtasked him to wait on the line.

Hey Mario, what kind ofpeople do you employ? Yosselheard Rabbi Hecht say. MarioCuomo was the governor ofNew York at the time (he wasgovernor from 1983-1994).

Yossel, go back inside andthe matter will be taken care of

within minutes, said R Hecht.

Yossel went back in and theguard began shouting at him, buthe insisted on waiting. Withinfive minutes the prison wardenand some assistants arrivedand asked, Wheres the rabbi?

Whats going on here?

A few minutes later, the

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anti-Semitic guard came outin handcuffs, a most unusualsight. The warden said, Rabbi,heres my card. If you everneed anything, you can call medirectly; you dont have to callthe governor.

On another occasion, it was Chanuka and when Yosselshowed up with a group of fellowLubavitchers, they heard the

doors suddenly closing behindthem. To their dismay, the twoguards who were supposed toescort the group remained onthe other side of the doors.Moments later, the doors on theother side that opened to the cells

began to open. About a hundred black men were returning fromplaying basketball. When theysaw the Jews, they got mad. Oneof them shouted, Kill the baby

murderers! and they all began tochant after him.

The area was small and theLubavitchers were terrified.We saw murder in their eyes,recalled his brother Pinny. Werealized that the anti-Semiticguards had purposely left us thereso that the inmates could do asthey pleased with us. Afterwards,they would say there was nothingthey could do. Some of us said

Shma Yisroel. I turned on thetape recorder we had with us torecord what happened as a black

box of the lynching we expectedwould take place.

Years later, Yossel would saythat he did not know from wherehe got the strength. He suddenly

began shouting, Ay, oh, ah! The blacks paused. How many ofyou have ever met a good Jew?

he roared.

I did! I did! I did! saidsome of them.

And how many of you want to eat kosher salami? heshouted.

Yeah, man, kosher salami!

So come and lets do thisright. And as he did years before

when he was a head counselor incamp, he had them all sit on the

floor as he told his friends to usethe menorahs to cut the salami.

Okay, now everybody sayafter me: We!

We! they all shouted.

Want!

Want!

Moshiach!

Moshiach!

Now!

Now!The doors behind them

opened and some guards dashedin. Whats going on?

They stopped in their tracksat the sight that met their eyes.One hundred dangerous inmates

were sitting on the floor andshouting slogans while beardedfellows walked around giving outsalami.

Rabbi, if you want to work

here, you are more than welcome!The job is waiting for you, saidone of the guards to Yossel.

Some years later, Yossel was walking on Eastern Parkway when he felt a hand on hisshoulder. When he turnedaround he saw a big, Jamaicanfellow.

Rabbi, do you remember

me?

Yossel recalled, I looked himup and down but it was nighttimeand he was black and I couldntreally see him. Then he smiled, soI saw something white.

Rabbi, you may not

remember me but I cant forgetthe tasty salami you brought us in

jail.

ENCOUNTER AT THE

WASHINGTON MONUMENT

As part of his nonstop effortson behalf of others, Yossel wentto Washington to meet with acertain senator. On the way,he stopped to rest near the

Washington Monument wherehe saw a peculiar sight. Near themonument were dozens of Indiantents. When he went over to takea better look, he heard a touristask one of the Indian women

what they were doing there. Shesaid they came from the otherside of the country and wereon their way to New York on across-country trip.

The tourist heard what shesaid; Yossel heard how she saidit. There was something abouther accent Excuse me, areyou Jewish? he asked the Israelilooking woman.

Yes, of course, sheanswered in surprise. What arerabbis doing here?

More importantly, what areyou doing here dressed as anIndian? asked Yossel.

Yael was touring in America when she met a member of thistribe and married him. Theyhad two children and she was

bothered by the fact that theyknew nothing about Judaism. Asfor leaving, forget about it. Theirtribal culture was more extremethan the Arabs when it came tothese things.

What could be done with

Yossel had a brainstorm Jewish names. We

have to give them Jewish names! What are they

called? She said, Half-Moon and Crystalina.

22 8 Adar 5772

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the children? Circumcision wasout of the question and the boy

wasnt yet the age of bar mitzva.How could he provide them witha little Judaism? In the meantime,the mother had gone to bring herlittle children to show them what

a real rabbi looked like. Yossel had a brainstorm

Jewish names. We have to givethem Jewish names! What arethey called?

