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B”H. 15 Kislev 5776 – Hakhel • 27 November 2015 • Number 997 • Price: $6.00 • Part 2 of 2

The international weekly heralding the coming of Moshiach

THE HAKHEL DEMOGRAPHIC

BY RABBI GERSHON AVTZON

CHINUCH WITH LOVE

THE APPROACH OF RABBI CHAIM DAYAN

WHEN “DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER” IS A POSITIVE

PSYCHOLOGICAL STATERABBI ZALMAN GOLDBERG ON THE

TOPIC OF BITACHON

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

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Beis Moshiach (USPS 012-542) ISSN 1082-0272 is published weekly, except Jewish holidays (only once in April and October) for $160.00 in Crown Heights. USA $180.00. All other places for $195.00 per year (45 issues), by Beis Moshiach, 744 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213-3409. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY and additional offices. Postmaster: send address changes to Beis Moshiach 744 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213-3409. Copyright 2015 by Beis Moshiach, Inc.

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CONTENTS

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FEATURED ARTICLES

8 THE LIBEL OF YUD-TES KISLEV 5715Shneur Zalman Berger

16 SPECIAL FORCES WARRIOR IN THE REBBE’S ARMYAvrohom Rainitz

24 THE WANDERING MASHGIACHDov Levanon

30 HOW TO END WORLD WAR IIISholom Ber Crombie

34 EVERY TEACHER IS A SHLUCHA!Rocheli Dickstein

WEEKLY COLUMNS 3 D’var Malchus5 Parsha Thought15 Bitachon Bytes29 Moshiach & Hakhel30 Crossroads32 Tzivos Hashem

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BASI L’GANI 5716Beis Moshiach presents the maamer the Rebbe MH”M delivered on Yud Shvat 5716, in accordance with the custom established by the Rebbe to review each year a section of the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamer Basi L’Gani of 5710. • This year we focus on the sixth section of the profound and foundational Chassidic discourse. * Part 2

Translated by Boruch Merkur

SPOKEN AND BROUGHT INTO BEING2. My revered father in-law, the Rebbe, baal

ha’hilula, continues in the maamer: “And from the above we will understand the significance of why the wood of the Mishkan is called ‘krashim,’ as it is written, ‘You shall make the krashim for the Mishkan of standing planks of acacia wood.’” From this verse it is clear that the term “acacia wood – atzei shittim” applies to the wood even prior to its having a connection to the Mishkan. In order to construct the Mishkan it was necessary to take acacia wood and make it into krashim, planks. The maamer explains that the term “keresh – plank” also alludes to the avoda of transformation, discussed above – that through iskafia (resisting the temptation towards that which unholy), which is the gateway to is’hapcha (sublimating or transforming unholiness), unholy shtus is transformed into something holy (as further discussed below).

But first we shall explain how a name (for the term “keresh – plank” is a noun, a name of something) is the mechanism by which the thing named is brought into being; it is its vitality and the force that sustains it. This idea is expressed in the Baal Shem Tov’s well-known interpretation of the verse, “Forever, O G-d, Your word stands in the Heavens”: G-d’s statement, “Let there be a firmament amidst the water, etc.,” these words and letters, stand and maintain their position forever in the heavens, and they are eternally invested within all the firmaments in order to enliven them. Were the letters to depart for a moment, G-d forbid, all the heavens would be void and nothingness, literally as before “Let there be a firmament, etc.” was uttered.

The same applies to all the creations throughout all the worlds, including the physical world and even the mineral kingdom within it (which is the lowest of the four kingdoms: human, animal, vegetable, and mineral). If the letters from the Ten Utterances with which the earth

was created in the Six Days of Creation would depart for even an instance, G-d forbid, everything would literally revert to void and nothingness, precisely as it was before the Six Days of Creation.

Thus states the Arizal that even the mineral kingdom – such as stones, earth, and water – has the aspect of nefesh (spirit) and spiritual vitality. The spirituality inherent to even the mineral kingdom refers to the letters of speech of the Ten Utterances that invest themselves within it. These letters enliven and create the mineral kingdom ex nihilo, bringing it into being out of the primordial void that preceded the Six Days of Creation.

Although the term “even – rock” does not actually appear in the Ten Utterances of the Torah, nevertheless, vitality is drawn to the stone vis-à-vis permutations and substitutions of the letters, etc. The reason for this process is because a stone cannot receive Divine energy directly from the Ten Utterances as they are, but only as it descends and incrementally diminishes by means of the substitution and the exchange of letters. The permutation of the word “even – stone” is fashioned through this process, and this name embodies the vitality of the stone.

The same is true of all the creations in the world: the names by which they are called in the Holy Tongue are (not arbitrary words but) letters of speech that descend and derive from the Ten Utterances of the Torah to create them ex nihilo and to eternally enliven them.

WISDOM IN A NAMEIt is this message that the Mezritcher Maggid

conveys in his lengthy discussion on the verse, “All that Adam called each living creature – that was its name”: It says in the Midrash that the angels asked the Alm-ghty what the unique quality of the first man would be. G-d answered: his wisdom shall exceed yours. In

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order to illustrate Adam’s preeminent wisdom, G-d brought before the angels every animal, beast, and fowl and asked the angels to state their names, but they did not know. Then, after Adam was created, G-d brought the creatures before him and asked, “What are the names of these?” Adam answered, “It is appropriate to call this one ‘shor – ox, etc.’” The Mezritcher Maggid asks that at first glance this is puzzling, for what is the great wisdom in calling creatures by their names? Moreover, it must be explained why it says, “It is appropriate to call this one, etc.” In what sense is the name he called each creature “appropriate” for it?

The explanation is that although in each of the seventy languages there are names for each thing, nevertheless, the name in those languages is not descriptive of the essence of the thing named. It is, rather, just a word assigned by convention, designated to verbally differentiate things. Whereas, in the Holy Tongue, what something is called is its true name, the name of the essence of its spiritual source. For example, the “shor – ox” that exists in this physical world is called by its name on account of the supernal “shor,” comprised of the three letters Shin-Vav-Reish. So too with regard to all others names. Thus, Adam HaRishon, who possessed extraordinary wisdom, and fathomed and had knowledge of the spiritual source of every species, was able to call them by their true names. He therefore said, “It is appropriate to call this one, etc.,” meaning that the name articulated is not just a noun or a term used to signify the thing; it is appropriate or fitting to call it that, for it is the actual name of its spiritual source. Its name is in this sense “appropriate” for it.

The Mezritcher Maggid goes on to explain how this concept applies to the names of people. At first glance, the Maggid asserts, it goes well to say that naming people only bears relevance to ancient times. That is, since the people of early generations named their children in anticipation of future events (as stated in the Midrash), it illustrates that they knew the source of the child’s soul. These people had advance knowledge of events that would occur involving their newborn child, and they named the child accordingly. Their ability to determine future events in the life of the child proves that they possessed knowledge of his or her spiritual root and source. But nowadays [in later generations] children are named after their forbearers (as the Midrash states there), indicating that the spiritual root and source is not apparent to us, etc. [Thus, the naming of our children seems to lack the same significance of earlier generations.] However, the Arizal revealed to us that even the names we give our children are not happenstance or the whim of the father and mother; it is the Alm-ghty Who provides the idea, wisdom, and intelligence in the heart of the father and mother to call the child by the name that is actually the root of the child’s soul.

And the Maggid concludes that this is also in line with what our Sages said regarding the Tanna Rebbi Meir – that he would draw inferences of character based on one’s name. Thus, in the Torah of Rebbi Meir it was written “kasnos or” (not with an Ayin [as it is correctly written in sifrei Torah, meaning “garments of skin”] but with an Alef [meaning “garments of light”] (B’Reishis Rabba 20:12)), for to Rebbi Meir there was no concept of klipa (a husk, concealing G-dliness) at all: “he discarded the husk” (Chagiga 15b). Rather, the truth was revealed to him as it is [untarnished by klipa]. Thus, Rebbi Meir was able to determine the quality of the source of a person’s soul from his or her name. He was, therefore, able to foresee events that would transpire in the person’s life.

EX NIHILO: NOT LIKE A CRAFTSMAN’S VESSELAs has been established, names in the Holy Tongue

are not arbitrary, established for the sake of convention. Rather, each name is the spiritual and existential source of the thing that is called by that name, and it is also the source of the vitality by which it is created ex nihilo. In this process of creation, it is not that a thing is created by the name as a one-time act of genesis and it no longer requires the name. Rather, the name brings it into being every moment and every instant, as the Alter Rebbe discusses at length in his response to the error of the heretics who liken G-d’s creation of the heavens and the earth to the actions and dealings of Man: A craftsman forms a vessel, yet the vessel no longer requires the craftsman after it is complete. The reason for the object’s independence from its maker is because the craftsman forms it out of existing material; he merely manipulates its shape, etc. (i.e., he reveals the latent form that was concealed within it). Whereas, with regard to creation ex nihilo, there is an ongoing need for the Creator’s involvement, for the power of the Creator to be constantly within Creation. Were it not for this ongoing Divine sustenance, Creation would revert to void and nothingness.

From this discussion it is understood that the events that occur to every thing are also connected with the name in the Holy Tongue that creates it every moment and every instant, even though the events take place several years after it was so named.

The above sheds light on the term “keresh,” for this is the name the Holy Tongue has given to acacia wood once it had begun been processed for use in the construction of the Mishkan (as it is written, “You shall make the krashim for the Mishkan”), and this word is what creates and enlivens the physical planks of wood. Thus, the term “keresh” also pertains to all matters that must be accomplished with atzei shittim (namely, the transformation of unholy shtus, folly, into holiness).

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(To continued be be”H)

THE WORLD OF OTHERNESSBy Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

YAAKOV’S DISTRESSYaakov returned from a 22

year sojourn with his uncle Lavan with a huge entourage that included his wives, children, servants, flocks of sheep, cattle and camels etc. Yaakov discovers that his brother Eisav, who pledged to kill him, was approaching with 400 armed men. The Torah records Yaakov’s feelings at the prospects of war with his brother:

And Yaakov was very frightened and it distressed him. So he divided the people who were with him, the flocks, the cattle and the camels into two camps.

Rashi makes the observation that there is a repetitive expression here: It describes Yaakov as both frightened and distressed. Why the dual expression?

Rashi explains: “And he was frightened lest he be killed, and it distressed him were he to kill others.”

THE FOUR QUESTIONSCommentators ask: We can

easily understand why he was frightened lest he be killed, but why was he so distressed that he might kill others? Weren’t the others he might have to kill, out to kill him? Isn’t there a Mitzvah,

a commandment, to defend yourself and your family?

The Chassidic work Orach L’chaim answers that Yaakov was distressed that he would be compelled to kill his own brother. However, Rashi states that he was concerned that he would kill “others,” making it clear that he was concerned about killing any of Eisav’s men, not just Eisav.

A second question may be raised. The Torah states that in response to his fear and distress he divided the camp into two parts. By dividing his camp into two sections, the Torah continues, it would enable one half of his camp to escape harm. This clearly ameliorates his concern of being killed, but how does dividing his camp into two address his distress at having to kill others? If he were forced to kill Eisav’s henchmen he would have to kill them even if half of his entourage could escape.

A contemporary work, Avir Yosef, answers the first question by observing that Yaakov was concerned that the justified killing of his enemy would plant feelings of violence in him. Yaakov was distressed that his pure soul would be sullied by the violence in which he would be forced to engage.

However, why should his fear of instilling a violent streak in his psyche be a reason for him to

divide his camp into two?The Maharal in his work

Gur Aryeh asks a third question: Why does Rashi say that he was distressed that he might have to “kill others.” What does Rashi mean by “others?” Why not simply state that he was distressed that he would kill Eisav.

A fourth question can be raised. Why did Rashi have to mention the word “others” entirely. Obviously, if Yaakov were forced to kill, it is self-understood that he would be killing others, not himself or people close to him?

The classic work Semuchim Lo’ad argues that the word “others” alludes to the sage Rabbi Meir, one of Eisav’s descendants, who was given the moniker “others” in the Talmud. Yaakov was concerned that killing Eisav would eliminate the possibility for the emergence of the great luminary, Rabbi Meir.

