beis moshiach 947

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B”H. 14 Cheshvan 5775 • 7 November 2014 • Number 947 • Price: $6.00 • Part 2 of 2 The international weekly heralding the coming of Moshiach LONG LIVE THE REBBE MELECH HA’MOSHIACH FOREVER AND EVER! IMMUTABLE, LIKE THE EVEN HA’SH’SIYA SO WHEN DVAR MALCHUS THE FIRST PIDYON NEFESH THE REBBE ACCEPTED FASCINATING CHASSIDISHE STORIES UNEXPECTED TURNAROUND STORY “Nowadays all obstacles and obstructions have been removed. Since this is so, there is (not only the presence of Moshiach in the world but also) the revelation of Moshiach. Now we must simply welcome and receive Moshiach Tzidkeinu in actuality.” (Shabbos Parshas VaYeira 5752)

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Page 1: Beis Moshiach 947

B”H. 14 Cheshvan 5775 • 7 November 2014 • Number 947 • Price: $6.00 • Part 2 of 2

The international weekly heralding the coming of Moshiach

LONG LIVE THE REBBE MELECH HA’MOSHIACH FOREVER AND EVER!

IMMUTABLE, LIKE THE EVEN

HA’SH’SIYASO WHEN

DVAR MALCHUS

THE FIRST PIDYON NEFESH THE

REBBE ACCEPTEDFASCINATING

CHASSIDISHE STORIES

UNEXPECTED TURNAROUND

STORY

“Nowadays all obstacles and obstructions have

been removed. Since this is so, there is (not

only the presence of Moshiach in the world

but also) the revelation of Moshiach. Now we must simply welcome and receive Moshiach

Tzidkeinu in actuality.”(Shabbos Parshas

VaYeira 5752)

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Beis Moshiach (USPS 012-542) ISSN 1082-0272 is published weekly, except Jewish holidays (only once in April and October) for $160.00 in Crown Heights. USA $180.00. All other places for $195.00 per year (45 issues), by Beis Moshiach, 744 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213-3409. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY and additional offices. Postmaster: send address changes to Beis Moshiach 744 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213-3409. Copyright 2014 by Beis Moshiach, Inc.

Beis Moshiach is not responsible for the content and Kashruth of the advertisements.

CONTENTS

744 Eastern ParkwayBrooklyn, NY 11213-3409

Tel: (718) 778-8000Fax: (718) [email protected]

www.beismoshiach.org

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:M.M. Hendel

HEBREW EDITOR:Rabbi S.Y. [email protected]

ENGLISH EDITOR:Boruch [email protected]

FEATURED ARTICLES

4 OPEN HOUSE Shneur Zalman Levin

12 MAKING HISTORY R’ Shneur Zalman Berger

22 UNEXPECTED TURNAROUND S. Nahari

26 THE FIRST PIDYON NEFESH THE REBBE ACCEPTEDRabbi Nachman Twersky

30 THE FLOURISHING OF JUDAISM IN MALACHOVKAShneur Zalman Berger

WEEKLY COLUMNS 3 D’var Malchus19 Parsha Thought 19 Parsha Thought34 Tzivos Hashem

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B”H. 14 Cheshvan 5775 7 November 2014 • Number 947 Price: $6.00 • Part 2 of 2

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IMMUTABLE, LIKE THE EVEN HA’SH’SIYAThe Even HaSh’siya remains intact and openly

visible, even in present times, without any change, at the site of the Holy

of Holies in the Beis HaMikdash. Thus, the Jewish people’s claim and

demand for the redemption is strengthened, arguing that we already

openly see the Even HaSh’siya in the physical world.

Translated by Boruch Merkur

10. […] The main thing is that immediately, this very moment, on this Erev Rosh HaShana, the birthday of the Tzemach Tzedek, Moshiach Tzidkeinu should be revealed, in an overt manner, to the extent that “one points with his finger and says ‘this’”: Here is Moshiach as he is called “Tzemach”; here is Moshiach as he is called “Tzedek”; here is Moshiach as he is called “Yosef Yitzchok” (the name of my revered father in-law, leader of our generation); and primarily, here is Moshiach as he is called “Dovid Malka Meshicha.” And we shall see Moshiach together with Moshe Rabbeinu – “The first redeemer is the last redeemer” – and together with Yisroel Baal Shem Tov, as well as all of our Rebbes, our N’siim, and in a manner that is “miyad – immediate” (as above Section 7), teikef u’miyad mamash.

Simply speaking, every Jew, all the Jewish people, will go –

“VaYeilech” – out of exile in the true and complete redemption through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, [something that will take place literally and tangibly] below ten handbreadths.

And all Jews will go – “VaYeilech” – “with our youths and with our elders…with our sons and with our daughters,” immediately – “They shall soar with the clouds of the heavens” – to the Holy Land, and there we shall celebrate Rosh HaShana.

And within the Holy Land itself, in Yerushalayim the Holy City, at the Holy Mountain, in the third and threefold Beis HaMikdash – “The Mikdash of the L-rd; He has established it with His hands.” And there in the Beis HaMikdash itself, in the Holy of Holies, where the Even HaSh’siya is situated, from which the world was founded (hosheses ha’olam). Indeed, the Even HaSh’siya still serves as the foundation of the entire world.

The Even HaSh’siya remains

intact and openly visible, even in present times, without any change, at the site of the Holy of Holies in the Beis HaMikdash. Thus, the Jewish people’s claim and demand for the redemption is strengthened, arguing that we already openly see the Even HaSh’siya in the physical world, the lowest dimension; it remains whole in its entirety, without any movement from its place.

And together with [the construction of] the Third Beis HaMikdash, the prophecy shall be fulfilled, “He will revive us from the two days, on the third day He will set us up, and we will live before Him” (Hosheia 6:2; see commentaries there), true and eternal life, beginning with life in the literal sense – every single Jew shall be written and sealed for [a] good [year], inscribed with life in the simple sense, a healthy body and a healthy soul, both physical life as well as spiritual life.

(The Rebbe’s blessing the Erev Rosh HaShana 5752; Seifer

HaSichos 5752, pg. 10-11)

Issue 947 • � 3

D’VAR MALCHUS

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OPEN HOUSE

Avrohom Avinu opened his tent to all

passersby and through hosting people

he spread belief in G-d to the world. * In

our generation too, there are people who

open their homes to all passersby, not

just to spread Judaism and Chassidus, but

to fulfill the mitzva of hachnasas orchim

with their bodies, souls, and money, since

hosting people is greater than welcoming

the Sh’china. They are also mekarev many

people to Judaism.

By Shneur Zalman Levin

THE HOUSE THAT WAS ALWAYS OPEN

The first branch of Tzach in Eretz Yisroel was located on Rechov Borochov 3 in Haifa. It was founded by a heavy machine operator, a laborer who toiled literally and in Torah, R’ Reuven Dunin a”h, and his wife Rivka a”h. People went to this house nearly all hours of the day for shiurim, farbrengens, Shabbos meals, or just to sleep because

they got stuck along the way. R’ Reuven not only spread

Judaism and Chassidus aplenty, but first and foremost his home was open like that of Avrohom Avinu. In this house there was always enough food for all. To R’ Reuven and his wife there was no differentiating between concern for the family and concern for guests. The guests received food and drink from these generous, openhearted people and it was all done in a pleasant atmosphere.

“When I went to that house,” said one of the thousands who visited the Dunin home, “sometimes Reuven would say to me, ‘Listen, I am very tired and going to sleep. Open the fridge and help yourself.’ The atmosphere was such that you could enter the house and treat it as your own. Sometimes I would arrive early, sit in the living room and look into books as I waited for Reuven’s shiur, and nobody was bothered by this.”

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At Shabbos and Yom Tov meals they sometimes had several dozen guests and the couple took care of them all. Reuven did not take a portion for himself before making sure everyone had gotten. He especially looked out for the skinny ones.

Reuven once saw someone eating a lot of one of the dishes

and he offered him something else. When the person said he did not like that, Reuven laughed and said that was a good reason to eat it.

Constant hosting on this scale requires a lot of money which the Dunins did not have. But despite their financial situation, R’ Reuven always welcomed guests with open arms. Large quantities of food were purchased weekly with Reuven not asking for money from any of his guests.

Mrs. M. Plishon who lives on Rechov Borochov had this to say:

“Reuven and Rivka’s home was the center of the whole block. We all regarded them and what went on in their home with great respect. I won’t forget the gatherings, the many guests who went to their sukka and their singing on Shabbos which became part of life on this street. They were people who did not try to force their way of life on others but were just mekarev people and hosted them graciously.”

The Dunin family on Rechov Borochov 3 did not know what a lock is. Guests could always walk in. A guest never felt that his presence was disturbing anyone. You could arrive there even at two in the morning and be warmly welcomed by Reuven and his wife.

This takes on greater significance when you know that this generous hosting took place in a small apartment which consisted of a tiny living room and two bedrooms. It was only upon the birth of their seventh child that they received the

Rebbe’s consent to expand their apartment; even then, it wasn’t that significant.

One night, R’ Shlomo Raskin and his wife were stuck in Haifa after missing the last bus to Tzfas. R’ Shlomo suggested to his wife that they go to the Dunin home which was always open, but she refused and said they had not asked ahead of time and it wasn’t right to show up unannounced. Yet there was no other choice and so, at midnight, the couple showed up. Mrs. Dunin warmly welcomed them as though she was sitting and waiting for them. She showed them their room and said, “This is the guest room for couples.” It was only in the morning that they found out that it was the only room in the house and all the children slept in the living room.

THE MAN OF THE HOUSE WHO SLEPT NEAR THE

DOORWAY The extent of hospitality in

this house went way beyond normal standards. The doors were always open and anybody could simply walk in at any time. Even if it was a moment before Shabbos and five more people called to ask to be hosted, it was okay for the lady of the house. “It’s fine. We will push another two mattresses into that corner and another two beds in this corner.” As for food, “Not a problem. We will add another two cups to the soup.”

The lady of the house often found her husband sleeping in

Reuven did not take a portion for himself before

making sure everyone had gotten. He especially

looked out for the skinny ones.

Issue 947 • � 5

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the doorway on an improvised bed after looking after his many guests and after every possible place to lie down had been used. He sometimes did this so that truly unwanted guests would not come to visit in the dark of night …

It sometimes happened that entire classes came to be hosted for Shabbos and once again, the house stretched and contained them all.

People felt at home and nobody felt that the place was too crowded for them. The truth is, this problem did not exist; it was a house that seemed to have unlimited space. In any case, people got the feeling that the homeowners had unlimited time and place for them.

People came who remained to sleep and there were those who came and left on the same day. There were those who had deliveries waiting for them in

Haifa port and they went to Haifa in order to release them from the customs authorities. Sometimes it took several days to arrange this and they would sleep at the Dunins. Reuven would tell them all, “I want you to come to my house whenever you want. If it works out for you, let us know ahead of time.”

And that wasn’t always done. Some people, who never had a connection with Reuven or Chabad and did not know

GREATER THAN RECEIVING THE SH’CHINA Along with this article about hospitality, it is fitting

to note, even to a small extent, the hospitality of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin. Although not many visited the house on President Street, for obvious reasons, when women went to visit the rebbetzin, she welcomed them warmly.