She said, Half-Moon andCrystalina.

Okay, lets pick Jewishnames. Addressing the boy hesaid, Your name is Half-Moonso your Jewish name is Shnei-Ohr, which means two lights.

And he made a Mi ShBeirach.Wow! Shneur! What a nicename. Yossel explained whomhe was named for.

As for Crystalina, your nameis Yahalom, declared Yossel.Before they parted, Yossel gave

Yael the address, 770 EasternParkway.

***

On Chanuka, Yossel would go

with a group to a prison whichwas a two hour drive from New York. They were ready to setout when one of the bachuriminsisted on remaining for themenorah lighting by the Rebbe(this was in the 80s). Yossel triedto dissuade him but the bachur

was so insistent that he agreed towait.

In the middle of singingHaNeiros HaLalu, someone

walked into 770. Are you YosselTewel? Someone outside wearingshmattes is looking for you.

When he went out, he sawYael and her children. The Indian

tribe had arrived in Manhattanand she had decided she had toescape in order to thank Yosselfor the beautiful names. Theytook her around Crown Heightsand showed her the menorahlighting. She was impressed;her interest in Judaism had beenignited.

THE FISHIES

Long ago, when Yossel wasa head counselor in camp inMontreal, there were a brotherand sister from Hawaii whomeveryone called the fishiessince they could swim betterthan anyone else. In Hawaiithere was nothing Jewish; so

when they came on a visit to theirgrandfather in Montreal, he sentthem to a Jewish camp.

The children were very

sincere about what they had beentaught and when they returnedfrom camp they continued doing

what they had learned. Theirmother called them in to eat butthey refused since they only atekosher. The wealthy parents, who

were liberal minded and believedin freedom of choice, went to thegrocery store and found some

kosher products and prepared ameal. At the next meal though,one of the children rememberedthat the dishes were not kosherand they had to buy new ones.

The school year began. Aftertwo days, the principal called

the parents. The school wasconcerned that their son might

be having a nervous breakdownor be going through some sort ofsocial meltdown. Why? He was

walking around with somethingon his head and strings comingout of his pants. Even his sister

was wearing the yarmulke andtzitzis in solidarity with him.

Their father was a smart man.He met with the principal and

offered a large donation if theschool would have a religion ofthe month program in whichthe children would have to dressup and bring in clothing of thatmonths religion. The designatedreligion for the first month would

be, of course, Judaism.

The project began and theschool was in an uproar. Howcould they get such a largequantity of yarmulkes andtzitzis? One call to Yossel inCrown Heights was all it tookfor the shipment to be sent out.

After several weeks, Yossel got apicture of the entire school, boysand girls, wearing yarmulkes andtzitzis. The picture was submittedto the Rebbe who responded very

warmly.

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FROM SOUL-

SEARCHING TO THESOUL-STIRRING MUSIC

OF THE ALTER REBBENadav Becher traveled to the Far East, visited

ashrams, and studied just about every form of

mysticism. He studied Indian music and listened

to the utter silence on the Thai islands. None

of these experiences truly touched him until helearned a maamer of the Alter Rebbe. For the

first time in his life, he felt that someone truly

understood him, that someone was speaking

directly to him. * He abandoned a musical career

and a spot in a top Israeli band and today he

is a Chassidishe baal menagen who presents

niggunim of the Alter Rebbe to the public.

By Sholom Dovber Crombie

If you were to see RabbiNadav Becher as he stands on thestage, dressed as a Lubavitcher,and plays authentic Chassidisheniggunim, you would find ithard to believe the journey hehas taken to get there. Its quitea distance from starring in bands

in Tel Aviv and visiting ashramsin the Far East. This is his story.

TRUNCATED SPIRITUAL

JOURNEY

Nadav grew up in a home that was not religiously observant.

Judaism, to him, consisted offamily meals on holidays, nothingmore.

As a child, he displayedunusual musical talent, so hisparents sent him to advancedmusic classes and private lessons.He was especially talented on the

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guitar and began participatingin youth bands and nationalmusic competitions. Duringhis school years, he spent sevenyears studying classical guitarand devoted most of his energyto his musical development. As

he describes it, he felt an intenselack of interest in school studies.