While this is an ingenious explanation, it leaves unanswered the question why he was concerned about Rabbi Meir specifically. Furthermore, why is Rabbi Meir alluded to with the sobriquet “others”?

PLANTING SEEDSTo answer all these questions

(based on the thesis that he was concerned for the deleterious

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effect his killing of others would have on himself) we must delve more deeply into Yaakov’s concern.

Yaakov, like Avraham and Yitzchak before him, knew that he was not just an individual. Yaakov and the other two forefathers knew that they were the progenitors of the Jewish

people whose mission it would be to illuminate the world that would forever transform it into an utterly different and unrecognizable G-dly world. This reality would take place at some point in the future and it is what we know of as the Messianic Age.

The Patriarchs and Matriarchs, particularly Yaakov, were the delicate seeds or saplings that were being planted by G-d to ensure the future changes. Every event in their lives was geared to cultivating and nurturing these seeds and saplings. If the slightest thing went wrong and their behavior was found wanting, even if it was inadvertent or even if it would taint their character ever so subtly, it could have major ramifications for the future of the Jewish people and indeed the entire world.

For one, it would require their children to go through an even more difficult future. They would need a more intense refining program to compensate for the damaged spiritual “gene” of their patriarchal progenitor. A minor defect in the genetic material

can result in a major deficit in the offspring which necessitates major intervention and repair.

In spiritual terms this would result in his progeny, the Jewish people, having a significantly diminished spiritual potential, which would undermine their well-being. This weakened spirituality could ultimately

spell disaster for them due to a prolonged stay in exile.

Exile is a painful surgical process. It is intended to refine and rehabilitate us; it is fraught with its own pitfalls. Besides the inevitable pain and suffering exile has wrought, we are more vulnerable and susceptible to the forces of assimilation.

Worst of all, the ramifications of the defective spiritual gene, in the long run, could delay the onset of the Messianic Age, when G-d’s plan for the world will finally be realized.

All of this may have been streaming through Yaakov’s mind when he considered the prospect of having to fight Eisav.

YAAKOV’S FEAR OF SINThis could answer a question

concerning Yaakov’s fear that he might be killed. The Talmud asks, wasn’t he promised by G-d that He would be protected? The Talmud answers, he was concerned that he might have become so tainted by sin that he forfeited G-d’s protection.

Commentators have not been satisfied with the Talmud’s answer when taken at face value. To them, it is inconceivable that G-d would go back on His unconditional and unequivocal promise to Yaakov that He would be with him.

In light of the above, we may suggest that Yaakov’s fear was primarily for the blemish his sins might have caused so that even if he successfully weathered the Eisav storm and not die in the process, he would still be diminished. That diminution would have an unpredictable ripple effect on his progeny.

YAAKOV’S LIMPIndeed, this is precisely what

happened. Yaakov encounters Eisav’s angel in the night, who wrestles with and injures him. Where is Yaakov injured? In the part of the body associated with reproduction. This tells us that Yaakov’s encounter with Eisav did have a deleterious effect on his progeny. In the end though, Yaakov was healed and that portends that we will be liberated with Moshiach. However, we have had to endure the bitter and harsh Galus and as a reminder of that we do not eat the sciatic nerve of any animal.

Yaakov was justified in his fear that his imperfections would prove deleterious for the future of the Jewish people. We can now see that Yaakov’s fear of being killed was actually a fear of being spiritually diminished, with an exponentially more severe effect on his progeny.

ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED

We may now answer all of the questions raised above and tie all the loose ends together:

To ensure that the future of the Jewish people

would be extraordinary, Yaakov resisted having

to engage in even the most kosher form of violence

thereby guaranteeing his progeny an early entry into the

illuminating otherness of Moshiach.

6 � • 15 Kislev 5776 - Hakhel

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The reason Yaakov was so concerned about killing others is that the violence, although totally justified, could create a tiny “abrasion” in his spiritual generic makeup which would have a significant impact on the future.

We can now understand how dividing his camp into two would solve the problem raised by his fear of killing others. By dividing his camp and ensuring that one half would escape it would mean that one part of his family would be blemish free; they would not have engaged in the violence. And their violence-free genetic makeup would produce spiritually healthy descendants.

RABBI MEIR AND OTHERNESS

The word “others,” we have seen, is said to allude to the Talmudic Sage Rabbi Meir, who was nicknamed “Others.”

The simple reason for this epithet is that he was penalized for his disrespect for the head of the Sanhedrin at that time. Instead of referring to him by his proper name—“Rabbi Meir

says…”—the Talmud frequently states, “Others say.”

However, as the Rebbe explains, this title was also an honorific as it alludes to Rabbi Meir’s otherness. He was in a league by himself. So great and profound was his wisdom that none of his colleagues could fathom their depth. He was distinguished by his otherness.

Perhaps, Yaakov’s fear was that if he acquired some negative traits as a consequence of his need to engage in violence it would scar his spiritual genetic makeup. And as a result, the “otherness” of his progeny would be lost. His descendants would be made ordinary and incapable of bringing the otherness of Divine light (the word “Meir” means “illuminate”) to their lives. They would be condemned forever to the quotidian state of Galus.

To ensure that the future of the Jewish people would be extraordinary, Yaakov resisted having to engage in even the most kosher form of violence thereby guaranteeing his progeny an early entry into the illuminating otherness of Moshiach.

DOUBLE LIGHTOn the 19th of Kislev, this

coming Tuesday, we will be celebrating the liberation of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the first Rebbe of Chabad and the author of the classic work Tanya, also known as the Alter Rebbe) from Tsarist imprisonment. He saw his liberation as a Divinely sanctioned “license” to continue spreading the profound mystical teachings of Judaism contained in Chassidus.

The name Shneur means “double light” and alludes to a higher dimension of G-dly light. His teachings reveal the “otherness” of G-d, Torah and Israel and pave the way for the ultimate otherness of Moshiach and the Final Redemption.

Our generation, in particular, has been bequeathed Rabbi Meir’s otherness as well as the other-worldly light of all the Chabad Rebbes, particularly our Rebbe, and their teachings of Chassidus. May we soon see the imminent unfolding of the Final Redemption and our entry into the world of otherness!

hjh tsubhbu nurbu urcbu nkl vnahj kguko ugs

C H I T A SINYONEI GEULA

& MOSHIACHRAMBAM

SHIURIM IN LIKUTEISICHOS KODESH

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rncwwoahgurho ckeuyh

ahju, eusa

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LIVE SHIURIM 0NLINEAnywhere, Anytime !

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THE LIBEL OF YUD-TES KISLEV 5715An uninvited guest attended the central Yud-

Tes Kislev farbrengen of 5715 in Kfar Chabad

and afterward wrote a letter replete with

hatred and lies against the Chabad movement.

This letter was given to the Rebbe who made

inquiries about the truth of the matter and

then responded sharply and in detail to all the

allegations. * Presented for the Chag HaGeula

and Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus.

By Shneur Zalman Berger

UNINVITED GUESTThe Rebbe wrote a sharp

letter, unusual in its content, style and form, following the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen in Kfar Chabad. It was a farbrengen attended by thousands, led by Chabad rabbanim and various

leading lights, politicians and others.

Parts of this letter appear in the Igros Kodesh and other parts are quoted elsewhere, but the letter was never printed in its entirety due to the sensitivity of the matter.

However, the big question is,

why did the Rebbe respond so sharply? What is the story behind that letter?

***This is how the Yiddish

writer, Moshe Zimmerman, described Yud-Tes Kislev 5715 in Kfar Chabad:


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“Buses and cars packed with people from Yerushalayim, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Petach Tikva, etc. attended the Chabad celebration. A village beis midrash, gloomy yet aglow. Crowded with G-d fearing Jews, insiders, men of stature. Armored with glowing countenances, weighted entirely

by dense beards and wise aphorisms. Alongside them, admirers, men of letters and ideas, thirsting for roots, yearning for a lost spiritual connection. Their numbers include members of Mapai and Mizrachi. Each of them possessors of memories of Chassidic experiences from the

homes of their fathers. “A song rises into the night,

deepening, broadening, a complex song replete with ideas and debates, yearnings and consolation. A tune without words – it has no words and needs no words. The sound of deep faint basses seems to rise

Mr. Yitzchok Navon [former president of Israel] speaking at a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen

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up as if from a well, with the tenors climbing ever higher, and all together the stream of voices grows stronger and higher, and pours forth over the twilit fields of Kfar Chabad.”

This poetic description was not published in Chabad media or even in religious media but in Davar, on Friday, 22 Kislev 5715.

Indeed, many elected leaders along with leading national figures the likes of Zalman Shazar, Moshe Aram, Bentzion Dinor, Uri Tzvi Greenberg and others, attended the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengens in Kfar Chabad over the years.

The style of the farbrengen was pleasing to the journalist who wrote for Davar but not for someone consumed by hatred and jealousy of Chabad like the writer for Digleinu who besmirched Chabad time after time. He himself attended the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen in 5715, despite being a Misnaged who wrote vituperative articles against Chabad and against the Rebbeim.

The uninvited guest who attended the farbrengen saw the Knesset members and the public figures drinking l’chaim, singing Chassidic tunes, and some of them even spoke about Chabad and the Chag HaGeula. The latter were welcomed to the farbrengen with the respect

accorded those who helped build Chabad, and this was displeasing to the Misnaged. He knew that he couldn’t write lies in Digleinu since denials by Chabad Chassidim would show that he was a liar, so he sent a sharp letter, full of lies that were the product of his imagination, to Rabbi Uriel Zimmer, a writer and thinker who had previously written for Digleinu.

R’ Zimmer who was an active player in Chareidi activism and journalism in Eretz Yisroel, had become close to Chabad. He left for the US where he became a Chassid, mekushar and mekurav of the Rebbe. R’ Uriel was a brilliant man and many of his questions and doubts were referred to the Rebbe who responded with answers that clarified Chabad’s approach. R’ Uriel took the opportunity to send to the Rebbe some points from the libelous letter that he received and asked the Rebbe for answers.

SLANDERWhat was written in that

slanderous letter?The content of the letter

was kept secret because of the sensitive things written therein, including quotes from senior individuals, but after the Rebbe’s response, which you will soon see, a copy of the letter

was received by a number of distinguished Chassidim in Eretz Yisroel and certain parts are publicized here for the first time.

At first, the writer explains that he did not want to address the Rebbe directly and then he launches into his diatribe:

“Last Yud-Tes Kislev, I had the unfortunate idea of traveling to the celebration in Safraya [Kfar Chabad] and I took my son with me. The humiliation of … pressed upon me and I did not know how I could bear the shame before my son. At the head of the table sat the Chassidim the T’mimim Shazar, Keseh, Bar Yehuda and Aram [all leftist Knesset members at the time].”

At this point the writer was aided by the “wisdom of face reading,” which he had apparently learned: “The shul itself swarmed with wanderer guests whose lusts and serious sins left their mark on their coarse, materialistic faces.”

The writer goes on to say that men and women mingled and he also claimed that the main speakers were not the leading mashpiim but Shazar and Yona Keseh: “I saw there the ‘ohr p’nimi,’ namely the simple, innocent Chabad Chassidim who celebrated with mashke and inner song and music, and I saw the ‘ohr makif,’ the heads of Mapai whose speeches were the only spiritual content at that gathering.”

The writer defended himself from the outset against attacks upon the party he belonged to, Agudas Yisroel, and responded to the usual complaints of that time, like the reading of Ben Gurion’s letter at the Agudah convention. The writer immediately responds that the one who read it was punished and the Gerrer Chassidim, to whom the reader

“A song rises into the night, deepening,

broadening, a complex song replete with ideas

and debates, yearnings and consolation. A tune without

words – it has no words and needs no words. The sound

of deep faint basses seems to rise up as if from a well,

with the tenors climbing ever higher, and all together the

stream of voices grows stronger and higher, and pours

forth over the twilit fields of Kfar Chabad.”


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belonged, were forbidden to enter the shul.