The following story from before the Rebbe accepted the Chabad leadership, shows the Rebbe’s sensitivity toward guests:

With the arrival of Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn a”h, mother of the Rebbe, in the United States in 1947, many of Anash went to greet her. For various reasons, R’ Moshe Pinchas Katz and his brother-in-law R’ Mordechai Mentlick were not able to be among those who welcomed her. Afterward, they asked to see her in her home.

When she first arrived, the rebbetzin lived in her son’s home. When the two men came at the appointed time, the Rebbe opened the door and brought them in. He served them fruit and cake that were on the table as he said, “In honor of the host, make a bracha.”

When the Rebbe saw that they were hesitant about taking anything, he said he wanted to tell them a story that he witnessed. This is what the Rebbe related:

When my father-in-law moved the yeshiva from Warsaw the capital to Otvotzk, one of the Polish tzaddikim there went to visit my father-in-law. Before he left, he asked my father-in-law to return the visit. My father-in-law agreed and said he would do so soon.

After some time, I reminded my father-in-law of what he said and suggested that perhaps now was the right to time to return the visit. My father-in-law agreed.

We arrived at the beis midrash before Shacharis. The tzaddik sat at the head of the table with his

gabbai at his side. Around the table stood Chassidim who drank coffee with milk [Polish tzaddikim would drink coffee with milk as a substitute for immersing in the mikva – the numerical equivalent of chalav-milk is forty, corresponding to the amount of water in the mikva].

When he saw my father-in-law, the tzaddik wanted us to sit next to him. He told his gabbai to serve us fruit. The gabbai came back a few minutes later with fruit wrapped in his coat and he placed them on the edge of the table and rolled them to where the Rebbe sat. The fruit rolled and mixed with peels and other remains of fruits and other food that had been served previously. When they reached the tzaddik, he caught them, took one of them and banged it forcefully with his hand until it split in two. He served it to the Rebbe saying, “In honor of the host, make a bracha.”

I wondered how my father-in-law would respond. I knew he was fastidious and here everything had rolled on the table. Yet, if he did not eat, he could be offending the host.

As I waited to see how he would behave, I heard my father-in-law state that he wanted to say a D’var Torah. This is what he said: “It is well known that hospitality is greater than welcoming the Sh’china. What is meant by greater?

“When a Jew goes to the Beis HaMikdash he has to bring a re’iyah offering. The reason is that since going to the Mikdash is such an elevated thing, this needs to be expressed and manifested in something physical. We see from this that hospitality is more important than welcoming the Sh’china to the extent that there is no need to manifest this in something physical.”

With that, my father-in-law finished what he had to say and excused himself from eating what he had been served.

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his phone number, somehow obtained his address and appeared without prior notice. It often happened that someone who came to the house for a talk or a visit, felt tired and stayed to sleep without prior notice.

The house was once full with a lot of people. At a certain point, Reuven stood outside and when a new guest showed up, who asked him whether he knows where the Dunins live, he said with a smile, “The truth is that I’m also looking for them.”

R’ Reuven personally did a lot for the guests and he also served the food. He did everything to make life easier for his wife. Sometimes Reuven would ask a guest, “Do you feel at home here?” When the guest said yes, Reuven sent him to the kitchen to wash dishes.

THE OPEN HOUSE IN MEA SH’ARIM

Another home which was always open to guests was the home of R’ Moshe Weber a”h and his wife Miriam. Unlike R’ Reuven Dunin, R’ Moshe Weber came from an old, Yerushalmi home. He was from the spiritual elite of Yerushalayim. The style was different, but in Haifa and in Mea Sh’arim the house was open to all passersby, no exceptions made.

R’ Moshe and his wife’s hospitality was unique. There are many homes, Boruch Hashem, where people are hospitable, but to find a house which hums with guests 24/7 is not so common. That was the Weber home.

They did not have a single moment of privacy. Guests of all kinds and from all over Eretz Yisroel and the world were drawn to their home. In the morning they would knock at the door and

put in their orders for what they wanted for lunch. Each one has his request and it was a “given” that the rav and rebbetzin would fill their demands.

In their modest, two room home, innumerable people were warmed by their holiness and Ahavas Yisroel. Their home was also open to the unfortunates who looked for a place to eat, including those who were not welcome anywhere else. One of his mekuravim remembers that over the years, every Friday night meal there was an individual at the table whose appearance alone was enough to arouse terror.

R’ Ido Weber relates: “I remember that one day,

the rebbetzin sat down late in the day to eat the afternoon meal. It was after an exhausting day full of serving food to guests who visited the house. Her exhaustion was apparent on her face when

she finally sat down at that late hour. As she was about to put a spoonful of soup in her mouth, the door opened (for the most part, people did not even knock but just walked in, as though it was their house). This guest immediately asked to be served lunch.

“That day, many guests had already visited and aside from the portion that the rebbetzin was about to eat, no hot food remained. The rebbetzin got up and took her hot bowl of soup that she was about to eat to the kitchen. She poured the soup into another bowl so the guest would not realize it was the soup she had been about to eat, and served it to him graciously.

“It hurt me to see this and I asked her, ‘Rebbetzin, what’s with you? You are also a human being. You also deserve to eat!’ She smiled and said, ‘Boruch

Sometimes Reuven would ask a guest, “Do you

feel at home here?” When the guest said yes,

Reuven sent him to the kitchen to wash dishes.

R’ Reuven Dunin with mekuravim

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Hashem I have bread and cheese in the house; don’t worry, I won’t starve.’”

Another typical story: One cold winter day over

thirty years ago, there was a knock at the door. The rebbetzin opened the door and saw a young man, about twenty, who looked overwrought. When she invited him in, he did not react. In the meantime, her husband, who until then had been immersed in his Gemara, went over and drew the man inside. He offered him a chair and asked him whether he wanted to drink something. The young man nodded and the rav served a cup of tea.

After the man drank the cup, he finally began speaking. He said, “I became a baal t’shuva a few weeks ago. Now I want to enter a yeshiva for baalei t’shuva but I don’t know where to go. Someone told me that you help baalei t’shuva find their way and that is why I came here.”

R’ Weber warmly took his

hand and hugged him. “I will be glad to help you,” he said, “but first, come and eat lunch with us.”

At the end of the meal, R’ Weber took him to a yeshiva for baalei t’shuva in the Geula neighborhood of Yerushalayim. This was at a time when he was supposed to give his daily shiur. Although under normal circumstances he was particular not to cancel a shiur, this time, in order to help the young man, he went with him. At first, the yeshiva refused to accept him due to lack of space, but the young man cried bitterly and said he wanted to learn Torah.

In the end, the rav managed to convince the rosh yeshiva to find a place for him and accept him. When R’ Weber went home, the phone rang. On the line was the young man’s uncle. He accused the rav of tearing his nephew away from his family and friends.

R’ Weber calmed him down and explained that not only wasn’t he disconnecting from his family, on the contrary, thanks to Torah study, he would learn how to honor his parents and the rest of the family.

The uncle was finally convinced and thanked R’ Weber for taking care of his nephew. Today, that young man is a rosh yeshiva in one of the prestigious yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel while the uncle also served as a “rosh,” not a rosh yeshiva but (l’havdil) a “rosh memshala” (prime minister).

CLIMBING 21 FLIGHTS FOR GUESTS At the Ohel Yaakov Shul in

Milan it was a typical sight to see many guests at Kabbalas Shabbos – family, relatives, businessmen,

and rabbanim. These guests had places to eat the Shabbos meals but the poor, handicapped, and fundraisers and all those who had not arranged a place to stay for Shabbos sat there in shul with no place to go.

R’ Sholom Ber Friedman was the man who took care of them. After the congregants left with their guests, he remained to make sure that every person had a place to eat on Shabbos or Yom Tov.

His wife Gittel prepared every Friday, not knowing how many guests her husband would bring home.

In order to describe R’ Sholom Ber’s devotion to the mitzva of hospitality, the following story will be illustrative:

One Friday night, someone gladly accepted his invitation to be his Shabbos guest but apologized, saying that since the hotel he was staying in was far from R’ Sholom Ber’s house, he had to eat quickly and get back to his hotel.

R’ Sholom Ber lived on the seventh floor. After a meal, he would escort his guests to the door of his building. What do you do when you have four guests and one of them finishes eating before the others?

You escort the first guest to the entrance and climb seven flights again, continue eating with the rest of your guests and then accompany them to the entrance of the building, then climb seven flights again – a total of 21 floors.

There were times that guests did not know the way back to their hotels. In that case, in addition to seven flights, R’ Sholom Ber would also walk them to their hotel.

A DISCERNING GUEST R’ Reuven Dunin didn’t just do, he

demanded from others to do as well. At a certain point, he arranged with R’ Yigal Pizem that once every two weeks, they would spend Shabbos in the other one’s house.

One Friday, two hours before Shabbos, Reuven called his friend and said, “I have three bachurim here who are stuck and I must arrange a place for them to sleep. Can I send them to you?” When he was told he could, he hung up.

A short while later, R’ Reuven, his wife Rivka and all their children descended on the Pizem family. “I wanted to test you,” he explained. “If you agreed to accept three bachurim two hours before Shabbos, you deserve to have us spend Shabbos with you.”

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SPENDING SHABBOS IN KFAR CHABAD

One of the special and very successful projects that helped to be mekarev people was the “Shabbasos I’ru’ach” in Kfar Chabad. Many guests would visit Kfar Chabad, singles and families with children. They would spend Shabbos in the homes of residents where they first saw what an authentic Jewish/Chassidic Shabbos is all about.

Back in the day, R’ Itzke Gansbourg said:

Reaching out to the kibbutzim generated, as expected, a tremendous interest in the way of life of Chassidim who do everything the Rebbe wants of them. They were especially amazed by the fact that, as per the Rebbe’s instruction, his Chassidim settled in an abandoned Arab village and turned into agricultural Chassidim. They greatly desired visiting the Kfar to see it all with their own eyes.

That is how the visits to Kfar Chabad began. It started with small groups that contacted the branch of Tzach in Kfar Chabad and asked for a Shabbos in the village. The residents of the Kfar devoted themselves to their guests in the most outstanding way and acquired a reputation of first rate hosts. Requests for invitations came in from all over the country, and within a short time, about a hundred people were visiting every Shabbos.

At the Tzach branch, they worked to organize the operation and to set up dates, because due to the great numbers of requests, they could not all be accommodated at once. Then they set up the guests with suitable families and arranged a program.

On Friday, when dozens of guests would arrive, every guest would be shown to his host family and would receive a program flyer which included a listing of activities for that Shabbos. The activities generally included lectures, singing and learning Chabad songs, organized participation in prayers, guided tours of the Kfar and its institutions, and a Melaveh Malka on Motzaei

Shabbos. Of course, in addition to the organized program the guests absorbed plenty of Jewish life in their hosts’ homes.

There were experiences that are etched in my memory, like the Friday when we found out that a group of over twenty youth from one of the kibbutzim had arrived and due to a lack of coordination nobody had planned for their arrival. It was two hours before Shabbos and we couldn’t send

R’ Moshe Weber with mekuravim and guests who were always in his house

R’ Sholom Ber FriedmanR’ Itzke Gansbourg

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them back to the kibbutz. I told my wife that we were going to host sixteen girls from the group and I managed to find a place for

the ten boys. My wife did not know how

we would have room for them all in our small home, but “when there is room in your heart, there is room in your home,” and after we removed all the furniture from the living room and spread out all the blankets we owned on the floor, we managed to make room for sixteen girls.

