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4 | TO REVEAL THE SECRET OF THE END OF DAYS(CONT.)D’var Malchus / Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 10, pg. 167-172

6 | A DAILY DOSE OF MOSHIACH & GEULA: 15-21TEIVESMoshiach / Rabbi Pinchas Maman

8 | DISCOVERED!Memoirs / Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz

12 | ‘REBBE, YOU MUST HELP!’Miracle Stories / T. Yankelowitz

15 | ‘AND THE LIVING SHOULD TAKE TO HEART’ Tragedy / Interview with Rabbi Yosef Hecht by Menachem Ziegelboim

22 | THE G-DLY NAME WITH WHICH WE AREREDEEMEDThought / Rabbi Yosef Karasik

25 | GOAL SETTING YOSEF’S WAYInsight / Rabbi Yaakov Lieder

30 | WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NETUREIKARTA AND OLMERT? Shleimus HaAretz / Shai Gefen

34 | THE SHLICHUS THAT BEGAN ON A BOAT ONTHE RIVERShlichus / Chani Nussbaum

38 | THE LEGENDARY RAV (CONT.)Chassid / Shmuel Alexander

CONTENTS

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4. We still must understand the specific wording ofthe saying of our Sages, “the Divine Presence withdrewfrom him.”

The intent here is surely to provide a reason whyYaakov did not reveal the keitz ha’yamin (the time when“the end of days” would occur). How does the DivinePresence withdrawing provide a reason for this? At firstglance, the phrase should have read, “it (the keitz) wasconcealed from him” [FN 15: as in B’Reishis Rabba Ch.98, beg.], or the like. Also, it mustbe understood how immediatelythereafter [after “the DivinePresence withdrew from him”],Yaakov told them [his children]many prophetic statements,indicating that the Divine Presencedid in fact rest upon him.

The matter is explained asfollows:

“Yaakov wished to reveal to hischildren (i.e., knowing [theirrelative merits]) the end of days,”for according to his observations(seeing them as they “stood in hisworld,” from his perspective),Yaakov considered them (upon having assumed a stateof being “gathered,” a certain milestone in beingprepared) worthy of him revealing to them the keitz.[FN 16: From the fact that Yaakov considered evenEisav to have been refined (Torah Ohr, VaYishlach,beg.), permitting the possibility that there should be theRedemption, how much more so [does this logic applyhere with regard to his children gathered before him].

To that end, Yaakov told [Eisav], “I have…a donkey” –“donkey” refers to the Messianic King (B’Reishis Rabba75:6. See Likkutei Sichos Vol. 1, pg. 70 ff).]

Thus, Yaakov said, “gather and I shall tell you,”meaning, when you will have gathered and united, “Ishall tell (and I will reveal to) you...the end of days,”when the end of days will occur.

“But the Divine Presence (Sh’china) withdrew fromhim (as he was at that moment, wanting to reveal to his

children the end of days). Here theword for “Divine Presence,”“Sh’chiina,” refers to the potential tobe present (to dwell, l’hash’chin) inthis matter – the revelation of thekeitz – below (which is the meaningof the term “Sh’china,” “that it dwellsand invests [itself within]” [TanyaCh. 41]).

That is to say that the Presence ofG-d, may He be blessed (therevelation of the Light of the blessedInfinite One), rested upon Yaakovhimself even after [“the Sh’chinawithdrew”], for indeed Yaakov toldthem words of prophecy, as

mentioned above. In fact, the keitz itself was not evenconcealed from him. [FN 19: The latter is underscoredin light of [Rashi’s] diversion from the wording of theMidrash B’Reishis Rabba Ch. 98, beg. – the end of days“was concealed from him” – as will be discussed].Rather, the “Sh’china” (the concept of revelation below)withdrew from the aspect of the keitz [i.e., there was nolonger the potential for this secret to be revealed in the

TO REVEAL THESECRET OF THEEND OF DAYS

LIKKUTEI S ICHOS, VOL. 10, PG. 167-172TRANSLATED BY BORUCH MERKUR

D’VAR MALCHUS

BEIS MOSHIACH - 15 Teives 57674

All that withdrewfrom Yaakov was thecapacity l’hash’chin

(to be present ordwell within) and to

chaannel the revelationof the keitz (below).

Issue Number 584 - BEIS MOSHIACH 5

world].

This explains the precise wording of the Gemara,“the Sh’china withdrew from him” (and not, “the keitzwas concealed from him”), for all that withdrew fromYaakov was the capacity l’hash’chin (to be present ordwell within) and to channel the revelation of the keitz(below).

5. Nevertheless, our Sages emphasize in theirwording, “the Sh’china withdrew from him [fromYaakov]” (notwithstanding the fact that the statedwithdrawal of the Sh’china is a concept that seeminglyapplies strictly to the leaders of the Tribes [Yaakov’ssons]. Thus, it should have said, “but his children werenot worthy of this,” or the like [FN 20: in accordance

with Sanhedrin 11a]).

[The reason for this emphasis on the withdrawal ofthe Sh’china from Yaakov is that] the very fact that hischildren were not worthy of the revelation of the keitzcaused a descent also in Yaakov. Precedence for thisconcept [of vicarious descent] is found with regard toMoshe Rabbeinu, to whom the Holy One Blessed Be Hesaid, “Go, descend (from your greatness); I havebestowed upon you greatness only for the sake of theJewish people [who had sinned with the Golden Calf]”[Brachos 32a; commentary of Rashi Parshas Ki Sisa32:7]. Since they are not worthy, this causes a descentalso in Moshe.

[To be continued be”H]

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MOSHIACH

15 TEIVES: ALL THE DAYSOF YOUR LIFE TO BRING

THE DAYS OF MOSHIACH –EVERY SINGLE MOMENT“All the days of your life to bring

the days of Moshiach” (MishnaBrachos 1:5)

The main point of the life ofevery Jew and the Jewish People ingeneral throughout all thegenerations: “All the days of your lifeto bring the days of Moshiach,” withan additional emphasis on ourgeneration and our times.

“All the days of your life” means atevery moment that a person lives, dayand night, awake and asleep, as eventhen he lives through breathing air(“Let every soul praise G-d,” “on everybreath that a person breathes, etc.”),which must be at every moment (asopposed to eating and drinking).

Furthermore, “all the days of yourlife to bring the days of Moshiach”means that one’s vitality (at everymoment) is in bringing the days ofMoshiach, i.e., not only when hethinks, speaks, and does activities to

bring Moshiach, but even the essenceof his vitality (“your life”) is to bringthe days of Moshiach.

(Shabbos Parshas Toldos 5752)

16 TEIVES: ALL THE DAYSOF YOUR LIFE TO BRING

THE DAYS OF MOSHIACH –DO ALL THAT IS

DEPENDENT UPON YYOUAll matters of avoda (in all the

days of your life, and every day itselfand every detail and hour of the day)must be instilled with bringing thedays of Moshiach. Not just “toincrease” (as is written in numerousplaces) – that he (the shliach) standsand waits for Moshiach to come, andthen he takes part and has pleasurefrom it, etc. – but “to bring,” doingall that depends upon him to bringthe days of Moshiach.

…and since this is so, it isunderstood that all matters and allactivities are instilled with thesubject of Moshiach and theRedemption, including even one’seating and drinking – that he longsfor the Seuda of the Leviyasan, the

Shor HaBar, and the YayinHaMeshumar, to the point that evenafter the meal, he remains hungry forthe Seuda of the Leviyasan, the ShorHaBar, and the Yayin HaMeshumar.

(Shabbos Parshas VaYeira and Chayei Sara 5752)

17 TEIVES: MOVING THESHULS TO ERETZ YISROELIN THE FUTURE TO COME

“In the future, the shuls and bateimedrash will be established in EretzYisroel” (Megilla 29a)

It can thus be said that they willbe moved together with the land andground underneath them.

Accordingly, this answers thequestion: How is it possible touproot a shul and beit medrash fromits place without any condition?

(Seifer HaSichos 5749, Vol. 1, p. 98)

18 TEIVES: PUBLICIZINGTHE INSTRUCTION OF

“MACH DA ERETZ YISROEL”UNTIL THE COMING OFMOSHIACH TZIDKKEINUAs we stand literally right before

A DAILY DOSE OFMOSHIACH & GEULA:

15-21 TEIVESSelected daily pearls of wisdom from the Rebbe MH”M

on Moshiach and the Redemption.COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY RABBI P INCHAS MAMAN, SHLIACH, RISHON L’TZION, ERETZ YISROEL

TRANSLATED BY MICHOEL LEIB DOBRY

the Redemption – each and everyJew must accustom himself to theRedemption and place himself in astate and feeling of Redemption bytransforming his personal day into a“day of (personal) redemption,” andturning his own personal place into“Eretz Yisroel” through doing hisavoda at that moment and at thatplace in the fullest sense – inthought, speech, and action.

…and in relation to actual deed,they should make certain topublicize in every location that thisis the instruction of “Mach Da EretzYisroel,” and to continue publicizingthe instruction in the days thatfollow until Moshiach Tzidkeinu willcome, and continue then in EretzYisroel in its simplest sense, inaddition to the future Eretz Yisroel,which will spread forth to all thelands.

(Shabbos Parshas Pinchas 5751)

19 TEIVES: THE DIRECTPATH TO THE REDEMPTION– STUDYING THE SUBJECT

OF MOSHIACH AND GEULA“Tiferes” is a matter of Torah

study, and “Malchus Sh’b’Tiferes” isthe study of Torah on matterspertaining to Melech HaMoshiachand the Redemption, which havebeen ellcudiated in numerous places.

In the Written Torah (and inparticular, “in the words of theProphets…as all the s’farim are filledwith this matter”) and the Oral

Torah, in the Gemara and theMidrashim – including in particularthe inner teachings of Torah, startingwith the Zohar, and moreparticularly in the teachings ofchassidus from our Rebbeim,especially the teachings (maamarimand Likkutei Sichos) of the leader ofthe generation, which are asemblance and preparation to thestudy of the teachings of Moshiach,“a new Torah shall come forth fromme.”

Furthermore, the increase inTorah study on the subject ofMoshiach and the Redemption(“Malchus Sheb’Tiferes”) is “the directpath” to bring about the revelationand coming of Moshiach and theRedemption in actual deed.

(Shabbos Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5751)

20 TEIVES – THE RAMBAM’SYAHRZEIT: LEARNING

RAMBAM HASTENS THETIME OF THE DAYS OF

MOSHIACHIn the days of Moshiach, the full

measure of the halachos of the OralTorah, which will never be nullified,shall be revealed (as the Chumash).This is the main subject of theRambam, who collects all thehalachos of the Oral Torah (MishnehTorah, as a continuation of the studyof Chumash).

Accordingly, it can be said that bylearning Rambam (a seifer of halachic

rulings), we precipitate and hastenthe time of the days of Moshiach, asbased on the the sayings of ourSages, of blessed memory (VaYikraRabba 7:3), “All these exiles are notconcluded except in the merit of theMishnayos” (halachos), when thequality of halachos that are nevernullified will be revealed.

(Kuntres on “Halachos of the Oral Torah that shallnever be nullified” 5752)

21 TEIVES: LEARNING THESUBJECT OF MOSHIACH –

NOT JUST AS A SEGULAIn relation to the special increase

in Torah study on the subjects ofRedemption and Moshiach, (thelearning must be) not (only) as a“segula” to hasten and bring closerthe coming of Moshiach and theRedemption, but (also and) primarilyin order to begin “living” withMoshiach and the Redemption,“living with the times” of the days ofMoshiach by filling and instilling theintellect with understanding andcomprehension of Moshiach and theRedemption in the Torah. And fromthe intellect, it will also spread forthand instill the feeling within theheart, to the point of actuallyconducting one’s thought, speech,and action in a manner befitting thisunique time, standing on the verge ofthe Redemption, indicating with thefinger that “Here comes (MelechHaMoshiach).”

(Shabbos Parshas Balak 5751)


Looking back 25 years, Isometimes long for those days. Iremember them as happy times inwhich I went with complete faith onthe new path I had discovered, the

path of Chassidus. However, backthen it wasn’t at all easy.

I remember what I did for manylong months, evening after eveningat the Musar class (yes, they have

these classes at Litvishe yeshivos, halfan hour before Maariv everybodylearns on their own in a volume ofMusar recommended by themashgiach). I remember learningChovas HaTalmidim (which isconsidered a Musar work but waswritten by the Piacetzner Rebbe) andcrying.

I quietly sang to myself, againand again, thousands of times, thepopular Toronto Pirchei song called,“Horeini Hashem” – show meHashem, Your way, and lead me onthe straight path, ai ai ai, pleaseHashem, I don’t know where to go.Help me, show me the way. I think Ifound the path but everybody herearound me says it’s wrong.Nevertheless, I feel 100% that it’sright. Who is right? Master of theuniverse…lead me on the right path.

Long months…evening afterevening…I cried and pleaded, “Show

MEMOIRS

THE UNDERGROUNDTHE UNDERGROUNDDISCOVERED!

BY YAAKOV SHMUELEVITZ, SHLIACH IN BEIT SHAAN

I remember sitting and learning ChovasHaTalmidim and crying as I quietly sang tomyself, again and again, thousands of times,the popular Toronto Pirchei song called“Horeini Hashem” – show me Hashemm, Yourway, and lead me on the straight path, ai ai ai… Please Hashem, I don’t know where to go.Heelp me, show me the path. I think I found thepath but everybody here around me says it’swrong. * Chhapter 4



me Hashem, Your way…” andHashem listened and helped, but ofcourse I had to do the work myself.

MY FATHER CAUGHT MERED-HANDED

One day my father found out thatI was veering off his path and wasseeking a new path. How did he findout? Simply by seeing how I wound

my t’fillin strap around my arm withcircles turning outward when a fewmonths earlier he had taught me towind them with circles turninginward.

(There are those who say that thisis quite apt since Chabad’s goal is toinfluence others, the outside,spreading the wellsprings outward,while other religious Jews focus

primarily on their own perfection.)