In order to exaggerate his complaints, he quotes various people, one of whom said he would not be shocked if the following year the speaker in Safraya would be one of the missionaries whose parents had once upon a time belonged to Chabad.

He even quoted one of the distinguished rabbanim in Eretz Yisroel as though he said that the terrible tragedy, in which a bachur from Safraya (Yisroel Dubroskin) was killed by terrorists, happened because of the chilul Hashem caused by the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen!

He concluded his letter with complaints about Chabad not joining Chinuch Atzmai and ended with, “The fear for the path this movement is going on is justified and you [R’ Zimmer], the big warrior for Chareidi independence and its self-assured dignity, what do you have to say about all this?”

CLARIFICATIONR’ Uriel Zimmer sent the

letter to the Rebbe as a result of which a series of clarifications ensued. The Rebbe sent letters to a number of distinguished Chassidim who had attended that farbrengen and had even been involved in organizing it, and he asked for a detailed report about the farbrengen. At a certain point, he even asked for recordings of the speeches. The Chassidim did not realize that this was an urgent request and the responses trickled in to the Rebbe. The Rebbe once again demanded full reports, recordings, etc. Among those asked to give a report was Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the vaad of Kfar Chabad, and R’ Avrohom Pariz.

Here is the Rebbe’s request of R’ Avrohom Pariz:

“Although I have written to some of Anash to inform me in detail about the farbrengen in Kfar Chabad and I am doubling my request to you too, since in your letter you write very briefly. The main thing, if possible, is to send the speeches, since when I am asked about them I do

not know whether there is any basis or not, and it is clear that in such matters lashon ha’ra is not an issue since it is for a purpose.”

The Rebbe also expressed his opinion about the reliability of the complaints in the slanderous letter:

“Especially when I suspect that those who come with

Mr. Efraim Katzir [Labor party politician] and Mr. Zalman Shazar [former president of Israel] with R’ Shlomo Meidanchik and mashpia, R’ Mendel Futerfas, at a Yud-Tes

Kislev farbrengen

From left to right: R’ Uriel Zimmer, R’ Pinye Altheus, R’ Yaakov Yosef Raskin

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complaints, their questions are based on jealousy and not on yiras Shamayim and the like. Still, I would like to see the wording of the above, of course.”

The content of the speeches as well as a detailed report took time in arriving and therefore the Rebbe did not wait any longer. He sent a letter to R’ Zimmer with particularly sharp answers. We will now explain those parts connected to the Yud-Tes Kislev

farbrengen.First, the Rebbe expresses his

reservations regarding the claims of the defamer and says he does not know what is true and what is made up. Still, even assuming that all the details are correct, the situation could be looked at from two possible perspectives. One perspective is that the hanhala of Kfar Chabad is interested in the mingling of men and women, and that the main speakers be representatives of a certain

party. The Rebbe explains that a discussion with someone who thinks this is really the situation is pointless, as our Sages say, “any encounter with them is bad.”

The other option would be to say that the hanhala of Kfar Chabad understands what mingling is about, but for certain reasons they did not send the women away from the celebration and they also saw to it that so-and-so and so-and-so would speak in praise of Chassidus [although not necessarily the representatives of a certain party].

Regarding the complaint that it was all done for money, i.e. budgetary bequests from elected officials, the Rebbe responds that to the best of his knowledge since the celebration the people of the Kfar did not receive any additional money, but with the help of those participants [elected public officials], spiritual benefits did accrue (not necessarily for the residents of the Kfar)! Furthermore: Thanks to those who attended the Yud-Tes Kislev celebration, over the past year, hundreds of Jewish boys and girls learned Toras Hashem in its pure form.

In general, added the Rebbe, the Jews of Poland, Galicia, and Russia were always in touch with Jews like these and even gave them honors, “and used their influence and efforts to cancel undesirable decrees and laws, to make things easier in the spiritual matters of the Jewish people and even material things regarding the livelihood of Jews.”

The Rebbe goes on to mention the events that occurred at the Knessia G’dola of Agudas Yisroel that took place half a year earlier but in the letter the Rebbe does not specify what he means.

MISNAGDIM AND CHASSIDIM IN CHEVRONMisnagdim at a farbrengen?The following is an earlier account by a Litvishe writer who describes

a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen where Misnagdim were present. Here is a fascinating news item from Chevron from the year 5688/1927. At that time, the Chabad community had dwindled due to Chassidim having left during World War I. The Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen was attended by Lubavitcher Chassidim along with Chassidim of grandchildren of the Tzemach Tzedek as well as Misnagdim who lived in Chevron.

This is a news item from Doar HaYom from 24 Kislev 5688:Chevron. From our special correspondent. Wherever Chabad Chassidim

are to be found, they celebrate Yud-Tes Kislev when the Baal HaTanya was freed from jail, and they make a festive meal to commemorate the event. This custom took place in Chevron too throughout the generations with great pomp, since the city was settled primarily by Chabad Chassidim, descendants of the Mitteler Rebbe. The festive meal would last all day and night, wines were ordered from the best Chevron grapes that were prepared by elders and men of stature for the sake of the Kislev feast, and they were entertained by words of Chassidus, original Chabad niggunim… and dancing.

However, in recent years, as the old yishuv shrinks, many have died and many moved elsewhere in the country and abroad, and were replaced by new settlers, nearly all Litvaks, the glory of the Yud-Tes Kislev celebration in Chevron departed. The “grandchildren” [those whose grandparents were Chabad] do gather every year and have a seudas mitzva and are also accompanied by many “Misnagdim,” residents of Chevron. Words of Chassidus and niggunim are still heard, but it is all done with coolness and haste and after too much drinking there sometimes starts the barbs and arguments. Especially between Chassidim who came from abroad, students of the Rebbeim of Lubavitch descended of the lineage of the Tzemach Tzedek, and those born in Chevron who have their own great lineage as grandchildren of the grandmother Menucha Rochel, founder [SZB – there were Chabad settlers before her] of the Ashkenazi yishuv in Chevron who was also a granddaughter of the Baal HaTanya, and who are not that bound to the current Lubavitcher Rebbe [Rayatz]. Ultimately, the participants conciliate and all ill will is uprooted from the heart.


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The Rebbe even mentions “forgotten things”: Surely you know that there was a coalition in the government with the consent of etc. [referring to the g’dolim and Admurim of Agudas Yisroel], and you know how much so-and-so of his party tried to get a ministerial position so as to also be responsible for laws and orders etc. [the reference is to R’ Itche Meir Levin who served as Welfare Minister under the aegis of Agudas Yisroel for several years, thus being a partner to whatever the government did in the early days of the State].

The Rebbe expresses surprise: During the days of the coalition did the writer of the letter express himself against the minister from Agudas Yisroel who sat with ministers of Mapai and Mapam?!

In the besmirching letter it quoted a young man who said about certain people who

attended the Chabad event that they are worshipers of avoda zara b’shituf. In general, the besmirching letter and the

letter of the young man cited therein are full of the most biting language and the Rebbe writes:

A portion of the Rebbe’s letter to R’ Zimmer

“I hold in disdain all those who describe an entire

movement which numbers tens of thousands

of Chassidim, the likes of whom the describers do not

reach their ankles, not in mesirus nefesh and not in yiras

Shamayim and not in genuine tznius…”

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“I hold in disdain all those who describe an entire movement which numbers tens of thousands of Chassidim, the likes of whom the describers do not reach their ankles, not in mesirus nefesh and not in yiras Shamayim and not in genuine tznius […] and sh’miras ha’lashon – describing them with descriptions in that letter, and their students and disciples do not recoil from saying about a Jew that he worships avoda zara b’shituf […]

In continuation from the above, following the Yud-Tes Kislev celebration, “despite everything” not one person was missing from even one of the shiurim learned in the Kfar, on the contrary. The number of those who immerse in a mikva before davening even on weekdays did not diminish, on the contrary, etc. etc.

This is how the Rebbe explained to R’ Zimmer the importance of a relationship with elected officials and inviting them to a Chag HaGeula farbrengen.

THE PARTISAN’S LETTERWhen I worked on the book

HaPartisan, about R’ Zushe

Wilyamowsky, I got to see some confidential material on this subject, since he was quoted in the defaming letter, as a result of which the Rebbe wrote to him. R’ Zushe responded in a letter that he never said such things. In the end, even the Misnaged writer said he had written those things in error in the name of R’ Zushe. This bothered R’ Zushe which is why he wrote a letter to R’ Zimmer. Here are some quotes from that letter:

“The sincere of heart see that the activities of the Rebbe are holy of holies (and those who do not want to see because of personal agendas) surely the day will come and those among them who will be meritorious will know that Moshe is true and his Torah is true. Rather, my purpose with this letter is to deny the defamation of the holy community Kfar Chabad.

“And I have no doubt that the defamer does not come to the ankles of the least of the residents of the Kfar, especially when they are a congregation of Chassidim who are currently the spirit of resurrection in disseminating Torah with fear of heaven and strengthening Judaism in nearly all countries of the world, so

whence does this chutzpa come from? But our job is not to enter into debates with the evil of someone and our role is just to illuminate and the darkness will come to an end by itself as in the saying of the Tzemach Tzedek, ‘we are day workers.’”

As for inviting people who were not religious to the farbrengens in Kfar Chabad, R’ Zushe explained that by doing so they prevented demonstrations and many protests whose effectiveness were dubious at best. To all residents of the Kfar it was obvious that inviting these individuals was done for the sake of holiness and not for business, especially when the guests urged everyone to a yearning for authentic Judaism.

As for mingling of men and women, R’ Zushe said this was not correct for the women gathered in a special area as organized by the women of the Kfar.

To this very day, elected officials and prominent people close to Chabad continue to go to Kfar Chabad for the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen.

The author thanks R’ Manny Wolf for his help.

minutes, the Alter Rebbe looked at the Chassid with a smile and gave him the desired blessing. Relieved, the Chassid left the Alter Rebbe’s room. As soon as he left he realized that he had left his handkerchief in the Yechidus room. Hastily, and without thinking too much, he quickly re-entered the room, excused himself, took his handkerchief and left.

Upon exiting, the Chassid

gave a loud krechtz, “Oy, what have I done, the bracha was just fulfilled, and I didn’t get another bracha to meet again before I left!” The Chassid sat down in shul, relaxed and pondered the reality. “Instead of becoming worried or sad about the fact that my time is up, let me prepare for the journey to the next world in the proper way.”

We can approach every situation in life in one of two ways: one of worry and anxiety or one of introspection, relaxation,

and intelligent decision making. In every situation in life we must remember that worry is anathema to Bitachon and that the avoda of Bitachon demands of us to be totally tranquil, as if the positive outcome has already happened.

Rabbi Zalman Goldberg is a well sought after speaker and lecturer on Chassidic thought. His writings and recordings on the topic of Bitachon can be accessed at http://www.gotbitachon.com.

Continued from page 15


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NIRVANA: AN ACCURATE BAROMETER OF BITACHONBy Rabbi Zalman Goldberg

One of the fundamental characteristics of Bitachon in Hashem is the absence of fear.

If you truly have Bitachon you are completely serene. One who fears what the future of this world holds for him is clearly not relying on Hashem. Bitachon means that he is sure and confident that Hashem will make the situation good for him. And if he is truly certain of that, he will not fear any future occurrences. This message is featured in the beginning of this week’s parsha.

The Torah relates that the messengers Yaakov sent to his brother Eisav returned with an ominous message, “He is acting like an Eisav, without brotherly love, and is approaching with four hundred men of war, (indicating that even though two decades had passed, Eisav was still furious over the brachos Yaakov had taken and wanted revenge.)”

The pasuk continues and tells us that “Yaakov became extremely frightened and he was distressed.” The Midrash quotes

these words and comments that there were two people to whom Hashem promised security and nevertheless they harbored fear — the chosen of the forefathers, Yaakov, and the chosen of the prophets, Moshe. The example given to prove Yaakov’s fear is in our pasuk; Yaakov had been guaranteed prosperity, safety and security, and he was nonetheless frightened of the coming encounter with Eisav.

