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4 | IF EXILE IS NO GOOD, WHO NEEDS IT?D’var Malchus / Likkutei Sichos Vol. 24, Pg. 167-176

8 | ‘AND SHE CRIES … FOR A MONTH’Thought / Rabbi Chaim Ashkenazi

12 | AREN’T THERE CLEAR PROOFS THAT THEREDEMPTION DOESN’T DEPEND UPON T’SHUVA?Focus / Rabbi Sholom Dovber HaLevi Wolpo

16 | HE KNEW BEFORE THEY WERE WRITTENMiracle Story

18 | JUDAISM IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGOStories / Chani Nussbaum

22 | ...AND WHO BY FIREMemoirs / Rabbi Shneur Zalman Chanin

26 | THE DISENGAGEMENT AND THE RECENTFAILURE IN LEBANONShleimus HaAretz / Shai Gefen

30 | A THIRD FRONTShleimus HaAretz / Shai Gefen

33 | ‘PICTURING THE REBBE SAVED ME FROMBANDITS IN PERU’Profile / Eli Shneuri

38 | WORKING FOR THE REBBE (CONT.)Feature / Yisroel Yehuda

43 | “YECHI” IS THE “KASHA” OF THE REBBEMoshiach / Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Ginsburg

CONTENTS

1. The commentaries on the Torah explain that thematters of the opposite of blessing in the “Rebuke” in ourportion [i.e., this week’s Torah reading, Parshas Savo] are notonly rebukes and warnings, which come “if you do not listento the voice of G-d your L-rd”; they are prophetic statementswhich have been fulfilled. As the Abarbanel puts it: “It isappropriate to know that the curses mentioned in thisportion are not intended to be threatening and to overwhelm,to frighten the hearts of men; they come, rather, in a spirit ofG-dly holiness, relating what will be in their end. Indeed,they have all been fulfilled, etc.”

The verses of the portion of the Rebuke speak in generalabout the punishment of exile: “G-d will disperse you amongthe nations, etc.” The commentaries explain in detail how allmatters of the opposite of blessing have been fulfilled after thedestruction of the Second Temple (the Forth Exile), or evenafter the destruction of the First Temple (the Exile of Baveland etc.).

It is understood that the intent and purpose of theafflictions of exile and etc. of the Rebuke is not for the sake,G-d forbid, of vengeance against Jews or simply for the sakeof punishing them. Rather, it is for their benefit. As Rashi putsit: “The curses and the afflictions sustain you and stand youup before Him.”

[However] we must understand: The Gemara says that“There are four things which the Holy One Blessed Be Heregrets having created. These are they: The Exile, Kasdim[i.e., the Exile of Bavel – see Footnote 13 in the original],Yishmaelim [i.e., the Forth Exile – see Footnote 13], and theEvil Inclination.” The inference here is that the Exile is notgood for the Jews. For if the Exile would have some benefit,which were it not for the Exile we would miss out on thisbenefit, why would it be “regretted”?

In the [Talmud] Yerushalmi we actually find that only

“three things” are cited; “Exile” is not mentioned.

However, it is very difficult to say that on account of thelatter quandary the Yerushalmi omits reference to Exile – andthis comprises a dispute of the [Talmud] Bavli against theYerushalmi: whether or not the concept of Exile is somehowbeneficial – for the latter question applies not only to Exile,but also to the other three items: “Kasdim, Yishmaelim, andthe Evil Inclination” [i.e., why are they regretted?]

Indeed, “All that which the Holy One Blessed Be Hecreated in His world He created solely for His honor.” All thatG-d created – including, “Kasdim, Yishmaelim, and the EvilInclination” – is “for His honor,” and consequently, [it was allcreated] for a good purpose. Now, how is it possible to sayalso with respect to the three items (in the Yerushalmi) thatthe Holy One Blessed Be He regrets them (and in the terms ofthe Yerushalmi, “He regrets (taha [a stronger term, connotingbeing astonished]) that He created them”)?

2. To resolve the above we will cite the principle that “Wedo not give credence to a possible [explanation that proposesa (Talmudic)] dispute” so long as there remains the possibilityto explain [the subject at hand] in a manner that precludesthe dispute (even if it is a stretch). Accordingly, it is logical tosay in our case that there is no dispute between the Bavli andYerushalmi regarding whether the Holy One Blessed Be Healso regrets the Exile.

Exile is not something that is manifest unto itself. It is,rather, a result of the Evil Inclination. When one is seducedby the Evil Inclination and he succumbs to sin, this bringsabout Exile: “On account of our sins we were exiled.”

Thus, even according to the opinion of the Yerushalmi,since the Holy One Blessed Be He “regrets (taha)” [thecreation of] the Evil Inclination, this includes within it theconcept of Exile, which comes as a result of the EvilInclination.

IF EXILE IS NOGOOD, WHONEEDS IT?

LIKKUTEI S ICHOS VOL. 24, PG. 167-176

TRANSLATED BY BORUCH MERKUR

D’VAR MALCHUS

BEIS MOSHIACH - 8 Elul 57664

Issue Number 569 - BEIS MOSHIACH 5

And since [the approach and style of] the Yerushalmi is todiscuss matters in a more general way than the Bavli, so it isin the case at hand: it does not enumerate the result (Exile);it mentions only the cause (the Evil Inclination).

Whereas the Bavli, which speaks in detail, enumerates theEvil Inclination unto itself and the Exile unto itself.

This is connected to the general distinction between theexegetical approach of the Talmud Bavli and the TalmudYerushalmi:

With regard to numerous topics, the discussion of theTalmud Yerushalmi is concise and general. These topics areelaborated in greater detail and length in the Talmud Bavli.

Simply speaking, the reason for this difference is that thestudy of Gemara in Bavel continued for an extended durationafter the sealing of the Talmud Yerushalmi. The compilationand sealing of the Talmud Bavli occurred “approximately onehundred years after R. Yochanan had compiled the GemaraYerushalmis.” [Rambam in his preface to the seifer HaYad]

Thus, the Talmud Bavli is considered to be a later textthan the Talmud Yerushalmi, which is one of the reason whylegal rulings follows the Bavli not the Yerushalmi. That is,since the Sages of the Talmud Bavliknew what is stated in the Yerushalmi –whose sealing was prior, as mentionedabove – being that they appear laterchronologically, the principle is thatlegal rulings follow the later authorities.

And the distinction between theprior and later authorities is expressedalso in the fact that the later texts aremore detailed and elucidated than theearlier texts. Just as we find regarding the distinction betweenthe literary style of the Mishna (which is to “speak conciselyand include many things” [Rambam in his preface to hiselucidation of the Mishnayos]) and the style of the Gemara ofa later period, so too is the distinction in the Gemara itselfbetween the (earlier) Talmud Yerushalmi and the (later)Talmud Bavli. It is for this reason that the Yerushalmimentions only three items (citing them in general), whereasthe Bavli enumerates 4 items (in detail).

3. The following question, however, can be askedregarding this very principle:

The Gemara in Tractate Taanis says: “R. Yochanan said:‘Three keys are in the hand of the Holy One Blessed Be Hewhich He did not entrust to the hand of a messenger. Theseare they: the key of rain, the key of life, and the key of theresurrection of the dead.” And “In the West [i.e., EretzYisroel] they say: also the key of livelihood.”

We see here that, on the contrary, in the West, in EretzYisroel, they [add further] detail, including a forth item(livelihood), whereas the Bavli is more general and concise,considering livelihood not as a separate item but merely as an

outcome that results from rain. As the Gemara concludesthere, “And with regard to R. Yochanan, why didn’t heenumerate this? He would tell you, ‘rain is livelihood.’” Thatis, livelihood is an outgrowth of rain, “for seeds and fruitsgrow from it to sustain the world” [Rashi – see FN 27].

The explanation [of this seeming inconsistency] is simple:The aforementioned principle (in Section 2) concerning theTalmud Bavli and the Talmud Yerushalmi is premised by thenotion that the Bavli is a later text (chronologically) withrespect to the Yerushalmi. The opinion (in Tractate Taanis) of“the West,” cited above, was, however, not said prior to thetime when “R. Yochanan said, etc.” On the contrary, “theysay: also” means (in the same time period or) later.

In fact, the author of the statement in Bavli who said,“Three keys etc.,” is R. Yochanan, who, “compiled the GemaraYerushalmis.” Accordingly, the discussion appearschronologically: The saying of R. Yochanan (following theprinciple as it applies to the Talmud Yerushalmi) is earlier(concise and general), and thereafter in the West “they say:also,” meaning later with respect to [the statement of] R.Yochanan, and therefore, more in detail and etc.

4. We must, however, understandwith regard to the topic at hand:

Since there is regret and the negationof the principle and the cause (the EvilInclination), there is apparently, noroom to enumerate the result (Exile),which is already negated as aconsequence of the regret for the cause.[Thus, this difficulty applies to theapproach of the Talmud Bavli, whichenumerates Exile separately.]

At first glance, this can be brought to light throughpreempting another question, something that is at leastsomewhat awkward: How is it appropriate to enumerate Exileamong the things which the Holy One Blessed Be He “regretshaving created”? Exile is not a creation which G-d created asan existent unto itself, as is the Evil Inclination and theothers. Rather, its entire existence is dependent andconnected with the conduct of man (when the EvilInclination persuades the person to transgress and he doesnot repent thereafter). It comes out that the entire existenceof Exile is dependent upon the conduct of Jews.

For this reason we must say, at first glance, that the regretfor the creation of Exile does not mean simply [regret] for thecreation of punishment for their sins, but for the fact that G-dcreated Exile (a new thing) as a punishment. Indeed, “thereare many means available to the Omnipresent” how to punishfor transgressions and sins, and we find in the Rebuke itselfnumerous punishments and afflictions, may G-d have mercyupon us, which come for neglecting to fulfill the Torah andcommandments.

If the Exile were tobring with it a

benefit, why would itbe “regretted”?

5. Accordingly we could say that this is the meaning of,“There are four things which the Holy One Blessed Be Heregrets having created” (in Bavli), where Exile is enumeratedseparately: Notwithstanding the fact that Exile is a result ofthe Evil Inclination (it comes as a punishment fortransgressions which result from the Evil Inclination), Exile isnot a thing that is a necessary consequence of the (persuasionof) the Evil Inclination, but a creation and innovation untoitself, which G-d created as an additional punishment, andthus it is regretted unto itself.

This also comes to answer the fact that the Bavli(according to the text of the Talmud) precedes Exile to theEvil Inclination in its enumeration, notwithstanding the factthat in actuality, Exile comes after the deed accomplished bythe Evil Inclination. [The reason for this order is] toemphasize that the fact that the Holy One Blessed Be Heregrets the Exile does not (only) mean [that He regrets] theExile in actuality (as a punishment for transgressions, afterthe domination of the Evil Inclination),but (primarily) the very creation ofExile (as a punishment), as mentionedabove.

6. However, it would, therefore,seem that the distinction between theBavli and the Yerushalmi is (not onlywith regard to the style of learning,whether in general or specific terms,but) a matter of a dispute. Namely,according to the opinion of theYerushalmi, the regret is only withregard to Exile in actuality – since it isincluded in the regret (“taha”) for theEvil Inclination – but it is not for thevery creation of Exile (for theYerushalmi does not cite Exile in itsenumeration). Whereas this is not sowith regard to the opinion of the Bavli,as mentioned above.

Moreover, the order of the items enumerated in the Bavliremains unclear: There is a reason, as mentioned above, whyit precedes Exile to the Evil Inclination, however, it is notunderstood why Exile is placed first of all the four things (andsimilarly with regard to the proofs from the verses).

7. The proposed explanation of the entire matter:

The distinction between the Bavli and the Yerushalmi isexpressed not only in the number of items (in Bavli fourthings are enumerated, whereas the Yerushalmi cites onlythree). Rather, there is also a distinction in the terminology,and of consequence, also in the meaning:

The terminology of the Bavli is, “There are four thingswhich the Holy One Blessed Be He regrets having created,etc.,” whereas the Yerushalmi reads, “There are three thingsthe Holy One Blessed Be He created and He regrets that He

created them.”

The Bavli expresses the matter as a single concept, namely,G-d “regrets” (having created them). Whereas the Yerushalmiemphasizes two concepts: 1) the fact that “the Holy OneBlessed Be He created [three things]” and 2) the fact that “Heregrets that He created them.”

And this is the distinction in meaning: It is understoodand obvious that “regret” On High is not to be understood inthe simple sense of the term, G-d forbid – that He changes hismind and regrets, G-d forbid, a thing that He had made.Rather, this expresses that there is a concept of negativityassociated with it. On the other hand, it is understood thatsince we say that this is a thing which “the Holy One BlessedBe He created,” it emphasizes the positive element it entails.

It comes out that the Bavli speaks only of the negativequality, of the opposite of good, which exists in the fourthings, whereas the Yerushalmi, in addition, emphasizes their

positive quality.