My father, who is also a Torahscholar as well as a maven andsomeone experienced in chinuch,had a talk with me and asked mewhy I was tying on the t’fillin thatway. With downcast eyes andtrembling voice I told him this isChabad custom.

It was like a bomb went off!Minhag Chabad?! What are you, aChabadnik?!

I stammered that yes, I was.

What?! Since when? Why?Thanks to whom? Are we and ourancestors not religious enough? Etc.,etc.

I had nothing to say in response.

After he recovered somewhat, myfather told me to write a letter to theLubavitcher Rebbe, “your Rebbe,”and tell him that my father opposedthe new path because of variousreasons, “and we’ll see what he tellsyou.”

Fortunately, I didn’t receive awritten answer from the Rebbe tothis letter, but the passage of timehelped and maybe the Rebbe prayedand blessed me and my father too,because baruch Hashem, our entirefamily is Lubavitch. As someone putit (and the pun works better inHebrew), I fulfilled the mitzva of“Kabeid/Chabad your father and yourmother.”

At the time though, it wasn’t soeasy. One day my father saw that Ihad gotten a letter from a friend in770 and on the envelope it said,“From Beis Chayeinu – 770.” Myfather asked me, “What does thatmean, ‘Beis Chayeinu-770’?”

I told him that this was where theLubavitcher Rebbe lived in NewYork. My father was nonplussed andhe went over to the bookcase, took aSiddur and opened it to the brachosof the Haftora.

“See what it says here? ‘Havemercy on Tziyon for it is BeisRabbi Shmuelevitz todayRabbi Klonimus Kupchik

Talmidim of Itri yeshiva carrying wood for the Lag B’Omer bonfire

Chayeinu.’ What are you doing,taking some building in the Diasporaand calling it Beis Chayeinu?!”

I didn’t answer since I had to berespectful, but the followingShabbos, at the table, when it wasmy turn to say a d’var Torah, Irelated the well-known story (seeHaTamim 2, p. 126, and Kuntres BeisRabbeinu Sh’B’Bavel, footnote 74)about a Chassid of the Baal Shem Tovwho wanted to go to Eretz Yisroel.He heard a heavenly voice say, “TheLuchos are in Mezhibozh.”

Nu, when my father heard thiswas a Baal Shem Tov story, he wasready to accept that 770 can becalled Beis Chayeinu.

Telling this episode today is nice

and all, but back then it wasn’t easy,and that’s an understatement. I wantedto give my parents only nachas, yet Iyearned to continue on the derechChabad. It wasn’t easy maintaining abalance between these two desires.

I continued to plead, “Show meHashem, your way” while learningMusar. As the months and years wentby, the tears changed from tears ofpleading to tears of joy and bitachonand thanks.

Till this day I allow myself tooccasionally sing the song “Horeini”(even though it’s generally preferableto sing only Chabad niggunim) and Irelive the thirst and the elevationthat I had when I chose the path ofChassidus. By the way, years later wegot permission to learn Tanya andChassidus during the Musar class!

SUDDEN SURPRISEIN AN OLD HOUSE

It was my last year in yeshivaketana (what we call mesivta), shiurGimmel. I had to decide whichyeshiva I would be going to thefollowing year. This wasn’t easyeither and there wasn’t one clearanswer. Today we can all be smartand say, “What’s the question? Go toa Chabad yeshiva!”

But back then we were childrenfacing off against our parents, againstthe educational system! People hadno problem saying that Chabad isheretical and avoda zara!

I remember one week in whichwe went to several yeshivos to seewhere to enroll. We went to a certainyeshiva and “spoke in learning” withthe rosh yeshiva. Suddenly, he askedme where I planned on going and Isaid I was thinking of going to KfarChabad. He nearly fainted. What?!To Chabad?! What will become ofyou? An am ha’aretz! Come here andI’ll learn with you b’chavrusa andyou’ll become a gadol b’Torah!

We went for a few days to ayeshiva in Chadera. We learned


GER – CHABADIn our yeshiva underground there was a bachur who also had a

connection with Ger and the Gerrer Rebbe, R’ Simcha Bunim known as theLev Simcha. He occasionally went to the Rebbe’s tish and he grew long peiosand arranged them under his yarmulke. He also seriously looked intoGerrer teachings and customs.

That bachur was very close to me. One day he went past the GerrerRebbe as he distributed apples. The bachur dared to ask for an apple “forYaakov Shmuelevitz” and the Rebbe gave him.

The bachur gave me the apple but I didn’t appreciate the significance. Iremembered that this bachur had received a letter from the Rebbe on theoccasion of his bar mitzva and I offered him a deal: I would give him theapple from the Gerrer Rebbe if he would give me the Lubavitcher Rebbe’sletter.

He agreed and it was a deal that suited each of us. However, I ended upgiving him the apple and the letter in the end because I didn’t want to takeadvantage of his good nature.

This bachur was drawn to study Tanya. One day he went to the GerrerRebbe and asked him: In my yeshiva (Itri) there is a group of Chabadbachurim who learn Tanya and they suggest that I learn Tanya too. Shall I?

The Admur answered: Tanya is a holy work. Yes learn it.

A few weeks later the bachur felt that he was drawn to Chabad. He wentback to the Gerrer Rebbe and asked: I am wondering whether I should be aChabad Chassid, what should I do?

The Admur answered: First be a Chassid and then you will see whichkind.

Today he is an ardent Lubavitcher Chassid and a loyal shliach of theRebbe in a big city in Eretz Yisroel.

A certificate of excellence that YaakovShmuelevitz received when he finished

his studies at Yeshivaas Itri

during the day and in the evening wetoured around Chadera. Suddenly,we saw light in some old house. Wewent in and discovered that it was ashul, the Chabad shul in Chadera. Aman was sitting there, the shliachRabbi Klonimus Kupchik.

Litvishe bachurim had landed ina Chabad house. The shliach servedsome refreshments and we began totalk. I didn’t tell him I was a

Chabadnik, but I’ll never forget theamazing shiur we had that evening.He explained to all of us what aRebbe is, what the difference isbetween a rav and talmid versusRebbe and Chassid. He spoke so wellthat all the Litvishe bachurimconceded that he was right and thatonly in Chassidus is there a true soulconnection between Chassid andRebbe.

LETTER FROM THE REBBEMy vacillation over which yeshiva

to go to continued on and on but intruth, there was really no choice. Allmembers of the undergrounddecided to go to Yeshivas TomcheiT’mimim in Kfar Chabad. Thehesitation was only about how toobtain our parents’ permission andwhen could we tell everyone wherewe were going.

I wrote to the Rebbe and asked anumber of questions with the mainquestion being where to learn thefollowing year. The Rebbe respondedand regarding yeshivos the Rebbewrote: the need to learn Chassidusin our times is brought at length inthe Kuntres Eitz Chayim andelseewhere.

A problem arose in that theRebbe used an abbreviation which Iunderstood to stand for “andelsewhere,” meaning other s’farim,and that the Rebbe was saying Ihad to learn in Kfar Chabad. Myfather maintained that theabbreviation stood for “anylocation,” that I could learnChassidus anywhere and not just inKfar Chabad.

This debate (which reachedsenior figures in Chabad) didn’t enduntil baruch Hashem I alsotransferred to Kfar Chabad. Theimpact was direct and significant: myfather and mother switched toT’hillas Hashem and went to theRebbe. My brother is a shliach inOhr Akiva and all of us wait for theimminent hisgalus of the RebbeMH”M.


The Rebbe’s letter to Yaakov Shmuelevitz about the need to learn Chassidus

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A farbrengen is the time to hearpersonal stories, miracles, andwonders that have taken place inour day. At a farbrengen I attended,as one story followed another,Shimon could be heard clearing histhroat. He’s usually a listener andnot one of the talkers. He lookedexcited and he had something tosay. This is the story he told:

You may not all know this, butmy family is from the US. We madealiya five decades ago but the entirefamily did not come with us. Nordid the entire family discoverLubavitch, as we did.

Although most of the family iswhat is called oilemishe, the majorityare not misnagdim. They are justgood, frum Jews who are notlooking for anything new or for anychanges n their avodas Hashem.Most importantly, they do not mockLubavitcher Chassidim.

This was all true in the past,when we began our journey toChabad Chassidus. In later years,

when a certain rosh yeshiva in B’neiBrak began fanning the flames ofcontroversy, our family underwentupheavals, and the opposition andmockery reared their heads. Wekept doing what we were doing,with heads held high, as it says inhalacha, “do not be ashamed beforethose who mock.”

Of all my close relatives there isone person who stands out. Younever hear her say one disrespectfulword about the Rebbe or Chabadand in fact, she never said a badword about any Jew, no matter hisreligious perspective or conduct.She loves everyone and receiveseveryone graciously.

That’s my Aunt Zissel, who livesup to her name (which means“sweet”). Although she experiencedbitterness in her life, it doesn’t showon her face and she always smiles.She has had unbearable times in herlife with endless trials but shealways accepts what Hashem sendsher.

I was especially sad to hearrecently that her health wasn’t good.Aunt Zissel is well into her 90’s andis surrounded, baruch Hashem, bymany descendents who treat herwell, but she had an infection in herblood that turned into gangrene inher foot.

She was taken to the hospitalwhere she was treated with the bestmedicine. They gave the medicinetime to work and sent her home.“Within a few days,” said thedoctors, “your condition willstabilize and your foot will heal.”

Time passed and she wasn’tgetting better. She was hospitalizedagain and treated with differentmedication. Once again, her bodydid not respond to the treatment.Her body was weakened by all theantibiotics but there was no choice,they had to save her leg.

After various attempts withdifferent medications, the doctorscalled the family members and gavetheir verdict. We did all we couldbut the treatment was ineffective.Not only that, her condition gotworse. The gangrene in her foot hasbegun to spread and the entire leg isaffected. This is extremely seriousand can endanger her entire body.We are sad to say that we must askyour permission to amputate herleg.

‘REBBE, YOUMUST HELP!’

Two miracle stories related at Chassidishe farbrengensAS HEARD BY T. YANKELOWITZ

MIRACLE STORIES

I am asking the Rebbe to save Aunt Zissel fromthe cruel fate of having her leg amputated.I didn’t ask. I demanded. I said: Rebbe, youmust help!

The family was shocked. Theirmother-grandmother was nearly 100and she had to undergo this trauma?There was no other choice? Ourmodern medicine had nothing tooffer aside from amputation?!

The family consulted with otherdoctors and went to the head of thedepartment. There, they heard asomewhat different perspective. Thehead doctor was afraid about theoperation being done on a womanher age, with a weak body…whoknows what the amputation wouldcause? On the other hand, to leaveher this way, they couldn’t do thateither. It was dangerous. Thegangrene was spreading. Not tooperate was a death warrant for surebut the actual operation could leadto the same result.

The doctor truly did not knowwhat to do. He needed help in

making the decision andunexpectedly, he asked the family toconsult with a rav – a posek! “Icannot take the responsibility tomake this decision. None of thechoices are good and I don’t want tomake this decision.”

My cousins, spoke to a rav, Idon’t know who. He said they couldnot think about what might be; theyhad to judge the situation as it wasthen. If her condition required anamputation so that the gangrene didnot spread, then the p’sak says to dothat and not to consider what theresults of the operation might be.

We, the family in Eretz Yisroel,followed the developments withbated breath. Every day we got areport and every day the report wasless positive and encouraging thanthe day before, until the rav said toamputate.

We heard this news on a Friday.Despite the urgency, apparently awoman approaching 100 is still nottop of the list of priorities. Theoperation was scheduled for Sunday.I was devastated by this news. Icouldn’t digest the fact that such aspecial woman, with such refinedmiddos, who had always acceptedher trials with love, would have toundergo such a horrible thing. Icouldn’t make peace with it. Thisjust couldn’t be!

So why didn’t I write to theRebbe? Because I didn’t feel I couldwrite the whole story, I didn’t wantto give it a “hold” in the physicalreality. As a beloved nephew of AuntZissel who saw her live throughmost of her life from up close, Icould only say, she doesn’t deservethis! To lose her leg at her age? Sheproved her ability to endure tests


with simcha dozens of times. Whatdid she need this for?

I couldn’t concentrate onpreparing for Shabbos. The jobs Iusually do around the house weredone somewhat haphazardly thatweek. My head was far away, in theUS.

After my wife and daughters litcandles, before leaving with theboys for shul, I stood before a bigpicture of the Rebbe in the livingroom. I said to the Rebbe, no, it wasactually more of a demand: althoughI know that it’s nearly impossible,even the top doctor is afraid of thetwo options, I am asking the Rebbeto save Aunt Zissel from the cruelfate of having her leg amputated.

I didn’t ask. I demanded. I said:Rebbe, you must help!

Time passed tensely with anattempt to do things in her merit.Late Sunday night the phone rang.It was my brother who had news. Ifelt my heart beat quickly. Pleasedon’t tell me bad news; I can’t takeit.

“Listen, you won’t believe this!They prepared Aunt Zissel for theoperation. Everybody was outside,knowing that either way, thesituation wasn’t good and notknowing what the results would be.As the doctor said, none of theoptions were good. Before operatingthey checked her leg, which hadbeen called dead and was inflictedwith gangrene that was spreading,one more time.

“And you know what? Theydiscovered that there is a workingvein throughout the leg! The legcame to life! Except for some toeswhere there was still gangrene,which they amputated, they did nothave to operate!”

* * *

Another story that I heard at afarbrengen was told by Yom TovGindi:

One of my brothers is a mohel inKfar Chabad. He is often invited tomake brissin in various places. Onetime, he was called to do a bris inthe Tunisian community in Tel Aviv.

The rav of the community, RavCharari, invited my brother and thebaal ha’bris to say l’chaim after thebris. The rav took this opportunityto get acquainted with my brotherand to ask him where he was from.When he said he was from KfarChabad, the rav told the followingstory:

In our community there was aman about thirty years old who wasparalyzed and had to use awheelchair. This situation had beengoing on for ten years and then oneday he met a Chabad Chassid who

suggested that he write to the Rebbeabout his health. The man asked theLubavitcher to write for him andgave him the relevant information.For some reason, he mentioned hisfather’s name in his letter too.