The commentators on the Midrash discuss the intention of the Midrash: was it to praise Yaakov and Moshe for their fear or is it a condemnation? Some say that it was a sign of humility, that despite being promised by Hashem that all would be fine, they still felt unsure of their virtues, and that perhaps Hashem would withdraw His promise. Others dispute this and say that the intention of the Midrash is to censure them, that they feared what the future held despite Hashem’s promise.

In explanation, the Rebbe emphasized that when truly experiencing Bitachon in Hashem, worry and fear are

not at all on the radar. True Bitachon means that the person truly relies in the depths of his heart only on Hashem, to the extent that he does not fear at all. Bitachon and fear cannot coexist together. When, however, the person experiences worry, even if it is just a scintilla of unease, this shows that the Bitachon is lacking.

This is the Midrash’s criticism of Yaakov. Worry and Bitachon are mutually exclusive emotions and therefore the correct way to approach hardship and adversity is with complete and total certainty that the dénouement will be positive in a revealed sense.

A Chassid of the Alter Rebbe used to visit Liozna every year and would merit to enter Yechidus with the Alter Rebbe. At the conclusion of every Yechidus, the Alter Rebbe would bentch him that they should see each other again in good spirits. One year the Alter Rebbe ended the yechidus with this Chassid and omitted his usual bracha. The Chassid noticed this right away and pleaded with the Rebbe to give him the bracha. After a few

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BITACHON BYTES

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SPECIAL FORCES WARRIOR IN THE REBBE’S ARMYR’ Halperin speaks for the first time: About the secret to the

success of his magnificent community, their annual group

trip to the Rebbe, the way to be mekarev every Jew and

convey the Besuras Ha’Geula without cutting corners. * R’

Yisroel Halperin, shliach and rav of the Chabad community in

Hertzliya, in a candid interview. Part 2 of 2.

By Avrohom Rainitz

Photos by Ezriel Moshe


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WAR AGAINST THE INTERNET: FROM A

DEFENSIVE WAR TO AN OFFENSIVE WAR

Over the years, dozens of families became interested in religious observance and a large, dynamic Chabad community formed in Hertzliya.

Unlike other Chabad communities which are somewhat removed from

irreligious surroundings, your k’hilla is located squarely within the secular milieu which is Hertzliya. How do you preserve yiras Shamayim and a Chassidishe atmosphere?

It’s definitely not easy. As you’ve noted, Hertzliya is a very open place and many groups find it hard to stand up to the destructive influences of the street. They try to wage a resistance war but from our

perspective that’s not enough, because as shluchim the Rebbe demands of us that we transform the “masses of Rome,” to an atmosphere of Lubavitch-of-Lubavitch. Instead of a resistance war we need to wage an offensive war focused on progress.

The secret to success is sourced in an idea in the sicha of Parshas Chayei Sarah 5752 where the Rebbe says the only thing remaining now in the

R’ Halperin holding the Tanya which was printed in the mayor’s office with Yechi on the cover

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avodas ha’shlichus is kabbalas p’nei Moshiach Tzidkeinu. This is not flowery language but the essence of what shlichus is about. When you implant this point within every detail of avodas Hashem and hafatzas ha’maayanos, you see incredible success.

Herein lies the answer to your question. In our k’hilla we really “live” the belief that the Rebbe is about to be revealed now. When

you know that momentarily you will have to face the Rebbe, your personal order of priorities changes.

Everyone understands that when that happy moment comes, we will want to look our best, inside and out. When speaking about Moshiach, the soul garments need to be beautiful: good thoughts, good speech and good action.

One of the practices that are integral to “living” with the Rebbe is writing reports regularly to the Rebbe. Every Motzaei Shabbos, R’ Halperin sits down to write reports to the Rebbe including good news. Not just he, but also the rest of the shluchim and Anash in Hertzliya who receive reminder texts to write good news to the Rebbe.

“This is the happiest time of the week for me,” says R’ Halperin. “I collect every bit of news, personal or general, in order to relate it to the Rebbe and give him nachas. Writing the weekly report gives me the feeling

all week that there is someone to answer to, because throughout the week I think about what I will tell him. When important things happen and especially good news, I don’t wait for Motzaei Shabbos but write it immediately. Every report includes all the online posts, all the flyers and web pages of the Chabad House and the articles about us in the papers or the things we submitted. These reports are filed away along with

a copy of the answer from the Rebbe, and the horaos that we get through the answers become the focus of our shlichus that week, among all our other activities.

And yet, the openness is not only in the street but inside the houses too, through technology and the Internet, which is the biggest nisayon (spiritual test) of our generation. You use the Internet in your shlichus to spread Judaism and Chassidus whether on your website or your active Facebook page. How can you use this technology without being exposed and being harmed by it?

First of all, only a few people work on these sites and they use filtered and very limited Internet. We bought protected phones for them and we pay for the best filters.

In accordance with the guidance of Chabad rabbanim, our approach is that those who don’t need the Internet for parnasa, are better off not being connected to it at all. When they

are businessmen who need it for parnasa, we refer them to suitable filtering options.

It’s important to emphasize that the Chabad community in Hertzliya (like many other communities) is comprised of different levels – there are Chabad Chassidim through and through, mekuravim who are starting out, and many others who are in between. Among those in between there are some who are stuck at a certain stage for a long time, but generally speaking they feel like an integral part of the Chabad community. So I don’t issue sweeping directives but try to speak to each person and relate to where he is at.

Personal example, as always, is very important. So I zealously keep my distance from all forms of media. I don’t use a Smartphone even with good protection so as not to give the impression that it’s permissible. For the same reason, I don’t look at Internet sites, not even our own. When those who run the site want me to look over content, they print it out for me.

I try to stay away from all of it, to the nth degree. In our community people know that the only magazine I look at is Beis Moshiach. The dedicated team of shluchim know that I don’t even want the local paper in which we printed big ads about our work. When there is news about Chabad in the paper, they cut it out and give it to me.

Boruch Hashem, it works. Before Shabbos, those who run the site print out the new content for the community. I can tell you honestly that if they did not hang the online content on the wall, most of the people in the community would not know what is on the Chabad House Facebook page.

“The first time I met the previous mayor of

Hertzliya, Mrs. German, I made sure to tell her

that when I say ‘Rebbe,’ I mean the Rebbe MH”M shlita.

She was offended and said, ‘Rabbi, I am well aware of

basic things in Judaism.’”


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But as I said, all this is only part of the defensive war, and it’s not enough. If you want to succeed, you need to focus on an offensive war and then the rule of the Sages, “since he is busy expelling, he does not absorb,” will prevail. When you are busy with outreach and hafatza and your mind is constantly thinking about how to prepare the world to greet Moshiach, there is no time to be influenced by the big world out there.

This is one of the reasons that we are very particular about including the members of the community in our outreach work. It is the secret to the success of the community and the secret to success for each person individually.

NOT A COMMANDER, AN ADVISOR

I’ve heard about how you include everyone in the community in your work. They say that you’ve incorporated methods that the army uses.

R’ Halperin smiled and said that their big success is not a result of military toughness. On the contrary, it’s about a personal relationship with everyone in the community.

“I operate with the method of ‘advisor’ (as the Rebbe says in the sicha of Shoftim 5751) and get people to partner with us and do the things the Rebbe said. They understand that this is important for them.”

Please tell us how your community is involved in your activities.

First, they are involved in the mivtzaim that we do, both the regular ones and the seasonal ones. People go out on mivtza mezuza, mivtza t’fillin, and the other mivtzaim on a regular

basis. There is a rotation system and each one does what he can.

I’ll give you an example from a new project that we started this year. After I saw how the Shabbos meals that shluchim hold around the world are so successful, especially at

the Chabad Houses geared to tourists where guests are exposed for the first time to an authentic Shabbos, we decided to do it here too. We say, “Come and taste Chabad in the East – in Hertzliya.”

The one in charge of this

“Our method is that there is no method. You

just need to sit down and learn the sichos, the

D’var Malchus, and do what the Rebbe says. That is the

best method…”

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project is in touch with all the shluchim who host people from Hertzliya visiting the Far East. We ask for their email addresses and when they return to Hertzliya we keep up with them following the same format of providing Shabbos meals. Those who are inspired there, continue here. We also asked some of the shluchim in those countries to come and attend the Shabbos meals we host. We have advertised it on Facebook and have reached 25,000 people and get a lot of responses.

So every Shabbos we have fun Shabbos meals. They are open to all and are very successful. Every Friday night, Anash families bring mekuravim to these meals and families from our community run the meals.

Another project we started last summer is a mobile trailer Chabad House, in the form of 770, 10 meters big. We did massive advertising for this and every day, the mobile Chabad House is parked in a different neighborhood and enables people to get all their Jewish needs taken care of close to home – Chabad comes to you.

Another project that the entire community participates in and which is very successful is the Pesach campaign. The Rebbe asked that we distribute handmade shmura matza to as many Jews as possible. Two years ago we decided that in order to hasten the Geula we need to give out as much “food of faith” as we can so it would become part of the flesh and blood of the residents of Hertzliya. It was a huge operation in which we literally went from door to door, including the university. We prepared a package which contained matza and explanatory materials. Women and girls from

the community packed tens of thousands of these packages while Anash and the bachurim in the community gave them out around the clock to 35,000 homes and businesses!

Anash are active participants in the huge array of shiurim we offer. There are so many shiurim that when we submitted a request for funding from the municipal funding committee the clerk was amazed and asked, “One non-profit organization gives so many Torah classes?!” Apparently, the number of shiurim given by the Chabad House equals the number of shiurim given by all the other organizations in the city together!

THE “REBBE MH”M SHLITA” WITHOUT CUTTING

CORNERSIn 5770, R’ Yisroel Halperin

was awarded the title “Yakir Ha’ir” for the year 5770. R’ Halperin was chosen by a committee with a majority vote of 17 out of 18 members. He is the youngest resident to be awarded this prize which is usually given to those with a proven track record in their 70’s. In the statement explaining the award they wrote that R’ Halperin received it for his work in founding community Jewish centers for the public, a chesed center for the needy, educational institutions and subsidies for children of needy families, and for establishing a branch of Yad Sarah in Hertzliya.

At the award giving ceremony, in front of 600 distinguished city leaders, R’ Halperin emphasized that his big success is thanks to the people of the community who work as a team. He is only the representative of all those who think the congratulations is not due them but recognize that

their success is thanks to the Rebbe MH”M shlita, and that they work for him. R’ Halperin always conveys this message, that all the success is attributed to the Rebbe. “We only try not to ruin things and to be the conduit to transmit the abundance that the Rebbe supplies,” he says.

When R’ Halperin mentions the Rebbe, it makes no difference when or where, he says the full title, “Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach shlita.” He did so in front of 600 local dignitaries, just like he says it in the shul where he is the rav and in this interview.

I wanted to discuss this point with him. There are people who are afraid that talking this way after Gimmel Tammuz will raise eyebrows and turn people off to Judaism and Chassidus. R’ Halperin is certainly qualified to address this, being in the field himself, and he knows that this perspective is simply not borne out. He believes that when you go with the truth, people relate to it, whether it’s Moshiach or in general, issues in Halacha and Judaism.

When he arranges a Chassidishe farbrengen for a special date, numerous local residents attend. Unlike other places that need to bring in artists and stars to draw a crowd, R’ Halperin does events “al taharas ha’kodesh” with chassidishe mashpiim. The seating is completely separate with a mechitza and there are only Chabad niggunim. Despite all these restrictions, if you want to call them that, the hall is full, while other groups in the city, who organize events and bring in special guests, have a hard time filling half a hall.

At the Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen last year, the mayor, Moshe Fadlon, came and told of


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the brachos he received through the Igros Kodesh. He told everyone that he was elected to his job thanks to the “Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach.”

Many shluchim have a hard time explaining that the Rebbe is Moshiach. They find it even harder to explain that the Rebbe is chai v’kayam. What is the secret to your success?

There are no secrets. First of all, you need consistent, non-compromising activities, both in a way of makif and a way of p’nimi. Starting in 5752, every week we hang posters on every notice board in the city with a picture of the Rebbe under which it says, “Melech HaMoshiach.” Our “makif” is very strong.