This subject (as is true with regard toevery subject), which is discussed inTorah (whether in the Written Torah orin the Oral Torah), is not (only) relatedin order to describe G-d’s conduct andrelationship (and how much more so ifit is negative) with regard to thecreations which He has created. Rather,it is (relevant to know the nature of thecreations in order to derive from them)an instruction in man’s service of hisMaster.

And this comprises the distinctionwhether it is only mentioned that “Thereare four things which the Holy OneBlessed Be He regrets having created” orif is prefaced with, “There are threethings the Holy One Blessed Be He

created”:

In saying “regrets” and nothing more, this expresses thenotion that the four things are not true existents; they willeventually be nullified, since “He regrets having createdthem.” That is, their [being] is not the inner will of G-d.

But when we speak prefatorily to the concept, saying that“the Holy One Blessed Be He created,” this emphasizes thatthey comprise the creation – and of consequence, the will –of G-d. Thus, they contain an element of eternality (onaccount of the spark of G-dliness within them), as is the casewith all things that “the Holy One Blessed Be He created.”However, together with this, it adds that they likewise possessan aspect of negativity.

But on the contrary: this aspect does not possess trueexistence, and it will [eventually] be nullified.

(To be continued.)

It is understood andobvious that regret On

High is not to beunderstood in thesimple sense of the

term – that He changeshis mind and regrets,

G-d forbid, a thing thatHe made...


THOUGHT


WHAT AM I CRYING ABOUT?During the terrible days under

communist rule, the mashpia R’Chatshe Feigin (may Hashem avengehis blood) farbrenged with thetalmidim of one of the undergroundyeshivos in Russia. One boy stoodguard outside to warn of approachingpolicemen, while inside, R’ Chatshefarbrenged as though he was back inLubavitch in the good old days, anddemanded inyanim in avodas Hashemfrom the bachurim.

The bachurim took what R’Chatshe said to heart and some evencried bitterly over their distance fromthe truth demanded of them in theiravodas Hashem.

Suddenly, the bachur posted onguard burst in and announced that apoliceman was coming. Immediately,each bachur ran for cover, one under abench, another behind a pile of woodstored in the cellar where they learned,

etc. Then they heard that thepoliceman was merely passing by andthey all breathed a sigh of relief and satdown again to farbreng.

R’ Chatshe asked: You thought youwere in danger, right? So why didn’tany of you cry as you did during thefarbrengen?

The bachurim answered: Howwould crying have helped? We neededto find a hiding place!

Said R’ Chatshe: Then why did youcry during the farbrengen? Why didn’tyou wonder how it would help? Inother words, the crying didn’t comesolely from k’dusha; the side ofk’dusha wants to take action and findways of getting out of the mud.

This idea appears in sichos of theRebbe about the meeting betweenYosef and Binyanim when each criedon the other’s neck. Chazal say thatYosef cried over the churban BeisHaMikdash that stood in Binyamin’s

portion and that Binyamin cried overthe churban of the Mishkan in Shilothat was in Yosef’s portion.

The Rebbe asks: Why didn’t eachof them cry over the churban that tookplace in their own portion? The Rebbeanswers that when it’s the churban inyour own portion there is no purposein crying, for action is needed to fixthat which needs correcting so theMikdash can be rebuilt.

Crying brings a sense of relief anda self-satisfied feeling that comes in theplace of action. The person mistakenlythinks that he did what he had to do.“I cried from the depths of my heartand Hashem certainly gathered mytears and placed them in Histreasury...”

Everybody must fix his ownchurban and as for the other person’schurban, that’s not in our hands andthis is why we need to cry about it andarouse mercy from On High.

BASIS FOR CHASSIDISHEBEHAVIOR

We can see to what extent this is afoundation and basis for Chassidishebehavior from the fact that the AlterRebbe refers to it in many places. Forexample, in Torah Ohr, in connectionwith “and Yosef hurried since hiscompassion was aroused for hisbrothers and he wanted to cry, so hewent to the room and cried there, etc.,and he restrained himself and said:

‘AND SHE CRIES …FOR A MONTH’

BY RABBI CHAIM ASHKENAZI

(FROM A CHASSIDISHE FARBRENGEN)

The “beautiful captive woman” represents theneshama, and in the month of Elul (“She cries...for a month”), the neshama cries for “her fatherand her mother,” it bemoans its disconnectionfrom its roots and its lofty source. * Sadness andcrying as viewed from a Chassidic perspective.

place bread.” The Alter Rebbe uses thisverse as an analogy for avodas Hashemas follows:

“Yosef” refers to the Jewish people,as it says in T’hillim 80, “You who leadYosef as a flock.” The name Binyaminis from “Ben Oni,” meaning sorrow. Sothe words are read like this: When aJew (Yosef) makes a spiritualaccounting about the sorrow theneshama feels when it descends to thisworld (Binyamin) he cries about themagnitude of the descent.

Regarding this desire and need itsays, “and he restrained himself” – thisis not the goal, as it says in Yirmiyahu13:17, “my soul shall weep in secretplaces” (which is why Yosef left beforehe cried). “And he went to the room” –the Jewish people cry in their hearts,i.e., a person feels bitterness, but actswith restraint. What should he do?“Place bread” – go and learn (for Torahis compared to food), because the goalis tikkun, correction.

The elder Chassidim would saythat this idea appears at the verybeginning of Tanya. On the words, “ifhe will be as wicked in his eyes, hisheart will be grieved and he will besad.” These words are said aboutsomeone who serves Hashem, so theAlter Rebbe asks how could hepossibly think of himself as wickedwhen this could cause him spiritualharm if he will be sad as a result ofthinking of himself as wicked?

The question is asked, why isn’t thesame question asked about someonewho is truly wicked? Why aren’t weafraid about his state of mind?

The answer is that the wickedperson has a solution to his bleakspiritual state, for he can correcthimself. But the person who servesHashem, who does everything he issupposed to do, who is told to viewhimself as wicked – there is concernabout his state of mind, because thereis no possible benefit from his brokenheart. The moment there is nopossibility for him to translate hissadness into corrective action, he can

cause himself spiritual and physicalharm.

CRYING – IT’SNOT JUST TEARS

“Crying” that prevents action is ageneral concept which relates not onlyto actual tears; it includes all sorts ofbehavior that express depression,feelings of guilt, feeling brokenhearted, etc., instead of searching for asolution or improvement.

An interesting example is broughtin the name of the mashpia in TorasEmes in Yerushalayim, R’ AlterSimchovitz a”h. He complained aboutYerushalmi bachurim that it was hard

to make them into Chassidishebachurim and he explained the reasonfor this. He would sit with a bachurfor hours at night and speak to himand demand inyanei avoda andafterwards, the bachur would run tothe Kosel.

What’s wrong with that? youwonder. There’s no holier place! Theproblem is that the bachur’sconclusion, after all the talking, shouldhave been to begin working on himselfand to subdue his animal soul, etc. Heruns to the Kosel and thinks that hedid what he had to do. After all, hethinks, “I already davened at theKosel...” (and maybe even cried).

Like they tell about HersheleOstropolier – that when he was a childhe once returned from shul earlierthan usual and his mother asked himwhether he had managed to finish theentire davening. He answered: Ofcourse, come and I’ll show you whereI spat in Aleinu.

Just as the spitting was thedavening for Hershele, so too, thisbachur thinks that by going to theKosel and crying he has done what heneeds to do.

This is actually a very clever yetzerhidden within a mantle of religiousand Chassidic piety, crying in KriasShma al HaMitta or in “Slach Lanu.”Regarding this it says, “We will not besaved by sighing” and “one action isbetter than a thousand sighs.”

We are not negating crying andsighing; we are rejecting them as thegoal. They can only be an expressionof the depth of the pain and sorrowand then one must immediately get towork in order to find a solution,without sitting back and waiting.

CRYING – TO ASSUAGE THECONSCIENCE

The inclination of human beings,especially of askanim, to make do withsighs instead of action, is somethingthe Rebbe addresses countless times inletters. There are also many sichos thataddress this point regarding MihuYehudi and Shleimus HaAretz. Afterthe Rebbe writes or expresses hisdissatisfaction with how a certainhanhala or askanim or the Israeligovernment is handling something, theRebbe concludes: This is not for thepurpose of Musar and the like; thegoal is to correct things from here-on-in!

Yet we find for example, that theRebbe Rashab, in one of the stories,was brokenhearted one of the times hereturned from Petersburg. He had gonethere in order to annul decrees againstthe Jews and was unsuccessful.

A great rav tried to comfort theRebbe by saying that the Rebbe had



done his best and didn’t spare anyefforts, so why should he be so upset?The Rebbe Rashab replied that thatwas a good excuse, but the thing thatneeded to get done wasn’taccomplished. The Rebbe Rashab wassaying that the crying was not aboutthe past but about that which couldn’tbe fixed. If it would be possible to fixit, it wouldn’t be right to cry becauseaction would need to be taken!

This is true in all areas of life: ininyanim of avodas Hashem, cryingwon’t save us and sometimes it is animpediment because it gives one asense of satisfaction, i.e., I am brokenand therefore my conscience isassuaged. If it bothers me, that means Iam a moral person and that’s enough.He forgives himself for the misdeedand everything is fine.

The truth is though, that the thingthat needed to get done wasn’taccomplished! What needs to be doneis to examine things and fix them. If aperson discovers that there is nothingthat can be done, then it is appropriateto just cry, to plead before Hashem.

I AM THE VICTIMIn daily life too, whether in

chinuch or shalom bayis, crying aloneis ineffective and sometimes it makesthings worse. When you cry, you aresaying there is nothing that can bedone, which means you are the victimand the one who created the problemis the one who needs to solve it.

This approach casts the blame onsomeone else: Hashem or anybodyaside from oneself. For example, if it’sa chinuch problem, then society is toblame, the educators, Hashem Whocreated him with this nature, theatmosphere in the street, or the factthat we don’t live in a religious ghetto.

If it’s a shalom bayis problem, thespouse is at fault, or the mother-in-law,or the lack of parnasa. Even if onedoesn’t actually cry but he places theblame on the school, society, etc., allhe does is absolve himself of blameand the need to do anything further.

He doesn’t see the problem or thesolution within himself.

He is like a baby or a young childwho is caught misbehaving who criesand throws a fit. This babyish partwithin us doesn’t disappear as we getolder because it is that part of ourselves that doesn’t want to be pointedat as the guilty one. Feeling guiltythreatens one’s very being. This is whythe automatic reflex of shifting theblame can’t be changed without work.

The Alter Rebbe says about aperson who doesn’t change his animalsoul, that it grows stronger with time,through his eating and drinking, etc.When it comes to the ego, if you don’tdeal with it, it doesn’t disappear; itgrows. The first proof of a person’smaturity is when he takesresponsibility. The more responsibilitya person takes for the consequences ofhis actions and behavior, the morematurity he displays.

“IN THE EVENING HERETIRES WEEPING, BUT INTHE MORNING THERE IS

JOY”Tears are best left for the end of the

day when Krias Shma al HaMitta issaid. When a person has finished forthe day and is going to sleep, he cancry over what he did not correct, overwhatever that needed to get done thatwasn’t accomplished.

This crying is desirable only as apreparation for a busy day of avodasHashem the next day, as it says(T’hillim 30:6) “in the evening heretires weeping, but in the morningthere is joy.” Chassidim explain it thus:

When you go to sleep after cryingin Krias Shma, then you wake up inthe morning with joy, with enthusiasmfor avoda. What is the goal of avoda? Itis encapsulated in what the tailor saidhis father taught him: Fix the old anddon’t ruin the new. Chassidim wouldfarbreng on this line, explaining it tomean: fix the past and don’t ruin thefuture. A person who suffices with “inthe evening he retires weeping” and

doesn’t get up to “in the morning thereis joy” does not correct the past and isliable to ruin the future.

We should leave all complaints,blame and fault-finding abouteverything and everyone around us forour last day, after we turn 120. Untilthen, we should be busy correctingand improving. This is where weshould be putting in all our efforts. AsI heard from R’ Chaim Shaul Brooka”h: a person must learn and learnwithout stopping, and even if he seesthe heavens tottering, he shouldcontinue learning until a minute afterthey fall on his head and only thenmay he stop.

So too with someone dealing witha problem of some kind – he needs tolook for ways to fix it. As long as he isalive, he needs to work onimprovement because surely thisproblem wasn’t sent to him merely sohe will cry; everything Hashem createdin His world is for us to “do and fix.”

“FIXING” WHO?Often, a person who hears that he

may not sit with arms folded thinksthat this means he can do all sorts ofthings, including getting other peopleto correct what he thinks they need tocorrect and if the other person doesn’twant to, he not only talks behind hisback but speaks to his face, and fromdoing things behind his back he doesthings openly. Sometimes, he even hasan answer from the Rebbe in theIgros... In previous years, for example,sometimes the Rebbe told him orwrote to him that he has to do all hecan to fix a particular matter, and itwas not for naught that Hashempresented him with this inyan; ratherit was hashgacha pratis for this is hismitzva, his special mitzva, and perhapsit was only for this that his souldescended to the world. Therefore,when someone interferes, he thinksthat the person is interfering with theentire Seder Hishtalshelus and theDivine plan of creating a diraba’tachtonim... He sometimes literally


sees how the inanimate, plant, animal,and human, interferes with thefulfillment of the Divine intention thatis rooted in Atzmus U’M’hus. If so,how could he possibly move onwithout correcting – the other person?