While my wife worked on arranging sleeping space, I rushed to the little grocery store in Kfar Chabad and emptied it out. In those days, there wasn’t an abundance of canned products and nearly all the cans I took were of fish. I also took the little bit of vegetables he had left and brought it all home.

By Shabbos all the food was ready and we ate the Shabbos meal in the little kitchen. On the table were the vegetables and cans of fish.

After this special Shabbos, the guests thanked us and said they had never believed guests could be welcomed so joyously even when they showed up two hours before Shabbos without prior notice. I had been nervous that the minimal material standard would ruin the Shabbos, but when they came to thank us, all my fears melted away. It was specifically the special circumstances that made the Shabbos in Kfar Chabad special to them and caused them to be especially impressed by the hospitality of the residents of the Kfar.

IMPACT OF VISITORS The encounter with the

Chassidic way of life of the people in the Kfar made a tremendous impression on the visitors. They, who had always heard about religious people,

were surprised to discover Chassidic life and Torah study and mitzva observance combined with manual labor. They were also astounded to hear that many residents of the Kfar taught in schools of the Education Ministry and had certifications and degrees in higher education. They were amazed to see little children, three and four year olds, who knew how to read and sat at the Shabbos table and told about the parsha.

I remember that one time, the daughter of Yigal Mossinson, who was renowned as the author of a series of children’s books called Chasamba, was hosted by R’ Dovid Bravman. She became friendly with one of his daughters. They spoke a lot about Jewish awareness and the young Mossinson had many questions. R’ Dovid’s daughter could not answer all her questions, but she said every question has an answer.

Mossinson was impressed by her confidence and after spending a number of Shabbasos in Kfar Chabad, she sent an emotional letter to the Bravman family. She expressed her thanks for their fabulous hosting and emphasized her amazement of her friend’s confidence in the rightness of her way. She stressed that from where she came from, each person thought he understood everything and if there was something he did not understand, that proved that the thing was wrong. In Kfar Chabad she met for the first time people who were aware of the limitations of their knowledge and intelligence, and were not ashamed to say that the truth is the truth even if their puny intelligence could not understand it.

In one of the issues of Kerem

ANOCHI MAGEN LOCH Another Chassid whose home was

open to guests even during the difficult days behind the Iron Curtain was R’ Zalman Leib Estulin. He once jokingly explained how Chassidim interpreted the phrase, “Anochi Magen Loch” (I am a shield for you).

A good host ought to eat with his guests, thus giving them an appetite and a comfortable feeling. That is what Hashem meant when he said to Avrohom Avinu, “Anochi Magen Loch.” A Mogen is a belly in Yiddish. Since Avrohom was a superlative host and planted an eshel, in addition to what he provided his guests, he also ate with them to make them feel comfortable. But since there were many guests, it was hard for him to eat with each one and this is why Hashem promised him, don’t worry, “Ani Mogen Loch,” I will give you a strong stomach so it won’t harm you if you eat with each of your guests.

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Chabad, there was a letter written by visitors who expressed gratitude for the terrific hosting. This letter, which follows, is one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of thank you letters:

To Kfar Chabad, Shalom Rav! Albeit late, we thank you for

the Shabbos that we spent in your Kfar and for everything you did for us. We returned home full of impressions and stories about the holy Shabbos which we experienced with you, about

mitzvos and minhagim that are distant from us and that we do not observe.

This week, on Friday and Shabbos, we reminisced about what we did during those hours with you, about what we heard, what we saw, and what we were shown and the like.

We must confess that when we were with you, we felt what Shabbos is. Unlike what we have here, even though we rest and draw strength for the upcoming

week, holiness like we felt with you, a Jewish, warm atmosphere – this we do not feel here even though this is our home.

Once again we thank the speakers who explained to us the teachings of Chassidus and its values, the hosts – as it was they and the pleasant welcome we received that we enjoyed the most… for hosting us in their home, the Melaveh Malka, Agudas Chassidei Chabad and the entire Kfar.

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MAKING HISTORY R’ Shneur Zalman Berger, Beis Moshiach’s historical researcher, hosts his

friend R’ Yosef Yitzchok Kaminetzky for a fascinating discussion between

fellow researchers. * They agree that much needs to be done to bequeath

Chabad history to the younger generation. * They disagree about whether

it is appropriate to give the Righteous of the Nations of the World award

to the Nazi officer who was instrumental in saving the Rebbe Rayatz. * A

fascinating journey into the world of Chabad historians.

Photos by Meir Alfasi

Preserving history was always considered in Lubavitch – especially in the seventh generation

– to be a matter of the highest importance. The Rebbe Rayatz greatly encouraged the writing of stories of Chassidim and memoirs. The Rebbe MH”M also encouraged this on countless occasions, in order to relive the past and to draw upon the flavor of yesteryear in order to transmit it to the next generations.

One of the people identified with Chabad history in our time is R’ YY Kaminetzky who, in various ways, is breaking new ground in sharing that history, whether through his books

Kitzur Toldos Chabad and Yemei Chabad, which are fundamental works about the history of our Rebbeim, or whether with his documentaries of the places where the Chabad Rebbeim lived and passed through. He also rewrote stories of the Rebbeim for the children of Tzivos Hashem in his series “Rabboseinu Nesieinu” with vowels. This is all in addition to numerous revelations and exclusives in various Chabad publications.

To mark 20 years of Beis Moshiach, the publication where I publish much of my historic/Chassidic research, I sat down with R’ Kaminetzky to discuss Chabad history. R’ Kaminetzky

serves as director of the religious council in the district council of Emek Lud and was very busy, but he was willing to clear some of his time for this discussion which he also considered important. This is not the first time we’ve met. We sometimes discuss and clarify historical issues and send one another important discoveries that we’ve made. All this adds an additional dimension to the historical articles that are published in Beis Moshiach as well as to the historical chapters published in my books.

I prepared some important points for this talk but I soon set them aside in favor of a free-flowing and fascinating

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discussion that went on for quite some time. When at a certain point the photographer set aside his camera and got involved in the discussion too, I saw that history belongs not only to historians and researchers, but also to the young generation who are becoming more interested in their history.

YEARS OF HISTORIC GROWTH

Shneur Berger: Chassidic history is very important and our Rebbeim gave it a place of honor within the darkei ha’chassidus. But what can we do when sometimes it seems that among

the younger generation, Jewish-Chassidic history doesn’t seem to hold their interest as much. For this reason we, who work with Chassidic history, need to work not only on the research but also on the style and manner in which it is presented so that it also speaks to the youth.

R’ Kaminetzky: We definitely have to work to bequeath Chabad history to the younger generation and to everyone, but the interest and information needs to be divided into two parts. Those in their 30’s and 40’s lack information. I have discovered that those who are younger are very curious and really want to know, and they know a lot. Even

young children know plenty. There are a number of reasons

for this, the main one being the sichos which are rich in Chabad history have been translated into Hebrew, and other s’farim that document Chabad history have been published in recent decades. That is why the younger ones know more. I’ll give you an example. A few years ago, I spoke with a group of Chabad young men and made a reference to the “Yalta Journey” which the Rebbe Rayatz talks about at length, that on this trip he heard many stories from his father. I was taken aback when I saw that many of the young men knew nothing about this and who went there.

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Shneur Berger: It is interesting to see in hindsight the ups and downs in the publication of Chabad history. I think that we are now in a tremendous growth spurt in this area. It started in the early years of the Rebbe’s nesius when the Rebbe told Agudas Chassidei Chabad to make sure to publish the memoirs of Chassidim. In the next period, series of memoirs of Chassidim who had learned by the Rebbe Rashab in Tomchei T’mimim were published in Chabad publications.

In the following years there was a downturn in the publication of history but in the 90’s there was an upswing with the publication of historical articles. Then many books were published, whether stories of the Rebbeim or biographies of Chassidim. Now we are in an unprecedented upswing in which every so often a new historic book is published, whether biographical or on other historical topics.

R’ Kaminetzky: Stories of Chassidim are an important foundation in Chassidus; as R’ Boruch Sholom Cohen (the father of R’ Folye) said, we ought to learn from the czar’s soldiers who studied the history of the czar’s family before anything else. This included dates of birth and death, their children etc. This was so that the soldiers would know who they were fighting for. It is said that they would send to the Chassid R’ Hillel Paritcher those who had an interest in Chassidus so he could teach them the principles of Chassidus. First he would tell them Chassidic stories and only then would he teach them Chassidus.

Going back to biographies,

the publicizing of the history of Chassidim is a good thing, but we need to think about the “schmaltz,” i.e. when details in the life of Chassidim are exaggerated in order to make a fatter book. Of course, great care should be taken in using descriptions that don’t fit the person. It has happened that those who knew the Chassid being written about did not understand how certain things could be written about them. Better to write a thinner book than a book full of schmaltz.

There’s a saying that a baker cannot comment about his own dough, but take for example my book Anashim Chassidim Hayu in which I wrote about my distinguished Chassidic grandparents, R Zalman Moshe HaYitzchaki and R’ Avrohom Maiyor (Drizin). Since they are prominent Chassidim who are spoken about a lot and are quoted, I published a medium sized book about them. Some people complained that I could have added more stories, but I felt that the reader did not need

to be overburdened. In later years, other descendants published a book in English about my grandfather R’ Avrohom Drizin and they added to it.

Shneur Berger: I helped in the publication of the English edition; and in my humble opinion, those who complained were right at least somewhat, because more could have been said about these great Chassidim in the first edition. The more that it is possible to add and fill in details, the better, because this is actually the only preservation of the material that will remain for generations.

R’ Kaminetzky: One thing is for sure, the book is free of schmaltz, i.e. unnecessary and exaggerated descriptions or those which don’t fit the reality. I wrote the history of the lives of my grandparents as they were, so the next generation will know the truth.

HOW DO YOU DISCOVER HISTORY?

Shneur Berger: I know that you shy away from the title of researcher even though that is how you are always referred to in the Chabad media. Nor do you like the term historian, but Chabad Chassidim definitely owe you a big thank you for your documentation of history in a systematic way in your important books, Yemei Chabad and Kitzur Toldos Chabad. History buffs certainly remember the numerous discoveries and revelations that you published over the years. Can you tell us, how do you make these historic discoveries? For example, how did you discover the place where the Rebbe’s brother, R’ Dovber

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Schneersohn, was murdered? R’ Kaminetzky: It was a

few years after my brother, Shmuel, went on shlichus to Dnepropetrovsk, the city where the Rebbe’s family lived. As part of my work in documenting history, I set it as my goal to locate the place where the Rebbe’s brother was killed. We knew that it happened in the town of Igren. I went there and worked hard until I found a goy who was present when they took out all the patients from the hospital where R’ Dovber was hospitalized to be killed.

This man told me that the murderers removed all the patients, told them to crawl on the ground in order to humiliate them, and then shot them one by one. It was a horrific sight.

After we located the place, we put up a monument in the memory of those who had been killed and I publicized this in Beis Moshiach in the early years.

HISTORY IN A MODERN FRAMEWORK

Now, I’d like to know from you, R’ Shneur Zalman, how did you start getting involved in research on Chabad history and preserving the memory of historical events?

Shneur Berger: It was shortly after I got married when my friend R’ Menachem Ziegelboim asked me to collect information about Chassidic figures from the elder Chassidim. That was the beginning. It continued when I began working for Beis Moshiach. At first, I wrote on a variety of subjects. Some might remember that I was in charge of the news, or a series

of articles about shluchim and Chabad Houses in Eretz Yisroel, and numerous miracle stories. I did that while also publishing historical articles and series. As time went on, I left the current events to my colleagues and focused on history which really interested me.