After some time, an answerarrived at the home of the Chassid.The Rebbe advised him to write aseifer Torah and in the merit of thishe would be healed. The Rebbereferred to the handicapped man byname and included his father’s namebut it wasn’t the same name that theman had told the Chassid to write.

Was this a mistake? Couldn’t be!The Chassid wrote to the Rebbeagain, just to be sure, and onceagain the Rebbe used a different

name for the father. The Chassiddidn’t know what to tell the manbut he had no choice as he wasmerely the shliach to convey theanswer the Rebbe had sent.

The Chassid told the man whatthe Rebbe had written andexpressed his surprise that theRebbe used a different name for hisfather. Did his father have anothername?

No. The man insisted that thename he had given was the correctname. He decided he had to findout why the Rebbe had used adifferent name and the only personwho could tell him was his mother,a kibbutznik who still lived on akibbutz.

He told his mother the wholestory, about his meeting with theChabadnik, writing the letter to theRebbe, receiving two answers with adifferent name for his father than hehad written. Could she explain thisto him?

His mother’s reaction was: Howdid the Rebbe know what took placedecades ago?

She told her son that she hadbeen married to an army officer whohad fallen in the line of duty and itwas his name that the Rebbe hadcited in his letter. There was nositting Shiva at the kibbutz and shemarried before the three months thehalacha requires a widow to wait.Until that day her second husbandwas considered his father but thetruth was that the officer whosename the Rebbe mentioned was hisbiological father!

This is the story my brotherheard from Rav Charari, the rav ofthe Tunisian community.

* * *

Those farbrenging burst intosong, the niggun with which we willgo to greet Melech HaMoshiach:Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu V’RabbeinuMelech HaMoshiach L’olam Va’ed!


His mother’s reactionwas: How did theRebbe know whattook place decades

ago?


The terrible tragedy of the deathsof the three budding T’mimim,occurred while they were on theirway to mivtzaim in the army busesin and around Eilat, under theauspices of the Beis Chabad Eilat.Such a tragedy is extremely difficultto cope with and the best course isto follow the words of the Torah,“And Aharon was silent,” a silencewhich bespeaks the acceptance ofDivine judgment with pure andsimple faith. It is only that silence

and that faith, which have the powerto bear the torment and suffering,whereas attempts at explaining andfinding reasons, only lead toheartache and confusion.

At the same time, beyond tryingto understand the whys andwherefores, we need to hear a clearmessage, the call of the hour, as tohow do we respond to the eventsand how do we proceed. This is atime that we need to strengthen

ourselves and push on in carryingout the holy work of the Rebbe, butwe need to know how to cope and tocompartmentalize between the painof the present and encouragementfor the future.

It would seem that the idealperson to speak with is Rabbi YosefHecht, the rav of Eilat, the city fromwhere the T’mimim were operatingfrom as they went forth to bring joyand light to the world and to the

TRAGEDY

‘AND THE LIVINGSHOULD TAKE TO

HEART’INTERVIEW BY MENACHEM ZIEGELBOIM

It was specifically during the joyous days ofChanuka that such an awesome tragedy tookplace, with the deaths of three young T’mimimout on mivtzaim to bring the joy and light of theholiday to otherr Jews. At this time, we can onlyfollow the Torah directive, “And Aharon wassilent.” And yet, together with the tears andmourning, we also must continue our shlichus.* A special discussion with Rabbbi Yosef Hecht,the Rabbi of Eilat, where the T’mimim involvedin the accident were operating in theeir work tobring light and joy to the world.


hearts of the soldiers. Rabbi Hechtgraciously agreed to provide us withhis point of view, but first we askedhim to tell about Mivtza Chanuka inEilat this year.

Chanuka mivtzaim in Eilat havebeen somewhat famous for years…

That is true. Mivtza Chanukaholds a central place in Israeli life,and especially in Beis Chabad Eilat,run by Rabbi Menachem Klein. Wedeal with the army bases, which arespread out at great distances, goingfrom Eilat north and northwest ofthe city, along the borders withEgypt and Jordan. It is a long andwide line of bases and it sometimesrequires travel of two hours eachway.

Beis Chabad Eilat will notoverlook any of the bases, no matterwhat the distance. In order to reachall the camps, we have been gettingover the years an infusion ofmanpower in the persons ofbachurim from Chabad yeshivos allacross the country, so as to reacheach encampment throughout thedays of Chanuka. Among thebachurim there is a high demand toparticipate in mivtzaim in Eilat andthe outlying areas, and it has thereputation of being an experience aswell as intensive work.

Eilat is also a tourist city. There

are many tourist attractions whichoperate throughout the day andnight, and the boys make sure toreach every one of these touristhotspots. The various teams ofbachurim who come here all workdouble shifts. During the day, theyvisit army bases, and at night, theyfocus more on the civilianpopulation. During Chanuka, thecity is generally filled with Jewishtourists, and no effort is spared totry to pull them into the spirit of theholiday and offer them the chance todo the mitzvos of the day.

All of this is in addition to Eilatbeing a regular city like every otherIsraeli city, which has stores andshopping centers, plazas and privatehomes. The Chabad House reachesevery single place on its missionfrom the Rebbe and brings theatmosphere of Chanuka to thoseplaces. Baruch Hashem, we have hadgreat success each year, and so toothis year.

The work has a profound impact,not only in the local sense, but theripples spread throughout the world.Throughout the year, we always hearregards from shluchim around theworld who heard from Jews in theircommunities that they were in Eilatduring Chanuka and participated inthe menora lightings and festivities.Clearly, it makes a deep and lasting

impression on a very large scale.

It was these activitties that led tothe terrible tragedy over Chanuka…

This year, as in every year, manybachurim came from yeshivosaround the country. To our greatdistress, the van carrying one of theteams to one of the bases turnedover and three of the boys werekilled.

I have no doubt thatif each of us makes

his own personal andindividual reckoning,

this will bring positivechange to the

community at large.This will give nachasto the Rebbe and wewill merit to rreceivethe blessings in the

form of open andrevealed good.

At the scene of the accident HaTamim Levi Hendel days before the accident,on his way to Mivtza Chanuuka


The shock shook up the entireChabad community throughout EretzYisroel and the world. How did itafffect the local community in Eilat?

Naturally, the bachurim thatcome here for Chanuka sleep in theChabad House, eat at the homes oflocal families or in the ChabadHouse. People see them in shulduring Shacharis and Maariv, and sothey begin to develop a personalconnection with the boys. The localAnash always get to know thebachurim who come. When you see

the bachurim in the mikva and thenat Shacharis, afterwards as theyprepare a quick breakfast and aregetting ready to pull out, you wishthem success – to hear a few hourslater that three of them are notcoming back is a tremendous blowthat is extremely difficult to digest. Idon’t know if it is even possible todigest such a thing. The feeling ofthe locals is that it is all sounbearable.

Everybody wants to know whatthey can do and how they can be of

help. Some of the injured werehospitalized locally, so people couldat least do something to help them,to sit at their bedsides and offerencouragement and whateverpossible assistance. However, there isno such option when it comes tothose who have passed on, there isonly the feeling of helplessness.

And Aharon was silent?

I think that the two stories dohave similarities. In Parshas Shminiit tells of the death of the two sonsof Aharon, during the inauguration(chanuka) of the Mishkan, on theeighth day of the Miluim. ThoseKohanim who served in the Mishkanwere shluchim of Hashem and of theJewish people. They were holyemissaries doing their shlichus in theMishkan. The joy of the Jewishpeople during those days was at itspeak, and the presence of theSh’china was fully revealed.

When such an event transpires,the first question is how could sucha thing happen? Why? The Torahresponds to these questions with thestatement, “And Aharon was silent.”Aharon HaKohen, the bereavedfather, accepted the decree of Heavenwith silence.

The correlations are obvious.Specifically during the joyous days ofChanuka, a time of light and life,such an awesome tragedy occurswith three T’mimim doing theshlichus of the Rebbe to illuminateand bring happiness to others. Wehave no other option except to fulfillthe directive of the Torah, “AndAharon was silent.”

When one contemplates thetragedy in biblical times, anotherpoint becomes apparent. There wasan explicit instruction from Hashemthat all the survivors involved in theholy work of drawing down theSh’china, must continue their holyactivities without interruption. Thiswas at the same time that “The entirehouse of Israel should bewail the

Rabbi Yosef Hecht – Chief Rabbi of Eilat


conflagration that Hashem wrought.”The Kohanim-Shluchim could not asa result of the calamity, as painful asit was, interrupt for a moment theirshlichus. We must continue!

Perhaps at times it is difficult toattain such a level, but if the Torahdemands this of us, it is anindication that we have the requisitestrength, and we should operateaccording to what is written inTanya, “crying is implanted in myheart on this side, and joy isimplanted in my heart on this side.”Together with the mourning of “theentire house of Israel,” there is alsothe command to carry on theshlichus.

Chanuka is the inyan of light, asthe Rebbe explains in numeroussichos, as well as the inyan ofchinuch. There is nothing like theRebbe’s Mivtza Chanuka to bemechanech the Jewish people to loveof Torah, love of Hashem and love ofmitzvos. This mivtza also implantsjoy into the hearts of Jews. We mustcontinue our holy mission and praythat we never have to deal with sucha situation again.

I have said on a number ofoccasions, when interviewedfollowing the accident, that if wecould ask the bachurim themselves ifthey would want us to haveweakened our efforts in MivtzaChanuka, they would certainlynegate such a reaction.

Many have raised the question asto how such a thing could possiblyoccur while they were “emissaries ofa mitzva,” as there is a Torah rulethat “emissaries of mitzva are notharmed?”

As we said, this is a time of “AndAharon was silent.” This is not atime for questions and clarificationsas to the workings of Heaven, but itis a time to accept the judgment ofHeaven. Beyond that, we as believingJews committed to the Torah dictate,“And you should preserve, very

much, your lives,” must doeverything in our power to warn andbe extremely careful to avoid puttingourselves in danger.

I would like to use this forum tocall upon all rabbanim to cry outunceasingly about the importance ofcaution when on the road. It doesn’tmatter if the driver is a bachur,young married man, or even an olderperson; all are obligated to exercisegreat care when driving, bothregarding speed and paying attentionto the road. We must emphasize thisrepeatedly, including the importanceof wearing seat belts. This is not onlya civil obligation, but an absoluteTorah requirement.

In the past, the Rebbe addresseda number of such incidents. Do yourecall any specific instance?

On Erev Lag B’Omer 5740/1980,there was a tragedy in Chevronwhere a local yeshiva bachur waskilled by terrorists, and the entirecommunity was in deep mourning.The shluchim asked the Rebbe ifthey should continue their plans forthe parade as usual. The answer wasin the affirmative, and as the Rebbelater expressed during thefarbrengen, the halacha is that “youmove aside the dead before thebride,” and thus the activities shouldgo on. So too, in our situation, wecould not allow the terrible tragedyto undermine our work. On thecontrary, we need to strengthenourselves and others all the more.

After the horrific car accident inSivan 5734/1974 in which five ofAnash in Eretz Yisroel died, theRebbe wrote a letter for the“Shloshim,” in which he emphasizedthe need to increase in mivtzaim thatserve as a “protection and salvation.”

The group of bachurim involvedin the accident was on its way to animportant army base. The soldiershad gathered in anticipation of thearrival of the bachurim, and whenthey did not arrive, they called to

find out what was holding them upand that is when the accidentbecame known. In fact, the soldierswere the first to arrive at the site.The next day, the divisioncommander gathered all of thesoldiers, approximately twothousand strong, and spoke to themabout the terrible accident andtragedy. In his remarks, he notedthat throughout his tenure in thearea, Chabad did not miss oneholiday without visiting and bringingjoy to the soldiers. One of theparticipants at this delayed gatheringwas Rabbi Neimark, the father of oneof the injured boys, who reported

that the event was both veryemotional and uplifting.

What sign is Heaven trying tosend us in light of all thesetragedies?

All the years, the Rebbe taught usthe words of the Rambam in thebeginning of his Laws of Taanis, whowrites: “And this is one of the waysof repentance – that at a time when amisfortune comes and they cry outand sound the shofar, all shouldknow that it is because of theirwicked deeds that evil has befallenthem, as it is written, “Your sins havebrought this upon you.” And this is

Yonason Bitton age 17


what will cause them to remove themisfortune from upon themselves.However, if they will not cry out andnot sound the shofar, but they willsay that this thing is part of thenatural order that occurred and thismisfortune is just a happenstance,this is the pathway of cruelty andcauses them to stick with theirwicked deeds, and will add in themisfortune and other troubles…”

Many times, the Rebbeemphasized that every occurrence,and certainly such a harsh one,demands of us that we contemplateit and draw the appropriate lessons.There is nothing that falls in the

category of happenstance. This is aconcrete foundation of Jewish faithin general and Chassidus inparticular, as explained in the sichosof the Rebbe.

To know exactly what is wantedof us from Above – that is an entirelydifferent matter. We are notprophets, nor the sons of prophets.Each person has to make anindividual accounting, according tohis situation, as to how he canstrengthen himself. Perhaps this iseven more important than a publiccommunal reckoning of the entirecommunity. We need to start with apersonal soul-accounting, and this

pertains to all of Anash.

This was not an isolated tragedy.We are all aware of recent tragediesthat have hit Lubavitch around thecountry and the world. This hasaffected all Anash communities, andeven the three boys who were killedoriginated from differentcommunities throughout the country.As such, each person must make hisown accounting as to what he as aChassid sees is not in order andwhat the Rebbe wants of him as aChassid to correct and improve,without waiting for the other personto correct his behavior first.