The first time I met the previous mayor of Hertzliya, Mrs. German, when she became mayor, I made sure to tell her that when I say “Rebbe,” I mean the Rebbe MH”M shlita. She was offended and said, “Rabbi, I am well aware of basic things in Judaism.”

After the general makif, there is the closer makif and aside from the standard Chabad activities, R’ Halperin gives an example unique to Hertzliya:

We have a shliach to the stores. Here too, the routine outreach work of putting on t’fillin and encouraging conversations about Judaism are permeated with the idea of kabbalas p’nei Moshiach. The shliach suggested to storeowners a way of getting a special bracha for their business: a certificate with their picture, showing them holding the Rebbe’s picture which says “Melech HaMoshiach” on it. The cost for the certificate is mitzvos, which are recorded in a special “written pledge of allegiance” to hasten the Geula.

A business owner signs that

he joyfully anticipates the Geula and that he is preparing himself and his household to welcome Moshiach along with good hachlatos. We place this in a golden book for kabbalas p’nei Moshiach Tzidkeinu bound with a beautiful leather binding.

People take this very seriously. They wash their hands, make a good hachlata, and then have their picture taken with the Rebbe’s picture. Then they receive a certificate with this picture which they hang in a prominent place in their store. When residents of Hertzliya go into store after store, including fancy establishments, and see that the storeowners identify with the message, they view the subject

differently. The storeowners also say that they consider themselves representatives of the Besuras Ha’Geula.

Here’s another thing – last year, many storeowners (that have no kashrus or tznius problems) have set up video screens in the front of their stores which show videos of the Rebbe all day. That’s besides all the Chabad Houses around the city that show Rebbe videos all day. Above the video screen is a golden sign which says, “Seeing the face of the Rebbe MH”M shlita.” These are all over, including high-tech places, and people stop and watch and are very impressed.

We convey these messages

There are three things that people take to the

extreme but in order to bring the Geula we need

to forgo one of them. The three are: infinite faith, infinite

unity, and infinite egotism. As mentioned, we need to

give up one of them…

Printing the Tanya in the mayor’s office

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both openly and indirectly and insert it at every opportunity. When, for example, on the soup kitchen sign it says “Yechi,” or when we write the word “appeal” next to a picture of an old man and it says, “We don’t allow anyone to go hungry in this city,” and next to it says “Yechi,” that sends a message that people who are committed to the welfare of others say Yechi.

I don’t try to convince people that the Rebbe is Moshiach; I present it as a fact, as the reality. I’ll give you an example. The first day the current mayor went to his office, the first thing he did was operate the printing machine that printed a Tanya that was waiting for him in his office. That was what he did before he sat down. First he said Yechi and then he pressed the “copy” button in the presence of the rav of the city who is Litvish. In this edition of Tanya there were dedications that began with Yechi. The mayor looked it over and then gave out copies of the volume with the logo, “From the Office of the Mayor of Hertzliya.” On the binding is the logo of the mayor along with Yechi. Aside from that, at the top of the dedications it says “In the merit of the Rebbe MH” M shlita.”

I think that this expresses the desire of the Rebbe who first speaks about the need to be “stubborn” and only then to “come up with ideas.” First, you need to know that the Rebbe is chai v’kayam. Otherwise, the main thing is missing from the book, just like you can’t ask a question in the laws of Shabbos if your belief in G-d is unstable.

So what is the method exactly, establishing facts on the ground?

Our method is that there is no method. You just need to sit

down and learn the sichos, the D’var Malchus, and do what the Rebbe says. That is the best method, like the simple servant who does his tasks with complete faith.

THE “K’VUTZA” OF HERTZLIYA

“The group from Hertzliya came,” people say to one another in 770. Every year during Tishrei this repeats itself and has become part of the Tishrei scene.

R’ Yisroel Halperin comes every year with a group from his community and mekuravim who want to be with the Rebbe for the latter part of Tishrei, Z’man Simchaseinu.

When did this begin? How do you do it successfully?

It started in the Hakhel year of 5748 when we came with a group of thirty people. Unfortunately, the following Hakhel, 5755, the first Tishrei after Gimmel Tammuz, it was just me and my family who came from Hertzliya. From all of Eretz Yisroel, only four entire families came. I saw that this needs chizuk.

The following Tishrei, 5756, I came with a group again and stood near the Rebbe’s bima. People around me did not understand why we were pushing when there was plenty of room. The guys from Hertzliya said to me, “Rabbi, isn’t this a bit much?”

I said to them, “Hold on tight, soon there won’t be any room.” Indeed, today, you need to forcefully push your way through to get to stand near the Rebbe’s bima. Boruch Hashem.

The group comes every year, like soldiers. They don’t just go to Beis Moshiach, but to Moshiach himself. The Rebbe is in 770 and they want to see him

himself. The fact that we don’t see him yet and that “for a brief moment I have left you,” is the Rebbe’s choice. We do our part and we are certain that this will immediately “work out.”

When the members of our group go on Tahalucha to shuls in Boro Park, many people join us. We march through Boro Park and sing “V’Samachta” and “Yechi,” and windows open and people watch. There are people in charge so we sing and walk in unison which makes a wonderful impression on those who see us. One shul did not want to let us in so we stayed outside and made a circle and danced. Last year, the gabbaim came out and invited us in.

The group is very unified. The guys sleep together, eat together, learn together, and proclaim Yechi together. It gives everyone lots of strength for the entire year. When we return to Hertzliya, we make a farbrengen and people share their impressions.

Of course, before we leave, we make sure that the shlichus in Hertzliya is not adversely affected.

What can you tell us about how these trips to the Rebbe affect the members of the group?

It makes an enormous impression. Here is one example out of many. Two years ago, one of the local big time lawyers joined me for Simchas Torah. He stood next to me during the hakafos. You had to see what kind of letter he wrote afterward to the city newspaper…

One of the mekuravim joined our trip after a few years. Afterward he decided to grow a beard and to publicize wherever possible that the Rebbe MH”M is chai v’kayam. He appears at


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all kinds of respected forums. At first he thought, should I tell them that the Rebbe MH”M is alive? Well, if I am sure it is true then it will be accepted just fine. And that’s what happened. After a while he said, “It’s amazing! Whenever I conveyed the message with full confidence, it was accepted.”

THE REBBE PROVIDES THE STRENGTH OF A KINGCan you tell us what

chiddush the Rebbe introduced regarding Hakhel?

I’ll summarize what the Rebbe said. Hakhel is the only mitzva where the spiritual intent is the main thing, while other aspects of the mitzva are merely details and not the essence of the mitzva. This is the reason why we don’t have a formal commemorative practice “zecher l’Mikdash” for Hakhel, because the whole idea of Hakhel is that the king is supposed to strengthen the true religion and re-inspire people like at Mattan Torah. The mitzva is done once in seven years – Hashem, through the king who is His emissary, strengthens and renews the revelation of Mattan Torah in people’s hearts. The goal is to provide kochos and awaken great desire to strengthen yiras Shamayim and the performance of mitzvos.

The Rebbe, as king of our times, provides each one of us with the kochos of the king to accomplish this very goal. How? By introducing the topic of

Hakhel to any existing gathering or by organizing Hakhel gatherings, thus infusing spiritual energy and an arousal of a desire for yiras Shamayim and mitzva performance and accepting the Rebbe as Moshiach.

Every gathering has to be connected to the main point, that this year we have the ability to renew the spiritual charge of Mattan Torah. Each of us has renewed abilities for mitzva observance and to welcome Moshiach. Just mentioning “Hakhel” accomplishes something. The Rebbe supplies us with a mighty tool that can revive so many people, with the concept of Hakhel.

This is even more impactful when you connect people to

the Rebbe. At every gathering, without shame, you need to declare that the Rebbe MH”M says this is a Hakhel year; the king gives kochos to every person and is doing so here and now. That sums up Hakhel. The Rebbe notes that in this matter every person is like a king in that he can inspire the people around him.

Final remarks.There is a saying that there are

three things that people take to the extreme but in order to bring the Geula we need to forgo one of them. The three are: infinite emuna/faith, infinite achdus/unity, and infinite yeshus/egotism. As mentioned, we need to give up one of them…

LEADING NATIONAL CAMPAIGNSR’ Halperin, along with his work as rav and shliach, undertook to lead

more than ten national campaigns over the years, and received instructions from the Rebbe about how to go about them. R’ Halperin, with his military knowledge, knows how to organize large scale and smooth running operations.

Back in 5740, he received a Chassidic “Tzav 8” (an emergency call for military service) regarding Lag B’Omer parades. That year, the Rebbe asked that at least sixty parades be organized in Eretz Yisroel. R’ Halperin is an exceptional organizer and implementer and despite the small number of shluchim at that time, the headquarters was able to make 167 parades around the country!

Then he led the project of getting Jewish children to shuls on Shavuos, as the Rebbe said to do.

In the years that followed, he ran the national siyumim for the first and second Siyum HaRambam. He also was in charge of the central command structure for Chabad’s national campaign on behalf of Agudas Yisroel – Gimmel in the elections of 5749. In his view, the most important large scale project was leading the largest protest ever in Israeli history against the Oslo Accords in 5753.

ADD IN ACTS OF GOODNESS & KINDNESS

TO BRING MOSHIACH NOW! Issue 997 • � 23

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THE WANDERING MASHGIACHR’ Chaim Eliezer Gurewitz

was a gaon in Nigleh

and was appointed as

mashgiach of Tomchei

T’mimim by the Rebbe

Rayatz. During the harsh

years under communist

rule he served as a

wandering melamed, going

to the homes of students

and teaching them Torah.

* In 5708, he was arrested

in Moscow and after

exhausting interrogations

he was sent to Siberia

where he remained for

nine years. * To mark his

passing on 7 Kislev.

By Dov Levanon

R’ Chaim Eliezer was born in 5662 in Kalisk. His father was R’ Mendel Dovid

Gurewitz, a descendent of the holy Sh’la.

R’ Eliezer was a gaon in Nigleh. Those who knew him said that he knew Shas by heart. He was one of the outstanding

students in Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Lubavitch. For a number of years he served as mashgiach in Nigleh in the yeshiva, having been appointed by the founder and nasi of the yeshiva, the Rebbe Rashab and his son, the dean of the yeshiva, the Rebbe Rayatz.

His Torah and Chassidic

stature were worthy of emulation by the talmidim of the yeshiva and even afterward, when the Rebbe’s court moved to Rostov along with the yeshiva, R’ Eliezer continued to serve as mashgiach in Nigleh. When he was appointed mashgiach of Nigleh in Rostov by the Rebbe Rayatz, other “youngsters” joined the staff: R’


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Shlomo Chaim Kesselman and R’ Chaim Meir Liss. “It is wartime now and you make officers out of enlisted soldiers,” said the Rebbe, referring to the young and inexperienced staff.

DURING THE DARK YEARSAfter the communists took

over the government, they began oppressing those who observed religious life. Thousands of Jewish schools were closed, shuls were turned into theaters, rabbanim were arrested and exiled, and those who worked in klei kodesh were relentlessly persecuted. The yeshiva in Rostov was closed down after only a year in existence. The talmidim fled to Poltava.

R’ Eliezer went underground and secretly continued teaching Torah to Jewish children despite being a genius who could have devoted himself to his own learning or to giving shiurim to bachurim-lamdanim. It was clear to him that this was his mission.

As time went on, the noose tightened. Even the small secret schools that had only five or six children were closed. R’ Chaim Eliezer began going from house to house, with great mesirus nefesh, and spent time with one child at a time, teaching them p’sukim.

Aside from the learning that they did, he would encourage the children to continue observing their parents’ traditions even when the situation around them was hard and threatening.

He was moser nefesh for the chinuch of his son too. For the first three years of obligatory schooling, until he reached the age of nine, he did not send his son, Sholom Dovber, to school. One day, officials came to his house and said that if he did

not send his son to school like all other Russian children, they would take the child away from him and put him in an institution.