A person who thinks this way isforgetting one little thing whichseparates the Jewish people from thenations of the world, between thedisciples of Avrohom Avinu and thedisciples of Bilam the wicked, as it saysin the Mishna in Avos that the way todifferentiate between their disciples isthey had: a good eye or a bad eye, alowly soul or a broad soul, a lowlyspirit or an arrogant spirit.

The measure as to whether aperson is a disciple of Avrohom Avinuis if he has a good eye and obviouslythis refers to looking at others.Therefore, a person must concludethat if he was shown, by Heaven,something that needs correcting, theyshowed it to him because this problemis found within himself, and he needsto correct what he needs to correct,without attacking anybody else.

They tell about R’ Mendel Futerfasa”h that he once saw inappropriatebehavior in someone, so he decided toarrange a shiur with him to learn aparticular maamer that disparages suchbehavior. He planned on explaining it sothat the person would get it. When theylearned the maamer, the personunderstood the inyan well and insteadof realizing that it applied to him, hesaid: this is something that fits so-and-so! This led R’ Mendel to conclude thatit applied to himself (R’ Mendel) as well.

R’ Mendel saw how a person couldlearn about something that pertainedto him yet apply it to someone else,which is why he figured that he had towork on himself since he was probablysubjective too!

This is what is meant by Chabadmahnt p’nimius (Chabad demandsp’nimius) – that superficiality is whatthe other person needs to do and whatneeds to change in the world. P’nimiusis what I need to change and do.

BEAVER TEARSAt farbrengens, Chassidim would

absolutely negate “tears of a beaver.”Why the beaver and why are its tearsanathema to the Chassidim?According to legend, the beaveralways follows the same path and sothe hunters follow it and place trapswhere they know the beaver will go.The beaver notices the trap from afarand bursts into tears because it knowsthat it will be caught yet it doesn’tveer from the path and continuesforward, to its destruction, with tearsin its eyes.

“Not to cry the tears of the beaver”sums up the approach of Chassidus,which negates crying on the way to the

trap while affirming tears that are asource of renewed growth.

The area where we have to beparticularly careful to avoid beavertears is in bringing Moshiach.According to the Rebbe, this is one ofthe signs of the lowly generation towhich Moshiach comes, Ikvisad’Meshicha, enumerated at the end ofthe Tractate Sota: “And we have no oneupon whom to rely except our Fatherin heaven.”

These words show that we believein Hashem! How do they illustrate thelowliness of the generation? The Rebbeexplains that placing all theresponsibility on Heaven and not

doing the work ourselves is a terriblething. This means, we cry and cry andcry and don’t do anything to changeour routine, to move off the Galuspath that has been our path forthousands of years, and on to the pathof Geula.

This is why it is one of the signs ofthe eve of Geula because we need totake action and not to say: The Rebbebrought us into the struggle forMoshiach, let him continue and wewill rely on him. We need to riseabove this Galus-mentality and do allwe can to publicize the prophecy ofGeula and to prepare the world forMoshiach.

TEARS OF T’SHUVAWe said that Chassidus, however,

encourages crying – i.e., bitterness –that leads to a renewed commitment topositive action. Where do we see this?In Parshas Ki Seitzei it talks about thebeautiful captive woman who “cries forher father and her mother for amonth.” In Chassidus it says thisalludes to the month of Elul.

If we said that crying is not helpful,why is the month of Elul alluded to inthe Torah as a month of crying? Theanswer is that the beautiful captivewoman is the neshama and in themonth of Elul (“she cries ... for amonth”), the neshama cries “for herfather and mother” – about itsdisconnection from its roots and loftysource.

There is no fear that this Elul-crying will be “beaver tears,” becausein the month of Elul of “Ani l’dodi.”Thai is, when a person is aroused toaction in an “arousal from below,” withhis own powers, the regret and pain(that are referred to in the verse as“and she cries”) are motivators thatspur him on to the avoda of t’shuva, toan increase in Torah study, and hiddurin the fulfillment of mitzvos, with joyand gladness of heart.

May we all be inscribed for a goodand sweet year, a year of “in themorning there is joy.”

“And we have no oneupon whom to rely

except our Father inheaven.” These words

show that we believe inHashem! How do theyillustrate the lowliness

of the generation?

QUESTION:Regarding the claim that without

repairing “due to our sins,” there canno nullification of “we were exiledfrom our land,” R. Saadia Gaon writes(Emunos V’Deios 8:5) that since it hasbeen a long time and we have notrepented, He will bring us backwithout t’shuva. Even the Rambanwrites at the end of Parshas Haazinuthat if we won’t do t’shuva, Moshiachwill be delayed until the appointedtime, and the Redemption will come atthe appointed time even withoutt’shuva. The Bachai writes in his seiferKad HaKemach that even withoutt’shuva, the Redemption will come no

later than the final appointed time.Similarly, we find in Ikarim, theRadak’s commentary on T’hillim(108:5), the Metzudas Dovid onYeshayahu (59:16), the Maharsha onYoma (86a), the Ohr HaChayim onVaYikra (25:28), the Maharal inNetzach Yisroel, the Vilna Gaon in EvenShlomo (11:9), etc.

Besides all this, while the entireJewish People was extremely pious atthe time of the Exodus from Egypt,they were sunken into the forty-ninegates of impurity. Similarly, we havethe situation that when the JewishPeople came into Eretz Yisroel fromBabylonia at the start of the era of the

Second Beis HaMikdash, they weremarried to non-Jewish women (Ezra8:2), publicly desecrated Shabbos(Nechemia 13:15-18), etc., andnevertheless, they merited redemption.

ANSWER:1. I left the wording of the question

exactly as I received it, even though inmy humble opinion, nowhere in allthe sources you mention is there anindication that the Jewish People willbe revealed without doing t’shuva (aswe will show here). However, I simplydon’t understand why you had to citeall these sources, when there is anexplicit dispute among the Tanaim inthe Gemara (Sanhedrin 97b): “RabbiEliezer says that if the Jewish Peopledoes t’shuva, it will be redeemed, andif not, it will not be redeemed.” RabbiYehoshua differs and says, “You will beredeemed not with money, and notwith t’shuva and good deeds,” andtherefore, Rabbi Yehoshua establishesthat at the appointed time, Moshiachwill come even without t’shuva. Wehave a general rule that in a disputebetween Rabbi Eliezer and RabbiYehoshua, the halacha is according toRabbi Yehoshua, particularly inSanhedrin (98a), where RabbiYehoshua admonishes with a pasuk

In response to requests by our readers, we nowpresent the fifteenth in a series of questions andanswers from the seifer Between Light andDarkness, Rabbi Sholom Dovber HaLevi Wolpo’sprovocative new guide for the perplexedregarding the establishment regime in EretzYisroel today and the tragic events they havebrought upon the Jewish People.

AREN’T THERE CLEARPROOFS THAT THE

REDEMPTION DOESN’TDEPEND UPON T’SHUVA?

TRANSLATED BY MICHOEL LEIB DOBRY

FOCUS

12 BEIS MOSHIACH - 8 Elul 5766

and “Rabbi Eliezer was silent.”Therefore, we learn that the conclusionof the Gemara is that Rabbi Eliezeryields to Rabbi Yehoshua (by hissilence on his final question). If so,you should have brought yourquestion from the Gemara.

2. However, there is a clearhalachic ruling from the Rambam(Hilchos T’shuva 7:5) that “Israel isonly redeemed through t’shuva,” andhe brings a proof from the pasuk(D’varim 30:2-3): “And you shallreturn to Hashem, your G-d and youshall listen to His voice...and Hashemyour G-d will return your captivity,and have mercy upon you and gatheryou from among all the nations.”Furthermore, the fact that theRambam’s contemporaries did notdispute this ruling is proof that theyagree with his words.

3. In a general explanation of thispoint, the source of the Rambam’sp’sak din comes from TalmudYerushalmi (Taanis 1:1), where welearn from the explicit pasuk, “Andyou will return unto Hashem, yourG-d, etc.,” that the Jewish People isonly redeemed through t’shuva.

As for the differing opinions ofRabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, theMaharsha interprets that Rabbi Eliezeralso reasons that Moshiach will comeat the final appointed time, evenwithout t’shuva. However, he is notsaying that the actual Redemption willcome at a time when the Jewish Peoplehave not yet done t’shuva. Rather, inRabbi Eliezer’s opinion, there will be ageneration of tzaddikim who will serveG-d with t’shuva and good deeds, andthis is the way that the Redemptionwill unfold. Rabbi Yehoshua then addsthat even if there won’t be tzaddikimwho will do t’shuva, nevertheless, thereis a set time when the Redemption canbe delayed no longer, and when thattime comes, G-d will arrange a varietyof circumstances that will compel theJewish People to do t’shuva, evenwithout any previous preparation ontheir part.

This can happen in a number ofways, as the Gemara explains thewords of Rabbi Eliezer: G-d will callforth a king who issues harsh decrees,and then they will do t’shuva, or bringdown a spirit from Heaven upon themto make them return with completet’shuva. (This is according to theversion of the Gemara in which “G-dwill establish a king for them, etc.” arethe words of Rabbi Yehoshua, as wefind also in Yalkut Shimoni, Yirmiyahu270. See the commentaries on theYerushalmi, and the Tanchuma,Parshas B’Chukosai 3.) This is themeaning of “I, Hashem, will hasten itin its time” – when the time for theRedemption will arrive, the arousal to

t’shuva will come from Above. Thus,they will all return in t’shuva then, andthe “hastening” will follow, for G-d willmake the time come more quickly.

4. R. Saadia Gaon explains inEmunos V’Deios, Parshas Shmini, that ifthe Jewish People won’t do t’shuva ontheir own, and the appointed timecomes, “many evil misfortunes willbefall us, so that we will choose thet’shuva for them, and we will deserveto be redeemed.” See the Maharsha onTractate Megilla (31a), where he writesquite simply that in the future, theJewish People will be redeemedspecifically through t’shuva. By the

same token, the Radak writes(Yeshayahu 59:16) that the JewishPeople will return in t’shuva after theysee the beginning of the salvation. Thisrefers to the start of the true salvation,not the “salvation” of the founding ofthe “medina.” Not only has this not ledto people doing t’shuva, it hasdeliberately brought people totransgress with malice aforethought ina manner of systematic spiritualdestruction, unparalleled in the annalsof Jewish history.

5. This is what the Rambam meantwhen he writes at the conclusion ofHilchos T’shuva: “Torah has promisedthat the Jewish People will eventually

do t’shuva at the end of their exile, andthey will immediately be redeemed.”This means that there was a need forthe promise of Torah, because withoutthis promise, it would be hard tobelieve, as we see the dog-eat-dognature of the “medina” and thegeneration, and each person in hissoul knows how far we actually arefrom t’shuva, etc., requisite for this tobe a “fit generation” for the coming ofour Moshiach and our Redemption.Therefore, the Torah promised us thatthe Jewish People will eventually dot’shuva at the end of their exile with anarousal from Above, and when they do


Is this theRedemption that theJewish Peopleimagined? Didmillions of holy Jewssing “Ani Maamin”before they weresacrificed upon thealtar of “Zionism”?

t’shuva, they will immediately beredeemed.

6. This is also the meaning inseveral of the s’farim that youmentioned in your question, i.e., whenthe appointed time comes, the JewishPeople will certainly be redeemed,even if their actions and avoda untilthen will not be fitting for theRedemption. Since the hour hasarrived, there will then be fulfilled,“And Hashem your G-d will blow theshofar,” “And on that day, the greatshofar will be blown,” and the entireJewish People will be aroused tot’shuva. In any event, the two opinionsin the Gemara – the redemption of theJewish People when the appointedtime arrives and also in a state oft’shuva – are both “words of the livingG-d” and each of them is true. (See atlength the maamer that the MittelerRebbe, of blessed memory, son of theBaal HaTanya, of blessed memory, saidbefore Rabbi Akiva Eiger, of blessedmemory, in 5585 – “Al Tatzeir EsMoav” – printed in the beginning ofthe seifer Maamarei Admur HaEmtza’i,D’varim, Vol. 1.)