I am positive that the Rebbe’s

blessings are being poured downupon us without limit, butsometimes we merit to see thisimmediately, and occasionally wedon’t see it with our physical eyesand the blessings are concealed. Ihave no doubt that if each of usmakes his own personal andindividual reckoning, this will bringpositive change to the community atlarge. This will give nachas to theRebbe and we will merit to receivethe blessings in the form of open andrevealed good.

When discussing the idea of areckoning, we must see to it that it isalso translated as an increase in

action, namely the mivtzaim of theRebbe. I would like to share with thereaders the fact that here in Eilat, wefounded a weekly class in LikkuteiSichos that will be ongoing for thenext year as a merit for the departedsouls of the bachurim.

We also took on a resolution toexpand Mivtza Chinuch, since whenwe see that we have lost three suchwonderful boys, we must doeverything in our power to add morestudents in the institutions of theRebbe. We plan on boosting theenrollment in the preschools andelementary school, and also to bringmore bachurim to learn in the localyeshiva. Similarly, there is the needto increase in practical deeds in eachplace according to what isappropriate.

In such instances, there are manywho rush to point out a particularweaknesss and to suggest that weneed to strengthen such-and-such anarea. Who could know for certainwhat iis expected of us to improve?

In Tammuz 5747/1987, a bachurfrom Crown Heights was seriouslyinjured in a traffic accident. At thenext farbrengen, the Rebbe spokeabout the need to make a soul-reckoning regarding the internalconflicts, which sadly were ragingwithin the Crown Heightscommunity at the time. The Rebbeadded that recently there had been anumber of signs from Aboveindicating dissatisfaction, such as thefinding of a flaw in a Seifer Torah aswell as the terrible weather at thattime (windstorms, lightning, heavyrains). When those signals wentunheeded – then there was thatoccurrence.

Clearly, we can’t always compareone circumstance to another, and yetat the same time, it is obvious thatany increase in Ahavas Yisroel willonly bring benefit and blessing.However, I reiterate that it is difficultto know why the recent tragedy took

Moshe Golan age 17 Levi Hendel age 13

place. We can’t forget what theRebbe said in the sicha of Naso5734/1974, “There are matters thatas much as one searches, he cannotfind and cannot understand whysuch things occurred.”

In conclusion?

Many times, we heard from theRebbe regarding soldiers who diedwhile protecting the Jewish people inEretz Yisroel that the verse, “Gatherunto Me, My Chassidim whoestablish My covenant upon thesacrifice” applies to them. When aJew is killed protecting another Jew,then it is considered that he hasentered into a covenant with Hashemby his death. About such people itsays in Chazal, “No creature canstand in their proximity.”

Similarly, these T’mimim set outon the shlichus of the Rebbe to domivtzaim, which protect the Jewishpeople in Eretz Yisroel, as these arethe spiritual defensive weapons. Anyact of providing a Jew theopportunity to do a mitzva, toparticipate in the joy andatmosphere of a mitzva, causesadded protection and security forthe Jewish people.

It can certainly be said regardingthose T’mimim who departed thisphysical plane while carrying outtheir mission as emissaries of theRebbe in protecting their fellowJews, “No creature can stand in theirproximity.” I have no doubt thattheir place is in those lofty andelevated worlds.

It is worth mentioning the specialregard that the Rebbe had for MivtzaChanuka. The Rebbe established allten mivtzaim and each one is veryprecious and dear. However, it seemsto me that Mivtza Chanuka was heldin special regard, in the spirit ofwhat the Rambam writes, “Themitzva of Chanuka lights is a verydear mitzva.”

In 1986, when during the courtcase involving the s’farim the other

side argued that Chabad was notactive, etc, the Rebbe treated this asif it were a claim that came fromAbove and he instructed that theypublish the Chanuka albums to showthe entire world just how activeChabad is. Certainly, each shliachhas his own albums of a wide rangeof mivtzaim activities, such as MivtzaT’fillin, Neshek, etc., and we couldsurely put together many albumsdepicting Chabad activities. Despiteall that, the Rebbe chose to includepictures of Chanuka mivtzaim(actually, it was that time of the year,but everything is by DivineProvidence).

Mivtza Chanuka shows howChabad illuminates the “outside,”just as the Chanuka lights, “themitzva is to place it at the doorwayof his house outside,” andspecifically in the darkest times likethe Chanuka lights, when the mitzvais “from when the sun sets.” It isthere that Chabad goes to spreadlight and warmth and to reveal theDivine Unity.

What is the source of our power?The power of “yechida.” As we know,Chabad Chassidus is the “yechida” ofTorah, and therefore, it has the

power to reveal the Divine Unity inthe darkest and most distant places.This too is connected with theChanuka lights, as explained inChassidus – that the cruse of oilsealed with the seal of the KohenGadol that the Greeks did notdesecrate alludes to the “yechida ofthe soul,” which the Greeks couldnot desecrate as it always remainspure, and has power to illuminate allthe soul-powers with the light of“yechida.”

Perhaps this can explain thespecial regard the Rebbe showed forMivtza Chanuka. It is this that theT’mimim were involved in, in thelast days and hours of their younglives, to illuminate the world withthe light of “yechida,” which leads tothe revelation of the general“yechida,” i.e., Moshiach. Every timewe ignite the Chanuka lightsanywhere in the world, we reveal the“yechida” in the soul of eachindividual Jew and illuminate thedarkest places in the world. This, inturn, causes the Rebbe – Moshiach,the “yechida” of the entire Jewishpeople – to be revealed immediatelyin all his glory.


Rabbi Eliyahu Neimark in an event held after the accident, in the merit of the victims


THE TIME FOR GEULAHAS COME

In Parshas Shmos it tells of anenormous G-dly revelation thatMoshe experienced at the burningbush. Hashem said to him: I haveseen the suffering of the Jewishpeople in Egypt and have heard theircries and so you should go to themand say that the time of theirredemption has arrived.

Moshe asked Hashem: When Icome to the Jewish people on Yourmission, they will ask me for Yourname. What should I tell them?

Hashem said: I-WILL-BE-WHAT-I-WILL-BE is My name forever, myremembrance from generation to

generation.

Chazal are surprised by Moshe’squestion. Why did Moshe think theJewish people would ask for thename of the One Who wants to savethem from servitude? They weresuffering in Egypt, so what differencedid it make what Hashem’s name is?The main thing is to be redeemed!

This would be like a prisoner insolitary confinement who is beatenand humiliated and forced to do hardlabor day and night until he cannottake it any longer. Suddenly he istold that they are coming to removehim from the dungeon and set himfree. Would his first question be:Who is coming to take me out? Doesknowing who it is matter?

Certainly not! The mostimportant thing is to get out! Hisheart is full of joy over the wonderfulnews of his impending release andwho will be taking him out is notthat significant.

So why did Moshe think that theJewish people, who were subjugatedto the wicked Egyptians, would wantto know the name of the Redeemer?If it was because Moshe feared thatthey did not believe in Hashem andHis redemption, how wouldknowledge of His name help?Whoever believed in Hashem didn’tneed to know the name; whoever didnot believe, would not be helped bya name!

Furthermore, Moshe knew someof Hashem’s names (he certainlyknew the names revealed to the Avos,mentioned in the book of B’Reishis).Why then did he ask what Hashem’sname is?

(Some answer this question bysaying that Moshe was straight andtruthful, “he was very punctilious inconveying Hashem’s message in allhis missions and prophecies,” and hedidn’t add a single word to them.Therefore, since in this prophecythere was no mention of Hashem’sholy name, Moshe did not want tosay His name on his own, since it

THE G-DLY NAMEWITH WHICH WEARE REDEEMED

BY RABBI YOSEF KARASIK, DISTRICT RAV BEIT CHEFER, EMEK CHEFER

THOUGHT

Why was Moshe concerned about the Jewishpeople asking him, “What is His name?” Howwould knowing Hasshem’s name increase theirbelief in Moshe? Moshe knew several ofHashem’s names, why did he ask Hashhem Hisname? * A fascinating look at the parsha fromthe perspective of Chazal, Kabbala, andChabad Chassidus.

23Issue Number 584 - BEIS MOSHIACH

wasn’t part of the prophecy.)

HASHEM’S HOLY NAMESSome people think that a name is external and of

marginal importance, saying: what difference does itmake, the main thing is the thing itself and not its name.They are mistaken, however, for it is explained inKabbala that names are highly significant. A name is the“spiritual code of life.” When you call someone by theirname, you open up and draw down for them from thesource of G-dly blessing and abundance.

That is why when praying for someone who is ill, wemention his name and when someone faints we call hisname, because a name arouses and strengthens a person’slife-force.

There is enormous power especially in the names ofHashem, which are holy and extremely lofty. That is why,generally, in many prophecies Hashem’s name ismentioned (and in all prophecies to the Avos, Hashem’sname is mentioned).

There is a halachaabout the holiness ofHashem’s names inShulchan Aruch YorehDei’a. When you write aseifer Torah, t’fillin, andmezuza, if an error wasmade in the writing, itcan usually be erasedand fixed, aside fromHashem’s names, “whichare not to be erased,”even if this means theentire item is pasul.

This is surprising, for if a word within acommandment of a mitzva (Shabbos, Yom Kippur, theTen Commandments, etc) can be erased and fixed, whyshouldn’t Hashem’s name be able to be erased andcorrected?

The halacha says that this is so because even thoughall the mitzvos are G-dly commandments, Hashem’s nameis Hashem Himself, and this cannot be erased! When aJew davens or reads in the Torah and he mentionsHashem’s name, he opens a channel of G-dly abundanceand brings blessing down upon himself. (Mentioning anyG-dly name opens a specific channel that pertains to thatholy name, as will be explained further.)

THE NUMBEROF HIS NAMES

Hashem has many names. Some say there are 70 andothers say there are many more. This stems from

Hashem’s many powers, for as Chazal put it, “I am calledaccording to My deeds.” A name is a channel forabundance and since a human being has one ko’ach, hehas only one name, but Hashem has infinite deeds andabilities and so He has infinite names.

Each of the Avos called Hashem by a specific name(Avrohom – HaGadol, Yitzchok – HaGibbor, and Yaakov –HaNora). This is on account of the particular G-dlypower that each one accessed:

Avrohom, whose spiritual powers were from themidda of chesed, called Hashem a name of chesed(gadol); Yitzchok whose spiritual powers were fromg’vura, called Hashem a name of g’vura (gibbor); andYaakov whose spiritual powers were from the midda ofemes and rachamim, called Hashem by this trait (nora).

Of the many names of Hashem there are seven specialnames (that may not be erased) and they are:

1) Y K V K – the attribute of mercy. The EssentialName. 2) A D O-N A I –master and ruler. 3) E-L– when He suspendsjudgment for man’s sins.4) E L O-H A. 5) E L O-H I M 6) S H A-D A I.7) T Z E V A O S –when He judges thenations of the world andthose who hate Israel,with might.

In the Gemara, thename I-WILL-BE (EHE-YEH) is enumerated asone of the seven holy

names (that are not erased), but the Rambam andShulchan Aruch say it is not listed among the holy namesthat are not erased. This seems to indicate that it is not asholy as the other names, but Chassidus explains theopposite – that this name is higher, in certain aspects,than the other names.

THE NAME I-WILL-BEThe simple meaning of the name I-WILL-BE is that

Hashem will be and can be found everywhere, at alltimes, in all circumstances. (The Rambam in his Guide forthe Perplexed writes that this name describes the Essenceof His being and existence that is not dependent onanything, for He is “necessary existence” not possibleexistence.)

This name is unique and wondrous and itaccompanies and protects the Jewish people in allsituations – whether they were on a high spiritual level,when the Beis HaMikdash stood, or whether they are in

exile and the Mikdash is destroyed –for the name I-WILL-BE is constantand forever.

This name is not one of thenames that cannot be erased becauseit has a special quality they don’thave. Namely, it is bound up anddwells within the Jewish people notonly in our holy times but also whenwe leave the bounds of holiness anddescend into exile. Even there, thename I-WILL-BE accompanies andprotects us.

THE NAME OF THEREDEMPTION OF THE

WORLD IN THE DAYS OFMOSHIACH

This name is also the name of theGeula of the Jewish people, becausethe main idea of Geula is thatHashem’s omnipresence will berevealed to all:

Although with the coming ofMoshiach many amazing things willtake place – as the Rambam writes,Moshiach will bring salvation to theworld, delicacies will be plentiful,the sick will be healed, the entireworld will study Torah and knowG-d – all this does not express theessence of what Yemos HaMoshiachis about.

The central achievement of Yemos

HaMoshiach is the removal of theveil of the material world thatobscures Hashem’s presence ineverything in the world and innature. When Moshiach comes,people will see the reality of thename of I-WILL-BE – that Hashem isomnipresent.

This is the inner meaning of theverse of Shma. The simple meaningis our proclamation that there is noother G-d in the world. Yet, do weneed to proclaim, morning andevening, that there are no othergods? Do the children of the holytribes need to announce to theirfather Yaakov that they do notbelieve in idols?!

Rather, the Alter Rebbe explains,there is nothing else in existence, notabove nor below, that is not part ofthe Creator. “Hashem is one” meansthat all is G-dliness and there isnothing outside of that.

The avoda of a Jew in the worldis to reveal this G-dly truth in theworld. This will be fully revealedwith the revelation of the G-dlyname I-WILL-BE with our Geula inYemos HaMoshiach.

This is what Moshe meant withhis question. The question was not:who is the redeemer – Hashem orother gods? Heaven forbid. Rather,

the meaning of “what is His name” iswith which G-dly energy will Heredeem the Jewish people fromEgypt? Would the energy of geula bemixed with the power of judgment,permitting the geula to beinterrupted, for which reasonanother galus could follow? Or,would it be with a name of chesedand rachamim and then the geulawould be complete with no galus tofollow?

Hashem answered Moshe that thegeula would be with the name I-WILL-BE, which is Hashem’s name inall situations, and if we had meritedit, Moshe would have taken us intoEretz Yisroel with the power of thisholy name and there would havebeen no further galus. Due to thesins of the generation, Moshe diedand did not merit to bring the nationinto the land for the final Geula.