So Sholom Ber went to school, but he was regularly absent on Shabbos and Yom Tov and gave various excuses. Things went on in this way until a Jewish teacher discovered the secret and from then on, he had to show up on Shabbos too.

“My father encouraged me to do everything possible not to write in school. He explained to me that even if I attended school on Shabbos, when I finished at school, I needed to conduct myself as on a regular Shabbos,” said his son.

Every Shabbos R’ Eliezer would walk with his son to a minyan in shul. It sounds simple enough but in those days it entailed real mesirus nefesh, for it meant not only was the father a counter-revolutionary, but he was corrupting his son too!

Although there were enormous difficulties in obtaining kosher food, R’ Eliezer was particular about all the stringencies. He never worked

on Shabbos and as a result, he went from one job to the next. For a period of time he worked as a bookbinder, then in a chemical factory, and then he got a weaving and knitting machine and worked as a tailor.

“You cannot waste time,” he taught his son. “It makes no difference what you do, just don’t waste time.” And he did as he preached. He always had an open seifer in front of him and whenever he had free time, he sat and learned.

Despite the oppressive situation, his house was open to guests and his modest home regularly hosted Chassidim and T’mimim. Although his home consisted of one room within a shared apartment with gentiles, three or four Chassidim always slept on the floor.

Life in Russia became intolerable and R’ Chaim Eliezer began thinking of emigrating. In 1934, he wrote to the Rebbe Rayatz that he wanted to leave. The Rebbe responded briefly that the idea of leaving was proper and he should make aliya. The Rebbe asked whether he had the money for it.

For various reasons, he did not emigrate.

IN THE RUSSIAN ARMYDuring World War II, R’

Chaim Eliezer was drafted into the Russian army and, fortunately, was sent to the city of Opa in the Urals. They had him guard the local power station. He spent four years there, nearly throughout the war. Every Shabbos he went to shul, a three hour walk each way. While he was there, he ran the minyan and also davened at the amud.

For years afterward, he was the chazan for Kol Nidrei in

R’ Chaim Eliezer Gurewitz

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the secret minyanim that the Chassidim had in Samarkand.

POST WARAt the end of World War II,

he returned to Moscow where he continued teaching Torah to children while endangering himself.

Rumors abounded about the possibility of leaving Russia as Polish citizens and that many of Anash had purchased forged Polish passports and left the country. R’ Eliezer’s son suggested to his father that he try leaving Russia in this way, but he refused to leave with a forged passport. His wife also refused to leave in this way, being afraid lest this method be discovered and her family who remained behind would be made to suffer.

R’ Chaim Eliezer decided to remain in Moscow and continue his work. Two years later he was arrested by the cursed NKVD.

IN RUSSIAN PRISONAt the beginning of 5708, six

great Chassidim in Moscow were arrested: R’ Yona Cohen (Kagan), R’ Berel Rickman, R’ Mordechai Gurary, R’ Berel Levertov, R’ Moshe Dubroskin, and R’ Chaim Eliezer Gurewitz. They were all accused of attempting to escape the Soviet Union via Lvov.

In the period prior to their arrest R’ Chaim Eliezer felt more unsafe and he left home and hid in the home of a relative. After several months passed, he returned home and continued his routine. On 15 Cheshvan 5708

he left home on his way to the large Archipova shul and he did not return home.

After midnight, when he still had not returned home, his family began looking for him. But he had disappeared. The regular worshipers at the shul said he had never come for Shacharis. The family became even more worried.

It was three days later when they found out where he had disappeared to. That was when policemen knocked at their door at four in the morning and said they needed to conduct a search. They searched the house for an hour and took all the writings of the Rebbe that they found.

In the following months he was interrogated under harsh torture. Since he did not like talking about this period of his life, we don’t know much about the interrogations except what was revealed fifty years later in the interrogation documents which were discovered.

The interrogators tried as best they could to justify the arrests and they worked to extract confessions from him. We learn this from papers that document R’ Chaim Eliezer’s interrogations.

The first document is a log of the interrogations. At the top of the page it says, “Secret.” Naturally, those evil men did not dream that one day this secret document would reach the hands of R’ Shneur Zalman Berger and be publicized in Beis Moshiach for all to see.

The paper says that the prisoner, Gurewitz, Chaim Lazer,

was arrested on October 29, 1947 and that on February 6th he was transferred to the Butyrka prison. The log is dated on the day he was sent from one prison to the other.

There is a long list of the days and hours he was interrogated. One can only imagine how much he suffered during these lengthy interrogations and sometimes, there were a few on one day! The longest interrogations were conducted in the period right after he was caught. In the final interrogations it seems he was forced to sign to charges in which he was accused of religious-Chassidic crimes and other accusations.

In the investigation notes it says that he was caught as he walked to shul on the morning of 15 Cheshvan. The first interrogation took place that day, from 2:05 in the afternoon until 11:20 at night. The next day he was interrogated four times between 11:00 in the morning and 4:05 in the morning, seventeen hours in a row!

He was interrogated by day and by night with the interrogators preventing him from sleeping so as to squeeze out a confession from him. During the final days of the interrogations he was interrogated over fifteen consecutive hours!

After so many exhausting interrogations R’ Chaim Eliezer was charged with the attempt to smuggle across the border even though he had no connection whatsoever with it.

All these Chassidim were sent to exile. R’ Chaim Eliezer was sentenced to ten years in a Siberian labor camp. Five returned from exile, physically broken, while R’ Yona Cohen, one of the founders of the Tomchei T’mimim yeshivos in the

“You cannot waste time,” he taught his son. “It

makes no difference what you do, just don’t

waste time.”


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Soviet Union, died in exile. May Hashem avenge his blood.

FREEDSiberia was hell on earth. The

exiled prisoners worked at hard labor for many hours in the severe cold. They were malnourished, receiving a little bit of food that was not enough for a person under normal conditions and certainly not enough for someone working that hard. Disease and death were rampant in the camps.

Camp rules were harsh and whoever transgressed them was punished severely and sometimes even taken out to be executed without a trial. Many of the prisoners broke down, physically or emotionally, from the great suffering.

For a Chassid, life was even harder, but R’ Chaim Eliezer held strong for seven years. He not only was moser nefesh in Siberia to observe mitzvos, he even looked out for others, as his son recounted:

“He hardly spoke about what he went through there. Once, a man who had been with him told us that even in the camp our father made sure to put on t’fillin daily. He held onto his t’fillin, which was very dangerous, and hid them in a large box of groats. One day, they moved him from one camp to another and when he entered the new camp they thoroughly searched him and took everything away from him, including his t’fillin. He was greatly anguished by this.

“A few days later, a terrible thing happened in the camp. The guard who had taken the t’fillin away had gone around at night on a routine check to make sure everything was as it should be. He also checked the fence. The soldier who was in the guard

tower mistakenly thought he was a prisoner who was trying to escape and he shot him to death.

“Here is another story we heard about many years later. My mother and I would send food packages to my father every month. Before Pesach we

sent him matzos so he would have what to eat on Pesach. Afterward, we found out that he gave out nearly all the matza to other Jewish prisoners there in the camp. When he later returned to Moscow, there were some people who were with him

Photograph of R’ Chaim Eliezer at his arrest with a page from his file in the background

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in the camps who remembered him just for this deed.”

Although he had no s’farim since they were forbidden in the camp, he prayed and learned by heart, utilizing his excellent memory that enabled him to remember entire s’farim by heart.

When Stalin died, many prisoners were released, including R’ Chaim Eliezer, who had almost finished his term. After more than nine years he was released from exile and in 5716 he returned to Moscow, a broken man.

He could no longer teach children but he continued being involved in Jewish matters. Before Pesach he worked as a mashgiach in a private matza baking enterprise in Moscow. He did it out of a sense of responsibility although he suffered greatly. There were workers there who didn’t care much about Halacha and

kashrus; they received their salary based on how many matzos they baked so differences of opinion regularly developed.

He would leave his house at six in the morning and return at one in the morning, utterly exhausted. Every night he would painfully ask himself, “Why did I get involved?”

Apparently, due to his anguish he had a stroke the first night of Pesach. He had prepared all the simanim on the table, was looking at a seifer, and then suddenly keeled over. He was seventy years old. He became paralyzed on his right side, but fortunately his speech was not affected.

Months later he did not feel well and was taken to the hospital where doctors said that he had a malignant tumor. They were 99% sure of this diagnosis. They wanted to take an X-ray to affirm their conclusion, but due to his paralysis, it was dangerous to

take the X-ray. The doctors did not think he would live for more than a few weeks.

A month later his condition improved a little and he was able to have the X-ray. It turned out there was no tumor after all. His condition improved and a short while later he was released from the hospital and returned home.

LEAVING RUSSIAIn 1972, R’ Eliezer told his

son the time had come to leave Russia. He received his visa on Purim of that year and left on 11 Nissan.

He arrived in Eretz Yisroel on Erev Pesach and lived in the immigrant hostel in Kfar Chabad. Life was very hard and he was still paralyzed. He passed away nine months later on 7 Kislev 5733 and was buried on the Mt. of Olives.

Sources: Articles by Menachem Ziegelboim and S. Z. Berger

that the entire Jewish people unite in the learning of the entire Torah!

[For men, the Rebbe encouraged learning three – or one – chapters a day, while for women and children, the Rebbe wants them to learn the daily Seifer HaMitzvos.]

We are now in the beginning of a new learning cycle. We are privileged that every day, our

entire family and community could have our own Hakhel with the Mishneh Torah. May we merit the speedy fulfillment of the final words of the Mishneh Torah (Hilchos Melachim chapter 12):

“In that era, there will be neither famine nor war, envy or competition, for good will flow in abundance and all the delights will be freely available as dust. The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know God. Therefore, the Jews will be great sages and know the hidden

matters, grasping the knowledge of their Creator according to the full extent of human potential, as Isaiah (11:9) states: ‘The world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the ocean bed.’”

Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well sought after speaker and lecturer. Recordings of his in-depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula u’Moshiach can be accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com.

Continued from page 29

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


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HAKHEL NOTESBy Rabbi Gershon Avtzon

Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,This Shabbos we read Parshas

VaYishlach. The word VaYishlach means that “Yaakov sent on a mission.” This Parsha comes directly after Parshas “VaYeitzei” which means that Yaakov himself was sent on a mission to Charan. At this point however, not only is he on a mission, he is encouraging others to join him on his special mission. This leads to “VaYeishev,” which means settled, that when all Jews realize that they are on a mission from Hashem and fulfill that mission, we will merit to be settled in Eretz HaKodesh with Moshiach.

In the Sicha of VaYishlach 5748, the Rebbe connects many of the above points to Hakhel:

1) Hakhel is a Mitzvah that united men, women and children. As the Pasuk (D’varim 31:12) says: “Assemble the people: the men, the women, and the children, and your stranger in your cities, in order that they hear, and in order that they learn and fear the Lord, your God, and they will observe to do all the words of this Torah. And their children, who did not know, will hear and learn to fear the Lord, your God, all the days that you live on the land, to which you are crossing the Jordan, to possess.”

This idea is hinted in the word

“VaYishlach.” We must realize that every Jew – man, woman and child – has a neshama and was sent by Hashem on a mission to build a dwelling place for Him and bring Moshiach. It is this mission that is the common-denominator that unites all the Jewish people together.

2) VaYishlach also teaches us that it is not enough for oneself to be a shliach; rather he must inspire others to join the mission. This is the idea of Hakhel. We must go out, gather, and reach all Jews. We must inspire them to add in their fear of Hashem, to the extent that the effect is felt “all the days that you live on the land” and that they are so inspired that they themselves become emissaries of Hakhel to get other Jews involved as well!

Some readers may be wondering: What is the main shlichus of our time that unites all of the Jewish people, men, women and children?

The Rebbe makes it clear in the sicha of the Kinus HaShluchim – the week of Parshas Chayei Sara, which speaks of the first shlichus in the Torah – of the year 5752:

“From the international convention must come and be brought good resolutions such that every shliach must prepare

himself and prepare all Jews in his place and city, etc. to greet our righteous Moshiach. This should be done through his explanation of the concept of Moshiach, as explained in the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, in a way that it will be received by everyone according to his intellect and understanding. This includes in particular learning the subject of Moshiach and Redemption, and specifically in a manner of Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge.