History is very complicated and challenging. Few Chabad Chassidim deal with it and each one has his style. There is enough work for all.

My style of research in recent years includes personal interviews along with research work in libraries and archives. There are periods in which I am a regular visitor at the National Library and when necessary, the Zionist Archive, the Yad VaShem library, the State of Israel Archives and more. Over the years, I have been given access to personal, important archives like the archive of R’ Eliezer Karasik, director of Aguch, that of askan R’ Zushe Wilyamowsky, of the gabbai of the Rebbe Rayatz, R’ Eliyahu Yochil Simpson, and archives from the Chein family,

etc. In the course of my work, I draw upon the appropriate materials and use them to create the articles and books and other platforms.

In this way, I have gotten to a lot of material which was never seen before, important and unknown events in the history of Chabad were revealed, and this material added an important dimension to the history series about Chabad in the Holocaust, Chabad in Tel Aviv, Reshet Oholei Yosef Yitzchok, Yeshivas Toras Emes, and more.

R’ Kaminetzky: For many years I worked for Reshet Oholei Yosef Yitzchok and only after that did I get into

documenting history. This is when I discovered the enormous ignorance among Lubavitchers in their knowledge of the history of our Rebbeim and Chabad Chassidim.

It began with my radio broadcasts that took place many years ago in Kfar Chabad. I had a history program every Motzaei Shabbos for an hour and a half, a live broadcast. The programs dealt with Yemei Chabad and I was helped by R’ Yosef Solomon in locating material. In the program I noted important Chabad dates like births and deaths, imprisonments and wanderings. I expanded on each item from sources more and less well known. I kept this material and some years later I put it together in the book Yemei Chabad. Since then, the book has become popular and I say this based on sales which have reached many thousands in the Hebrew version and thousands more in other languages.

The book only notes Chabad dates while many other topics

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connected with the history of the Chabad leaders that are not connected to specific days are not included. For that I put together the history of the Rebbeim and their families according to the years of their leadership and it is called Kitzur Toldos Chabad. Many topics were added to this book, as well as documents and pictures that illustrate the history of our Rebbeim. Over the years, I have acquired a lot of material which was not known and it has all been published in books and articles.

The way I work is completely different from yours. Although you see many “exposes” from

me, this is not the purpose of my work. My goal is to organize the existing material, i.e. those things which our Rebbeim and Chassidim told and which are already in writing. When it is all organized, according to days or Rebbeim, every Chassid can easily learn the Chabad history. The book Kitzur Toldos Chabad is in many Lubavitcher homes and many people are learning the history of the Rebbeim.

Shneur Berger: I must praise you for your work in video documenting the history of the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe; it’s really an idea that nobody ever considered. The videos in which you show the places they lived, wandered and were imprisoned, bring the viewers into a time tunnel.

R’ Kaminetzky: Today, when there is a plethora of visual

information, we must present history in this modern framework as well. This is why I traveled with a photography team to Russia, more than once. While there, I searched and located many places associated with the history of the Rebbeim and we produced videos that show what the Rebbeim and Chassidim went through.

When you are shown the area where the Alter Rebbe was born, and then you see the spring which is also known today as the “white spring,” it makes the Chabad stories more real.

I made a surprising discovery when I went to the village of Liadi

from where the Alter Rebbe fled during the war with Napoleon. As we know, from the history of the Alter Rebbe, after he fled, Napoleon himself went Liadi to look for him. Some researchers wonder why Napoleon, who waged such a big war in Russia, had to go to this little village. While looking around the village, I saw a large monument on which it is inscribed that from here Napoleon went to war in Russia!

I went to the “colonies,” the agricultural settlements that the Mitteler Rebbe founded. Chassidim who settled in these places complained that they were far from Lubavitch. So the Mitteler Rebbe promised to visit them. The time came and the Rebbe arrived. According to reports at the time, the Rebbe stayed a long time and said Chassidus a number of times in

the shul in the settlement whose name means “good river.”

In my trip to document the colonies, we found a place called, till today, “good river,” even though all the residents are not Jewish. But they realize that the shul is a holy place and it stands there, desolate, but nobody enters it. That means that the shul in which the Mitteler Rebbe said Chassidus is still standing.

In the video, the lives of the nissim from the Alter Rebbe until the Rebbe Rayatz are documented. Now I want to get to the most relevant part, the history of the Rebbe’s childhood, to which will be appended the history of his father, the gaon, R’ Levi Yitzchok.

Shneur Berger: In recent years, since you have been serving as director of the religious council in Emek Lud, there is no time for trips and even your involvement in history has suffered.

R’ Kaminetzky: These days, I am busy with important mitzvos – running the infrastructure of rabbanus, kashrus, mikvaos, etc. in the yishuvim of Emek Lud, and the most important and biggest of them in Kfar Chabad. This position does not allow me to get greatly involved in history even though I am currently working on a new edition with additions to Yemei Chabad. (As we spoke, R’ Kaminetzky gave me a volume of the current edition with handwritten additions which will be added to the new edition).

I’ve also made trips with some distinguished Chassidim to Samarkand, Lvov and Paris. It was fascinating to reconstruct the trip by train, crossing the border from Ukraine to Poland as the Chassidim did when they sneaked across the border. By the way, I recently discovered

When you are shown the area where the Alter

Rebbe was born, and then you see the spring

which is also known today as the “white spring,” it makes

the Chabad stories more real.

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that the secret police knew that Chassidim were doing this and they followed them to Poland. Chassidim rejoiced when they crossed the border successfully, even though Russia, for the most part, ruled over Poland too.

Many Chassidim, after crossing the border, crowded into the shul in Cracow. The Russians knew what they had done and informed the Poles that they had to send the Jews back to Russia. But the head of the Polish Secret Police was a Jew and despite his position he sometimes helped Jews. He made sure to get the Jews onto buses and to send them straight to Czechoslovakia on their way to western countries out of reach of the communist hold.

Shneur Berger: Speaking of the period after World War II, I want to talk about a topic connected to the series of articles I did for Beis Moshiach, Chabad in the Holocaust. Thanks to this

series, I studied in depth many topics related to the Holocaust and World War II, while you have dealt a number of times in various publications with the rescue of the Rebbeim. You even recommended that an award for the Righteous of the Nations of the World be given to Admiral Wilhelm Canaris who arranged for the rescue of the Rebbe Rayatz during the Holocaust and undertook a very dangerous mission in which the Rebbe, his family, and a group of Chassidim, left Poland until they reached Latvia, thus saving their lives.

In my humble opinion, your request is out of place, just as we would not award the senior Hamas figure who released Gilad Shalit. How can you give an award like that to someone who collaborated with the plan to exterminate the Jews, even if he helped save the Rebbe?!

R’ Kaminetzky: First of all, I must say that the series on

Chabad in the Holocaust was important, fascinating, and I read all the chapters because the materials you worked so hard to unearth are very interesting.

As far as the Righteous of the Nations award for Admiral Canaris, chief of the German military intelligence service, I think, as do others, that he should be awarded the title because despite his senior position he actually saved thousands of Jews from certain death.

Shneur Berger: But the chief of the German military intelligence service himself sat together with the generals who directed the world war and he was a partner to decisions that were made that led to the annihilation of the Jewish people!

R’ Kaminetzky: That’s not so. The chief of military intelligence was responsible for spying on countries outside of Germany in preparation for their eventual

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occupation and he did not have a role in destroying Jews. He certainly never gave orders to kill Jews. And he saved thousands of Jews including the Rebbe Rayatz. It should be pointed out that Canaris’ assistant was awarded as a Righteous of the Nations.

Shneur Berger: Those who oppose giving Canaris this award, and I salute them, maintain that he was part of the general command and since this military system included the despicable attempt to exterminate the Jewish people, Canaris is a part of it. So even if he was involved in rescue work, this cannot atone for his share in the command system which killed millions of Jews.

R’ Kaminetzky: True, he held a senior position, but when it came to Jews he demonstrated that he was not at all involved and therefore, for his part in rescuing the Rebbe he deserves an award.

LOST OPPORTUNITIES Shneur Berger: People

generally like to talk about successes but in documentation and historical research we know there are many disappointments. I want to tell you about one of them.

I remember that when I began working on the book about R’ Zushe Wilyamowsky, I prepared a list of people to interview together with his son, Levi. On the top of the list was R’ Shlomo Maidanchek who worked with R’ Zushe for years to carry out the Rebbe’s instructions to the vaad of Kfar Chabad and Chabad askanim.

R’ Shlomo, who avoided interviews, opened up to me and from time to time, when necessary, he would add some pearls to articles that I published in Beis Moshiach. One year, before Purim, I called him and he answered briefly: I am

busy distributing matzos, call after Pesach. As you know, he would give out matzos to many politicians, people in the military, etc. and he was working on this before Purim already.

A few days after Purim he had a stroke and he passed away on Pesach. I grieved over his passing and also felt I had lost out big time for I could no longer talk to the person who would certainly have wanted to talk about the Partisan. While preparing the book, I discovered that Chabad was involved in the effort to get R’ Sholom Stroks released. He had been accused of kidnapping his nephew, Yossele Schumacher. The information was meager and the key person was R’ Shlomo Maidanchek, but he was gone.

May Hashem help that we soon merit the day when all arise and will be able to tell us themselves what they saw and heard and did.

discovering more Jews.”It is not easy operating in a

town with only a few hundred Jews. It is very complicated work, but R’ Tamarin is devoted and dynamic and he does what he can and is very successful. The shul is packed every Shabbos, and on Sundays there is a program for children of all ages. Many Jews participate in holiday programs, and he also provides humanitarian aid to the needy.

In recent years, the area has become exclusive thanks to wealthy people from Moscow buying magnificent summer villas. The price of real estate has skyrocketed.

The shul has one old Torah scroll. A sofer who looked at it

said it urgently needed to be fixed so it would be kosher according to all opinions. R’ Tamarin decided to do something about it. He had a Torah scroll in his house for twenty years which was also in need of fixing. The family got this Torah when R’ Zalman Gluckowsky passed away in Klimovichi, White Russia (now Belarus) in 5744. He was the last Chabad rabbi in Russia until perestroika. He left this Torah, and his daughter, who was afraid to keep it in her house, told R’ Tamarin about it and he took it. This Torah was pasul in many places and a lot of work was needed to fix it.

When he decided to have it fixed, Ohr Avner provided the funding. An expert scribe worked on it for a long time, and in Elul 5763 there was a

festive Hachnasas Seifer Torah in Malachovka, the first public Jewish event in decades.

A large and impressive parade walked through Malachovka and the Jews rejoiced. Even the elders of the community did not remember a celebration like this. Police officials understood the significance of the event and closed the main street of the town in honor of the procession.

Hakafos took place in the shul with the participation of R’ Berel Lazar, chief rabbi of Russia, and other distinguished people. In a meeting that took place the next day, the governor of the Malachovka district blessed the rabbanim on the grand occasion which officially returned Jewish life to Malachovka. The governor even promised to help R’ Tamarin and the Chabad community.

Continued from page 33

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SEALING OFF THE TWO OPEN SIDES OF THE ALLEYBy Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

AVIMELECH’S REPETITIVE EXCUSESAbraham had to deal with all

sorts of people who challenged his faith and loyalty to G-d. In the end of this week’s parsha, the Torah recounts his dealings with the Philistine king Avimelech. The Torah recounts how Avimelech’s Philistine servants had seized Abraham’s wells. Abraham rebuked Avimelech and Avimelech gives an ambiguous defense:

“I do not know who did this thing; furthermore you have not told me, and moreover I myself have heard nothing of it except for today.”