However, the Geula in our day,through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, will becomplete with no galus to follow.With the power of the name I-WILL-BE, we will merit a Geula in whichHashem, in His Glory and Essence,will be revealed to all, “and all fleshwill see together that the mouth ofHashem has spoken.”

(sources: commentaries on Shmos 3:14, LikkuteiSichos 26 p. 10, Seifer HaErechim Chabad Vol. 1

I-WILL-BE)


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[Continued from last week]

RULE 6: WORK YOUR PLANThe Mishna tells us: “Who is a

wise man? One who sees theoutcome of his actions before hetakes action.” In other words asmart person has a vision and aplan of action. He or she assessesthe consequences of his/her actionswell in advance, before everengaging in action. The smartperson draws up a precise plan ofthe actions necessary to achievegoals, and then the wise person getsdown to work.

In other words: “They plan theirwork and then work their plan.”

Yosef knew he would be guiltyof an injustice by merely interpretingthe dream and giving general

advice. He felt that another veryimportant step was necessary, andthat was to have a precise plan ofaction. Thus, without being asked,when he had finished interpretingthe dream, he did not stop there,but continued to advise Pharaoh ingreat detail as to the quality of goodleadership and what measures werenecessary for that goal to beattained.

Pharaoh was more impressedwith Yosef ’s precise plan than withhis interpretation of the dreams. Hetherefore decided right there andthen to appoint Yosef as second tothe king with instructions to all hispeople that they must obey Yosef ’scommands. The message if you havea good plan, and if you implementit well, you will turn a dream into areality.

Pharaoh’s reaction shows thatonly by having a clear plan of howto achieve your goal will youactually achieve it in the shortestpossible time and in the bestpossible way.

RULE 7: HELP OTHERSACHIEVE THEIR GOALS AND

THEY WILL HELP YOUACHIEVE YOURS.

All Yosef had been asked byPharaoh was to interpret hisdreams. His interpretation was thatthere would be seven years ofabundance of food, followedimmediately by seven years offamine. He had not been asked toprovide a solution as to how to dealwith the seven years of famine. Itwas indeed only when Yosef helpedPharaoh achieve his goal of dealingwith the famine that Pharaohreciprocated by helping Yosef fulfilhis goal of becoming a king andruler, precisely as Yosef haddreamed 13 years earlier.

RULE NO 8: DON’TABANDON YOUR GOAL:

EVEN WHEN THE GOINGGETS TOUGH.

When an airplane takes off, let’ssay from Sydney to Los Angles, thepilots are given a flight plan, whichat the time of takeoff appears to bethe best and the quickest way to getto Los Angeles. However, at the

INSIGHT

GOAL SETTINGYOSEF’S WAY

BY RABBI YAAKOV L IEDERDEAN SYDNEY SEMINARY, SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

Yosef had a vision. He wanted to be in aposition where he could make a difference tothe world. He wanted this so strongly andthought about it so much that he even had twodreams about it. * We havee to live withMoshiach now, because only by living with thisreality will we give ourselves over commpletelyto the task of actualizing it in this physicalworld. * Part 2 of 2

same time, experienced pilots knowthat throughout their flight they arelikely to encounter someunexpected turbulence. When theyencounter the turbulence, the pilotdoes not grab the loud speaker andannounce: “Ladies and Gentlemanwe are sorry the plan is notworking. We are quitting the trip toLos Angelis and returning toSydney.” The pilot is determinedand certain that he will land thisplane in Los Angeles. Radicallyabandoning his course is not anoption, neither is continuing withthe original plan. The sole option isto make sensible, intelligent andrational adjustments to the originalplan. These might include tryingdifferent altitudes by means ofascent or descent, or maybe optingto make a detour and land at adifferent airport until the storm haspassed.

But the most important factor isthe determination to continuethrough rain, hail, or shine. Theessential point is “the show must goon.”

When Yosef was put in the pitby his brothers, his goal of being aking was illusionary; when he wassold as a slave and later imprisoned,with all the incriminating evidencestacked up against him, he couldhave despaired. I can imagine if itwere me I would have said, “Forgetit. Give up. You’re not cut out forsuccess. Being successful is only foran elite group. Just stop dreaming.At least then you won’t bedisappointed.” I could also startfeeling like a victim, and cry out,“Why me?” and continue my lamentwith, “Life isn’t fair!”

None of these thoughts appearsto have been in Yosef ’s mind. Assoon as he became a slave, he gavethat position his best shot. Within ashort time he was recognized by hismaster as a man of determinationand commitment. Soon he had

promoted Yosef to take charge ofhis household. Thus, incontemporary language, in a shorttime he had climbed the corporateladder and become the generalmanager. It is the kind of job youdon’t usually get in a short timeunless your father is the presidentof the company!

If you allow yourself to feel avictim, or if you are havingthoughts of abandoning your goalsbecause you plans did not work outthe way you wanted them to,remember the saying “winners don’tquit, and quitters don’t win.”

RULE NO 9: STICK TO YOURMORALS AND BELIEFS AT

ALL COSTS.We all face, at times, situations

where our belief system seems tocollide with our goals. Then thequestion we have to ask ourselvesloud and clear is: which one ismore important at this given time.For example, if my friend and I aregoing for the same job, and onlyone of us will get it, would I saysomething bad about my friendwhich will enable me to reach mygoal. Would I tell a small lie in mybusiness transaction so that I canwin that deal which will help meachieve my financial goal? Would Iskip my Chitas today because I amtoo busy organizing an event?

Such dilemmas are part of day-to-day life. The Yetzer HaRa mayappear sometimes – as the Rebbecalls it – with a Zeidana zupitzea (asilk coat). This means that he istrying to get us to use the wrongmeans to achieve the right end. Hisphilosophy in this case appears tobe acceptable or even veryChassidish. He may even argue thatit is a mitzva to be dishonest inorder that you can earn moremoney and thereby be able to givemore tz’daka. Another example isthe case where one may think that

it’s a mitzva and a very acceptablething to humiliate someone justbecause they don’t think the way Ithink. Where the truth of thematter is that the end does notjustify resorting to incorrect meansalthough it may be tempting at thetime to bend principles to achievemy goals. But the important pointis that it is only by being firm inour value system that we areprotected against Zeidana zupitzea’sideas and seductions.

The good news is thatthousands of years before yourtime, people have been there anddone it. The Torah tells us theirstory so we can learn from previousexperiences. Yosef was put to theultimate test with Potifar’s wife. Sheeven argued using Zeidanazupitzea’s approach, saying toYosef, “I can see in my stars (i.e.my spiritual advice) that we aredestined to have children together(Sota 48).” There was, indeed,some truth to it but with a twist.(Some years later, Yosef married herdaughter.) “Nobody will ever findout,” she said. “All your goals willbe scattered if you don’t do what Iwant.” She put enormous pressureon Yosef so that he should breakhis G-dly principles, offering him abetter life and the fulfilment of hisgoals. This tempting conversationdid not occur only once, but tookplace on an ongoing basis day afterday. Yosef, however, stuck firmly tohis morals and beliefs even thoughhe risked losing his life’s ambition.

RULE 10 HAVE A POSITIVEROLE MODEL

There is even an opinion in theGemara that on that day whennobody was home a thoughtoccurred to Yosef (although for avery short time) to succumb totemptation and do the wrong thing.But two things happened that madeYosef refuse the temptation. One isthat he said to her, “If I do this, I


will be sinning against G-d, andalthough nobody may ever find outand it may bring me closer to mygoals, my spiritual principles areeverlasting and totally override anyother goal. The goal of staying trueto my G-d has a veto power overeverything else. Another source ofstrength: “Where did Yosef get such

strength from? After all, he wasonly 17 or 18 when he wasforcefully evicted from thechassidishe environment of Yaakov’shouse where he was brought up.His Rebbe Yaakov was notphysically close to him; he couldnot hear him farbreng, nor couldhe hope to receive dollars from

him.”

So the question is: how was ableto have strength? The answer is“Raa diykno shel aviv” (He saw hisfather’s image) and he heard hisvoice say: “If you go ahead and dothis you are cutting yourself awayfrom me and your name will beremoved from the Choshen, whereall your brothers’ names will be.”In other words, it was his powerfulhiskashrus (connection) to theTzaddik HaDor, the Rebbe of hisgeneration, that helped him at thiscritical point of his life.

The question we have to askourselves when facing a dilemmais: what does the Rebbe want me todo now? Will he be proud of mydecision? Is this decision inaccordance with the Rebbe’steachings? We, who are not asspiritually attuned as Yosef, have toconsult a rav or a mashpia todouble-check if what we are doingor not doing is according to thewill of Hashem, as communicatedto us by our Nasi HaDor, theRebbe.

In the short term, Yosef ’sdecision to refuse doing the wrongthing got him into trouble. He wasjailed for 12 years, a very highprice to pay for staying true to yourprinciples. But ultimately onlybecause he refused to compromisehis principles, bringing about hisincarceration, did he eventuallycome to fulfil his ultimate goal ofbeing ruler. This would not havebeen achieved had he placed hisgoals ahead of his Godly andspiritual values.

RULE NO 11: WHEN THEGOING GETS TOUGH,

DON’T CONSIDERYOURSELF VICTIM, TAKE

MORE EFFECTIVE ACTION.As a wise man once said, “When

the going gets tough, the tough get

going.” Being imprisoned in anEgyptian jail in our days is noholiday. How much more so inthose days! Yosef had every right tofeel a victim and give up. He couldhave adopted the attitude: Life isnot being fair to me; I am destinedto suffer. My goals will never beattained. All the evidence beforeme shows that not only am I notgetting closer to my goals, I amgoing in the opposite direction –from being a slave, I have nowbecome a prisoner. How did ithappen? Because I refused to dothe wrong thing!’

Furthermore, while in jail,Potifar’s wife persisted in spreadingbad rumours about him. Shewanted him to stay in jail as longas possible so that her daughterwould be old enough to marry him(as she eventually did). But Yosefdecided that if the Hashgacha Pratishad brought him to this place, itmust be for a reason. There mustbe a shlichus for him to do there,and this would eventually take himto his goal. He took the sameapproach as the Rebbe Rayatz didwhen he was in prison, which was,“You have control over my body,but I will not give you control overmy spirit. I am the only one whocan choose who controls it!”

Yosef decided there and then togive it the best shot possible and hethrew himself into the task ofseeing what he could do to makethe life of other prisoners better.He stopped focusing on what hehimself needed and started focusingon what he was needed for. And sowhen the Butler and the Bakercame to prison, and he was giventhe job of looking after them, hedid an outstanding job. As a resultof his dedication, it was indeed thelast suffering he experienced beforehis dreams, goals, and aspirationswere fulfilled.


As soon as he becamea slave, he gave thatposition his best shot.Within a short timehe was recogniized byhis master as a manof determination andcommitment. Soon hehad promoted Yosefto take chargge of hishousehold. Thus, incontemporarylanguage, in a shorttime he had climbedthe corporate laddderand become thegeneral manager.

RULE NO 12: BE FULLYFOCUSED ON THE JOB AT

HANDYosef decided to put his

personal needs aside and he becamefully focussed on the job. Sinceexcellence stands out, he was within no time recognized by theMinister of the Prison as someonedifferent from the average prisoner.Clearly this man wanted to make adifference wherever he was and bywhatever means he could. Becauseof this dedication, it was onlynatural that when the two famousprisoners, the Baker and the Butler,came to jail, Yosef was the bestcandidate to look after them. Hedid this job as he had done everyother job before, with totaldedication, giving it his fullestattention.

One morning, Yosef enteredtheir cell and noticed that they werenot themselves. Something wasbothering them. You have to betotally without regard for your ownmisery and totally in tune with theother person’s situation to noticewhen there is something wrong.(And, let’s remember that they werenot there on a holiday. Not lookingwell in an Egyptian prison is not anunusual thing only one with aheightened sensitivity for thefeelings of others would be aware,and once aware, act.)

Yosef said the following words,which eventually changed the life ofthe Butler and the Baker as well ashis own life and indeed the life ofthe entire world. Those words were,“Why do you have a sad facetoday?” To which they responded byrelating their dreams. Yosefexplained their dreams to them andbecause of the insight and vision ofhis interpretation he wasrecommended to Pharaoh as aninterpreter of dreams. It was thisthat eventually led to his becomingsecond to the king of Egypt.

All of this was only possiblebecause he was fully focused on thejob at hand. He was fully focusedon the present and not on the pastor even the future.

When we review these twelvesteps, we realize how each one is apart of a long chain of events, and

each part is an essential one, as itleads to the next. You could notskip any of these steps. Yosef had adifficult journey, starting with thedream and a plan, but throughouthe continued, always remainingfocused on the job, never stoppingwhen there were obstacles. He keptthe vision and the dream alive,always in the forefront of his mind.And when the going got tough, heasked for help and inspiration fromhis Rebbe. And while he waited, hecontinued to be fully dedicated andfocused on the mission ahead.

You and I are not like Yosef, andwe do not have his strength ofcharacter, but neither are we likelyto end up in an Egyptian jail. TheRebbe often quotes the Gemara,which says, “According to the camelis the load” or “Hashem does notgive us a test which we cannotovercome.” We are all in possessionof the power and the toolsnecessary to fulfil our dreams. Andthis is the reason Hashem has sentus to this world. We were given allthe gifts and tools and the power tocarry them out. Although at timesthose gifts and opportunities maycome wrapped up in problems,once we unwrap them we will findthe gifts. This is the z’chus of beingin the Dor HaShvii, which willbring to realization what Jews haveyearned for, for thousands of years:the revelation of Moshiach now!


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30

LOWER AND LOWERSometimes you can think and

hope that we can’t go any lower, butthen we see that there’s no limit tohow low we can sink. PM Olmertmet with Abu Mazen, bearingtidings of the decision to unfreeze100 million dollars to fundterrorism and the removal ofroadblocks designed to deterterrorists. The Israeli media, whichserves our enemies, have turnedAbu Mazen into a suffering martyr,claiming he is the only one we canmake an agreement with andeverything will be fine. This is howOlmert tries to keep his governmentalive.