“And since this is the Divine service of the time, it’s understood that this applies to every Jew without any exception whatsoever.”

On a separate “Hakhel note,” it is important to point out the following: The Mitzva of Hakhel entailed all of the Jewish people – men, women and children – to come to the Beis HaMikdash and hear words of “Mishneh Torah” (Chumash D’varim) from the Jewish king.

In our generation, our King – the Rebbe – instituted a very special initiative. The Rebbe wants all of the Jewish people – men, women and children – to unite in the learning of “Mishneh Torah” (of the Rambam)! There is no other such learning cycle,

Continued on page 28

Issue 984 • � 29

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HOW TO END WORLD WAR IIIWe must not forget that all this wickedness came to the world due to the weakness and lack of firm resolve in the face of terrorism. The one who gave his “hand in peace” to the Moslem world was the President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Barack Hussein Obama.

By Sholom Ber Crombie

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

1.How is Eretz Yisroel “the

safest place in the world” when Jews are being murdered here and the ‘intifada of knives’ continues to run wild in the streets? This was the question discussed at a Chassidic farbrengen I participated in on a Shabbos afternoon a few weeks ago. There was a wide variety of answers, all trying to explain how “despite everything” and “nevertheless.” However, it turns out that the real answer is quite simple: If we look around us, we see that the number of casualties in other countries, regrettable as they are, is far greater than those suffered in Eretz Yisroel. One terror attack in France resulted in nearly one hundred and thirty dead! One Islamic radical bursts

into a theatre and manages to murder ninety people in cold blood.

Terrorism continues to rampage through the cities of Eretz Yisroel while politicians clash with one another over the state budget. Yet, we can feel G-d’s Divine Kindnesses here, the great miracles He does for us on a daily basis. After two months of brutal terrorism, starting with the murderous attack that claimed the lives of Eitam and Na’ama Henkin, may G-d avenge their blood, His Divine Hand has protected us. With every hour of each passing day, we see the fulfillment of “If G-d will not guard a city, [its] watcher keeps his vigil in vain.” There are revealed miracles in the Land of Israel that we haven’t

seemed to notice, e.g., terrorist attacks averted when a bus stop is suddenly empty just as the Arab with his explosives arrives at the scene.

True, the murder of every Jew pains us deeply and there can be no justification for the show of weakness by Mr. Netanyahu and his governing coalition against the growing wave of Islamic terror. However, in light of the fact that every Jew is an entire world, and the heart seethes and trembles with every act of murder, it is also forbidden for us to forget the miracles that G-d has already done for us. Yes, Eretz Yisroel is the safest place in the world, not just on a level of faith, but also based on the facts.

2.A potential third world war

has begun. This is the real headline that no one dares publish, even when millions of people find themselves in a state of hostilities. In practical terms, nearly half of the world’s population has been caught up by the current conflict. The residents of almost all the Arab nations are in the heart of the armed conflict, among them countries such as

French police forces near the Eiffel Tower


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Iraq, Syria, and others that have been in a state of continuous war for years. Now, the people on the European continent are also suffering their own wounds.

This war might be part of the messianic prophecy as foretold in T’hillim, “Why have nations gathered?” as we see the nations of the world getting excited in the days leading up to the Redemption. However, it is impossible to remain apathetic in the face of the brutal carnage taking place for years just a few dozen miles from Eretz Yisroel’s northern border. There’s something of a delay in the signs of Redemption there, as women, children, and the elderly are being slaughtered.

But how exactly did this war begin? We must not forget that all this wickedness came to the world due to the weakness and lack of firm resolve in the face of terrorism. The one who gave his “hand in peace” to the Moslem world was the President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Barack Hussein Obama. He is the one who stood by during the revolution in Egypt, which signaled the end of the existing order in the Moslem world. The tens of thousands who gathered in Tahir Square in Cairo

had received full backing for the resulting chaos and bedlam from Uncle Sam in Washington. Thus, instead of firm autocratic regimes, we got revolutionary democracy in the form of ISIS.

The conclusions of this war will undoubtedly be learned by future schoolchildren in their history classes. However, it is forbidden even now to obscure the message, that submitting to the terrorist threat is exactly what brought this frightful global conflict to our doorstep.

3.There is also another

conclusion to be drawn on why Islamic terror chooses again and again to strike at France: Which country over the years has given backing and refuge to the “Tunis gang”? The PLO terrorists received a warm and embracing sanctuary among their French comrades. Just recently, in light of the new wave of terror, France offered its assistance in supervising what is “being done between the two sides.” From France’s point of view, this has always been a legitimate dispute between two equal powers: those who initiate attacks and those who respond. They see the

PLO terrorism as a justifiable uprising of “an oppressed people.” French tolerance and “open-mindedness” has been shown toward those who murder children and blow up buses, and not toward their victims. The terrorists are the ones who have received greater understanding among their French patrons. Merci beaucoup.

While there should be sympathy for the innocent victims of the Paris attacks, there’s no need to update our profile picture with Le Tricolore. We cry for the pain of the people of France, especially its Jewish citizens, but let the truth be said: A country that displayed such warmth for Islam, enabling terror cells to sprout within its midst, cannot come with complaints now for the resulting bloodshed, for those who show weakness to terrorism, the terrorism will pursue them unrelentingly.

Last week, the following announcement made the rounds in various media circles: As a result of recent events in Paris, the government of Israel calls upon the two sides to show restraint as a means of preventing an escalation of violence. The government of Israel also recommends that the French government unilaterally agree to divide the city of Paris into two districts, thereby enabling the respective sides to live in peace as good neighbors. The government of Israel has declared that while it absolutely does not justify any acts of violence, it does suggest that France look into the matter of discrimination against its Moslem minority, something that leads young and disenfranchised people to take drastic steps out of a sense of despair.

This would be funny if it weren’t so sad...

French police forces near the Eiffel Tower

Issue 997 • � 31

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A TASTE OF THE GEULA

By D Chaim

You can see from Yisroel’s face that he is a fine, Chassidishe boy. He never fights with anyone and everyone knows that he is one of the best students in the class. But nobody knew that deep inside, a battle raged within him. Yes, he had to fight with himself in order to help his friends.

Like everyone else, Yisroel liked reading about the Geula and about the wonderful life we will lead then. When he finished the work his teacher assigned, he took out the interesting book he had taken out of the library from his briefcase and read it.

It’s not that he didn’t know that many of his classmates would be happy to get his help. “What’s with you? Why do you think only of yourself? There’s Moishy who would surely be glad if you went over and helped him.” This is what he often thought to himself, but in the end, his evil inclination would overcome him and he would remain in his place.

If someone asked him for help, it didn’t feel comfortable to refuse, but that usually did not happen. And even when someone asked and he agreed, deep in his heart he felt he was wasting his time rather than reading another interesting

story that waited for him in his briefcase.

In the school Yisroel attended, now and then there are festive gatherings to mark special dates. The principal gives out prizes to outstanding students whom the teacher picks. Yisroel, as an excellent student, always looked forward to getting a prize but another student was always chosen. “Why doesn’t the teacher pick me?” he always wondered. “I get high marks on my tests and always listen in class!”

One day, in the middle of the second lesson, there was knocking at the door of Yisroel’s classroom and in walked the principal. The room was silent as he said, “For Yud-Tes Kislev there will be a special assembly. As usual at these events, outstanding students will receive valuable prizes. But the way students will be selected has changed slightly. At the next assembly, those students who excel in Ahavas Yisroel will be awarded prizes.”

“How will it be decided who will get a prize?” asked Avrumi when he was called upon.

“That’s a good question,” smiled the principal. “We decided to let you choose. I will give out little pieces of paper

now and each of you will write down the name of the boy you think deserves an Ahavas Yisroel prize. The boy who gets the most votes will get the prize at the assembly.”

Yisroel, who greatly wished to get a prize at the assembly, was very disappointed to hear this. He knew he wouldn’t be the boy who was picked. “But what name should I write down?” he wondered.

It was hard for him to pick someone else to get the prize instead of himself, but he couldn’t submit an empty paper. He continued thinking about what to do when he heard the principal say, “You can write any name you want. If you think you deserve the prize, you can write your own name.”

There was silence in the room. The teacher sat in his place and looked at the students, and tried to guess which student would be picked. Yisroel did not even try to guess. He had made a decision. “I know what name I’m going to write on my paper.”

The day of the assembly arrived and the auditorium was filled with boys dressed in Shabbos clothes. The program moved quickly toward the

TZIVOS HASHEM


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distribution of prizes. When the principal began to read the list of those who were picked, Yisroel felt a little bad. It was hard for him to see someone else in his class get the prize as well as the respect of his classmates. A tense silence filled the room and the sound of thunderous clapping could be heard as the principal read the first name.

He couldn’t stand the tension and he left the room. “Hello there Yisroel, how are you?” said his teacher who was behind him.

“I’m sure you’re disappointed,” he said, without waiting for a response, “that the prizes are being given for excellence in Ahavas Yisroel.”

Yisroel remained quiet and just nodded.

“You should know that Ahavas Yisroel has a special significance.”

“Yes,” said Yisroel, “the second Beis HaMikdash was destroyed because of baseless hatred and so the way to correct the cause of galus and bring the Geula is through behaving with baseless love.”

“Correct,” smiled his teacher. “But the Rebbe says that the Jewish people already fixed the cause of galus.”

“Then … do we no longer have to act with Ahavas Yisroel?!” wondered Yisroel.

“Of course we do, it’s a mitzva in the Torah, but the emphasis

today is primarily on Ahavas Yisroel as a taste of the Geula to come, when all Jews will feel how they are one entity, like one person, and then of course they will love one another without limitations.”

Hearing this, Yisroel was reminded of stories that he read about the Geula. After a tiny battle he resolved, “I want a taste of the Geula!”

He quickly went back into the auditorium and heard the principal announce, “The one chosen from the sixth grade is Levi Kaplan.” He felt tense again, wondering who would be announced from his class,

the seventh grade. He would try with all his might to be happy for him.

The principal’s voice thundered, “From the seventh grade, Yisroel ... was picked as outstanding in Ahavas Yisroel!”

Yisroel’s head spun. He didn’t have to hear the last name to know that his classmates had chosen him. Surprised, he went up to get the prize and the thought that went through his mind was, “I guess my friends also want a taste of the Ahavas Yisroel that will be in the time of Geula.”