This rather repetitious response given by Avimelech requires an explanation. Why couldn’t he just have said: “I don’t know who did this thing”? Isn’t it obvious that if he didn’t know of the theft of the wells, he hadn’t heard it from Abraham or from anyone else? And besides, why waste so much space in the Torah telling us of Avimelech’s response? Every word of Torah must carry within it a message for us.

ABRAHAM AND AVIMELECH: PARALLEL

AND OPPOSITE PERSONALITIES

To answer these questions it is important for us to focus on the relationship between Abraham and Avimelech the Philistine leader.

In Chassidic literature the Philistines and their king Avimelech represent the same trait of Abraham; however in opposite directions.

Abraham was the epitome of kindness. Abraham was suffused with love for G-d and other people. Abraham was extroverted. He was an open person, who wore his emotions on his sleeve. People reciprocated that love, and he was therefore successful in attracting thousands of people to monotheism and his kind and just ways.

The Philistines were also people who possessed a zest for life, open and gregarious. Their lives too were filled with joy and love. Indeed, the very word in Hebrew for the Philistines “Plishtim” is cognate to the word mefulash used in the Mishna in the phrase mavoy mefulash, an alley which opens up on both

sides to a public thoroughfare. In emotional terms this connotes a person who has no or little emotional restraints. Everything is out in the open for everyone to see.

The salient difference between these two models is that while Abraham was an open person filled with love for life and for others, his openness and love was always directed towards the right ends. There were barriers and red lines that he did not cross. The Philistines, however, had no boundaries. Their joy was baseless, meaningless, carefree and cynical. The Philistines are described as mockers who ridiculed and scorned everyone and everything else. They stood for nothing.

The analogy to an alley that is open to the public thoroughfare on both sides suggests that the Plishtim model allows every influence to enter regardless of the direction from which it hails. Moreover, the root of the word P l i sht im—palash—denotes an invasion or infiltration of alien forces into one’s land. And, indeed, historically, the Philistines of the Biblical period were constantly making incursions into the Land of Israel.

PARSHA THOUGHT

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In the spiritual parallel, the person afflicted with the Philistine mentality is open to influences coming from every direction, and is also comfortable to invade and trespass others’ territory. A person who has no borders and boundaries will not respect the borders and boundaries of others either.

SELFLESS AND SELFISHThe underlying difference

between the model of Abraham and the model of Avimelech is that Abraham’s love, joy and openness was a selfless one. Abraham was the epitome of humility as he stated, “I am but

dust and ashes.” His entire life revolved around what he could do for G-d and others. The Philistine model of openness, by contrast, is a product of selfish indulgence which derives from an inflated ego.

So while Abraham and Avimelech had something in common, in terms of their temperament, they were in fact worlds apart. Abraham reached out to people but did not invade them as did Avimelech when he took Sarah. Abraham was filled with the joie de vivre, yet he was not a mocker or cynic. Abraham respected the boundaries between people even as he knew how to influence and enter into their lives.

We can now understand that the theft of Abraham’s well by

Avimelech’s servants fits in to the Philistine model and mindset of lack of respect for borders.

When Avimelech was challenged by Abraham as to why his servants appropriated Abraham’s wells, Avimelech three part answer can be understood as three reasons a person can be morally deficient. These three points are based on the three sources of awareness of right and wrong.

SPIRITUAL DIALYSIS The first thing Avimelech

stated was: “I do not know who did this thing.” One of the ways

we know what is right and what is wrong is through knowledge. Knowledge in this context is not book knowledge, but an intuitive awareness of right and wrong. The Talmud tells us that if, G-d forbid, the Torah had not been given we would have learned morals from animals. There are certain behaviors which are natural and that a “normal” person could anticipate.

Indeed, the Midrash tells us that Abraham knew and practiced the entire Torah, even though it had not been formally presented to the world. The Midrash states that he knew the Torah from “his kidneys.” Simply this means that he derived his information, intuitively, from within himself. He possessed the internal filter to know how to glean truth from

falsehood, goodness form evil etc.

Avimelech, however, lamented to Abraham that, notwithstanding his emotional similarity to Abraham, he did not have the same internal compass. His kidneys malfunctioned and he was in need of spiritual dialysis.

REBBEAvimelech then presents his

second rejoinder to Abraham for his lack of sensitivity to the theft of Abraham’s well:

“Furthermore you have not told me.” Now that the Torah was given we no longer have to intuit what G-d wants of us. We no longer have to rely on our conscience to determine moral behavior. G-d, in His infinite kindness, gave us the Torah which guides us in every step of the way. And this Torah is highly accessible, as the Torah itself states “It is not in heaven... or overseas.” The Torah was entrusted to each and every Jew, and we have an unbroken chain of Torah transmitters who made the words of the Torah accessible and meaningful to us.

Avimelech, however, lamented that he did not have a teacher of Torah. Avimelech’s arrogance and ego did not let him be mentored by Abraham. Avimelech had no Rebbe.

COMMUNITY There is however a third

source of ethical awareness. Even when we have no spiritual intuition and we have not been given a good education we can pick up moral values by osmosis. Jews have always lived in communities, where one absorbed morality just by breathing the air. Alas, Avimelech did not have that luxury. He lived

We too are living in the “Facebook age” of

openness; there are no secrets and no boundaries.

We too experience the unprecedented danger of the

invasive influences of the mockers and cynics among

others.

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in a deprave environment and he therefore offers his third line of defense:

“And moreover I myself have heard nothing of it except for today.” By “hearing” he meant picking things up by just having his ears open to pick up any of the vibes.

PHILISTINE THREAT AT THE EXODUS AND TODAY In the aftermath of the

Exodus of the Jewish nation from Egypt, G-d deliberately avoided having them travel through Philistine territory. He was concerned that the fledgling nation would be harmed by the cynical approach of the Philistines that would stifle them in their attempt to develop an independent identity. All it takes is a sneering comment to derail a neophyte’s attempt at shedding his previous constrained life. For a slave nation to be internally liberated they could do without the invasive, damaging influence of the Philistines.

Now that we are at the crossroads of the Final Redemption, which the prophet stated is analogous to the first Redemption from Egypt, we too have to be mindful of the threat of the Philistine mindset. We too are living in the “Facebook age” of openness; there are no secrets and no boundaries. We too experience the unprecedented danger of the invasive influences of the mockers and cynics among others.

THE DIFFERENCEThere is one significant

difference, though, between the nascent Jewish nation at the time of the Exodus and our threshold-of-Redemption generation.

At the time of the Exodus, they could not summon their inner moral strength due to the impact slavery had on them. According to our tradition, they had degenerated to the nadir of depravity. Accessing their core of holiness and internal moral compass would be like drilling through miles of hard impenetrable rock.

In addition, they had yet to stand by Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. They could not rely on revelation for guidance. And, finally, learning and absorbing by osmosis was also not a viable alternative for them because they were all in the same boat—recently freed slaves with a slave mentality, who grew up in Egypt, the world’s most depraved society.

Our generation, in stark contrast, is different on all three counts: We are capable of accessing our inner core of holiness. The Rebbe informed us that the miracles we have witnessed during the Six Day War and beyond served as the Great Shofar and awakened the Jewish nation precipitating

a spiritual revolution inspiring hundreds of thousands of Jews to return to their roots.

We also have the luxury of having the greatest teachers and leaders, particularly our Rebbe who has given us hundreds of volumes of profound, inspirational and relevant Torah teachings, thousands of hours of talks, tens of thousands of pastoral letters etc., and who has delegated thousands of emissaries to educate the Jewish world, reaching every nook and cranny of the world.

Furthermore, we are fortunate that we have enclaves of hundreds of thousands of Jews committed to Judaism. We also have unprecedented access to so much Torah knowledge through modern media. For all the nonsense and harmful influences in our society today there is as much positive and holy influences we can absorb by osmosis.

Our generation can thus repeat Avimelech’s refrain in a “slightly” modified version:

“I do know who did this thing; furthermore you have told me, and moreover I myself have heard it today.”

We are indeed ready for the Messianic Age when all those three avenues of knowledge will be expanded to their maximum.

Abraham respected the boundaries between

people even as he knew how to influence and

enter into their lives.

ADD IN ACTS OF GOODNESS & KINDNESS

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UNEXPECTED TURNAROUND By S. Nahari

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Not all of us are interested in news about the economy – legal penalties, labor

disputes, ups and downs in the stock market, etc. But if you have a vested interest, then it sure does interest you!

This story took place ten years ago in Eretz Yisroel. Chanoch and Zissel, a Lubavitcher couple, (pseudonyms) worked for years and supported themselves in a dignified fashion. They managed to keep their heads above water, or – in financial terms – above the overdraft, for the most part. Occasionally, they found themselves sinking underwater and then the struggle became not to drown. Those are the rules of the survival game.

All of Chanoch’s life, since he came of age, has been sort of an acrobatic exercise in satisfying everyone – his wife, children, the schools and transportation, the grocer, the fruit store owner, the marketing firms and credit card company, tz’daka funds, the landlord, and most importantly the bank manager. Yes, the bank manager.

Chanoch succeeded in this task. Throughout the years, life flowed peacefully. He was never considered wealthy but nor was he among the poor. Chanoch and his wife lived modestly and were satisfied with the basics; they had no need for luxuries or to keep up with the neighbors.

Once, when he had an unusual expense, Chanoch took a loan from the bank which he committed to repaying in installments. One day followed another, one month followed another, and sometimes it was easier to pay his bank debt and sometimes it was stressful. But generally, Chanoch and his wife were diligent and thought out

and the size of the debt was slowly reduced. If things would have continued that way, the following story would not have happened.

It all changed when Sharon’s government came into power and decided to dismantle the religious councils. The dismantling took a long time and employees were not paid their salaries. Thousands of employees throughout the country were left without a means of support.

Despite this, life went on for the rest of the nation without a thought for their brethren who worked for the religious councils. How were they surviving? Did they have something to put in their kids’ sandwiches for school? Did they have money for tuition? What about the loans they needed to repay? Rent, diapers, gas, electricity, water, phone bills, and a thousand other details that comprise life for a Jew in Eretz Yisroel.

Committees of ministers, committees of Knesset members, meetings that began but never ended. Those who have enough don’t relate to those who are hungry, so the rectification of the injustice gets postponed, with utmost indifference, for the foreseeable future. The special committee of ministers which was formed specifically for this matter asked for weeks from the prime minister’s office, who had ordered the dismantling, to present an updated picture, council by council: how many employees there were, how much their salaries were each month, how many months were owed to them, and how much the whole thing was going to cost.

If it wasn’t so sad and affecting the lives of so many, one may have been able to laugh at the ridiculousness of our

elected officials, but families were being ruined in the interim. One of these families was the family of Chanoch and Zissel.

From the position of a balabus who supported himself just fine, he became a volunteer. He worked as a volunteer, for the sake of Heaven, without any allowance for travel expenses, not to mention a modest income.

From month to month, things grew worse. The bill at the grocer was growing to alarming heights. He couldn’t show his face there anymore so he sent his children to buy daily necessities and to “write it down.” The budget deficit doubled and then tripled. Zissel’s salary placated the bank manager for the meantime. Boruch Hashem, they had those few sh’kalim.