I practiced for hours andwas a complete loner. For me, it was a time to broaden the soul,for thinking, straining upwardin the exploration of variousideas, theories and ideologies. Ihad had a bris and bar mitzva,

but there was no involvement with or significant mention ofG-d in my life. Nevertheless,

from the time I can remember,I always considered it possiblethat one day I would do tshuva.The religious world was alwaysalluring to me.

At the age of eighteen, Nadavleft home and moved to Tel Aviv.He skipped army duty and beganattending the Rimon musicschool. His life was divided

between work, studying, andhours of playing in clubs and

at various venues. Today, hedefines that time as a period ofrejecting values and disdainingthe establishment, and he seesthis as a consequence of thepermissive and liberal educationhe had in his youth.

Questions began to gnaw athim such as: What is the soul?Is there meaning to anything?Can one be truly happy? Ismusic alone the purpose of my

life? During hours of practice,Nadav thought about thesequestions and wondered whetherhis happiness depended on asuccessful musical career or

whether there was a deeperdimension to life. He decided topack his bags and go on a tripto the Far East. His first stop

was a silence retreat at an Indianashram; it was meant to teachone how not to think.

Now I understand thattheir approach is corrupt.In Chassidus it explains thatthought is a garment of thesoul. Therefore, you cannot stopthinking. You need to exchangea negative thought for a positiveone, and through thought oneshould affect the soul. Throughthought, you can reach veryhigh spiritual planes, but youcan never fight thoughts. Back

then, I didnt know the depths ofChassidus and those new ideas Idiscovered seemed revolutionaryto me. After the retreat I wasleft with many thoughts and

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impressions, and I tried to makesense of everything I had seenand heard. My conclusion wasthat I had to invest more inspirituality.

From there I continued toan isolated island in order to be

with myself and my thoughts. I was sure that I was only at the beginning of my journey, butafter a few days on the island,I was stung by a mosquito andcontracted Dengue Fever. I wasflown back to Eretz Yisroel and

was hospitalized for a week inTel HaShomer in Tzrifin. Fromthere, I went back to Tel Aviv; myspiritual trip had been cut short.

YOU MUST START KEEPING

SHABBOS

However short, my tripexposed me to spirituality. I

began practicing meditationevery morning on the beach.Something also opened up inme to Judaism. I realized I knewmore about Eastern religionsthan about Moshe Rabbeinu.

Several months passed and

Nadav felt there was somethinghe had yet to discover and that hecouldnt suffice with communing

with nature and doing relaxationexercises on the beach. Despitehis successful career and hismany performances with topartists, he decided to head

back to the Far East. This timethough, he wanted to spendthe Jewish holidays at Chabadhouses throughout India. When

he packed his bags, he evenincluded tfillin, a big kippa, aTanach and a Siddur that he gotin high school.

I thought I could combinemy interest in Far Easternreligions with my nascent interestin Judaism.

He almost spent RoshHaShana at the Chabad house

in Manali, but missed the startof the big day thanks to a brokendown bus that left him strandedat a hostel in the middle ofnowhere. But he observed YomKippur for the first time in hislife at the Chabad house in

Dharamsala:Although I spent most of the

time figuring out where they wereup to in the pages of the Siddurthey gave to me, after the prayersof the day I felt completelydifferent. When I left, I resolvedto return and visit again.

In the meantime, I continuedtraveling and met an IndianBaba, whom I joined in orderto examine his spiritual life from

up close. After spending several weeks with him, I saw thatmost of the things he preachedabout were not practiced in hisown life. He would often getintoxicated. Everything madehim angry. I saw that his life wasfar from the image portrayed bythose who claim to be immersedin spirituality.

One day, I went with afriend of that Baba to a river todo some foolish Indian religiousceremony. As the ceremony wasprogressing, I felt that something

was not right. Suddenly, it allseemed very bizarre to me andempty of any real content. Whilecontemplating this, I beganturning around and did notnotice a small piece of wood that

was stuck in the ground and itpierced my foot. I was in suchpain that I ran limping to the hut

where I lived. I lay down with thepains shooting through my footand felt very dizzy.