7. Similarly, the Ramban writes inSeifer HaGeula, Sec. 2, that when theappointed time comes, the least thereshould be is “their acceptance of theTorah and preserving the principles ofthe faith, for while they transgresssome of the mitzvos, they haven’tbroken the yoke [of Torah] entirely.”Even in the holy Ohr HaChayim thatyou cited, while he concludes that“there is a time to the end of the Exile,even if the Jewish People will becompletely wicked,” it is impossible toseparate this from what he writes atthe beginning, i.e., the essence of theGeula is G-d’s redemption of theJewish People at the appointed time,even if they’re wicked: “In awakeningthe hearts of man...and He will makethem detest apparent pleasures, andarouse the spiritual desire...until theyimprove their actions.” In other words,a state of “complete wickedness” ch”vdoes not contradict Redemption, from

G-d’s perspective. However, what is thebeginning of the Redemption? Theawakening of these wicked people todo t’shuva, and not ch”v that spiritualdesertion is one of the signs of theTrue Redemption. Similarly, another ofthe sources cited in your question, theMaharal in Netzach Yisroel, writes (Chs.31 and 45) that the Redemption mustbe a matter of t’shuva, whetherthrough an arousal from Above orfrom below.

8. Furthermore, we also see fromthe aforementioned Maharsha thatwhen Rashi comments that the JewishPeople will be redeemed without anyt’shuva, this doesn’t mean that theywill remain wicked until theRedemption comes, rather thesuggestion that they will not do t’shuvaprior to the Redemption even with anarousal from Above, but when theRedemption begins, MelechHaMoshiach will bring them all toreturn with t’shuva.

9. See the discourse on the Three

Weeks in the Satmar rebbe’s seifer AlHaGeula V’Al HaT’mura, Chapter 40,where he states that since the Rambamwrites that Moshiach will compel allthe Jewish People, this proves thatthey will not do t’shuva beforeMoshiach comes. I have seen thisquoted in a seifer that comes to provethat the medina, despite itswickedness, represents is’chaltad’Geula, as the Jewish People will notdo t’shuva before Moshiach comesanyway.

But this argument simply doesn’thold water, for even according to theopinion that they will be redeemedwithout doing t’shuva, theinterpretation is that Moshiach willcome before the Redemption, and hewill compel all the Jewish People to goin the path of Torah. Thus, sincet’shuva must serve as the foundationfor the Redemption, how can anyonederive from this that a state foundedentirely with the ultimate purpose ofuprooting religion is is’chalta d’Geula,despite the fact that this symbolizesthe opposite of the work of Moshiachand the opposite of t’shuva, withoutwhich the Jewish People cannot beredeemed? The entire concept of exilecame only “due to our sins,” andtherefore, how it is possible that agovernment that transgresses andcauses the many to transgress can itselfbe part of the process of theRedemption? Furthermore, how canthose who themselves stand at thehead of a sovereign organization thatincreases sin and transgression be partof the Redemption and its objective oft’shuva and cleaving to the Creator?

10. It is a well-known fact that thefounders of the medina at its inceptionand in the years that followed drovehundreds of thousands of Jewishchildren away from their roots(including orphans saved from thefurnaces of Europe, who upon theirarrival in Eretz Yisroel were given treifeducation and stripped of all theholiness and purity they had receivedfrom their parents who died al Kiddush


THE MITZVA OFCONQUERING THE LAND

DEPENDS UPONUPROOTING THE IDOLWORSHIP WITHIN IT“As long as the conquest does

not create the firmness to uprootthe idol worship of the Gentiles inEretz Yisroel with a high hand, thisis not the conquest we arediscussing. Furthermore, it makesno difference if the possibility ofuprooting non-Jewish idol worshipis prevented by subjugation toTurkey or England, or whether itcomes from subjugation to theUnited Nations, the Pope in Rome,or world opinion... the firmness ofhand of the non-Jews in EretzYisroel on the issue of uprootingidol worship is a contradiction to astate of conquest.”

(HaGaon R. Yitzchak Hutner, o.b.m., Baal PachadYitzchok)

Hashem). How could it ever enter one’smind that those who completed thework of the Nazis (may their name beerased), raising generations of Jewsnumbering in the millions in the HolyLand who have been totally estrangedfrom their Judaism, are themselvespart of the process of the Redemption?

11. The Rebbe Rayatz says in SeiferHaSichos 5705 (p. 80): “Jewish menand women, listen and be shocked!Jewish children in Eretz Yisroel arebeing led to annihilation! A number ofpeople fighting against religion, amonga group of leaders whose job is toplace refugee Holocaust survivors inEretz Yisroel, have established an‘annihilation of religion corner’ forchildren under their authority. Hitlerconstructed ovens in the occupiedcities to afflict and incinerate theJewish body, and this clique hasestablished houses of destruction inEretz Yisroel for the purpose ofafflicting and incinerating the Jewishsouls.

The ‘annihilation of religion corner’instructs the children througheducators according to the approach ofthe wicked Haman, using the sameeducational model as the Yevsektzia inits worst form. They teach the childrento desecrate Shabbos, eat treif, eat onYom Kippur, and eat chametz onPesach. They don’t permit the childrento say Kaddish for their parents whowere killed al Kiddush Hashem. Theyteach them to scoff at G-d andYiddishkait. The orphans who aretaught in the ‘annihilation of religioncorner’ by students of Haman willeventually r”l tear Torah scrolls, burnsynagogues, and desecrate Jewishcemeteries. They will make pogroms,stab Jews, burn them, shoot them, andplunder Jewish property.”

12. In fact, due to our many sins,we have recently seen Israelipolicemen and soldiers of the IsraelDefense Forces, students of those veryhouses of annihilation that producedcommanders sorely lacking in faithand fear of Heaven, cruelly beating

innocent young boys and girls,destroying Jewish property built withtoil and sweat, tearing down andburning shuls, driving Jews from theirland, and desecrating cemeteries.Prisons in Eretz Yisroel are filled withmore students of the annihilationcorner, who killed and injured Jewsdue to a war over drugs, property, orjust a case of “road rage.” There areincidents every day where youngpeople are knifed in clubs, and quiteoften they end in murder r”l.Hundreds of children suffer terriblyfrom school violence, and dozens ofwomen are murdered by theirhusbands every year.

The Rebbe Rayatz’s prophecy wasfulfilled down to the letter. And who

were the ones who established thesehouses of destruction that raised thesecriminals? None other than the“medina,” its leaders and its ministers,whom you have labeled with the title“is’chalta d’Geula”! Is this theRedemption that the Jewish Peopleimagined? Did millions of holy Jewssing “Ani Maamin” before they weresacrificed upon the altar in order thatthe “Zionists” would bring a spiritualholocaust upon their children, to thepoint that their grandchildren andgreat-grandchildren know nothingabout keeping Shabbos, kashrus, orfamily purity?

13. Regarding your question aboutthe spiritual state of the Jewish Peopleat the time of the Exodus from Egypt,

this was still before Mattan Torah, andwe have already written that AmYisroel did t’shuva by accepting thetwo mitzvos of the blood of the Pesachsacrifice and the blood ofcircumcision, tying the lamb onto theirbedposts on the 10th of Nissan withgreat self-sacrifice, and they were alsoredeemed in the merit of their faith inG-d and Moshe, His servant.

In addition, the exile in Egypt wasonly meant to be for a period of fourhundred years (and G-d calculated theappointed time from the birth ofYitzchak in order that the JewishPeople shouldn’t fall into the forty-nine gates of impurity). Similarly wefind with regard to the redemptionfrom the destruction of the SecondBeis HaMikdash, as the Babylonianexile was only meant to last seventyyears, and therefore, at the conclusionof the fixed time, the redemptioncame. However, with this terrible exile,“the appointed time has not beenrevealed.”

Furthermore, there was no p’sakdin regarding Egypt and Babylonia thatthey will not be revealed withoutt’shuva, and therefore, specifically thisRedemption, which will have no exileafter it, must begin in a spirit of purityand an arousal to t’shuva.

14. But what’s most important isthat the question now is not if theJewish People will be redeemedspecifically through t’shuva or evenwithout t’shuva, but if the very medinathat was founded upon non-Jewishlaws and brought millions of Jewishchildren to spiritual destructionrepresents the Redemption, and whatconnection does this have to theredemption from Egypt? Would itenter one’s mind to say that Egypt, thenakedness of the earth, is in fact partof the redemption?

15. See the two previous insertsregarding the conduct of TheodoreHerzl and the counselors of the JewishAgency.


Specifically thisRedemption, whichwill have no exile

after it, must begin ina spirit of purity andan arousal to t’shuva.


It was rather late in the eveningwhen the telephone rang in the homeof HaRav Yosef Yitzchak Belinov ofB’nei Brak. When the phone rings atsuch a late hour, it’s usually a sign ofsomething urgent, and Rabbi Belinovpicked up the receiver. He neverimagined the amazing and propheticmiracle of the Rebbe MH”M that hewould hear now...

This story took place during Elul oflast year. In his role of authority as ravof Machon Stam, Rabbi Belinov sitsand responds to halachic questions,including matters pertaining to t’fillin,mezuzos, and sifrei Torah that come tothe institution requiring a rabbinicaldecision as to whether or not they arekosher.

One day, a young avreich, a Sanzerchassid, came to Machon Stam with aquestion that had arisen in connectionwith a letter ‘tzaddik’ in one of theparshiyos of his Rabbeinu Tam t’fillin.Rabbi Belinov took the parchment,looked at it thoroughly andmeticulously, and was inclined todeclare it unfit.

However, since this was a matter ofholiness, he didn’t want to say outrightthat the parchment is definitelyunkosher, so he settled for a clearstatement that it is impossible to puton these t’fillin any longer. The avreichwas pained to hear the p’sak, andasked if it was possible to make aformal claim against the scribe whowrote these parshiyos. Rabbi Belinov

looked over the parchment once more,and suggested that he consult with anexpert examiner in order to be certainthat the defect took place during thewriting of the parchments, and onlythen should he approach the scribe.

The avreich thanked the rav, andthen left his office with much sadness.

That night, at an unusually latehour, this young man called RabbiBelinov’s home. He introduced himselfas the avreich who had come to theMachon Stam during the day. Heapologized for calling so late, but hisvoice filled with emotion indicated thathe had something important to say:

“Since you’re Lubavitcherchassidim, I must tell you,” he said,“the Rebbe knew everything!”

Rabbi Belinov then listened mostattentively to the story that the youngman now proceeded to tell:

“I am speaking to you now frommy father’s house, where I camespecially to tell him the unpleasantnews that my Rabbeinu Tam t’fillin arenot fit for use. When I told him aboutthe t’fillin and that the defect hadapparently occurred when theparchments were written, I noticedsigns of emotion and concern on hisface. He was silent for a moment,closed his eyes, and then blurted ingreat pain:

“‘Oy vei, the Lubavitcher Rebbe toldme to check them!’

“What do you mean?” I asked, as Itried to understand what washappening.

HE KNEW BEFORE THEYWERE WRITTEN


MIRACLE STORY

That night, at an unusually late hour, he calledRabbi Belinov’s home. He introduced himselfas the avreich who had come to the MachonStam during the day. He apologized for callingso late, but his voice filled with emotionindicated that he had something important tosay: “Since you’re Lubavitcher chassidim, Imust tell you,” he said, “the Rebbe kneweverything!” An Elul story in honor of the time-honored chassidic tradition to check t’fillin andmezuzos during the Month of Mercy.

“My father then began to relate thatin 5750, shortly before my bar-mitzva,he had the privilege of coming toSunday dollars distribution with theLubavitcher Rebbe. When he passedbefore the Rebbe’s holy countenance,he requested a bracha for the family,particularly for me in honor of myupcoming bar mitzva.

“The Rebbe gave him a beamingsmile and said, ‘You will surely makecertain to check his Rabbeinu Tamt’fillin.’

“My father was slightly confused.He didn’t understand what the Rebbemeant, since it is not our (Sanzerchassidim) custom to put on RabbeinuTam t’fillin at the age of bar mitzva,and my father dared to tell the Rebbethat “we Sanzer chassidim put onRabbeinu Tam t’fillin only after gettingmarried.”

“The Rebbe would not relent. ‘Ifso,’ he said, ‘then check his RabbeinuTam t’fillin then.’

“These were the last words that myfather heard from the Rebbe before hewas pushed outside by the throngs ofchassidim.

“The years passed, and I gotmarried. My father had completelyforgotten about the whole matter.Today, when I came and told him thatmy Rabbeinu Tam t’fillin were notkosher, apparently ever since they hadbeen written, it jarred him like a clapof thunder on a clear day. Heenvisioned before him the LubavitcherRebbe’s amazing prophecy from sixteenyears earlier: Check his Rabbeinu Tamt’fillin!

“Now everything is understood,”my father told me, as he expressed hisdeep regret over the entire matter.

“But the thing that astounded usthe most was: How did the Rebbeknow about the unkosher t’fillin beforethey had even been written?

“It’s true,” the avreich concludedhis story to Rabbi Belinov in a voicefilled with emotion.

“The Rebbe really does see thingsfrom afar.” HaRav Yosef Yitzchak Belinov

“The thing thatastounded us the mostwas: How did theRebbe know about theunkosher t’fillinbefore they had evenbeen written?”



STORIES

JUDAISM INDOWNTOWN

CHICAGOBY CHANI NUSSBAUM

Mrs. RivkahBenhiyoun,shlucha in

Chicago, tellsstories of

neshamos whohave drawn close

to Judaism,Chassidus and

the Rebbe MH”M.