In the meantime, everyone promised everyone that the situation was temporary; very soon, the committees would straighten things out and the salaries would be paid again.

Chanoch is known in his city as someone straight and G-d fearing. When he asks for an extension for a certain payment, everyone knows that he is serious about his commitment and the moment he gets the money he will be the first to show up with the payment. He is certainly no fraud or charlatan, which is why, until this point, he was able to continue buying and taking care of his family’s basic needs without a problem.

Chanoch overheard conversations in the hallways of the council and put two and two together. The salaries were not expected to be deposited in the bank in the immediate future. From this day forth, it would be harder to promise everyone he owed that he would be able to pay them back very soon. The

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stranglehold tightened. Feelings of failure and despair began to creep into mind and heart.

In the first stage of his plight, when he could still delude himself into thinking that relief was at hand, Chanoch quietly and with much angst approached a relative who was also a good friend. Yedidya, as we shall call him, had set aside a sum of money for some personal reason. Until he needed the money, he was willing to lend it out to whoever asked.

Yedidya gave Chanoch a sizable amount of money on a temporary basis. The loan was given on condition that if he needed the money, Chanoch had to return it given a reasonable

amount of time. Chanoch agreed to this term and accepted the loan.

Debts continued to mount, and the snowball was growing and was racing down the slope. Chanoch and Zissel tried to live what they had learned: to realize that everything is a test, that no evil descends from above, that the nature of Ultimate Goodness is to do good, that “he should have no desires at all of matters of this world at all,” and “yes and no are equal to him with absolute equivalence.”

It was very hard; not impossible, but hard. Our couple felt that they were at the breaking point, physically and emotionally.

Our story fills a few pages of a magazine, but the pain, stress, and despair were unlimited. This situation went on for a year and

a quarter. Fifteen nerve wracking months. Fifteen months without knowing from where they would provide for their household the following month. If you have not experienced this, no description will help, not even the most elaborate.

At a certain point, Chanoch had to revert to a childhood game of hide and seek. The bank manager was not at all pleased by his financial situation, especially since he was the main loser in the whole story. When there is no bread to eat and there is no knowing from where another creditor will appear, then the bank is the last place you worry about paying. After all, the banks

are on a firm footing and nothing will happen to them if they patiently wait until Hashem helps and everything straightens out. The bank wouldn’t go bankrupt from the tens of thousands of shekels that Chanoch owed it. The bank manager’s salary would continue to be paid regardless of what Chanoch owed the bank. Furthermore, the bank continued to hit Chanoch with charges of interest upon interest, so nobody was losing over there.

However, the manager was not at all impressed with this reasoning and Chanoch had to start hiding from the manager. Chanoch would check the caller ID before picking up the phone. He had to refrain from visiting the nearest branch of the bank lest he be seen. Chanoch was definitely not laughing all the way to the bank.

But in recently, the game ended. The manager demanded a significant sum of several thousand shekels deposited in Chanoch’s bank account by Wednesday morning (Parshas Lech Lecha 5765). Where should he get it from? The manager didn’t care. He even threatened that the next step would be to freeze the account. No games; this time it’s serious.

What could he do? Cry, wipe tears, try to get the gray cells to come up with a solution, despair, and cry again.

Suddenly, a spark of hope: Yedidya! He would ask Yedidya for additional help. He was a warmhearted person who suffered upon hearing of someone’s sorrow. He was the answer. The couple breathed easier. Yedidya would help them, maybe not with the entire sum, but with enough to appease the bank manager.

The phone rang in Yedidya’s house. He could see it was Chanoch on the caller ID. I wonder what he wants. Probably not to pay back the loan that Yedidya needed now, which he had held back from asking for, for a while now, since he knew of Chanoch’s situation. He knew that he would have to wait much longer for the loan to be repaid.

Chanoch spoke to Yedidya, sounding unlike himself. It was hard for him to ask for more money when he hadn’t repaid the previous loan. But he did it because he had no choice.

For the first time since they knew one another, Yedidya had to refuse Chanoch’s request. He himself was strapped. He was sorry and he understood, and he was willing to think of ideas to extricate Chanoch out of the quicksand, but he had nothing to offer then and there. He

“Pessia, I need thousands of shekels now.

Thousands of shekels by tomorrow morning. Not

an answer in the Igros Kodesh. Money! If you don’t help,

we will have no choice but to go to the loan sharks ...”

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had connections; he would call friends and other relatives. “Give me a few days to arrange at least a partial rescue,” he said.

Chanoch hung up the phone in despair. That was it; that frail straw that he had held on to with desperation had slipped away. What would happen? The clock showed that the next day was fast approaching; way too fast. What would be?

Zissel, as a true woman of valor, decided to take action. She would speak to Pessia, Yedidya’s wife, woman to woman. Who knows what the results might be? Maybe she’d be able to convince Yedidya to come up with a practical solution by the next morning!

Zissel called the familiar number. Without being able to restrain herself, she burst into tears and begged for help.

“Zissel, calm down! Let’s think together. What can we do … One minute, what did the Rebbe have to say about all this? What?! You didn’t write to him? How can that be?!”

“Pessia, I need thousands of shekels now, thousands of shekels by tomorrow morning. Not an answer in the Igros Kodesh. MONEY! If you don’t help, we will have no choice but to go to the loan sharks ...”

Pessia herself knew what troubles are and did not think badly of Zissel for her response. Instead she focused on her goal which was to get the couple to turn to the Rebbe for help. “Where is Chanoch? I want to speak to him right now.

“Chanoch,” she reminded him, “remember when you were in a bind many years ago? You needed a big miracle – and who helped you? Only the Rebbe, the Rebbe who is the father of us all. You must turn to him. Now take

a clean white piece of paper and a pen, wash your hands and write a letter.”

Chanoch was dumbfounded. How was it that he hadn’t thought of turning to the Rebbe? Under Pessia’s influence, he quickly wrote to the Rebbe with a heavy heart, seeking to shift his burden on to the right shoulders. He finished writing, looked at the Rebbe’s face and put the letter into Volume 17 of the Igros Kodesh. The answer was on pages 180-181:

In response to your writing a pidyon nefesh – without a date – full of complaints and describing your situation in the blackest colors...

In the letter, the Rebbe goes on to explain that despair and sadness are nothing more than ploys of the Yetzer Hara and that every person is given the means to overcome them. As far as the questioner’s writing about the need for a light or lamp to illuminate the dark road, the Rebbe writes that the road is not dark at all, as there is clear guidance in Torah and Chassidus for every situation. In conclusion the Rebbe expresses his hope that upon receipt of this letter, you will turn your mind away entirely from sighs and increase in actions...and within a short time you will see that you were completely mistaken in your description of the situation...

A few minutes later the phone rang in Yedidya and Pessia’s house. This time, Chanoch was on the line. His voice sounded strong. The first change had already begun!

“I must thank you. From the moment I wrote to the Rebbe, I’ve been feeling better. If you are interested, you can look at the answer in Volume 17.”

Yedidya and Pessia went to

the bookshelf to see what the Rebbe had written to have had such an effect on Chanoch. They were astonished when they read the letter that was so on target. Was there any doubt that the Rebbe is chai v’kayam and personally taking care of each of his children?

How the matter would be resolved, especially as the Rebbe wrote, “within a short time you will see that you were completely mistaken in your description of the situation,” nu, that was the Rebbe’s business. Now, after an answer like this, it was absolutely clear that everything would work out.

Sometimes the salvation comes immediately and sometimes it is delayed, but it always comes at the right time. In this case, it was a matter of a night, twelve hours.

Wednesday morning, after a tense night in which Yedidya tried to be creative in drumming up help for Chanoch and his family, the phone rang in his house. It was Chanoch.

Yedidya picked it up, thinking he would repeat the words of comfort and encouragement of the Rebbe.

“Yedidya, what an excellent morning!”

“Excellent?”“You won’t believe this but

twenty minutes ago, the entire amount I needed to pay to the manager of the bank was deposited into my account! We were saved! The authorities authorized another payment on account of the salaries that are owed us ...”

I personally know about this story with Yedidya and Pessia and all I can say is, “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu, Melech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed!

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THE FIRST PIDYON NEFESH THE REBBE ACCEPTEDWhy did the Rebbe give a large tip to a child and

why did he double the amount afterward? How

did the Rebbe express his gratitude to someone

who helped his father? With whom did the

Rebbe and Rebbetzin sit on Motzaei Shabbasos

and why? * Fascinating stories that were told at

a farbrengen in 770 to mark Chaf Av.

By Rabbi Nachman Twersky

The more we hear about R’ Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn, the more we see many aspects of his

conduct as they manifested in his son, the Rebbe.

The following story is from 5732, 42 years ago. In the yeshiva of my grandfather, Yeshivas Meor Einayim, was a man who served as the shamash. He cleaned the floor, washed the dishes in the kitchen and did other such chores. I would talk to him now and then. I asked him about himself and where he came from.

He told me that he was a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov and then said he had helped R’ Levik a lot. I don’t know where

and in what time period but this is what he told me.

I told him that it would be a good idea to write to the Rebbe and tell him what he told me. The Rebbe would surely want to know what he did for his father. I gave him the Rebbe’s address, 770, and he told me he would write to the Rebbe.

Some time went by and I met this man again and I asked him whether he received an answer. He answered me and I sensed that he was embarrassed: I’ll tell you the truth. I did not ask the Rebbe for anything!

In the letter, the Rebbe greatly thanked him for helping his father and the Rebbe wrote that he wanted to have a share in this R’ Nachman Twersky

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since he did not have the privilege of helping his father. Therefore, the Rebbe sent him money. The man did not tell me how much but said, “It was a nice check.” And he repeated, shamefacedly, “I did not ask him for anything.”

We see that the Rebbe was grateful to anyone who did something for his father. Speaking of gratitude, I’d like to add: I once spent Shabbos in Manhattan at a shul on 95th and Lexington. There was an old gabbai whom I did not know who came over to me and asked whether I’m a Lubavitcher. I said yes, and asked how he knew. He said he saw my tallis. He then showed me his tallis which was also a Lubavitcher tallis. Then he asked me whether I know where he has his Lubavitcher tallis from.

His surprising answer was that the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave it to him! I looked at him and wondered how this could be and the man went on to explain.

“We are good friends with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Until the Rebbe accepted the nesius, my parents would meet with the Rebbe and Rebbetzin every

Motzaei Shabbos. We would alternate, with us going to Crown Heights and the Rebbe coming to us in Manhattan. After he accepted the nesius, they continued to meet a few times but not like before.”

As he told me this, I thought about people who fabricate things, this man apparently being one of them. But then he went on, “For my father’s wedding he received a tallis and for my wedding he also gave a tallis as a gift.” It did look old. He pointed and said, “This is a tallis from the Rebbe! I wear it only on Shabbos.”

I thought this was all a figment of his imagination, but I was curious to find out whether it actually happened. I made inquiries, speaking to mekusharim to Beis Rebbi, including Dr. Seligson. He said yes! It wasn’t made up, it really happened. The gabbai’s father helped with some document that the Rebbe needed to enter the US and the Rebbe’s gratitude was so great that they would meet on Motzaei Shabbasos and he even gave talleisim as wedding gifts.

WHAT DID THE BELZER REBBE SAY WHEN HE MET

RAMASH?The following story is one that

I heard from my father-in-law, R’ Moshe Ashkenazi, about the tzaddik, R’ Aharon of Belz. He was the one who was the indirect cause for the Rebbe to take the first pidyon nefesh.