The Americans are pressuringIsrael over the Roadmap andwhoever dreamed that the story ofthe Disengagement came to an endafter the blows we have receivedwas mistaken. Evil has no bounds.Olmert knows good and well thatthe money will be used in theattempt to murder more Jews inorder to increase pressure on Israel.Olmert knows that releasing Arabprisoners will lead to increasedattacks, as we’ve seen on previousoccasions. The money Olmertdecided to transfer to Abu Mazen ismoney dripping with Jewish blood.

While Olmert practices restraint,the Kassam missiles keep falling on

Sderot and Ashkelon, with twoninth-graders being seriouslyinjured in Sderot. One of the boys,14-year-old Adir Basad, was in verycritical condition throughout thenight; after a series of operations,his condition stabilized in the earlymorning and he is no longer indanger of his life. The second boy,Matan Cohen, suffered moderatewounds. Terrorists also succeeded inscoring a direct hit on a strategicfacility in the southern coastal cityof Ashkelon.

Remember, there is a ceasefire,though what that means when fiftymissiles have landed in Israel, Idon’t know. Even the DefenseMinister, who has become a nationaljoke, understands that the ceasefireis being interpreted as weakness.Terrorism is rewarded time andagain.

So while the prime minister ismoving the process along in whichhe will release terrorists, he is alsohaving security forces throw dozensof Jews out of their homes withoutbenefit of a trial.

This Kafkaesque situation isdefinitely not rational. If in the pastthe other side had some points withsome possible validity to them, bynow we see that decisions are madenot on the basis of logic but l’mattam’taam v’daas (below the level of

rational thought).

The only solution is to switch toan approach that is l’maala m’taamv’daas (above the limitations ofrational thought), to disseminate thed’var Hashem zu halacha nonstopand to protest nonstop. This itselfwill weaken and abolish the terribledecrees hovering over us.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCEBETWEEN NETUREI KARTA

AND OLMERTThe delegation calling itself

Neturei Karta, people who look likechareidi Jews, met with thepresident of Iran and attended theInternational Conference to Reviewthe Global Vision of the Holocaustin Tehran, a controversialconference that has attracted anumber of high-profile Holocaust-

deniers. Neturei Karta’srepresentative upheld the reality ofthe Holocaust during his speech tothe assembly, although he went onto say, “Zionists have given muchhigher figures for how many peoplewere killed.” They praised Iranianpresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,who has called for the destructionof the Israeli state, and expressedsolidarity with the Iranian positionof anti-Zionism.

Naturally, this aroused a storm ofprotest on the part of Jews around

SHLEIMUS HA’ARETZ

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCEBETWEEN NETUREI

KARTA AND OLMERT?BY SHAI GEFEN


the world. We don’t know whatdamage the Neturei Karta caused toIsrael’s security if any; what we doknow is that they caused atremendous chilul Hashem. YetOlmert’s meeting with the presidentof the P.A. is far more serious andwill definitely lead to terribletragedies, may Hashem protect us.

The thesis of Abu Mazen’sdoctoral dissertation was The SecretConnection between the Nazis and theLeaders of the Zionist Movement inwhich he wrote:

“It seems that the interest of theZionist movement, however, is toinflate this figure [of Holocaustdeaths] so that their gains will begreater. This led them to emphasizethis figure [six million] in order togain the solidarity of internationalpublic opinion with Zionism. Manyscholars have debated the figure ofsix million and reached stunningconclusions – fixing the number ofJewish victims at only a fewhundred thousand.”

So why is Olmert’s meetingconsidered Israel’s “hope for peace”?Why is this meeting any morelegitimate than Neturei Karta’smeeting, particularly when Olmert’smeeting leads directly toendangering the Jewish people whilethe Neturei Karta damage is onlyproclamatory?

Olmert and his ministers aredeliberately ignoring all the redlights that are flashing warningsignals. They are allowing those whoseek to perpetuate the Nazi legacyto continue to implement the FinalSolution knowing the consequencesin advance. We all saw the results ofthe concessions made to date, andtherefore, continuing along thissame route is a betrayal of ourpeople.

Collaborating with thosemurderers is in the category of acrime against humanity. All those

who are presently sitting in thesecurity cabinet know good and wellthat transferring millions of dollarsto Abu Mazen means they areallocating money towards terrorism.This is not a prophecy but thereality as we all know it.

If rabbis think the Neturei Kartaought to be excommunicated,Olmert and his government shouldbe “removed from this world,” as wesay, “when You remove the wickedgovernment from the earth” withthe coming of Moshiach.

IT’S OUR FAULTThe media noted that it’s one

year since Ariel Sharon fell ill. Weall know what has happened sincethen with all the systems havingbroken down. The war in Lebanon,danger in the south, the Moslemworld, the Axis of Evil of Tehran-Damascus that came to life, and thedeterioration of the police-military-legal sectors.

The Rebbe always taught us thatwhen there’s a question, you have tosee how Torah relates to it. In theselling of Yosef, the Torah says thatthe brothers went down to Egyptand when various calamitiesoccurred they said to one another,“we are at fault because of ourbrother, we saw his distress whenhe pleaded with us and we didn’tlisten, therefore this tzara has comeupon us.”

The Disengagement was a selloutof our brothers. The criminal Sharonfamily did terrible things tothousands of Jews. Recent statisticsshow that the number of illnessesamong Gush Katif expellees hasdoubled, not to mention thelivelihoods and dignity they wererobbed of, as well as seriousproblems with shalom bayis andmental health. We saw their distressand most people stood quietly off tothe side and preferred following the

news in the papers and TV screens.

Today, a year and a half later,with a new reality in the MiddleEast, we ought to be honest withourselves and make a spiritualaccounting about why this tzaracame upon us, “he pleaded with usand we didn’t listen.” We allremember the lines people used,including those among us, “What dowe have to do with them?” “So letthem leave, it’s not our business.”Rabbanim who were fearful ofgovernment reaction stood aloof asthough the expulsion of their fellowJews and the destruction of Jewishsettlements and shuls had nothing


Remember, there is aceasefire, though whatthat means when fiftymissiles have landedin Israel, I don’tknow. Even theDefense Minister, whohas become a nationaljoke, understands thatthe ceasefirre is beinginterpreted asweakness. Terrorismis rewarded time andagain.


to do with them.

21 YEARS AGO, THE REBBESPOKE ABOUT RELEASING

PRISONERSThe media publicized Chabad

rabbi, Rabbi Gedalia Akselrod’s p’sakhalacha against releasing prisoners,even for the return of kidnappedsoldier Gilad Shalit. Rabbi Akselrodwrote, “There are rumors that they areabout to release 1000 terrorists andmurderers in exchange for soldierGilad Shalit, may he be released soon.We must go out and clarify d’varHashem zu halacha brought in theMishna in tractate Gittin 45a, ‘You donot redeem captives for more than theirmonetary value for the stability of theworld.

“Therefore we must arouse allposkim to order the religious parties inno uncertain terms to forcefully opposethis insane step which was donealready in the past and lead to a greatchurban. The earlier release of athousand terrorists in exchange for twocaptives led to the establishment of theIntifada and the murder of thousandsof Jews.

“Since the leaders are lost in theland, we must shine a light for themwith the d’var Hashem zu halacha, andwarn against the great disaster thisstep can lead to, no less than theexpulsion from Gush Katif, and thatthe terrorists will see it as anothervictory and more terminal weakness,and we will save them from the sin ofdo not stand by your brother’s blood.”

As always, in the Rebbe’s sichoswe find an answer for everything.Exactly 21 years ago on ZosChanuka 5746, the Rebbe spoke atlength about this approach andcalled these wholesale prisonerreleases, “regular occurrences.”

No terrorist fears thepunishment of sitting in Israeli jail,on the contrary, he will havve all hisneeds provided for: food andshelter, which is not the case in his

village…and within a shhort time adeal will be made, “a prisonerexchange,” in which he will bereleased along with hundredds ofterrorists like him, for 3-5 Jews, asthey did in the past. All this hasbecome a regular occurrrence.

In the sicha of Parshas Mikeitz5744 the Rebbe spoke sadly abouthow not completing what shouldhave been finished led to the releaseof thousands of terrorists:

It was said several times that theUS was interested in the operationbeing concluded fullyy. For this

reason, the president of the US leftthe capitol for a period of time inthe hopes that tthey [the Israelis]would use the time to finish the job.Nevertheless, the need to humblethemselves before the goy and tofind favor in his eyes is to the pointthat even when everybody realizesthat even the gooy agrees and isinterested, they are afraid to do it!

As a result, it reaches the pointthat they haave to release thousandsof terrorists and enable them toreturn to their places in anorganized way and to continue,

An IDF robot lighting the menora

Heaven forbid, in all their activities!

This is not about the argumentsand discussions that took pllace inEretz Yisroel as to whether thethousands of terrorists should havebeen released for six Jewws – that isnot what I am talking about now,but about that which led to thissituation – “the beginnning wasthrough neglect and the end wasforced!” The feeling is that theyneed to cave in immediateely in theface of any pressure, the absoluteopposite of Jewish pride! The rootof the problem is the feeling ofinferiority before the goy and theneed to capitulate to him and findfavor in his eyess.

In the sicha of Parshas VaYeishev5748 the Rebbe spoke about thistopic again and said:

The security situation in EretzYisroel is deteriorating at analarming rate so that there areplaces where Jews are in danger oftheir lives. They kill Jews whilethose in charge don’t do enough ttocatch the terrorists, apparently

because if they catch them they willhave to deal with them. Theyy willhave the problem of “what will thegoyim say,” and they want to appearto the world as “men off peace.”

Even when they caught terroristsand put them in jail, after a whilethey exchanged hundredds of themfor a few Jews. From a halachicperspective, this might be possiblefor, after all, the caaptives are Jews,

each of them being “an entireworld,” but those who decided torelease hundreds of terrorists didnot find out under which conditionsan exchange is permissible andwhen it is forbidden, even from asecurity point of view – it’s well-known that some terrorists thatwere exchanged wwere caught doingterrorist acts.

* * *

We just fasted on the tenth ofTeives regarding which the versesays, “the king of Bavel besiegedYerushalayim.” We see how all thenations today are besiegingYerushalayim and how Israel is a topitem of news. As the Rebbepromised, “the besieging of the kingof Bavel” – the word “besiege”having the same root as “help” –will end up being the nationshelping the Jewish people.

What we need to do isstrengthen the three “shleimus” ofthe nation, the land, and the Torahand may these days immediately betransformed into days of joy.


Today, a year and ahalf later, with a newreality in the MiddleEast, we ought to behonest with ourrselvesand make a spiritual

accounting aboutwhy this tzara came

upon us.

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I met Chanie for the first time onthe Shabbos after 3 Tamuz 5754,twelve and a half years ago. Allshluchos had gathered for Shabbos(husbands had gone to New York).As though it was today I rememberthat she told me that one of thecounselors who was supposed towork in their day camp had calledand said, “I don’t think I can come

now.”

Chanie told us, “You know what Itold her? I said, I understand you butthink, would the Rebbe want us tostop everything now? I will respectwhatever you decide.”

Chanie’s words made a deepimpression on me and taught mewhat mesirus nefesh for shlichus and

refinement are about. She and herfamily have made the Slovakiandesert bloom, which means it is nowa place where Jews are proud to beJews. There is a preschool and aflourishing Chabad house and muchmore.

Back then, in the early dayswhich were so hard, they didn’tthink about their living an hour anda half away from Vienna. When theyarrived in Slovakia it seemed to themthat everything was far away buttheir devotion to their work helpedthem overcome the difficulties.

“We arrived in Bratislava thirteenyears ago, right after Czechoslovakiawas divided. The communists wereno longer officially in charge but thecommunist spirit still pervaded theatmosphere. Things still ran as theydid under the communists. Forexample, there were many thingsunavailable in the stores, the banksdid not even print personal checks,and those who spoke disparaginglyabout the government immediatelylost their jobs. This was despite thefact that it was a democracy at thatpoint.

“At first, when I gave shiurim towomen, there were no reactions.Their faces remained impassive eventhough they were hearing new ideas.One time, when I couldn’t take it

SHLICHUS

They asked the Rebbe for a bracha to go out onshlichus and the Rebbe took their request to theOhel but it was Chaf-Zayin Adar… It was onlymany weeks later that they received theRebbe’s consent and blessing. * When theyarrived in Slovakia with three little children,their apartment wasn’t ready aand they lived forweeks in a floating hotel. They felt out of placeand scared because of the terribble history thatthe Jewish people experienced in Slovakia dueto the Nazis and Communists. * TodayJudaism is thriving, thanks to Mrs. ChanieMyers and her husband, who are shluchim inBratislava, Slovvakia.

THE SHLICHUS THATBEGAN ON A BOAT

ON THE RIVERBY CHANI NUSSBAUM


anymore, I said, ‘I’m an American and I’m used toreactions when I speak…’

“They said, ‘You have to understand us. For so manyyears we kept our thoughts and feelings to ourselves. Ifonly we could change that in an instant.’”

Before hearing about the difficult beginning asopposed to the enormous difference in their shlichustoday, I asked Chanie how she and her husband hadcome to Bratislava.

“After we were married my husband learned in Kollelin England. We really wanted to go out on shlichus andwhen we wrote to the Rebbe about an offer of shlichus inSlovakia, the Rebbe took the note with him to the Ohel.That was Chaf-Zayin Adar. We called Rabbi Groner andasked him what to do.

“We were told to wait and as disciplined children, wewaited, because when father is

sick you can’t ask questions.More time passed and when itbecame possible, the secretaryread the note to the Rebbe. Wehad asked two questions,whether to look into shlichushere and whether it paid tomake a trip.