Rabbi Meir Chai Benhiyoun at the siteof his projected Center for Jewish Life


Rabbi Meir Chai and RivkahBenhiyoun arrived in Chicago twentyyears ago on shlichus. Their eightchildren were born there.

Chicago is no hole in the wall andobtaining kosher food and providing aproper chinuch is not very difficult,but the shluchim have worked hardand reached many neshamos. Rivkahshares several stories with us:

We suggested a shidduch to a girlwho had become frum and she wrote aletter to the Rebbe to ask for a bracha.When she opened the Igros Kodesh itwas a letter in which the Rebbe wasresponding to a father who had askedfor a bracha to marry off his daughterand the daughter’s name was the sameas the girl’s.

The chassan also wrote to theRebbe before the wedding. In theanswer he opened to the Rebberesponded to someone with the samename as the chassan and blessed him:May it be in a good and auspicioustime.

The story doesn’t end there. Theiroldest daughter was born on Yud-AlefNissan and they named her DevorahLeah. A few years later the woman wasexpecting a child, but there weresudden complications and fear of a

miscarriage. If that wasn’t enough,there were fears that she would not beable to conceive again due to thecomplications.

Her husband called me and askedme to come to the hospitalimmediately for support. I couldn’tlocate my husband and wanted to getto the hospital as soon as possible. Irushed to bring my kids home fromschool and took my Chitas, pushkaand volume 18 of the Igros Kodesh andraced over to the hospital.

When I got there I found thecouple and heard that the doctors werepressuring her to undergo an operationthat would terminate the pregnancy.They didn’t know what to do. Wecalled a rav who said they shouldconsult with a doctor-friend. We didso. To everyone’s surprise, this doctorconvinced the other doctors to do allthey could so that the pregnancywould continue.

The husband wrote all this to theRebbe and in the answer he opened tothe Rebbe referred to Rochel Imeinuand ended the letter with the quote,“and the children will return to theirborder.” Reading this, the couple and Ibelieved that the pregnancy wouldendure and that mother and childwould be fine.

Two months later the woman gavebirth to a beautiful baby girl. She isfour years old now and is a giftedchild. Her parents consider her “theRebbe’s child.”

Here’s another story from Rivkah:

Twelve years ago the famous artistMichoel Muchnik did an exhibit here.Many people went to see his work,including a certain non-frum girl. Wemet her and I invited her for Shabbos.

At that time I gave a parsha classbased on the Rebbe’s sichos onThursdays. She came to this classregularly and after the shiur we spokeabout many things. I would have hertaste the Shabbos food that I hadstarted preparing so she would get ataste of Shabbos. Little by little, shebecame more involved and she beganlighting Shabbos candles. She hadmany questions about life and wespent lots of time talking together.

Erev Pesach I had to stop the shiurbecause I was about to give birth. Iwas worried about that girl because theonly connection we had with her wasthe Thursday shiur. I was afraid ourconnection would be broken, so Icalled her a few times after I gave birthand on Pesach too, in order to inviteher to come and see the baby, but she

“I had a dream thatis giving me no rest,

which is why I rushedhere. In my dream Isaw myself coming to

the Chabad house,going up the steps

and wanting to go inbut being unable to

do so...”

Entrance to the Chabad house


didn’t answer.

A month after Pesach she showedup unexpectedly. I saw she was upsetabout something and she said sheneeded to speak with me urgently. Shetold me as follows:

“I had a dream that is giving me norest, which is why I rushed here. Inmy dream I saw myself coming to theChabad house, going up the steps andwanting to go in but being unable todo so. I could not go in because Idiscovered that I wasn’t dressedproperly. Then suddenly you, Rivkah,showed up and invited me in. Irefused but you insisted. When youheard my reason you said, come in,don’t worry, I’ll take care of properclothing for you. And then I woke up.

“I realize that the clothing representTorah and mitzvos and that I have toimprove in them. A Chabad house isnot just a place to socialize but a placewhere you get proper clothing for theneshama, so I was embarrassed tocome until now. With each passing dayI realized that only here, at the Chabadhouse, will I get the clothing that Ineed.”

The girl went to Machon Chana inNew York and did a shidduch with abachur studying for smicha inMorristown (whom my husband knewwhen he himself learned inMorristown before we were married).We knew them both and thought theshidduch was a good idea. She has abeautiful family and being a charmingwoman with great talent, she has apositive influence on all around her.

The end of the story is sad though.A few years ago she died after beingquite sick, leaving three children. Somany women attended her funeral!This is a woman who before knowingwhat Torah and mitzvos are alreadyknew that Torah and mitzvos are theproper attire for a Jewish person.

* * *

Another story about a baal t’shuva,one whose family is still far fromreligious observance:

His father became critically ill andhis son decided to fly to see him. Hehad another reason to fly to his fatherthough. His father had always told hischildren that when he died he did notwant a Jewish burial but wanted to becremated. This son, who knew theimportance of a Jewish burial, wantedto convince his father to change hismind and agree to a halachic burial.

However, his father was notconvinced and his brothers didn’t agreeeither. The son figured the onlysolution would be to steal the bodyfrom the hospital and bury his father,for he was determined that his father’sbody not be cremated.

While still arguing with his fatherand brothers, a nurse came in to takehis father’s blood pressure. His father,who was tired from the discussion,sent them all out because he wanted torest. A few hours later they all wentback to visit him and to everyone’ssurprise the father said, “I changed mymind. I want to have a Jewish burialand want a rabbi to arrange it.”

When his shocked sons asked whyhe had changed his mind, the fathersaid, “When you left my room thenurse, who looked Christian, said to

me, ‘Please pardon me for mixing inbut I heard the argument between youand your children. If you take myadvice, you’ll listen to your son andagree to a Jewish burial.’

“The nurse explained, ‘I lookChristian but I found out that I wasborn a Jew and before the Holocaustmy parents had me adopted by aChristian family. They just recently toldme that I’m Jewish. I am sixty yearsold and it’s hard for me to change myway of life, but I know that the Jewishreligion is the true religion.’

“‘When I heard you arguing Irealized that I had the opportunity tohelp with something Jewish, whichwould give me a merit within theJewish religion, for after all, I amJewish.’

“What the nurse said made a deepimpression on me and that is why Ichanged my mind,” said the father tohis astonished children.

The next day the father died andwas buried k’halacha! This happenedthanks to the stubbornness of a youngman who had become a baal t’shuvaand thanks to the Jewish spark hiddendeep within the nurse that lay dormantfor decades and was awoken.

Rabbi Benhiyoun with Mayor Daley of Chicago


A HORRIFYING REQUESTTHAT WAS FULFILLED

One of the terrible challenges thatthe Jews had to deal with waswhether to send their children toRussian schools. On the one handthey knew that the minute a Jewishchild, even a Chassidishe child, wentto school, he was in danger ofassimilation. It was clear that thechild would not only learn generalsubjects but would be indoctrinatedwith communist ideology and wouldhear heretical views that opposed theJewish religion and the Creator.

On the other hand, the Russiangovernment made attendance atpublic school mandatory and whoeverdid not send their children to schoolcould be severely punished. MostLubavitchers withstood the test andrefrained, with mesirus nefesh, fromsending their children to publicschool. However, there were thosewho were forced to do so andunwillingly sent their children toschool. When it came to going toschool on Saturday, they looked forways and means to prevent theirchildren from being mechalel

Shabbos.

R’ Hirsh Lieberman, one of theoutstanding talmidim in TomcheiT’mimim and a Chassid in the fullsense of the word, was determinednot to send his children to school, buthis wife was very fearful. The couplehad many arguments about this. R’Hirsh would say that he had heard theRebbe Rayatz speak extremely harshlyabout this, at the Purim farbrengen5687 (1928) in Leningrad:

“Whoever has a son and puts himin [yeshiva] ... will have a good yearbut whoever has a son and sends himto the Soviet-Yevseki school, won’tlive out the year. If they tell someone:send your daughter to school and ifnot, off with your head, then betteroff with his head than to send yourdaughter to school. If they take awooden board and want to burn him,he should uncover his heart and say,‘Please do with me as you wish, butnot this. We are accustomed tomesirus nefesh.”

The Rebbe Rayatz told one ofAnash in Nevel (by the name ofZalman): Zalman, if they make abonfire of dry branches and light the

fire and tell you: Choose, either sendyour children to school or throwyourself in the fire, better to be burnt(chalila) and not send your son toschool.

(Seifer HaSichos 5687 p. 160)

Once at a Chassidishe farbrengen,R’ Hirsh cried and complained abouthow hard chinuch was and howdangerous. With tears pouring downhis face he kept repeating what theRebbe had said, “Throw yourself inthe fire; just don’t send your childrento Russian schools.”

R’ Hirsh was determined not tosend his children to Russian schooland he tried to circumvent the law.He sent his children to his in-laws, toa place where no one knew them,where they spread a rumor that the

...AND WHO BY FIREBY RABBI SHNEUR ZALMAN CHANIN

MEMOIRS

The Chassid R’ Hirsh Lieberman, a great Chassidin his own right, suffered tragedy and persecutionin Russia, also as a consequence of being thebrother of the secretary of the Rebbe Rayatz. *The story of a life of heroism that twice ended intragedy.

R’ Hirsh Lieberman


grandparents were taking care ofgrandchildren with special needs.Nobody suspected that the oldercouple was helping the children avoidschool, especially because of theirolder age.

However, after a period of time theauthorities began to inquire about thechildren. R’ Hirsh and his wife wereafraid that the Yevsektzia wouldhound her parents and begin tointerrogate them, for which theydidn’t have the strength, and wouldultimately force them to send theirgrandchildren to school. R’ Hirshdecided to take his children backhome to Malachovka, which is nearMoscow, where he would try his luckand with Hashem’s help he wouldfind a way to avoid sending them toschool.

One night (in the year 5698) a firebroke out in R’ Hirsh’s home thatconsumed his wife and children. Forthe rest of his life, R’ Hirsh wouldsadly say, “I asked for it myself.” Afterthis tragedy, R’ Hirsh remained bereftand depressed.

* * *

R’ Hirsh was G-d-fearing and asuperb mechanech. When he arrivedin Tashkent at the beginning of thewar, my mother, who ran a cheider inTashkent, jumped at the opportunityand asked him to teach. My motherthought that this responsibility wouldbe good not only for the children butcould also serve as therapy for R’Hirsh to help him with hisdepression. In addition, R’ Hirshwanted to pay his own way and notlive on handouts.

My mother was thrilled when heaccepted the job of teaching the boysGemara. R’ Hirsh instilled yirasShamayim and Chassidus in hisstudents through the telling of stories.

R’ Hirsh had his own apartmentyet he still felt like a member of myparents’ household. My mother triedto mitigate his sorrow and cheer himup. For a while she managed to raise

his spirits and since he felt somemeager consolation in teaching hisstudents and one could see that hewas recovering somewhat from histerrible tragedy, my mother asked himto teach my sisters too, especiallylimudei kodesh, like Chumash,Tanach, writing in Yiddish andLashon HaKodesh, Jewish history andChassidic history. In return, she paidhim by providing for his needs. Soonmy aunts’ daughters joined them andother girls as well, until we had anentire class of B’nos HaT’mimim inour house.

The boys as well as the girls, lovedR’ Hirsh and respected him. Theyenjoyed every minute they spent withhim.

THE EVIL ONES PLOTR’ Hirsh’s niece, Mrs. Galperin,

daughter of R’ Shmuel Galperin theshochet, who was the husband of R’Hirsh’s sister, told me:

R’ Hirsh suffered greatly from theYevsektzia because he was the brotherof R’ Chaim Lieberman, the RebbeRayatz’s secretary. The NKVD wouldhound him at every opportunity. Onceevery few weeks they called him totheir offices, where they interrogatedhim about his brother, demanding toknow where he was and what he wasup to. Naturally, these frequentencounters ruined his peace of mindand terrified his household.

R’ Hirsh tried to escape their

attention by moving to a different city,but since he needed a residentspermit, the law required him toregister there. After a few months theauthorities caught up with him andthe interrogators renewed theirharassment by taking him in themiddle of the night for questioning.

They asked him whether he was intouch with his brother, what hisbrother did, whether he sent himpackages from abroad, whether hereceived letters from him, whether hewrote him letters, what his brother’sjob was. They knew that he workedfor “Rabbin Schneersohn,” but whatwas his job precisely? Did he sendmoney for the Rebbe’s Chassidim inRussia? Did he know who the Rebbe’smen were in the Soviet Union? Ingeneral, did he, R’ Hirsh also have aconnection with Rabbi Schneersohn?

Of course, R’ Hirsh denied anyconnection with his brother, and allthe more so, with the Rebbe. In fact,he didn’t even know what country hewas in, in Poland or Riga. In general,he said that ever since his brother hadbeen arrested in 5687 along with theRebbe Rayatz, he had had noconnection with him, and even if hewanted to correspond with him, hehad no address.