Parenthetically, the Rebbe was in Berlin at the beginning of the 1930’s. In 1931, the Belzer Rebbe went to Berlin to see a famous eye doctor. Many Jewish residents of the city gathered to greet the Belzer Rebbe. The Rebbe (who was known as Ramash before he became Rebbe) had a good friend, a Gerrer Chassid by the name of Yitzchok Meir. The Rebbe suggested that they go together to greet the Belzer Rebbe. There was one condition, that R’ Yitzchok Meir not tell the Belzer Rebbe who the Rebbe is.

They both went and approached the Belzer Rebbe in the middle of the large crowd. The Belzer Rebbe’s practice was not to give his hand in greeting

illustratio

n

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but to wrap it in a towel. There were very few people for whom he removed the towel and gave his hand. When it was Ramash’s turn he took off the towel and gave him his hand and asked, “Who are you?” The Rebbe did not say.

R’ Yitzchok Meir had promised not to reveal the Rebbe’s identity, i.e. that he wouldn’t introduce him to the Belzer Rebbe as the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s son-in-law, but if the Belzer Rebbe himself was asking, he could definitely say. R’ Yitzchok Meir said he was the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s (Rayatz) son-in-law. The Belzer Rebbe said he sensed it because Ramash had a warm hand.

RABBI HERZOG WAS HOSTED IN THE REBBE’S

HOUSER’ Yitzchok Isaac Herzog

went to America in 5709. He was the chief rabbi of Israel and was known for his great stature. He wanted to spend Shabbos with the Rebbe Rayatz. He was of Chassidic stock, from Belz and Ruzhin, and was possessed of Chassidic warmth. He helped the Rebbe Rayatz in various ways and even helped save the Belzer Rebbe by obtaining certain documents from the English government in order to bring him to Eretz Yisroel.

When he wanted to spend Shabbos with the Rebbe Rayatz, the Rebbe said he could stay with his son-in-law, and “When you will be with him, it will be as though you are staying with me.”

One of the things R’ Herzog said about that Shabbos was that the Rebbe said that in the world there are many g’dolim but the greatest g’dolim were his shver, i.e. the Rebbe Rayatz and R’ Aharon of Belz.

That was only parenthetical.

DON’T GO TO THE GRAVES OF TZADDIKIM

The Belzer Rebbe arrived in Eretz Yisroel in 5704 after living under Nazi rule and being sought after by them. After much suffering and wandering, and experiencing miracles and wonders, he was able to escape and arrive in the Holy Land. They bought him a home in Tel Aviv where he wanted to live, but until the apartment was ready he went to Yerushalayim. There he did not find a suitable place to stay, as large families lived in two room apartments. Then he heard that there was a Chabad couple who lived in a four room apartment, a rarity in those days.

Who owned this home? A Lubavitcher by the name of Shneur Zalman Ashkenazi and his wife Kaila, the parents of R’ Meir Ashkenazi, the rav of Shanghai and the grandfather of my father-in-law, R’ Moshe Ashkenazi. When SZ Ashkenazi decided to go to Eretz Yisroel, his son Yehoshua, who was well-to-do, went to Yerushalayim to look for an apartment for his parents. He saw two room apartments with shared bathrooms and decided it wasn’t respectable enough for his parents. He then bought two apartments and connected them.

Two weeks had gone by and the Belzer Rebbe did not find a comfortable place for himself in Yerushalayim. When he heard about R’ Zalman’s apartment, some Chassidim of the Rebbe asked R’ Zalman whether the Rebbe could stay with him. R’ Zalman asked how many rooms the Rebbe needed and they said he needed three rooms, one for davening, one as a bedroom, and one in which to receive people.

The Rebbe called over the boy, took out $5 and

said, “Keep this for yourself, don’t sell it.” Then

he took out another $5 bill and said, “This you can sell.”

R’ Aharon of Belz zt”l

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R’ Zalman and his wife agreed and during that period they used just one room. They hosted the Rebbe for seven weeks with R’ Zalman subsidizing the costs including food for the gabbaim.

Throughout this time, R’ Zalman continued with his daily schedule as a Chabad Chassid. He did not get involved in what was going on in the other three rooms. This suited the Belzer Rebbe who did not like when people watched him; he was very pleased with the arrangement.

On 11 Nissan 5704/1944, the Belzer Rebbe’s home in Tel Aviv was ready and he left R’ Zalman’s home. He told R’ Zalman that it was very hard for him to leave because he smelled the scent of yiras Shamayim in R’ Zalman’s house.

R’ Zalman told him about his son, the rav of Shanghai, with whom he had been out of contact for several years. R’ Zalman wondered whether he was alive. Would he see him again? He asked the Belzer Rebbe for a bracha for his son. The Belzer Rebbe replied: When your son arrives in Eretz Yisroel, I want him to come to me. This response answered all his questions.

In 5710, a short time before Yud Shevat, R’ Meir Ashkenazi came to Eretz Yisroel from Shanghai. They told him that the Belzer Rebbe wants to see him. His son, my father-in-law Moshe Ashkenazi, lived in Tel Aviv and he went with him. He did not enter with a kvittel as a Chassid to his Rebbe but went because

the Belzer Rebbe asked to see him.

The Belzer Rebbe asked him, “Perhaps you need a bracha for something?”

R’ Ashkenazi said yes, he had a problem with one eye as a result of a stroke. The Belzer Rebbe gave him three instructions to stop the condition from worsening: 1) not to go to the graves of tzaddikim, 2) not to eat dairy foods, and 3) not to listen to music.

WHY DID THE REBBE AGREE TO ACCEPT THE

PIDYON NEFESH?The Rebbe Rayatz passed

away on Yud Shevat. During the years that R’ Meir was in Eretz Yisroel, he was in close touch with the Rebbe. It was a very personal relationship to the point that the Rebbe Rayatz took care of a shidduch for one of his children. As soon as the sad news arrived, he told the elder Chassidim that there is a Rebbe! He publicized this to all and a short time later he went to 770.

It was close to the Shloshim, whether before or after, I don’t know. He went to the Rebbe like a Chassid, with a pidyon nefesh. The Rebbe, who refused to engage in any conduct that befitted a Rebbe told him to go to the Ohel with his pidyon.

R’ Meir said, “I am not going to the Ohel! I can’t

go to the Ohel.”The Rebbe asked him why

not, and R’ Meir told him what happened when he visited the Belzer Rebbe, and the three things he told him to refrain from doing, including not to visit the graves of tzaddikim.

The Rebbe said to him, “If the Belzer Rebbe told you not to go, you really can’t go.” Then the Rebbe said, but he is not your Rebbe and why didn’t you ask him for a source for this instruction of his?

Then the Rebbe put on his jacket and accepted the pidyon nefesh from R’ Meir Ashkenazi. Afterward, there were another few from whom the Rebbe accepted a pidyon.

So that is how events unfolded that led to the accepting of the first pidyon nefesh, because of the Belzer Rebbe, already way back on 11 Nissan 5704, when he asked to see R’ Meir upon his arriving in Eretz Yisroel.

www.MoshiachForKids.comCheck it out!! Educational and Fun!!

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THE FLOURISHING OF JUDAISM IN MALACHOVKAThe Chabad community in Malachovka went through much travail. * From

a small suburb on the edge of Moscow it became an exclusive area of the

wealthy.* Part 2 of the story of the community from World War II until today.

By Shneur Zalman Berger

With the outbreak of World War II, many Chassidim who lived in Malachovka fled,

since the front had moved near them. Only the Chassid R’ Eliezer Pinsky continued to live there, even though the Germans unceasingly bombed the city. This was in order to watch over an old, sick, childless man who was unable to flee.

It seemed as though this would be the end of the Chassidic community in Malachovka, but this was not so. At the end of the war, a few Chassidim returned there while most of the Chassidim left Russia via Poland. Others remained in Tashkent and Samarkand.

In the community that restarted in Malachovka, Chacham Yehuda Kulasher (Butrashvili), one of the senior Chabad Chassidim, served as rav. R’ Chaim Abramov was the gabbai in the shul and he also served as Rosh HaKahal. In

this role, he was responsible for running the Jewish cemetery (see sidebar).

One day, the government said that every shul must have an official rav and without a rav the shul would be shut down. Everyone understood that whoever would serve as rav would be subject to persecution, but in order not to have the shul shut down, R’ Chaim did something daring. He volunteered to be the rav and, amazingly, the government agreed.

Just a few days went by before members of the secret police visited him unexpectedly at home. “You were in Siberia,” they said. He remained silent. “If we say so, then that’s what happened. Therefore, you are not fit to serve as rav. In addition, we wanted to remind you that during the interrogation and trial, you did not mention the fact that you are a rav ...” And they left.

A SHLIACH OF THE MOSAD IS CAUGHT IN

MALACHOVKAThe Chassidic community

maintained a low profile existence during the years after the war. In later years, emissaries of the organization Netiv operated there under the auspices of the Israeli Mosad in Moscow. They were in touch with Chabad Chassidim in the Soviet Union including those living in Malachovka. They helped in various ways, such as giving them Jewish items.

One of those Mosad operatives was Mr. Nechemia Levanon, who was caught red-handed in a secret meeting with one of the Chassidim in Malachovka. This was in Tammuz 5715/1955. Levanon met in the home of someone named Levin with a Jew named Guberman. There was a knock at the door and when Levin opened it, a band of KGB agents burst

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in. Guberman was arrested and Levanon and two other diplomats were expelled from the Soviet Union.

Chassidim did not only live in Malachovka. They also lived in Ilyinka, Kraskova, Bikova and other nearby suburbs. In each suburb lived two or three families. The Chassidim who felt disconnected arranged to meet and strengthen one another. How could they do that without endangering themselves and being caught?

They decided that every day, when they went to work on the trolley which went from the suburbs to Moscow, they would meet in the third car (out of ten). On the trip to the capitol, they would meet and have what appeared to be typical travelers’ conversations in which they encouraged one another and brainstormed ways of observing Torah and mitzvos and teaching their children despite the difficult conditions they were living under.

IMMERSION IN THE MALACHOVKA LAKE

R’ Yisroel Pinsky, who now lives in Yerushalayim, lived in

the suburb of Ilyinka for ten years between 1960 and 1970. He remembers how he and other Chabad Chassidim from the area would walk to Malachovka in order to daven in the Chabad shul.

“In those days, in the summer, many Chassidim came from Moscow to the suburbs to vacation. Together with them we had a full Chassidic communal life. Among the Chassidim were: Henoch Rappaport, Yisroel Konson, his son-in-law Eliyahu Bisk, Moshe Katzenelenbogen, Naftali Kravitzky, Eliyahu Krichevsky and his son Yanni.”

There was no mikva in Malachovka, but Chassidim did not forgo immersion. Every Friday, they would all go to the mikva in the big Archipova Shul in Moscow. On Shabbos, they immersed in a small lake which was not that clean, and the water was cold.

R’ Nosson Kanelsky tells about Malachovka in the 1960’s:

“Every day there was a small minyan in the shul and on Shabbos about thirty people. The dominant spiritual personality in those days was my father-in-law, R’ Yehuda Kulasher (Butrashvili).

He had a store but whoever had halachic questions would ask him. On Shabbos Mevarchim he even farbrenged.

“Chinuch was a real problem since there weren’t enough students to open a class. So I brought R’ Berel Rikman, who lived in Kraskova, to teach my son Mordechai (now director of Bris Avrohom in New Jersey).