74| ~ | h"z fxku vw,a"g

ה אל טעימה מהג

מאת: ד. חיים

ך למופת. ראליק עדינים, והוא ילד חסידי מחנ יש ל ניו ש פ וי ת

נים צטי י הוא מהמ ם יודעים כ הו וכל עם הוא לא רב עם מיש אף פ

ראליק יש ל ש תוכו תוך ב י כ ידע לא אחד אף אך ה. ת הכ ל ש

די חם עם עצמו כ ן, הוא צריך להל ש. כ ל ממ מתחוללת מלחמה שלו. לעזר לחברים ש

פלא הנ ב צ ה ועל המ אל הג ראליק אוהב לקרא על יש ם, ל כ מו כ

ם את העבודות הוא מסי עם לאחר ש כל פ עולם. וכך, ב רר אז ב ש י שמוציא ך, חנ המ תן נ שלקוטו מי ראליק ישיבות חש ת רב תנועה בענין המ פר הס את ה ושוקע פרי קח מהס ל ש

קריאה. ב

ראליק לא ש י זה לא שמחבריו ים רב י כ יודע את ל לקב מחו ישלך, קורה "מה עזרתו, ב רק על ה חוש מדוע אתהוא י, מויש ה, הנ עצמך? בוא ת אם מח יש טוח בך הוא מהרהר לעזר לו", כרבות, עמים פ לעצמו

אר כנע, אך לבסוף גובר עליו יצרו הרע והוא נש ת מעט מש כ ואף מקומו. בת ב לש

אך לסרב, לו נעים לא עזרה, נו ממ ש מבק מחבריו מי אי אם

ים, עמק ש והוא מסכ הו מבק יש מ ש לל זה לא קורה. וגם כ דרך כ ב

זמנו את ז מבזב סתם הוא י כ ראליק יש יש מרג לו ש ב הל תוך ב

לקוט. י ה לו ב חכ מ פר ש ס מקום לקרא עוד ספור מענין ב ב

לקראת עם פ י מד נערכת ראליק, יש לומד בו תורה למוד ת ב

רסים פ נהל המ ק מחל ה סב מ ב חגיגית. ה מסב מיחדים, אריכים ת

ך. חנ המ מובן, כ בוחר אותם נים, צטי המ למידים לת ערך יקרי

ל יקב ר אש זה י הוא כ מיד ת ה צפ ר, מכש למיד ת תור ב ראליק, יש

ך חנ בחר. "מדוע המ נ למיד אחר ש עם היה זה ת כל פ רס, אך ב את הפ

כל ל ב התמרמרות, "הרי אני מקב ב לעצמו ב לא בוחר אותי"? חש

עורים"? ש יב ב בוה ותמיד מקש בחנים ציון ג המ

לת מעו נקישות קצבות על ד ני, נש עור הש אמצע הש יום אחד, ב

ובעדה ראליק, יש ל ש תו ת כתורה. למוד הת מנהל נכנס תח נהל פ רר והמ ת קט הש שסלו כ י"ט "לקראת ואמר: לכל מיחד נוס כ ם יתקיכל ארוע רגיל, ב למידים. כ התלמידים הת לים מקב זה כיקרי רסים פ נים צטי המעם. אך ם הפ ערך, וכך יהיה גיחול למידים הת בחירת בפנינו ל ש נוס כ ב קטן. נוי שלמידים לת רסים הפ קו יחלאהבת ב מיחד ב נים צטי מ ש

ראל". יש

יע מג למי עו יקב מה "לפי לאחר קול ב מיהתו ת את טח וש אברימי, הבין לא רס"? פ ל לקב

יך והמש נהל המ ך חי טובה", אלה "ש נהל. המ רשות את ל ב ק ש

תקים פ עת כ ק אחל אני לבחר. לכם יע: "החלטנו לתת מפת קול ב

י כ סבור הוא לו למיד הת ם ש את תק פ ב יכתב אחד וכל ים, קטנ

ל מרב הקולות יקב ה ב זכ י למיד ש ראל. הת רס על אהבת יש יע הפ מגה". סב מ רס ב את הפ

הזו, ה סב מ ב רס הפ את ל לקב מאודו כל ב ה פ צ ש ראליק, יש

איור: לאה

2

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Issue 997 • � 33

997_bm_eng2.indd 33 11/24/2015 10:07:39 AM

it up. At the beginning of the next class, I went over to her and told her what I had found. She said to me, “Don’t stop seeking the truth.” That line was engraved within me and since then I really haven’t stopped searching. This teacher regularly gave me papers with sichos and maamarim, and the truth is that the more I read and learn and even hear songs associated with Chabad, I feel more connected.

I am not yet Lubavitch but I want to be.

Osher: I remember my entrance exam. I had to meet the principal and she asked me, “Do you have derech eretz?” I said yes, and she said, “You’re in.” She let me know that from the school’s perspective, p’nimius is what matters. The staff here is very special. This year I had a teacher – I haven’t met anyone more Chassidish than her. She’s a woman with “lights” in her eyes. I cannot explain in words what a teacher like this can accomplish with the students.

Odelia: The school provides us with many experiences. I mean someone on the outside would see it as an “experience,” but these are

actually events that connect us to the derech. Every Chassidic date is mentioned in class and there are farbrengens left and right with lots of stories and refreshments, Shabbatons in Kfar Chabad …

Personally, when I think about Chassidus, about the Rebbe and about Chabad, it makes me smile. This is a place that makes me happy.

Hodaya: I got a great education at home but school added so much. The school is considered an open school for all types. It has to adapt itself to the needs of the girls and there are lots of styles and types here. So it’s open, but the teachers get their messages across in “small doses.” It’s so subtle that you hardly realize it but then you suddenly look at yourself and say, “Wow, I got this from school, and this, and that ...”

I am not a Chabadnikit and the home I will establish one day, G-d willing, won’t be Chabad either, but if the school continues the way it has been until now, I will send my girls. I want them to absorb really deeply that Judaism is something that envelops you entirely and fills you with satisfaction; that it is something eternal, true, and straight, and that

there is nothing, and I mean nothing, to look for outside of it. This is what I got from school and I want to pass it on further.

What does the Rebbe mean to you?

Osher: As I said before, my father is close to Chabad, so I was already familiar with the Rebbe. But in school, this was broadened. I heard about all kinds of dates and all sorts of stories and concepts that enabled me to understand things I did not understand previously. The Rebbe is everything. He is the Nasi Ha’dor, the leader of the world. I have never encountered such a personality who cares so much about the lives of others. I write to the Rebbe. For example, last year, I really wanted to fly to him for the holidays. I opened a volume of Igros Kodesh with the mashpia of the school and he said that before flying it is worth doing shlichus in the place closest to you. I thought about what is the closest place to me and realized … it’s me, myself. So I started with myself and then broadened my reach to the neighborhood, the school, the city. It sounds like a lot but I still have a long way to go. I want to be

Issue 997 • � 35

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EVERY TEACHER IS A SHLUCHA!Let’s take a look at a special kind of shlichus,

those Chabad schools which have girls from non-

Chabad homes. * I met with four girls who attend

a Chabad school, even though their homes are

not Lubavitch. Each of them attends Ohr Chana

in Ohr Yehuda.

By Rocheli Dickstein

CHASSIDIC LIGHT AND WARMTH

Why do you attend a Chabad school?

Sarit: I am from a traditional family and it was important to us to have a religious school close to home. The only school that met those criteria is the high school I attend, Ohr Chana. Before I began going to this high school, I was completely unfamiliar with Chabad. At first, it did not even interest me. But over the years I became curious and took an interest. I discovered that Chabad is Chassidus which has so much light. Yes, light. It is a calm Chassidus that has everything.

Odelia: I have attended a Chabad school since first grade. This school started out as a regular government-religious school, but over the years the administration changed and so

did the character of the school. School is like our home. It feels like family and is full of warmth and love. And I think Chabad is the best way. Nowhere else has the unique qualities that Chabad has. Someone in Chabad simply knows that she is in the right place!

Osher: I came to this school by a fluke, if I can call it that. My family is a strongly identified Sephardic family which is connected to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, but I wasn’t happy in Beit Yaakov. I didn’t conform to them spiritually, so my parents decided to switch me to a Chabad school, maybe because of the fact that my father is close to Chabad. I did not think I would go far, and maybe even the opposite, but boy, did I make progress. Suddenly the spiritual side of things looked a whole lot more pleasant and I discovered that I was growing.

Hodaya: My older sisters went

to this school and my parents were satisfied. It followed that I would go here too. The school is amazing. I have friends who go to all kinds of other schools and I have yet to hear of a school that comes close to ours. The teachers at Ohr Chana are like the older sisters of every student. I know that whenever I want to, I can call them up or even visit them. They care and give me the sense that I am capable and special. Their caring is seen both on the emotional level as well as the academic level.

Tell me about life in school.Sarit: I started in tenth

grade. They divided our grade into two classes. My class got a real Chabad mechaneches. All the mechanchos are Lubavitch but this mechaneches was outstanding. She’s a woman with such a positive outlook on life that I decided I want to be like her. Later, with the start of eleventh grade, we had to choose between biology and accounting. The accounting teacher was new and I went to her classes. Every morning she would tell a story. One time she told about the Baba Sali and the Rebbe and since she didn’t want to get into the details, she said for those who find it of interest to look up what Baba Sali said about the Rebbe.

I was very interested and by our next lesson I had looked


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connected to the Rebbe.Odelia: I cannot explain it in

words … The Rebbe is the source of strength. He is someone to turn to. Last year, I sent a pidyon nefesh with one of my teachers who was going to the Rebbe. I wrote everything on that page, I poured out my heart. Then I felt good. I felt he was listening and gave his blessing.

Hodaya: A Rebbe is an enormous tzaddik who cares about Jews in the most incredible way. It cannot be explained in words, for if I define him as a tzaddik, the word will only minimize the true holiness he has. His influence through the shluchim is absolutely amazing and shows how much he really cares about everyone. The truth is that just looking at his picture gives me a secure feeling.

After hearing from the girls, let’s hear from a teacher:

I came to Ohr Chana this year by divine providence. One of the teachers on the staff went on shlichus abroad and I got her hours. As soon as I came for the interview, the principal, Mrs. Leah Ashkenazi, said: This is not like any other school. This is a school of shlichus! Here you really need to live with the girls and give them all your neshama.

I related to what the principal said. Our school is comprised of a Lubavitch staff, but the girls come from varying backgrounds. The staff really feels a sense of shlichus. I myself was very influenced by the perspective of the principal. Our principal lives the school and the girls twenty-four hours a day. She cares about every girl! Every morning she stands at the entrance and welcomes the girls with a warm, loving hug.

When you see how the principal feels about it, it’s contagious…

I remember a teachers’ meeting about a certain girl and how to help her, etc. The principal said, “When Moshiach comes, will we be able to stand and look him in the face and

say we truly did everything we could to help this student?”

The question stayed with me afterward. I always try to think, when Moshiach comes, will I also be able to point at every student of mine?

Another thing which is very strong here is the weekly letter from the principal to the staff. The letter begins with a short sicha of the Rebbe which always has a practical lesson for teachers, how the Rebbe looks at talmidim, about the kochos we have, the job demanded of us as teachers, etc. This message stays with me all week and strengthens the sense of shlichus in my job in chinuch.

The relationship between the staff and the students is so strong that it really feels like family. A few times during the year, I invited students for Shabbos at my parents and they were bowled over. To increase the light for others, in my case, with my students, is a great privilege.

Give some examples of small things which strengthen the bond between you and the students.

During the year, I developed personal relationships with the girls. The students knew that they could come and “farbreng” on topics that are hard for them or to discuss things connected with the Rebbe and Chabad.

I started the day with the HaYom Yom and a Chassidic tale before davening. I didn’t quite realize what an impact this had on the girls. It was when they had vacation that I discovered what an impact it made. A few days after school was out, one of the girls sent me a text asking me, “What is today’s HaYom Yom? I miss it!” Then I realized how everything we do, when we do it sincerely and consistently, makes an impact.

Likewise, every week I send the girls a reminder text (I have their cell phone numbers) about candle lighting with a short message from

the Rebbe. Each time I am surprised to see how the girls so readily accept it and on their own add good hachlatos in order to hasten the Geula.

For example, on 28 Nissan, I sent a text to the girls which said that each of them had to add something so Moshiach comes. A few minutes later, I started getting texts with the good hachlatos that the girls had committed to.

What do you have to say about Ohr Chana?

I think that every high school should be run like it. I would do a “cut and paste” to all the Chabad high schools. If only we managed to provide Anash girls with everything we provide for others … bringing the light of Torah and mitzvos, the great light of the Rebbe, to those who are Chabad from the home, and to view each student how the Rebbe wants us to view her, looking at her G-dly soul which is waiting to be set aflame.

This year, there were a few essential points in chinuch that were driven home for me; even though we know them, it’s different when you “live” them. I summarized them briefly and want to share it with the readers:

Every time I enter the classroom, remember that the Rebbe put me here on shlichus! And the Rebbe is the one who gives me the ability to manage and be there for every student.

The truth is with us and we have nothing to fear.

We have so much to give. The younger generation that we are teaching is just waiting to listen and accept. And as the Rebbe says, the youth waits to hear the uncompromising truth.

Being there for real, for every single student.

May we immediately stand facing the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach with the true and complete Geula, now.

B”H. 15 Kislev 5776 – Hakhel 27 November 2015 • Number 997 Price: $6.00 • Part 2 of 2 LONG LIVE THE REBBE MELECH HA’MOSHIACH FOREVER AND EVER!

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997

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