The evil ones told him they wouldfind the address and they merelyasked him to write a letter to hisbrother, to ask how he was, to askhow he was doing and to ask him tosend money to help him buy food.Their intention was to find out theconnections that R’ Chaim and theRebbe had with the Chassidim in theSoviet Union.

R’ Hirsh said if suddenly, after sucha long time of not being in touch, hewould write asking him all kinds ofquestions, his brother, who was not afool, would understand that thesewere questions they forced him to askand he wouldn’t answer them.

They left R’ Hirsh alone for severalmonths, but then they called him back

to the NKVD office, arrested him for afew days, and suggested that he jointhe NKVD as an agent, promising hima wonderful salary and many perks.They exerted psychological pressure,but when they saw that he wasn’tagreeing to their offer, they began tothreaten him with jail, being sent intoexile, torture, etc.

After days under arrest and tortureand interrogation, they ordered him tosign a letter that he supposedly wroteto his brother-in-law, R’ ShmuelGalperin, who was a rav and shochetin some town. The letter said thatcertainly R’ Shmuel knew the addressof his brother-in-law, R’ Chaim,abroad, so could he please tell himhow R’ Hirsh was doing, that he hadno parnasa and needed money, that R’Hirsh figured that R’ Chaim hadmoney and would accede to hisrequest.

R’ Hirsch refused to sign this letterbut after a few days when he saw thathe had no way out and that hisstrength was dwindling, and hecouldn’t stand the interrogations andthreats any longer, he agreed to signthe letter to his brother-in-law and theNKVD sent it to him.

R’ Hirsh hoped that as soon as hecould leave he would find a way ofinforming his brother-in-law that theletter he had signed was dictated andwritten by the authorities and that hesigned under duress. He planned ontelling R’ Shmuel to ignore the letterand not to send any letter to hisbrother or the Rebbe. How he wouldmanage to send this information to hisbrother-in-law, he did not know, buthe trusted in Hashem that He wouldshow him the way.

LAST MINUTE RESCUEWhen R’ Shmuel received the

letter, he thought, at first glance, thatit was another plot of the NKVD forthey had already tried to incriminatehim a number of times because heserved as a shochet and rav, but theyhad been unsuccessful. They certainly

thought that if he sent letters abroadand he had a connection with RabbiSchneersohn, they would be able toarrest him and send him to exile.

On second thought, he recognizedR’ Hirsh’s signature and he thought,maybe R’ Hirsh really has no food toeat and clothes to wear and despiteknowing of the danger in writing aletter abroad, especially to the Rebbe,he was asking him to write oneanyway. Maybe he should fulfill hisrequest? But why was he asking him towrite and not writing to the Rebbe and

his brother himself? Why was heasking him to write a letter to hisbrother-in-law?

He thought and thought andcouldn’t decide what to do, whether towrite to R’ Chaim or not. Afterpondering this for a few days, eventhough he knew that only aconnection abroad could incriminatehim, he decided to write to hisbrother-in-law, the Rebbe’s secretary,about R’ Hirsh and to ask him, incode, to give the letter to the Rebbe.

R’ Shmuel put the letter in an

envelope, put a stamp on it and gavethe envelope to his daughter who wason her way to school. He asked her togo to the post office and send off theletter.

The girl had no idea who the letterwas for and that it contained secretmatters. She took the letter and wenton her way. She encountered apasserby who stopped and asked herwhether she knew Shmuel Galperin’saddress. Even a girl as young as shewas alarmed by his question for whywould somebody be looking for herfather? Who was this man?

She decided to take a side streetand to run home and warn her fatherthat someone was looking for him. Hecould hide anything incriminating andperhaps flee or maybe quicklyorganize some other means ofextricating himself from trouble. Sheraced home, hoping to get there beforethe man.

However, the man was quicker,and when she entered the house shesaw him talking to her father asthough imparting a secret. When herfather saw her, he nervously asked her:Did you send the letter off already?

When she apologized, saying shehadn’t sent it off yet and she was goingto the post office then and there, herfather sighed in relief and asked herfor the letter. She gave him theenvelope and he ripped it up andthrew it into the fire so nothingremained of it.

It turned out that the man was R’Hirsh’s emissary who had comeespecially to warn R’ Shmuel not tosend the letter to his brother, R’Chaim. Till the end of his days, R’Shmuel thanked Hashem for arrangingmatters so that the shliach came at thelast minute, met his daughter andasked her the question that made himsuspect so that she ran home beforemailing the letter. Who knows whattzaros he would have experiencedotherwise. Baruch Hashem, he and hisbrother-in-law and their families were


“Whoever has a sonand sends him to theSoviet-Yevseki school,

won’t live out theyear. If they tell

someone: send yourdaughter to schooland if not, off with

your head, then betteroff with his head thanto send your daughter

to school.”

saved from the clutches of the NKVD,for from that day on they left himalone, seeing that they wouldn’t gainanything from Chassidim like these;any plot they tried, failed.

LIFE OF A REFUGEEDuring the great flight, when

Chassidim left Russia after the war, myfather took R’ Hirsh on his account.He fled with our family from Russiabut remained in Vienna. In a letter tohis brother, R’ Chaim, he described hiscondition and the state of theT’mimim who were in displacedpersons camps in Vienna:

The situation for now is terrible. Weare living in open summer homes andthere is no firewood and we are twelvepeople in rooms four meters by sevenmeters.

[The twelve are]: R’ Elya Hoft and hisson-in-law [R’ Elchonon Levin] with hisfamily, myself, the widow Doba Raskin,the daughter of R’ Shlomo Raskin. Thefinancial situation is terrible. What wereceive per week is barely enough for oneday.

For example, this week we received2.1 containers of milk per person, 400grams of flour, 50 – salt, 100 – noodles.This is for an entire week. Think about aperson alone, such as myself, for whomthe salt and flour are useless, so it’s like Ireceived nothing at all.

If I am able to travel soon, my fundswill suffice me till Paris, but what shoulda poor widow like Doba with four weakchildren do, when she has no support andsuffers the humiliation of literalstarvation ...

Traveling to Paris can be done inanother, easier way, over two weekseverything necessary can be prepared, butit is expensive ... If you agree to this, be intouch with our friend, Mr. ChaikelChanin via telegram (he is here now andtomorrow he is going home) and you canimmediately, upon receipt of this letter,wire him the money (you probably havesome means of communication withParis) and he will take care of it for meimmediately.

THE REBBE RAYATZ ISPERSONALLY INVOLVEDIn 1947, The Rebbe Rayatz wrote a

number of letters to R’ BinyaminGorodetzky, the Rebbe’s Europeanrepresentative. These letters show howconcerned the Rebbe was for R’ Hirsh’ssituation shortly after leaving Russiawhen he was in the refugee camp inVienna. It is clear that the Rebbe wasinterested in the minutest details of hisphysical circumstances and helpedhim rehabilitate his life.

In one of these letters the Rebberefers to him as “the loftiest of thestudents of Tomchei T’mimim in

Lubavitch.” Additionally, the Rebbewrote directly to R’ Hirsh, expressingpain over his depression andencouraging him in his work inchinuch. The Rebbe also inquiredabout his financial needs, “Because mydesire is that he be dressed respectablyand settled in an apartment with thenecessary food.”

In 1948, R’ Hirsh wrote to theRebbe asking, “If Paris is the last stopon my accursed road, and I need tosettle myself here permanently, howand in what manner? And if I need totry and travel onward, where and inwhat manner?” In a letter written in1949, the Rebbe Rayatz suggested thathe take the first opportunity to moveto Eretz Yisroel, saying that he wantedto appoint him his secretary in EretzYisroel to bring to fruition the Rebbe’sdirectives to Anash.

MOVING TO ERETZ YISROEL– AND ANOTHER ALIYAR’ Hirsh remained closely

connected with my parents throughoutthe years after he left Russia. Whenour family continued on to the refugeecamp in Poking, Germany, my fathermade a special trip to the displacedpersons camp in Vienna in order tovisit him and encourage him.

When my father saw how lonely R’Hirsh was, he suggested that he comeand live near my parents in Paris.About two months after my fathervisited him in Vienna, my fatherarranged papers for him so he couldgo to France. R’ Hirsh went to Parisand became a member of my parents’household again. He asked people inRussia to write him letters at R’Chaikel’s address.

From France, R’ Hirsh went toEretz Yisroel, as per the Rebbe Rayatz’sinstruction and he settled in KfarChabad. A number of years after hesettled in Kfar Chabad he died in a firethat burned down the house he livedin.


R’ Hirsh’s letter to the Rebbe Rayatz about whether he should travel, where to, and how


WHY DIDN’T THEY WINTHE WAR?

Following the ceasefire, thehurling of accusations, and stingingfailure, many want to know whathappened to the vaunted Israeli armythat not so long ago instilled fear inall the nations of the region. Howdid an organization comprised ofseveral thousand men manage tofend off the celebrated Israeli army?How was there such a lack inIntelligence information? What reallyhappened?

The answer to why we failed canbe found by looking at whatpreoccupied the army in previousyears, things that the army had nobusiness being involved in. Adocumentary film about theDisengagement by Ram Landes andMenasheh Raz was recently released.It is called Summer Rains and isparticularly interesting because thesejournalists accompanied the militaryadministrative unit that directed theDisengagement.

Ram Landes was asked about theserious claims being made regardingthe army’s state of preparedness andthis is what he answered:

“The division that served as theevacuation force is the iron fist of thearmy, the crushing force and spearheadof the Israeli Armored Corps. In normaltimes it is based in the Golan Heights

and its sector is Syria and Lebanon. Thepoliticians instructed it to get involvedin the organization, training, and thegathering of Intelligence in preparationfor Disengagement and it did so for anentire year.

“You cannot expect armycommanders to focus their preparednesson a matter of such magnitude whilecontinuing to oversee Hezbollah. Usingthe army as an arm of the governmentfor all sorts of things not directlyconnected with defending the nationcreates a breakdown in the army’smilitary capabilities. The politicianshave distracted the army from its realgoal, which is defending the borders ofthis country. There are limits, even forthe abilities of an elite entity.”

The point is simple. When theytook an army whose goal is to defendthe Jewish people and turned it intothe entity that implemented theexpulsion and destruction, andinstead of gathering Intelligence andpreparing for the next war they werebusy “effectively and determinedly”expelling Jews from their homes, andthen they continued their trainingexercises for the next step of the“Convergence,” why are we surprisedthat they bungled this war?

The government’s obsession withfighting the settlers, “the real enemy,”so permeated the thinking of thearmy that one year ago, the NorthernCommander Major General Benny

Gantz told the media that “theactivities of the Right endangerIsraeli democracy more thanHezbollah’s missiles.” Imagine that.

No wonder that when Hezbollahshot missiles at us that the army wascaught unprepared. Benny Gantz gotinto line with the politicians and theLeftist agenda that the Right is moredangerous than Hezbollah. The armyand Intelligence forces were verybusy with the most dangerous peopleof all: the Right and the settlers.

In order to appreciate theabsurdity, read what Minister ChaimRamon (who has just presented hisresignation to P.M. Olmert followinga decision by the Attorney General topress harassment charges againsthim) had to say. Ramon, who was aleading proponent of leavingLebanon in 2000, Gaza in 2005, andthe Olmert plan in 2006, claimed inMarch that Hezbollah would not dareattack Israel in an interview withHaAretz’s Ari Shavit about thegovernment’s plan to withdraw fromYehuda and Shomron:

“I am not overlooking the Hamaselection victory. On the contrary, thisvictory merely serves to clarify for methat there is almost no chance to arriveat an agreement. I will try. I will trybecause the best of all worlds would beif we could come to mutualunderstanding a la Ari Shavit. And Iwill try so that Ari Shavit and Yossi

SHLEIMUS HA’ARETZ

THE DIRECT LINK BETWEENTHE DISENGAGEMENT AND THERECENT FAILURE IN LEBANON

BY SHAI GEFEN

Beilin and the settlers and the world willknow that I tried. Maybe I will send youto try to reach this mutualunderstanding, but when you return andsay that you failed, I will do what I didin Lebanon. Also then they warned methat I was strengthening Hezbollah, justas you are warning me [about Hamas],”Ramon said. “And also then they toldme there would be buses in Avivim [areference to the deadly 1970 attack on aschool bus in Avivim, near the Lebanonborder] just as you’re telling me therewill be shoulder-fired missiles in theWest Bank. But it’s quiet on thenorthern border. [Hezbollah head SheikhHassan] Nasrallah has convincedhimself that he won, but he doesn’t dareattack Israel.”

Everything was good and welluntil the delusional theory explodedin their faces. It’s time to thankNasrallah, who let us know that theIsraeli head doesn’t work exactly likethe Arab head. They interpretwithdrawals and running away ratherdifferently than what the Israelipoliticians tell us.