I woke up in the middle ofthe night with a high fever anda pounding headache. I felt very

weak and knew I had gottenan infection from the wood. Iprayed to Hashem that I make itthrough the night.

In the morning I musteredmy last ounce of strength, tookmy belongings, and left. I went toan Indian doctor and found outthat I had contracted malaria.This time, I did not return toEretz Yisroel. I spent weeks in a

guest house and had an Indiancook prepare food for me andcare for me. Half the time I wasdelirious because of the Indianantibiotics I was taking.

After several weeks, I hadrecovered and felt an urge tocontinue my traveling. I wentto southern India, to Poona andGoa, but did not find the elusivepeace of mind I was seeking.I constantly felt a tremendous

emptiness and I tried to figureout what I was lacking. Isuppressed any thoughts of the

visit to the Chabad house onYom Kippur and tried to find theanswer in the magic that Indiaoffers. As a final step, after muchtraveling, I headed for Varansi,

which is considered a strongholdof Indian impurity, in order tostudy music.

After the exhausting 72 hour

trip, I arrived in Varansi and thethought popped into my mind:I must keep Shabbos. Its hardto explain where this thoughtcame from. Maybe it happenedspecifically because this was animpure place that was full ofidols. My Jewish spark had beenignited.

I felt that until now I hadtried to get in touch with mytrue self unsuccessfully, butnow it was happening to me. Irented a private house for 1800rupees a month (180 shekels/45dollars) and bought a gas stoveand pots and began cooking formyself and making a blessing on

whatever I ate. I did not light afire on Shabbos and did not playmusic. I would sing to myselfand talk to G-d. I felt He exists,

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that everything is G-dliness, andthat this world is under constantsupervision and it all comes fromHim. This was the end of Kislev,and I constructed a menorah outof mineral water bottle caps. Ilit the menorah every night and

sang all the Chanuka songs Iknew.

FINDING THE ANSWERS

I lived that way for twomonths as I studied Jewish musicand reconnected to Judaism.Most importantly, I was happy.I began to feel connected andkeeping mitzvos gave me a senseof something real.

My visa expired. I had to flyto Thailand to renew it. I tookthe opportunity to hop over toone of the distant islands thatcan be reached only by a smallfishing boat. Unfortunately,

while we were at sea, a stormkicked up and we were thrownabout among the waves. TheThai sailors panicked and all thetourists began screaming. I beganshouting the verse Shma Yisroel

which I knew by heart and held aTfillas HaDerech card that I had

with me, with all my might.

After a few minutes of terror,the Thai sailors were able toapproach the shore and they toldus to toss our bags into the seaand start swimming towards theshore, which we did. After a longperiod of uncertainty, we arrivedsafely and our bags did too. I

was stunned by the experience.I would lie in a hammock on theisland and recite entire chaptersof Tanach; I still held on to theTfillas HaDerech card that I felthad saved my life.

On the island I met otherIsraelis who had come seekinga spiritual experience, includingthose who had left prestigiouspositions in order to do yoga

all day on the beach. I was veryconfused and wanted to speak

with a rabbi.

I traveled to Bangkok,though not before undergoinganother two-week silenceretreat. I was happy to discover

that there would be a four-dayseminar at the Chabad house,given by Rabbi Yechezkel Sofer.I very much wanted to getinvolved in Judaism but did notknow anything about it. I didnteven know that tfillin are put onevery day, or that there are threetfillos a day, or what the Mishnaand Gemara are. All these wordsand concepts were foreign to me.

I was sure G-d exists but otherthan that, I knew nothing.

At the seminar, the rabbi saidthat the starting point is whetheryou believe the Torah was givenat Sinai. If you believe that, thenits all true. I believed. I knew it

was just a matter of time beforeI would become religiouslyobservant in my daily life. ThatPesach I did not eat bread butin my ignorance, I ate spaghettiinstead. I had no idea this was aproblem.

After Pesach I returned toIndia and Dharamsala. TheChabad house was just starting acourse in Kabbala and meditation

Nadav, when he was first beginning the tshuva process.

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with the shliach Rabbi DrorShaul. I was happy to finally beable to find out what Judaismis and what it has to offer. Idiscovered that all the answers tospiritual questions are found inJudaism in a much deeper way.