“We had kosher meat thanks to shochtim. At first, R’ Nosson Bernstein shechted, but after he left for Eretz Yisroel he was replaced by R’ Michel Dorfman, a Breslover Chassid.”

JUDAISM TODAY IN MALACHOVKA

About thirty years ago, R’ Kalman Meilich Tamarin was active in Malachovka. He was one of the Chabad Chassidim in Moscow back then. After his passing, his two sons Moshe and Nachum continued to strengthen Judaism and Chassidus with mesirus nefesh.

“The first time I came to Malachovka thirty years ago,” said R’ Moshe Tamarin, “I had a friend who worked here as a night watchman. After he

Jews in Malachovka

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THE MOVING STORY OF THE CEMETERY IN MALACHOVKAThe body of the article speaks of Chassidic life in

Malachovka. Here, we will look at the Jewish cemetery in Malachovka.

On the first day of Sukkos 5695/1934, R’ Moshe Leib Ginsberg, the rav of Malachovka, passed away. He was the son-in-law of the Rebbe Maharash. Just a short time before that, the Jewish community in Malachovka had purchased land for a cemetery and had not yet “consecrated” it as is the custom.

On the second day of Yom Tov, the entire community, led by R’ Yehoshua Nimotin, gathered. He brought the S’dei Chemed where the customs for consecrating a cemetery are detailed. The members of the community, most of whom were Chabad Chassidim, walked around the cemetery seven times and read prayers and verses as per the instructions. Immediately afterward, R’ Ginsberg was buried.

Over the years, only Jews were buried in this cemetery. This is the only cemetery where only Jews are buried. In the rest of the cemeteries in the former Soviet Union, there are only special sections for Jews within the cemetery for the general public.

In the years after the war, R’ Chaim Golodovsky and his wife took care of the cemetery. They lived nearby and were responsible for burials and guarding the cemetery. Their end was bitter and cruel. They were burned alive in their house. It was in Elul 5709/1949 when arsonists set fire to their home and they were killed.

The Jews of Malachovka knew that this was an anti-Semitic act, and this is why one of them called the Israeli embassy in Moscow and reported the incident. In those days, the media would not publicize news that would make Russia feel uncomfortable. This is why this Jew found it necessary to report this to the embassy. He was afraid that he was being eavesdropped upon which is why he spoke in Hebrew.

The embassy protested to the Russian government and their response was to arrest the man and take him in for interrogation. The interrogators lashed out at him that they knew he had spoken to the Israeli embassy and told them about the fire. The man did not lose his cool and denied it all. He said he did not know how to speak Hebrew. The interrogators insisted that he knew Hebrew and proved it by saying he went to shul to pray. How do you pray if you don’t speak Hebrew? He said that even someone who did not know Hebrew could pray.

The KGB in Moscow called the rav of Moscow, R’ Shleifer, to their offices and he was asked in front of

the arrested man whether someone who did not know Hebrew could pray in a shul. R’ Shleifer said there are those who go to shul and pray even though they don’t speak Hebrew. Thanks to his answer, the man was saved from a severe punishment.

After the tragic murder of the Golodovsky couple, R’ Chaim Abramov took on the responsibility of looking after the cemetery.

As the years went by, it reached a point where the cemetery ran out of space. R’ Chaim wanted to expand the cemetery so that Jews could bury their relatives according to Halacha. Since he had no permit to expand the cemetery, he decided to act stealthily.

The land near the cemetery was on an incline and it contained a large swamp. In order to straighten the area, a large amount of sand was required. He contacted truck drivers whose job it was to bring sand from one place to another and paid them a lot of money. They agreed to bring him sand in the dead of night. He put all his energy into expanding the cemetery and worked on this day and night despite the great danger involved if he would be caught. In the end, he was successful.

R’ Nosson Kanelsky (today of Nachalat Har Chabad) relates:

“There were non-Jews who wanted to bury their dead in the Jewish cemetery and they even pointed out empty plots. As far as the government was concerned, the cemetery wasn’t Jewish or non-Jewish. R’ Chaim was not afraid of them and he showed them forged documents which indicated that the land was reserved. I personally received a large amount of money from the Israeli embassy to pass along to R’ Chaim for expanding the cemetery.”

R’ Yisroel Pinsky helped R’ Chaim in this:“I helped him collect money that he needed to

preserve the cemetery and for burying those whose families could not afford burial.

“In his final years he was old and sick (when he left the Soviet Union in 1977 he was 78 years old) and he asked permission to make aliya several times. He asked the Rebbe and always received a negative answer. The Rebbe wanted him to stay there in order to maintain the community and the cemetery. Then he finally got the Rebbe’s bracha to leave.”

Until today, this cemetery is the only one in Moscow where only Jews are buried. R’ Tamarin is now the one who takes care of the cemetery and Jewish burials.

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HISTORY

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married, he wanted to have a Sheva Brachos in Malachovka. That is when I found out there was a minyan of old men who davened every day, but they needed a lot of help in knowing the orders of the prayers, the customs etc. We began coming here for the holidays and then for Shabbos too.

“We rented a small apartment where we slept on Shabbos and for several years we supported the small shul in Malachovka. Over the years, the minyan shrank since some of the old men made aliya and some died. At a certain point, the minyan stopped and we stopped going to Malachovka, but the place did not remain without a minyan for long.

“R’ Yitzchok Abramov, the son of R’ Chaim, lived in nearby Kraskova. He felt obligated to restart the minyan as a continuation of his father’s holy work. After much effort, the minyan began again in 5750, in no small part thanks to the bachurim who would come from Moscow to help out. R’ Yitzchok Abramov was the chazan and baal korei. His main role was to infuse energy into Jewish life in the town.

“He continued with this holy work until he immigrated to the US in 2000. Even after he left, bachurim continued to come from Moscow every Shabbos and Yom Tov and they strengthened the minyan.

“In Iyar 5762, my family and I went on permanent shlichus to Malachovka. Malachovka had, in the meantime, become a town run by a separate district council and had about 20,000 residents including hundreds of Jews.”

With the arrival of the shluchim, Chabad activities were launched on an established and

structured basis.Within a few years of his

arrival the shliach was quoted as

saying, “We have connected to over 250 Jews and we are always

Continued on page 18

Shacharis in the Chabad shul in Malachovka

R’ Berel Lazar and R’ Moshe Tamarin meeting with the governor of the Malachovka district

R’ Moshe Tamarin carrying the Torah scroll at the Hachnasas Seifer Torah

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KALMAN’S QUESTION

By D. Chaim

I scanned the shelves in the neighborhood grocery store which is owned by old Kalman. I tried, unsuccessfully, to locate a bag of “healthy” sugar. Have you heard of such a thing? According to my mother, it is brown and says “organic” on it.

When I realized that I could scan the entire store and still not find the sugar, I went to ask Kalman, or – as he is known by the children – Sabba Kalman, where the sugar was. Why didn’t I do this until now, you wonder? Because Sabba Kalman is not like the grocers in stories, those jolly fellows behind the counters who love children who come to buy lollipops.

Kalman is tough and his short beard of gray and white only adds to his severe look. “How much money do you have, child?” he asks the candy lover. It makes no difference that he is already over ten and a half. “Two quarters and a dime,” says the child. “That’s not enough,” says Sabba Kalman. “The candy costs another nine

cents.” The child doesn’t even try to promise to bring the nine cents the next time he comes, because Sabba Kalman won’t agree to that.

Now you understand why I preferred finding the sugar myself and you can also imagine how nervous I was when I finally had no choice but to approach him. “Yes, child, what do you want?” Kalman asked in his thick, somewhat hoarse voice.

“Where is the brown, organic sugar?” I stammered.

Kalman gazed at me and then said, “Hey, is that you, Berele, the Chabadnik of the grocery store? I want to ask you something. But first bring the sugar from the last shelf on the bottom left; you shouldn’t forget to buy what you wanted. I’m a seasoned businessman, eh ...”

With the brown sugar in my hand and as I listened closely, Sabba Kalman asked the question that every Lubavitcher is asked, but Sabba Kalman

wasn’t just being difficult. I heard in his tone that he really wanted to know.

“I know that you believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is Moshiach who will take us out of galus. It even says so on your yarmulke, right?” Sabba Kalman paused slightly and I flicked some invisible dust off the bag of sugar.

Sabba Kalman got the hint and gave me the bag as he continued. “The truth is that I also believe that the Rebbe is a real tzaddik and worthy of being Moshiach, but who says the Rebbe is the one who will take us out of galus? There were many tzaddikim over the generations who were worthy of being Moshiach. Although the Rebbe is one of the worthy tzaddikim, maybe the Moshiach who will take us out of galus will be a different tzaddik ...”

It was a good question and I had to consult first so I could answer him properly. I can tell you that I wanted to ask for myself, because I still wasn’t

TZIVOS HASHEM

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fully knowledgeable in all of the Rebbe’s sichos. So I said, “I understand your question, Sabba Kalman, but I am in a rush because my mother is waiting for the sugar. I will answer you, G-d willing, the next time I come. See you!”

Kalman nodded and I waved goodbye and ran all the way home.

You surely want to know who I asked for an answer to the question. The truth is that I forgot about Sabba Kalman’s question entirely because of something exciting that happened to me. A while ago, Shlomo, the one in charge of activities in our school, announced elections for the president of the student council

My classmates asked that I be one of the candidates, and on Election Day all the students voted. What were the results of the election? You won’t believe this, but another two students and I were tied for first place! So because of all the anticipation and tension about whether I’d be picked as the president of the student council, I completely forgot about Sabba Kalman’s question.

In the meantime, Shlomo called the three of us and said that the decision would be based on a competition. “We prepared a treasure hunt, and each of you will get a note. With your knowledge of Chassidus you can figure out the riddle and discover where the next note is. The treasure will lead you to where I am waiting for you. The first to reach me will be the president.”

All my classmates followed us excitedly to see who would win, but they were not allowed

to help us. I wracked my brain and suddenly had an idea of what the first note was hinting at. I hurried there and found the next note. I c o n t i n u e d quickly with my friends running behind me, calling out e n c o u r a g i n g words. I ended up showing up first with all the notes.

Shlomo checked to see that I had all the riddles and then announced, “We have a winner! Among the worthy candidates who were elected by the students, the one who showed up first, the winning student is – Berele! He is the president of the student council!”

I was so excited, and then what Shlomo said suddenly reminded me of Sabba Kalman’s question that I had forgotten. He had also spoken about suitable candidates.

I decided to ask Shlomo about it. He heard me out and then said, “The answer reminds me a bit of the competition you just had. The three of you were worthy candidates and were elected by the students, but the one who actually became the president was you.

“The Rebbe said in the D’var Malchus of Parshas VaEira, that in every generation there is one tzaddik who is worthy of being the Redeemer. If not for various reasons that prevent this from happening, he would be revealed and would redeem the

Jewish people. The Rebbe says that now, in our generation, all the obstacles were done away with. Therefore, Moshiach in our generation is not merely the potential Moshiach, as those tzaddikim were in previous generations. He was already revealed as Moshiach who will actually take the Jewish people out of galus.”

“Thank you,” I said happily. “Now I know it myself and I can answer Sabba Kalman. Thanks to him I have made a good hachlata to learn the sichos of the D’var Malchus from the years 5751-5752 so I will know more about Moshiach and will be more prepared to welcome him.”