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskinwarned during a recent governmentmeeting:

“A very problematic reality isdeveloping in Gaza,” Diskin said. “Intwo to three years, if there is not asignificant change, we could findourselves in a situation similar to whatwe are facing against Hezbollah inLebanon, which is to say fortifiedbunkers, tunnels, and dangerousinfrastructure and weaponry. We’ll havesouthern Lebanon in the south of EretzYisroel. We don’t have to wait threeyears and then launch investigations.”

THE DISENGAGEMENTVERSUS THE WAR IN

LEBANONThe media is full of the terrible

times the reservist soldiersexperienced in this recent war.Starting with contradictory orders,the tentativeness on all sides, theorders that came down to the fieldand were changed as they were givenan opposing order, untrainedsoldiers, insufficient basicequipment, including food anddrink. These stories demonstrate thatthis wasn’t about specific failures buta systemic rot.

In this as well, those who thinkthat there is no connection between

the Disengagement and the war inLebanon are mistaken. The one whotook charge of the incredible logisticsneeded for the Disengagement andthe bringing of food to the soldierswas none other NorthernCommander Udi Adam, while theCommander of the GalileeDetachment, Gal Hirsh, took care ofthe actual expulsion. We know that

When they took an armywhose goal is to defend theJewish people and turned itinto the entity thatimplemented the expulsionand destruction, andinstead of gatheringIntelligence and preparingfor the next war they werebusy “effectively anddeterminedly” expellingJews fromtheirhomes,andthen they continued theirtraining exercises for thenext step of the“Convergence,” why arewe surprised that theybungled this war?


IDF leaving Lebanon


everything went like clockwork inthe Disengagement. Soldiers weren’tforced to steal water from canteens ofdead Hezbollah soldiers or break into stores and take food as they did inLebanon.

On the Internet site of thelogistical branch of the IDF theypride themselves on the amazingDisengagement campaign, about howthey managed to take care of everylast detail concerning the expulsionand providing food for every soldier:

“Every provisions outpost wasmobilized in the last month of thiscampaign, successfully handling the taskall the way to the soldier in the field.The staff of the Tzrifin provision outpostprepared for a three-pronged packagingsystem in the center of the country. Eachnight, they carried out the loading of 80truckloads for the campaign andrepresentatives of the QuartermasterCorps joined the staffs of civiliancompanies in order to supervise thecivilian contractors on site.

“During the Disengagement 14different companies were utilized forfood and packaging services. About700,000 breakfasts were supplied to thewithdrawal forces, 2.6 millionsandwiches, including vegetariansandwiches, a million hot and coldready-to-eat dinners, 25,000 individualportions of salad, 3 million liters ofmineral water and 500,000 ices. Inaddition, 200,000 packages of snackswere given out and 136 freezers wereused, utilizing nearly all of the country’scapabilities. The costs of the food forone day were 1.8 million shekel.”

A few weeks ago, I quoted whatthe Rebbe said in yechidus to RabbiEfraim Yolles z”l about the Midrash,“He, who loves the cruel, hates theupright.” The Rebbe decried backthen how they placed soldiers inLebanon and didn’t allow them toshoot at the terrorists, just as theydid in the most recent war.

The man who took care of thesoldiers in the big expulsion

campaign and made sure every lastdetail was taken care of, includingsnacks and ices, while he neglectedthe real campaign that should havedemonstrated the army’s ability andstrength and failed big time, is theman who epitomizes the adage of theSages.

We see that it isn’t possible tosimultaneously transform the armyinto an entity that aids the enemywhile carrying out missions that areopposite to its goal, and then whenfaced with a war with a real enemyto expect the same results. It justdoesn’t work.

It’s hard to describe the disgracedetailed in the testimony of thereservists, good Jews who showed upto fight in order to win but thendiscovered how scandalouslyunprepared they were. How did theywant to win when everybody wasbusy fighting another enemyaltogether? Whoever thought youcould switch CD’s and hear othertunes was mistaken. The results areobvious to all.

Furthermore, you can’t win whileyou inform the soldiers, in themiddle of the war, that a victory inLebanon will give the enemy anothervictory in Yehuda and Shomron witha Convergence Plan.

The IDF cannot defeat the enemyif it doesn’t take a long hard look athow we came to such a state, how itcame to be that in recent years it hasfocused all its power on fighting Jewsand helping the enemy, once in theguise of imagined peace and once ina unilateral withdrawal.

The problem here is not atechnical one but what preoccupiedthe army for the last two decades.The political echelons took the armywhich is supposed to fight the enemyand turned it into an army thattrained to fight Jews instead oftraining to fight our real enemy.

Sad to say, the lessons were notlearned. Once again, a committee of

inquiry was established that onceagain, won’t investigate the politicalelites and will try to assign the blameof their failures to others.

THE CONVERGENCE PLANHASN’T BEEN FORGOTTEN

It was reported that P.M. Olmertsaid to his ministers that theConvergence Plan has been shelvedand rehabilitating the north is thepriority. Many of us breathed a sighof relief but it should be worryingus. The P.M. and Defense Ministerand their cronies haven’t abandonedtheir idea. They haven’t suddenlybeen endowed with prophecy andhaven’t recognized their errors. Theydidn’t beat their chests and say wesinned and are sorry. They simplywant to avoid public anger and inorder to save their skin theyannounced that the residents of thenorth are their priority. The benefit istwofold: the residents of the northare helped and the ire of thepotential evacuees is quelled.

Let us not delude ourselves. Theminute they can revive their planthey will do so, happily. If Olmertand Peretz had finished the war witha victory the Convergence Planwould be next on their agenda.

On two occasions during the waritself, Olmert announced that hewould continue evacuatingsettlements: the first time, when hevisited expellees in Nitzan, and thenlater, in an interview with the foreignpress. Furthermore, this man withoutlimits, under many criminalinvestigations, who is utterly corrupt,cynically tried to use the war tofurther the Convergence. Accordingto him and Peretz, after a joyousvictory they would become “Mr.Security” and the nation would bowto them for their success, and thusbuy into the entire plan.

There were announcements fromsenior ministers, including theInternal Security Minister and formerhead of Shabak Avi Dichter, that we


should make peace with Syria.Dichter said that in exchange forpeace with Syria, Israel could leavethe Golan Heights.

For some reason, just a few daysearlier, our enemy in Syriaannounced that he is itching for amilitary showdown with Israel, yetthese people carry on as though tendays earlier thousands of missilesand Katyushas hadn’t landed in Israelthanks to the direct aid from theSyrians. How could a normal personmake such suggestions?

It’s sad that it happened after thefailure and deaths of many soldiers,but the result is that theConvergence didn’t happen. Thenation discovered the truth andmany, many people had their eyesopened about the Disengagement andConvergence.

We can’t let people forget this. Wemust keep reminding them whereour politicians led us and the deathand destruction they inflicted on us.This is the only chance we have toprevent them from committing thecrime in the future when it will beconvenient for them to do so. Thosewho don’t want to repeat the terriblescenes of the summer 2005, have towork hard, now.

The Matteh HaOlami to Save theNation and the Land should beapplauded for distributing their “WeTold You So” pamphlet about theconsequences of Disengagement andthe dangers of Convergence. Nearly amillion copies have been distributedthus far in daily newspapers andweeklies and it has been warmlyreceived.

A CHIEF OF STAFFWITH VISION

The story about Chief of StaffDan Chalutz selling stock the daythe soldiers were kidnapped is notsurprising. If you observed how hehandled the expulsion last year andsaw his arrogance, with all his

nastiness reserved for his fellowJews, you knew he was capable ofanything. A Chief of Staff who wasappointed to expel Jews and whohas been busy primarily with theupcoming Convergence, well, it’snot surprising that his stockportfolio is more important to himthan our security in the north.

Dan Chalutz does not need toresign over his stock sale. That’snothing compared to his priority,

which is undermining our security.Whoever didn’t understand thatuntil now, saw it during the war,when he displayed his militaryabilities.

Whoever wants to heal the armyand get it back to what it used to behas to see to it that Chalutz goeshome. Whoever didn’t realize thathis appointment was just a Sharonfamily tactic got the answer lastweek when it was publicized that

Chalutz called Reuven Adler, thefamous public relations man to hishome for advice on how tominimize the damage due to hisstock sale.

PUBLICIZE TO EVERYBODYIN THE GENERATION

The Sages cried and Rabbi Akivalaughed. They asked him why helaughed and he answered that sincehe saw the fulfillment of the harshprophecy, he was sure the positiveprophecy would also be fulfilled.

We have seen the Rebbe’sprophecies being fulfilled, one byone. All warnings that giving awayland would endanger millions ofpeople, including warnings duringthe war in Lebanon that it shouldbe ended quickly and if theydelayed, it would lead to another,more serious war, proved to bejustified.

During the Camp DavidAccords, the Rebbe said thatconcessions would endangermillions of Jews, but this didn’tseem realistic at the time. Today wecan all see for ourselves howmillions of Jews are in danger fortheir very lives.

We Chabad Chassidim have ashlichus to do: to publicize thatthere is a prophet in our generationwho speaks the truth. Just as all hisprophecies regarding security cametrue, so too, his prophecy of Geulawill be realized and we all need toprepare for that great day withbitachon and simcha.

We are sorry that the Rebbe’sharsh prophecies had to come truebut this should strengthen ourbelief in the main prophecy aboutMoshiach. Recent events ought togalvanize us more than ever and inthe merit of this we will see therealization of the prophecy ofGeula, with kindness and mercyand joy.

The IDF cannot defeatthe enemy if it doesn’ttake a long hard lookat how we came tosuch a state, how itcame to be that inrecent years it has

focused all its power onfighting Jews and

helping the enemy,once in the guise ofimagined peace andonce in a unilateral

withdrawal.


Ehud Yatom, from your vantagepoint, how do you sum up the warand the ceasefire that came as a result?

A tragedy, simply a tragedy. Thereare no other words to describe whathappened here. We received thedictates of the ceasefire when none ofthe military operation’s objectives wereachieved. Furthermore, even the mostminimal demand of receivinginformation on our captive soldierswas not fulfilled. We did not destroy

Hezbollah and even the threat ofmissile attack against Israeli citizenshas not been lessened. We came out ofthe war far worse than when weentered it.

Based on the prevailing situation,perhaps it would have been preferableif we hadn’t gone to war at all?

Absolutely. If the results are that weachieved none of our goals, and inaddition, we caused damage to theIsraeli army and home front, it would

have been preferable not to take thisstep.

What essentially went wrong in theconduct of the war?

We allowed Hezbollah to becomeconstantly stronger. Since leavingLebanon like thieves in the night, wedid absolutely nothing to reduce therisk. As a result, the terror in Gazaintensified, and we fled from there.The enemy learned that terror canchase us away, and they achieved theirobjective. There was a prime ministerwho stated that “restraint is acomponent of strength,” but it turnedout that restraint was really acomponent of weakness. We ran awaybecause of the terror in Lebanon, andafterwards in the Gaza Strip, and wegot ourselves a two-front war.

What could we possibly haveachieved in the war but missed theopportunity to do?

Quite simple. It was unthinkable toconclude this war without reachingclear goals. If the missile threatcontinues and the Hezbollah remainexactly as it was, equipped withKatyusha rockets, we achievednothing. The war should not havebeen halted until the objectives hadbeen reached and the operation had

SHLEIMUS HA’ARETZ

In an exclusive interview with Beis Moshiach,Ehud Yatom, former high-ranking official inthe General Security Services and member ofthe 16th Knesset, who fiercely opposed theGaza “disengagement” plan, warns againstfurther territorial concessions and withdrawalplans. He has no regrets over the heavy pricethat he paid due to his struggle against thedisengagement: “I am sad to say today to thepeople of Israel that we were right.” Heclassifies the results of the war as “a tragedy.”

‘THE CONVERGENCE PLAN WILLOPEN A THIRD FRONT, AND

THE MISSILE THREAT WILL BEFROM METULLA TO EILAT’

INTERVIEWED BY SHAI GEFEN



been completed.

Even at the price of furthercasualties?

We went to war to achieve adecisive victory. It was incumbent thatwe prevail; this is the whole purpose ofwar. Ehud Olmert spoke about clearobjectives and he did not achievethem, and only caused far greaterdamage.

Will there be a second roundagainst Hezbollah?

Far more quickly than we think. Thisis clear. The threat has not beenremoved from the residents of thenorth, and Hezbollah is resolute in itsdetermination to continue the waragainst us. Even now, it is quicklyrearming itself with weapons andammunition arriving from Syria andIran.

A couple of weeks ago, the KadimaParty began to sound as if it wassobering up, stating that the“convergence” plan will have to wait,and they must rehabilitate the northernregion. In your opinion, does thismark a change of direction?

I have no idea, but I am completelyuncertain as to whether they arereconsidering their policies. Olmertwill try to revitalize the north andgarner strength, and then we’ll seewhat he’s prepared to do. There was aday at the height of the war when hethought that he would emergevictorious, and so he proclaimed thatvictory in the war would advance theconvergence in Yehuda and Shomron.