I found the answer to thecentral question, namely howto be enlightened, in Tanya.I was amazed and after the

course on meditation I decidedto stay at the Chabad house toget accustomed to praying threetimes a day. I struggled with myinclination that found it easy tomeditate for an hour but to sit

with tallis and tfillin and davenwas difficult.

I FELT THAT THE ALTER REBBE

WAS SPEAKING TO ME

It was all new to me andI experienced many internalstruggles in gaining anunderstanding of Judaism. Ifound the answers in Chassidus.My encounter with Chassidus

was powerful and won my heart.The high point was when Ilearned the maamer in LikkuteiTorah on Parshas Shlach, in

which the Alter Rebbe explains

the sin of the spies in spiritualterms. I understood that thespies wanted to preserve thespiritual awareness they hadacquired in the desert, but theysinned because they did not

believe that one can combinethe material and the spiritual

while maintaining the same, highspiritual awareness. I learnedabout the significance of mitzvosand the drawing down of theShchina to earth and discoveredthe secret within Judaism thecombining of opposites, thematerial and the spiritual, here

below.

This was the answer to allmy questions, in a nutshell. Ifelt that the Alter Rebbe wasspeaking directly to me. I wasastounded that someone haddealt deeply with the questions

that had bothered me for thelongest time. On the one hand,the Eastern religions championdistancing oneself absolutelyfrom the material and beingcompletely devoted to thespiritual. On the other hand, the

Western philosophies maintainthat the more you satisfy yourdesires, the more you actualizeyourself. I felt stuck between

the two approaches until I readthat the Alter Rebbe addressesthis and provides the answers.The answer is that the purposeof creation is Hashem desireda dwelling for Himself down

below. Hashem wants to be

revealed down in this material world. The whole point is tosanctify the material and infuseholiness and G-dliness into this

world which conceals the light ofthe Shchina.

I moved into the Chabadhouse for a period of study.Rabbi Shaul began talking to meabout returning to Eretz Yisroeland learning in a yeshiva, butthis sounded farfetched to me.

I wanted to go home and learnmore about Judaism, but in myown way. I was afraid to commit.I returned home and begansearching for a new path as theimpact of my encounter withJudaism in India began to fadefrom my life. I was simply afraidof the truth that was Chassidus.

GOING TO YESHIVA

It was wonderful, a fewmonths later, when Rabbi DrorShaul called and told me he wasin Eretz Yisroel. He invited mefor Shabbos and I figured, whynot?

I went to Rechovos tospend Shabbos with him. AfterShabbos, he showed me a videoof myself, taken half a yearearlier in India, in which I spokeabout the joy I found in Judaism.

I watched it and asked myself, where am I now? Why didnt Ipursue this when I know its thetruth?

I kept thinking about thisand finally decided that I wasgoing to choose, of my ownfree will, to live a religious life.I felt that G-d had arrangedthings so that I could make aconscious choice, far from the

Nadav (left) playing the guitar

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initial excitement I had in India.I decided it was time I went toyeshiva.

I went to the Chabad yeshivain Ramat Aviv and thought I wasrenouncing my old life, includingmusic. After spending some time

in yeshiva, I realized there was noreason for me to stop playing; onthe contrary, Hashem gives everyperson gifts and talents with

which to serve Him and fulfill hisshlichus in this world.

After all the traveling I haddone and experiences I had,learning Chassidus was the onlyplace that quieted my soul. Itsnot an intellectual space but adeeply felt space in the soul.

What all the meditation andsearching in India had failed toaccomplish, learning and doingmitzvos accomplished.

I spent three years inyeshiva, studying the AlterRebbes teachings. I felt closuresince it was a maamer of the AlterRebbe that had brought me backhome, to Judaism, and to myself.This connection-building wasa process that extended over aperiod of time in which I learnedand delved into Chassidus inorder to satisfy the enormousthirst I had.

I felt that the treasure which is the Tanya must reacheveryone, and when we heldShabbat evening services forstudents from Ramat Aviv I

would photocopy entire chaptersand distribute them. You feel the

power of Tanya immediately, butit takes inner work for it to beginto speak to you, so that it movesyour soul.