“The Rebbe answered yesand nodded his head

affirmatively. We didn’t realize at the time what a z’chusthis was, because we weren’t apprised about what wasgoing on. A short time later we realized that we hadreceived a bracha to be able to handle all the obstaclesthat arose in this amazing shlichus. Today I know thatonly because of that bracha did we manage to prevail andcontinue to prevail.

“At first it was very hard. I remember that I cried alot. We arrived with three small children with the oldestthree years old and the youngest a few months old.Before we arrived we were told that our apartment wouldbe ready but when we arrived we saw it wasn’t ready atall. In the meantime they put us in a hotel on a boat!

“Yes, we spent weeks on a boat and I was very fearfulthat I would wake up one morning and find ourselves inHungary, because that river reaches Hungary. I lost sixkilos (over 13 pounds)! My baby became sick and hadhigh temperature. When I went to the local hospital thedoctors told me that she had a fever because of herdiaper! They had never seen anything like it. That’s whatSlovakia was like then.

“My husband went to see whether the apartment wasready. When he came back I asked him, ‘Nu?’

“He said it still wasn’t ready. I asked him, ‘What doesit look like now?’ He said it had no tiles or painted wallsyet!

“In tears I said, ‘That’s it, I want to go home.’

Rabbi Myers

“I’ll never forget my husband’sanswer. He said, ‘Which home doyou want to go back to? Do you haveanother home aside from the placethat the Rebbe sent us to?’

“That was enough for me. That’swhen I decided that I was acceptingthis shlichus with love and simchaand I stuck to this decision. I beganlooking at the place and the shlichusin a positive light and baruchHashem, it helped.”

How did your change inperspective impact on your life andthe nature of your shlichus?

“People here are warm and theywant to help one another. When Iinvite guests for Shabbos they alwaysoffer to help as they would in theirown homes. I got used to the Czechmentality and I have local friendsand we see the results of our work.Despite the painful fact that there isa 95% intermarriage rate here, webegan to see a Jewish awakening.”

* * *

According to Chanie, theawakening began thanks to thepreschool that she and her husbandstarted. The children are mekarevtheir parents.

“When I see children todaywearing a yarmulke and tzitzis, thereis no greater nachas for the Rebbe.You have to remember that peoplehere suffered from the terrors of bothcommunism and the Holocaust. Formany years Jews tried to hide theiridentity or sadly, they didn’t evenknow they were Jewish because ofthe terrible fear.

“Today, Slovakian Jews are proudof their Judaism. There’s a womanhere whose husband is not Jewishand she wants a mezuza on her doorand a kosher kitchen. More andmore Jews come to the Chabadhouse’s programs, to shiurim, etc. Weare careful about accepting only“halachic Jews.”

“The most outstanding example

to illustrate the awakening here isthat most of the children born noware given Jewish names.Circumcisions and bar mitzvas aremore and more common. I won’tforget the first chuppa my husbandmade here nine years ago. They hadto take the canopy for the chuppafrom the museum which showedhow deeply asleep the Jews herewere.

“When we made a bar mitzvahere, the boy said a speech in thecourse of which he announced thathe was committing to putting ont’fillin every day, and baruchHashem, he stuck to it. If that wasn’tenough, he also wanted a bris, so forthe first time in many years inSlovakia, there was a bar mitzva andbris on one day. And if that wasn’tenough, the boy convinced twofriends who also began putting ont’fillin every day and they are alsostrengthening their religiousobservance.”

How did the Jewish revolution inSlovakia begin?

“It began with our first project.We opened a day camp duringsummer vacation. I remember it asthough it was today. We started withonly four children. I didn’t know theSlovakian language yet, so I wroteeverything in English and had a localgirl translate it all. Because of thecamp, one of the participants beganto come regularly on Shabbos to shuland today she lives in London andher son learns in a yeshiva in EretzYisroel.

“Another girl from camp helps menow in running the preschool, andshe davens with the children inHebrew. That day camp that startedwith four children has fifty children,which is amazing for Bratislava.

“Aside from that, we also have athriving preschool with a SundaySchool. I run the preschool with thehelp of girls from New York and Iwill take this opportunity to thankthem because without their help theschool wouldn’t flourish. Thispreschool is the foundation for theJewish education of the next


BRATISLAVAKnown also as Pressburg, Bratislava has a special place in Jewish

history. Jews have been connected to this city for more than 800 years.Since the 1700s it has been an important center for organized Jewishlife. Hebrew and Yiddish book printing thrived – always a mark of acommunity’s importance. In the 100 years between 1830 and 1930,about 340 Jewish books appeared, as well as Hebrew and Yiddishnewspapers and magazines.

In 1940, nearly 15,000 Jews lived in Bratislava, about 12 percent ofthe general population. Davening was held in three shuls and in 14Chassidic shtiblach. Of the 90,000 Jews in pre-War Slovakia, only15,000 survived. By 1969, the population had declined to 1,500. Today,720 Jews are registered in the Jewish community.

A 1998 article in the Jewish News Weekly reported that Rabbi Myerswas physically assaulted twice on the street by teenage skinheads.Despite such events, said the article, “The Chabad rabbi remainsdetermined to walk freely through the Slovakian capital of Bratislava asan identifiable Jew – with a full beard, fedora hat and visible tzitzit.”

“The more I do that, the safer I feel,” Myers said during a recent visitto the United States. “I try to make my presence known – I try to makepeople understand that they have to get used to me.”


generation.”

* * *

Chanie surprises me when shesays, “We have a N’shei Chabadorganization here.” When I expressedmy incredulity, she said, “Yes, here inSlovakia, not in Yerushalayim or NewYork. We have at least three yearlygatherings which are attended bynearly one hundred women from allover the country. There are womenwho travel an entire night by train inorder to attend!

“At one of the Lag B’Omergatherings I suggested that we gettogether once a month. I thoughtthey would say no but they loved theidea. Even those who have to travelall night by train to come beganoffering ideas for programs.

“I asked them, ‘What nameshould we pick for our organization?’Their spontaneous response was:What do you mean? We want to becalled N’shei Chabad!

“I was so touched I burst intotears. You have to remember thatthese women don’t yet keep Shabbosand tznius, yet they want to be calledN’shei Chabad.

“When I asked them what theyare interested in, in order to choose atheme for upcoming events, one ofthem said that she wants to knowwhat is most important to davenwhen you don’t have time to daventhe entire thing. Another womanwanted to know whether she couldget a translation of the davening intoSlovakian, pocket-sized, so she couldtake it to work every day. Anotherwoman was interested in kashrus.She said she wanted to startimmersing her utensils and shewanted to know how to do it – whatneeds to be immersed and what not,and what blessing do you say.Another woman wanted to learn howto sing songs from the Siddur.

“I was moved by the fact thatthey weren’t interested in make-up or

proper nutrition or topics like thatbut in far loftier matters. It was hardto believe that these women weresitting in a place that hadexperienced the Holocaust andcommunism which had stamped outanything associated with religion.”

The following story will illustratethat Am Yisroel Chai and how theRebbe guides us every step of theway:

“At the beginning of the summera senior official from the

municipality called me with arequest. They were making a festivalfor minorities in a few weeks andsince she had heard that my husbandwas the rabbi here, she wonderedwhether I could send representativesto the festival to represent the Jewishpeople.

“I was very tired when she calledand so I tried to get out of it. Isuggested that she have Jewishmusicians come, or something likethat, but she said that wasn’t what

she had in mind because music wascultural. She wanted to present theJewish religion and she thought wefit the bill.

“I figured that if this non-Jewishwoman understood that there was abig difference between culture andreligion, I could not turn her down. Isaid I would try to prepare a nicepresentation with the children of ourpreschool in which they wouldappear in costume. They would singJewish songs in Hebrew that theylearned in school.

“The day of the presentationarrived. It was held in the main plazaof the city. Each child was given ashirt on which it said, ‘Organizationof Slovakian Jewry.’ I prayed that wedidn’t make a chilul Hashem becauseall those who performed before ushad performed professional musicand these were just little childrenwho were going to representJudaism.

“I believed that miracles wouldtake place and the sweet childrenwouldn’t disappoint anyone. I wasnervous enough and it didn’t helpwhen a mother of one of the childrenwhispered to me, ‘Chanie, I hopewe’re not embarrassed.’

“It was our turn. The groupbefore us was about to finish and wewere told to get ready to stand infront of the stage and get thechildren ready. My heart beat fastwhen there were only two minutesleft before our turn to perform.

“Then, while we were on stage, Inoticed two Jews wearing yarmulkes.It seemed unreal. Religious Jewstouring now?! This was Fridayafternoon. I quickly went over tothem and introduced myself as thewife of the local rabbi and I invitedthem for Shabbos. They thanked mebut said that they planned onreturning to Vienna before Shabbos. Igot up my courage and told themabout the performance and askedthem whether they could join us

“At first, when I gaveshiurim to women,

there were noreactions. Their facesremained impassive

eveen though theywere hearing newideas. One time,

when I couldn’t takeit anymore, I said,

‘I’m an Ameerican andI’m used to reactions

when I speak…’


because it would be a big help. Itwould give more confidence to thechildren and would make a bigkiddush Hashem.

“They were happy to oblige andwithin a few minutes they hadrounded up the entire group that wastouring with them. I looked aroundme on the stage and saw fifty Jews,all types: religious, chareidim, not-yet-religious. They seemed to havefallen from heaven and I looked atthem thinking I was dreaming.

“Before I could digest it all, theyhad gotten a piano from an earlierperformer to play on and all I had todo was ask them to play songs thechildren knew. They turned to thechildren and asked, ‘Are you ready?’and the children proudly andexcitedly shouted, ‘Yes!’ The childrenfelt so very important!

“The performance began and Istood near the stage to direct thechildren when necessary. At onepoint, someone motioned to me toturn around and look at the children.I turned and saw them smiling andto the rhythm of the music they wereholding hands and dancing, and notonly them but a third of the peoplein the plaza were dancing.

“The mother who expressed hernervousness to me earlier came overto me and burst into tears and said,‘Chanie, G-d always performsmiracles for you. From now on I willbegin to believe more…’

“It was truly miraculous and anexperience I won’t soon forget. At theend of the performance everyone wasphotographed and the group ofJewish tourists disappeared as theyhad come, like in stories of EliyahuHaNavi.”

* * *

“In recent years, the Jewishmentality has changed. When wecame here we saw that Jews werefearful to display their Judaismand/or lacked any knowledge of their

Judaism. Today, we see more andmore Jewish pride and openness toabsorb new information. Even if theyaren’t religious just like us, it’simportant to them to have things likea mezuza and Shabbos candles, andinterest in kashrus is growing.

“It began with a few courageouspeople who started keeping certainmitzvos, like t’fillin, and they drewmany others to follow them. Theawakening to Judaism here is like anavalanche with no logicalexplanation, just the ko’ach of themeshaleiach.

“The anti-Semitism that weexperienced and suffered from in our

first years here has begun todiminish. Judaism is something farmore open now. My husband appearson radio and television occasionallyand informs the Jewish audienceabout mitzvos. Judaism is no longersomething underground and secret.People see what Judaism is and whatan authentic Jew is.”

The famous city of Pressburg, thecity of the Chasam Sofer, issynonymous with Bratislava, and Iasked Chanie whether Pressburg hastourists in addition to the locals.Chanie answered:

“Many Jewish tourists come toPressburg and not only in the

summer but year-round. The ChasamSofer is buried in Pressburg and onhis yahrtzait, which is two days afterSimchas Torah, many Jews visit hisgravesite as they do year round.”

How do the tourists manage withkashrus. Is there a kosher restaurantin the city and in general, how doyou manage with kashrus?

“The kosher restaurant in town ismy house. There was a kosherrestaurant here for a short time butthe owner thought that if he soldtreif he would earn more. Whathappened was, once he sold treif hesustained great losses until he had toclose. Jewish tourists who want toeat kosher food have to come to me.We import everything from nearbyVienna and when my husband goesto New York he brings back what hecan. You learn to live like this.

“My children got used to havingguests every Shabbos. If it happens,rarely, that there are no guests,they’re disappointed as though(smiling) I sit here relaxing with onechild…”

What about chinuch for yourchildren?

“I have ten children and beforewe opened the preschool, we sentthe children, when they turned three,to Vienna every day. Everybody inVienna knew about the three-year-old girls who crossed the borderevery day, leaving with theirpassports and returning at six in theevening, traveling an hour and a halfeach way. It wasn’t easy.

“Today, baruch Hashem, we havethe Lauder preschool which hastwelve children so our children go toVienna starting from age 6.

“Sending my daughter off toseminary in Toronto, Canada wasdifficult. I cried for two nights. I prayand ask Hashem that in the z’chus ofshlichus we will experience muchsiyata d’Shmaya and nachas with ourchildren’s Chassidishe chinuch.”

“I was so touched Iburst into tears. You

have to rememberthat these women

don’t yet keepShabbos aand tznius,yet they want to be

called N’sheiChabad.”


CARING FOR THEREFUGEES

All the stories mentioned earlierare an inseparable addition to the

communal work that R’ MeirAshkenazi did. He was head of VaadHatzalah for the war refugees. Withthe help of his connections with allthe communities, he was able to get

them all involved, including thewealthy, who trusted him

completely. There

were many other askanim whoworked hard to aid the refugees,among them well-known rabbanimand Admurim, but all of them wereadjuncts to the general director,Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, who wasutterly devoted to the holy work.

When the need arose to organizea gathering for t’filla to include allsectors of the community and all thek’hillos, the Amshinover Rebbe,himself one of the Shanghai refugees,suggested that R’ Ashkenazi organizeit. This way, everybody, withoutexception, would participate. Andthat’s what happened.

Every group of refugees thatarrived in Shanghai went to the rav.He took care of all their needs untileach one found his place, and theytoo got involved in helping the new

CHASSID

Many legends are associated with the uniqueperson, Rav Meir Ashkenazi a”h, who was therav of Shanghhai for 25 years. * Shortly beforeYud Shvat 5710, he came to 770 and after thepassing of the Rebbe Rayatz he was one ofthose active in working on the kabbalasha’nesius by the Rebbe MH”M. * Part 2

THE LEGENDARYRAV

BY SHMUEL ALEXANDER

refugees who followed them.

R’ Meir did not only providematerial needs. As someone who hadattended Tomchei T’mimim, he wasvery much aware that the body isonly a vessel for the light of theneshama. The neshama also needs tobe fed, soul food. R’ Meir took careof people’s spiritual as well asmaterial needs.

Among the thousands of refugeeswere modern Jews from Germanywho were reminded of their Jewishheritage only because the Nazis roseto power. They were ignorant of allthings Jewish and R’ Meir taughtthem Torah and how to fulfillmitzvos. He himself gave themshiurim and worried about theirchildren’s chinuch with things likeShabbos observance and familypurity. He was mekarev thousands ofJews to their Father in heaven.

TOMCHEI T’MIMIMIN CHINA

There are many chapters toldabout the refugees in Shanghai, andone of the main ones concerns theyeshivos. Three groups came toShanghai with the largest groupbeing Litvish, the second beingPolish Chassidim, and the thirdbeing the T’mimim.

The first group arrived in 1941and it included hundreds of Mirreryeshiva bachurim with their roshyeshiva, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitzand their mashgiach ruchni, RabbiYechezkel Levenstein. About 35T’mimim came with this group.

R’ Meir knew about the arrival ofthe T’mimim ahead of time from aletter that the Rebbe Rayatz hadwritten to him. He and his familywaited to greet these distinguishedtalmidim. The arrival of the T’mimimgave an entirely different flavor tothe city of Shanghai, for until thenthere were only two people withbeards, R’ Meir Ashkenazi the ravand R’ Chaim Plotkin the

Chassidishe shochet, bothLubavitchers.

It was obvious that R’ Meir wasthe man who would take care of allof them and indeed, even before theycame, he arranged a building forthem, the Beis Aharon shul, which hegot from the Sephardic community.That is where the new yeshiva wouldbe. The sound of Torah could beheard in Shanghai the very day therefugees arrived there.

Even after the yeshiva wasestablished and the talmidim wereset up in their new living quarters, R’Meir did not leave his post, butalong with his wife, they took care ofthe talmidim as though they weretheir own children. RebbetzinAshkenazi was called the “mother ofall the refugees.” Any bachur whodidn’t feel well was put up in herhome.

When a small possibility foremigration to the US opened up, R’Meir immediately got to work withhis connections and with money tohelp the refugees move on. Theextent of his genuine mesirus nefeshis illustrated in the following story:

Over a decade after the end of thewar, when R’ Ashkenazi was nolonger alive, one of his grandsonswent to learn in the yeshiva in S.Paulo, Brazil. He met someone whoasked him his name and then beggedhim to come and be his guest. Atfirst the boy refused but the maninsisted and the man also beganpestering the boy’s host. The talmidwent to him for a meal.

During the meal the host treatedhim with the utmost respect, in amost unusual fashion. The grandsonwas taken aback by all the honor hereceived and he couldn’t refrain fromasking why he was being treated thatway.

The man said: We were Litvishebachurim who were refugees inShanghai. One day we managed toobtain visas. However, they were sent

to the headquarters of a country thatwas considered an enemy of Chinaand just entering the place wasdangerous. We were beside ourselvesand we turned to Rabbi Ashkenazifor advice.

Rather than give advice, the ravhimself went to the place in order toget the exit visas. He wore tachrichim(burial shrouds) under his clothesand warned his family that if he didnot return by evening, he would notreturn and they should see to it thathe had a Jewish burial.

In order to appreciate what R’Meir did to save the Torah world,and the ramifications of this till ourday, we would have to describe thatterrible period. The elderly have thememories, but the youngergeneration is not familiar with it, butthis is not the place to go on aboutthis at length.

We will suffice with what one ofthe Litvishe roshei yeshivos said toRabbi Ashkenazi’s grandson, “Yourgrandfather literally saved the olamha’Torah.”

As someone who had attendedTomchei T’mimim, R’ Meir knew thatthe reestablishment of the Mirreryeshiva, a Litvishe yeshiva, wouldnot suffice. He immediatelyestablished a branch of TomcheiT’mimim and since they had nomaggid shiur for Nigleh, he took thatarduous role, despite his heavyinvolvement in communal work.

It wasn’t easy for R’ Meir tosupport Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim.The Vaad Hatzalah that raised moneyin the US for the talmidim of theyeshivos in Shanghai was run by aLitvishe rosh yeshiva who stronglyopposed Lubavitch. In the telegramsthat he sent about the wiring ofmoney to Shanghai he would note:except for Lubavitch.

Yet Rabbi Ashkenazi was seen asthe right man to be treasurer of thesefunds, despite his being aLubavitcher Chassid. This shows


how greatly trusted he was by all.

Even after the money sent toShanghai was distributed, theT’mimim had nothing. While theirfellow talmidim wore new clothes,they didn’t even have clothes forShabbos. Nevertheless, neither R’Meir nor the T’mimim would foregothe privilege of learning specificallywithin the four cubits of TomcheiT’mimim. R’ Meir took on theburden of the yeshiva along with hiswife and when the talmidim were ofmarriageable age they married themoff.

The yeshiva continuedfunctioning until the Rebbe Rayatzwas able to obtain money andaffidavits and the T’mimim left for

America.

TORAH AND DERECH ERETZIt should be noted that despite R’

Meir’s preoccupation with communalwork, he did not neglect his learningor his avodas ha’t’filla. When helearned it was like the learning of atalmid in Tomchei T’mimim who hasnothing in his world but Torah andt’filla.

Rabbi Simcha Elberg, a Shanghairefugee, who was later close with theRebbe, described it thus in his bookEinei HaEida:

Rabbi Ashkenazi was in Shanghaifor 23 years and throughout thoseyears he was immersed in Torah, inholiness and purity. Holy were hisdays and holy were his nights. Hegathered all the holy sparks of theplace and absorbed them. Heworked, before anything else, onfixing himself. He always sought theroad to spiritual perfection, how tobe refined and sanctified. He becamean oved Hashem. He weighed every

word, measured every step, howmuch avodas Hashem there was inevery weekday Shmoneh Esrei of his!Whoever saw him daven felt thek’dusha and was uplifted. A holy Jewlives in Shanghai and his name isRabbi Meir Ashkenazi.

HIS LAST YEARSFor over 25 years, Rabbi

Ashkenazi served as rav in Shanghaiuntil all the refugees moved on tofree countries whether to EretzYisroel or the US. The old-timeresidents of Shanghai joined themand so the era of the Shanghaicommunity came to an end. R’ Meirhad his sights set on New York. Hewanted to meet the Rebbe and havejust a bit of nachas after all the yearsof travail he had endured.

In 1949 R’ Meir arrived in NewYork. His final days in New Yorkwere like Yaakov’s last days in Egypt.He was able to bask in the light ofthe Rebbe Rayatz and the Rebbe,who extended to him great affection.


Rav Meir Ashkenazi sitting to the right of the Rebbe at a farbrengen on 24 Teives 5712Left: Rav Ashhkenazi making a siyum as per the Rebbe’s request

Few are the Chassidim who meritedsuch an unusual relationship as R’Ashkenazi, yet he actualized the goalof Tomchei T’mimim to be an“illuminating candle” to preserve theJewish spark, and he did so withmesirus nefesh.

In the notes of R’ AvrohomWeingarten he mentions that when R’Ashkenazi came to 770, the mashpiaR’ Shmuel Levitin had a yechiduswith the Rebbe Rayatz and heard himsay “lofty words about R’ Ashkenazi.”

At that time, Rabbi JJ Hecht ran alarge children’s rally and when heasked the Rebbe who to invite toaddress the children, the Rebbe toldhim to invite R’ Meir Ashkenazi. R’Hecht was surprised since R’ Meirdid not know English and thechildren wouldn’t understand him,but the Rebbe said: It’s importantthat the children see a lichtike tzura(a luminous countenance).

LEADING THE CALL TOCROWN THE REBBE

The Rebbe Rayatz passed awayshortly after R’ Meir moved to NewYork. R’ Ashkenazi was the pioneerwho led the movement to convincethe Rebbe to accept the nesius. Hewas the head of the rabbanim whowere in 770 at that time and hepoured his energy into having theRebbe accept the nesius. Aninteresting story took place whichled to the Rebbe receiving him foryechidus already in Adar 5710:

While still in Shanghai the holyR’ Aharon of Belz zt”l visited hisfather, R’ Shneur Zalman who toldthe Admur about his son. The BelzerRebbe asked that he [R’ Meir] visithim when he arrived in Eretz Yisroel.R’ Meir arrived in Eretz Yisroel in1947 and visited the Belzer Rebbe.

At that time, R’ Ashkenazi lookedterrible. When the Belzer Rebbe sawhim, he said: You are not my Chassidand you don’t ask questions [of me],but I will suggest three things for

your health: 1) don’t eat dairyproducts (butter, cheese, etc.) exceptfor actual milk, 2) don’t listen tomusic, 3) don’t go to the gravesitesof tzaddikim, and if you don’t listen,your situation will be worse.

After Yud Shvat 5710, R’ Meirdidn’t know what to do and he wentto the Rebbe and said he hadquestions to ask. The Rebbe told himto go to the Ohel. R’ Ashkenazi saidthat’s just what he wanted to ask andhe told the story about the BelzerRebbe.

The Rebbe said: He told you thatyou aren’t his Chassid, so why didn’tyou ask him for the source of whathe recommended? Since youaccepted what he said, you shoulddo it.

R’ Meir said: If so, I need a Rebbeto answer my questions. The Rebbeput on his sirtuk and gartel andaccepted R’ Ashkenazi for yechidus.

Not surprisingly, it was R’ Meirwho read the general letter ofHiskashrus of the Chassidim to theRebbe on Yud Shvat 5711. He wasdefinitely a model of utter bittul tothe new nasi, who worked with allhis strength to help firmly establishthe Rebbe’s nesius and lay thefoundation for the expansion of hisinstitutions.

Later on, a certain wealthy mantold his grandson, Rabbi MordechaiShmuel Ashkenazi, that in 5711 hisgrandfather had taken him foryechidus to the Rebbe. When he lefthe was amazed by R’ Meir’stremendous bittul, for R’ Meir was anold man with a white beard and theRebbe was a young man.

R’ Meir was mekushar to theRebbe heart and soul and didn’tmake a move without the Rebbe’sapproval and guidance. R’ Meirbecame seriously ill and washospitalized and the doctors checkedhim and said there was nothing theycould do. There was no reason forhim to remain in the hospital and

they asked him to go home.

R’ Ashkenazi refused and saidthat without the Rebbe’s approval hewasn’t moving. His son-in-law wentto the Rebbe and the Rebbe said itseemed the doctors wanted his bed,which is why they were releasinghim. He went back and said this tothe doctors who conceded that thiswas true.

R’ Meir received much respectfrom the Rebbe. The Rebbe eventook an interest in his personal life.When R’ Meir didn’t feel well, theRebbe suggested he take a vacation.When R’ Meir asked the Rebbe whatto do there, the Rebbe opened adrawer in his desk and took out theRebbe Rayatz’s recounting of thestory of Shimon the Heretic and said:Take this and you’ll have somethingto read. That is how we have thisreshima.

When R’ Meir sat Shiva for hisfather in 5712 the Rebbe came toconsole him and said: Just as allmitzvos need to be done withsimcha, this mitzva too.

The Rebbe relied on him in aunique fashion and placed him at thehelm of mosdos. It is told that theRebbe appointed him to supervise,along with two other olderChassidim, one of the yeshivos inEretz Yisroel. One time, the menahelhad a yechidus and he reportedabout their many expenses.

The Rebbe stopped him and saidthat R’ Ashkenazi reportedotherwise… The menahel said that R’Meir lied. The Rebbe said: Whensomeone says that a rav lied, hedeserves that all his teeth should fallout. When that man returned toEretz Yisroel, not one tooth remainedin his mouth.

The Rebbe relied on R’ Meir’sp’sak halacha too, and asked himquestions in halacha. When thebachurim asked the Rebbe whoshould test them for smicha, theRebbe referred them to R’ Ashkenazi



who is a “genuine baal horaa.”

R’ Ashkenazi did not live muchlonger. The trials and tribulations heendured weakened him, hisappearance became that of a very oldman, and he passed away in 1954 atthe age of 63. The Rebbe was

involved in the funeral arrangementsand said it should be done as early aspossible. When the family wanted todelay the funeral in order to enablethe Litvishe g’dolei ha’rabbanim andthe thousands of people who hadlived in Shanghai to pay their

respects to the deceased, the Rebbesaid that as far as he knew R’ Meir,he would prefer to forego thecommotion.

The Rebbe went to console thefamily and spoke to them at lengthand davened Mincha there. At thenext farbrengen, the Rebbe spokeabout R’ Meir and said that upAbove, the Rebbe Rayatz had doneeverything to bring him [R’ Meir] tohim [the Rebbe Rayatz].

Something interesting took placeshortly after he passed away. At thehome of a woman in Queens, agrandson found an old and worn outbook that he had gotten inVladivostok from a man namedEpstein, a descendent of R’ Isaac ofHomil. The book was full of writingand stories of early Chassidim andthe grandson took it to 770 to theRebbe’s library.

When R’ Yisroel Jacobson saw it,he immediately identified the bookand said: Rabbi Ashkenazi onceshowed me an excerpt from it (andR’ Yisroel pointed it out) which saysin the name of one of the Chassidimof the Tzemach Tzedek: We have atradition that the last Rebbe beforethe coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinuwill be named Menachem Mendel.

* * *

The material in this article aboutR’ Meir Ashkenazi is only a samplingof information and stories, mesirusnefesh and unlimited Ahavas Yisroel,with true hiskashrus to the Rebbeim.

(From a t’shura given at a wedding of his great-grandson, Meir Wilschansky)

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The accounting book of Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in which Rav Meir Ashkenaziis listed as the menahell of the yeshiva

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