THREE ALBUMS OF

CHABAD NIGGUNIM

Today, Rabbi Nadav Becheris working on a number ofprojects whose purpose is to

bring Chassidic niggunim to thebroader public. He is the directorof two music groups, A Groise

Metzia which performs originalcompositions and the Peshita

band that performs at Chassidic

weddings.

Since he became a ChabadChassid, he produced three CDsof Chabad niggunim. The lastone was done with musician,Oren Tzor.

He is particular about

retaining the original Chassidictune and not dropping a note.I dont understand why, whensinging at farbrengens, peoplesing a niggun for five minutesand then move on to somethingelse. You can sing a niggun forforty minutes without growingtired, but you have to sing it

properly.

As for the niggunim of theAlter Rebbe:

There is some special qualityabout anything associated withthe Alter Rebbe that affects one

very deeply. You sense a powerfultruth. There is no other way toexplain it other than truth. Whenyou sing or play the Alter Rebbesniggunim, you really feel that you

want to be somewhere else, muchcleaner, simpler, purer. A niggunof the Alter Rebbe connects you

with your core inner space demanding of you that you betrue and pure.

See issue 779 for an interview with musicians Nadav Becherand Oren Tzor about their music.

The cover of the CD he producedwith Oren Tzor

I dont understand why, when singing at

farbrengens, people sing a niggun for five

minutes and then move on to something else. You can

sing a niggun for forty minutes without growing tired,

but you have to sing it properly.

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THE GROAN THAT

SAVED ME

By Rabbi Yehoshua Dubrawski ah

The wasteland of death anddisease that encompassedall of Samarkand was fullyevident between the four

walls of the Balchana, the roomin the attic where we davened andsaid Kaddish it seemed to me that

we said Kaddeishim more than wedavened. Most of the worshipers

said Kaddish after a child, fatheror mother or after two or threefamily members. There were thecrooked walls and the pitted floorthat seemed as if it were kneadedof ashen earth that crumbledin the Samarkandian heat. Thepockmarked walls revealed theyellow wooden skeleton of thehouse. They looked like dry bonesafter the meat was removed.

Narrow, crooked stairs led up

to the minyan in the attic. Andwe, those who said Kaddish, hadto climb them one by one; both

because of their narrowness andso that they wouldnt collapsefrom excessive weight. This is

why, when someone climbedthe steps you would hear faintsqueaks and groans, whichallowed the climbers to join inand free the blocked emotionschoking their throats; one with

an Oy and another with a Veiand a third with an Oy Vei.

Only one of the men didnot groan even once. He wasa middle-aged man. His beard

wasnt large but was very dense,and it seemed strange attachedto his gentle pale face. His eyes

were clear and alight, making onefeel uncomfortable when lookingdirectly into them.

He was a strapping fellow,something my mind couldntgrasp since I knew that he

was starving like the rest of us,and maybe more so. This man(for some reason I never learnedhis name) came to Samarkandfrom a distant, frozen camp inSiberia. He brought with him a

sickly daughter, a long tatteredstrange looking garment, andtwo frostbitten fingers whichremained of his right hand.

He came to Shacharis everyday but did not often attendMincha and Maariv becauseof his night blindness (due toprolonged starvation). When heshowed up for Mincha Maariv,his daughter would come forMaariv and hide beneath the

stairs and walk him home afterthe davening.

He was one of the two orthree men who did not sayKaddish. He always stood withhis face to the narrow wall

between two warped windows.During Shacharis I could not seehis face since he would cover hishead and part of his face with hisold, worn tallis that moved backand forth due to his vigorous

swaying. This was also thereason why it was always emptyon either side of him; nobodysat there, almost as if his fevereddavening belonged in its ownspace, a corner of fervor amidstthe sorrowful and lacklusterdavening of the mourners.

It was only when the fifteen-sixteen mourners said Kaddishthat he stopped shaking, lifted his

tallis with a quivery twitch andremained standing there frozenin place, as though the roar ofYisgadal

Vyiskadash somehow pressed

in and constrained him.By nature, even at my best, I

was shy and withdrawn. So I wasoften cheated out of a chanceto daven, amongst the manymourners. In addition, beingthe youngest of those sayingKaddish, I could not

beis moshiach #825

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