It’s no secret that you were amongthe leaders in the struggle against thedisengagement plan, and you paid theprice as you were not elected to thecurrent Knesset. Do you feeldisappointed?

I feel that we were right. We foughtvery hard, and as a result of the factthat people did not want to hear us,we paid the heavy price of a war beingwaged simultaneously on the northern

EHUD YATOM – CALLING CARDEhud Yatom was born and raised in Netanya, and served in the

General Security Services for many years in a variety of prominentsenior roles, including head of the department of operations. He washolding a senior GSS position at the time of the Bus 300 Affair.

After receiving a presidential pardon, Yatom continued to fulfill anumber of high-ranking GSS duties for another thirteen years. Uponleaving the GSS, he received a letter of appreciation from the latePrime Minister Yitzchak Rabin:

“Please accept my personal thanks, and the thanks of thegovernment of Israel and the security establishment for the manyyears you have contributed to the security of the State of Israel. Weknow to appreciate your work, your devotion, your vigor, andoperational knowledge. Many citizens of the State of Israel owe youtheir lives, and don’t even know it. Words and letters are inadequateto retell what you have done. The history books of the securityservices may never recall your deeds.”

Yatom’s efforts to be appointed as chief of staff for the war onterror were blocked by the Israeli High Court of Justice, which ruledthat “the order of the head of the GSS was apparently illegal, and it isforbidden for Yatom to obey it.” Even before this, Yatom wasprevented from serving as Knesset officer. However, these decisionsdid not prevent and may even have led to his high placement on theLikud Party’s list of candidates in the election to the 16th Knesset,where he served as a Knesset Member from 2003 until 2006.

During his Knesset service, Yatom was counted among the “Likudrebels,” who vigorously opposed the disengagement plan. As a result,he was “marked” by Ariel Sharon’s people, and subsequently failed towin reelection to the Knesset, when he received an unrealistic slot onthe Likud Party’s list of candidates.

Ehud Yatom

and southern fronts. I am sad to saythat we were right. Our struggle wascorrect and proper. We gave up muchof ourselves and embraced the positionof truth. I do not have one moment ofregret. People stop me in the street,beating their breast over the sin,including leftists, who say to me that Iam an honest and decent person. Ihave no doubt that eventually justicewill prevail.

And regarding the essence of theconvergence plan?

This will be the third disaster thatprime ministers have brought upon usin recent years, except that this thirddisaster, the threat of rocket attack, willnot only reach as far as GreaterHadera, as it was now from Lebanon,but even as far as Ashkelon.Everything that we have seen fromLebanon and Gaza will now come fromthe direction of Yehuda and Shomron.And if we don’t wake up, the missilethreat on Israel will apply to the wholecountry – from Metulla to Eilat.

What do you have to say to Olmertand the other government coalitionpartners who are responsible for thisfailure?

I call upon them to resignimmediately from their positions, andit is preferable that they resign beforethe investigative committee that will beestablished over the terrible failures inthis war. The investigative committeemust not only look into the results ofthe war, but also the factors that led to

the conflict, the disengagement, andthe abandonment of security in thesouth and the north.

Do you believe that an investigativecommittee will be set up?

I sincerely hope that aninvestigative committee will be formedin order that people will pay the pricefor the failures they brought. Thesooner that public pressure will lead tothe formation of this committee, thebetter this will be for the people ofIsrael.

Is it relevant to repair the damageand destruction that has been caused?

I still maintain a level of optimism.If there will be a change in the rulingestablishment, and those responsiblefor these failures are forced to returnthe keys to power, I believe that it willstill be possible to do something. Thesecurity configuration and deterrencecan be restored only if we start

working in a different direction.

I understand that you have justreceived a new position to help bringthe northern home front back tonormal routine.

The Minister of Trade and Industry,Eli Yishai, turned to me with a requestthat I devise a plan to tend to theimmediate needs and problems thathave been created due to the war inthe north and to deal with proposalsfor the ministry to provide necessaryassistance, focusing on smallbusinesses affected by the conflict.

I have no authority to carry outthese proposals, rather to makesuggestions to the Trade and IndustryMinister. Based on my familiarity withthe north, I believe that I can help theregion’s residents. I expect to submitmy recommendations to MinisterYishai this week.


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Nadav Frieden of Tzfas spentmost of his life with a strongattraction to spirituality on the onehand but an opposition to Torah onthe other. “Since I was a child,”Nadav says when asked to share hispersonal story, “I’ve always beendrawn towards mysticism andspirituality. The emptiness I feltinside compelled me to seek outspiritual nourishment, though notat first through the actualperformance of mitzvos. That camelater.”

When Nadav finished highschool he was drafted into the armyand served as a combat engineer,taking part in many missions inYehuda-Shomron. Nadav tells usabout his experience in the army:

“At the base, we had a negativeattitude towards religion and Torahand mitzvos in particular. Thisfeeling affecting my politics too. Itwas in the army where myopposition to our being in Yehuda-Shomron grew. I saw us asimperialists. I didn’t understandwhat the sacrifices were for. To me,the Jewish people’s connection tothe land was merely symbolic.”

Nadav ended up at a base inTzfas, where he served asIntelligence Communications

PROFILE

‘PICTURING THE REBBESAVED ME FROMBANDITS IN PERU’

BY ELI SHNEURI


Officer, in addition to which, oncea week he served as the duty NCOresponsible for the nighttimeguards.

“One day a Jew with a beardand hat appeared at the base. RafiShoval was his name, a resident ofTzfas. He suggested that we put ont’fillin. His religious appearanceturned me off and I let him know Iwasn’t interested.”

Rafi, however, succeeded inputting on t’fillin with all the othermen on the base throughout thecourse of an entire week. Nadavpersistently refused, but Rafi didn’tgive up. Each day he went toNadav’s office and offered himt’fillin with a smile. After a week ofthis, Nadav finally gave in androlled up his sleeve:

“I broke. His gentle smile andthe way he spoke won me over. Iwas exposed to a naiveté andrefinement that was new to me. Hissense of purpose and hiscommitment made me wonder,‘Maybe there is truth to what hedoes after all?’

“There were another two guardson night duty with me: YairBronstein and Shai Choresh. Todaythey are both ardent Lubavitchers,thanks to Rafi. We spent the nightstalking about religion and faith. Weasked questions aggressively andRafi answered sweetly andpatiently, answering our doubts andexposing us to new concepts thatwere foreign to us. He brokethrough our egos and dismantledour deep foundations of animus.

“We began learning Chassidusin depth, maamarim and sichos ofthe Rebbe. Since Rafi showed up Ibecame a different person. I had areason to get up in the morning.

“It was so engaging that afterRafi finished his Reserve duty, wekept in touch. In the middle of theday, I would leave the base and go

in uniform to Rafi’s kollel in theCanaan neighborhood, and learnfor hours. The maamarimfascinated me and opened awindow to a new world of G-dlywisdom that human wisdom can’teven strive towards. I was simplypulled in by a magnetic force.”

Nevertheless, Nadav was stillwary of the chareidi world:

“I considered Rafi a loftyindividual. Rafi is special, I said tomyself. I didn’t believe thatreligious people in general werenice and well-mannered, open-minded.”

When Rafi finished Reserveduty, he gave each of the threesomeRabbi Chaim Sasson’s Ata Yodaati,which explains the Chabad view oninyanei Moshiach and Geula.

“After I read the book, free ofpreconceived ideas and receptive tothe truth, I came to recognize theLeader of the Generation, theRebbe MH”M! From that point onmy world view began to changeand this is when a revolution tookplace in my life. This bookpresented the entire history of theJewish people with theramifications for our times.”

Nadav finished his army dutyand still kept in touch with Rafi,who encouraged him to take onpractical mitzvos, but Nadav wasstubborn: “I considered thespiritual theories as somethingseparate. I had no problem learningmaamarim and sichos withouttaking on more mitzvos.”

Rafi believed that a month’s visitto 770 would have more of animpact on Nadav than any sichaand he convinced Nadav to go forTishrei. Nadav agreed!

“I landed in 770 and at first Iwas very disappointed by what Isaw. I wasn’t used to it. All around


“We began learningChassidus in depth,

maamarim and sichosof the Rebbe. SinceRafi showed up I

became a differentperson. I had a

reason to get up inthe morning.”

me were bearded men in black. Iwent around to the farbrengens butdidn’t feel comfortable. In addition,that Tishrei the weather wasn’tgood and I caught a cold. I wasaggravated and feeling really down.There I was on Sukkos, thousandsof miles from home, feeling broken.

“At the Simchas Beis HaShoeiva,the bachurim urged me to join inthe simcha and dancing and I did,but it didn’t help make me happy.Feeling awful, disappointed andfrustrated, I sat on the sidewalkand sulked.

“Then I heard someoneaddressing me pleasantly and I felta hand on my shoulder. ‘Why areyou looking so down?’ someoneasked. Afterwards, I learned thathis name was Tzvi List. He invitedme to his sukka and served mesome food. I poured out my heartto him about my situation and mymixed feelings. He greatlyencouraged me and took care ofme. I felt that someone cared andmy mood brightened.

“I remember that afterwards Iwent to Ofer Maidovnik’sfarbrengen and even though Ididn’t know him, he went up to me

and gave me a big hug. I found itstrange but I was amazed by hisAhavas Yisroel.”

Nadav’s visit to 770 made adeep impression on him. He madea decision, “This is the way!” Rafihad opened his eyes to a magicalworld of Rebbe and Chassidim,avoda and yiras Shamayim, a lifefull of meaning which needs to betranslated into action. It was clearto him that he couldn’t continue ashe had been doing until then andthat he had to make somesignificant changes.

During the year following hisrelease, Nadav worked at a gasstation, earning money for his trip.In his free time, he learned deepmaamarim of the Rebbe. It was,however, very hard for him to makea change in his lifestyle. He learnedChassidus but didn’t use thespiritual inspiration to fulfillmitzvos. His thoughts were drawnelsewhere, to traveling in India,like many young people who aredrawn there because of theemptiness felt within.

For a while, Nadav was tornbetween his study of Chassidus and(l’havdil) wanting to go to India. He

finally decided to go to SouthAmerica. He stopped in 770 on theway, where he committed tokeeping kosher, observing Shabbos,and growing a beard.

At the very beginning of histrip, Nadav lacked the satisfactionthat he had hoped to feel on thistrip.

“I felt a void. My friends spenttheir time smoking water pipes andjust hanging out, but I alreadybegan to despise that lifestyle. Itturned out that the trip drew mecloser to G-d.”

One evening, when Nadav and afriend went for a walk, twopolicemen did a stop and search onthem. They arrested them andsearched them and then told themto get into a nearby taxi and tofollow them to the police station.

“I could tell something bad wasin the offing. I told them that wewere willing to walk with them tothe police station. I don’t knowhow I had the nerve because thepolice don’t exactly operateaccording to the law. This was aprimitive country where bribes canbe offered midday in front ofanybody. If we had gotten in, wewould have no way of knowingwhere we were heading.

“Tourists carry cash on them.They also carry credit cards withhigh credit lines. Sometimes,robbers take their victims to anearby bank and force them to takeout the maximum amount of cash.Sometimes the victims aremurdered.

“As we walked they beganexplaining what awaited us. A trialwould take place after 50 days injail and the judge might sentenceus to ten years without blinking aneye. Apparently they had it allplanned out, for only after theysoftened us up did they suddenlybegin talking money. $600 is what


Nadav speaking at the dinner for the Chabad yeshiva in Tzfas

they wanted. With diabolical grinsand in order to explain how greatthe deal was, they said, ‘That’s justlawyer’s fees. The legal fees can bereally steep.’

“We were still thinking aboutwhat to do when they suddenlytold us to turn off to a café for ashort rest. We agreed and followedthem. We sat together at one of thetables. ‘Listen,’ they said in low,threatening tones. ‘Let’s make adeal. How much are you willing topay?’

“It was a critical moment. If weappeased them, fine, but if not, ourfuture was unknown. We stared atthem intensely trying to figure outhow serious they were.

“50 sol is what I offered. Theyburst out laughing and then turnedthreatening. One of them grabbedmy friend’s arm and tried to gethim to let go of the wallet strappedacross his stomach. My heart raced.

“They fished around in hiswallet and found only 50 sol,precisely the amount I had said.Furious at the paltry sum, thepoliceman turned to me. I had a lotof cash on me that I had earnedafter a year of work. I also hadtraveler’s checks and worst of all,all types of credit cards.

“He was grabbing for my walletwhen I suddenly had a brainstorm.I remembered that when peoplewere in trouble and they thought ofthe Rebbe and asked for his helpthey are answered. I closed my eyesand pictured the Rebbe and asked:Rebbe, please help me! And youknow what? One of them got upand yelled at the other for noapparent reason, ‘Forget it! Let’s getout of here!’ And they left.”

Nadav went straight to thenearest Chabad house to help thelocal shliach of Peru, Rabbi ShneurZalman Blumenfeld, in his workwith Israelis.

After a short while Nadavcontinued touring with his friends,traveling from city to city andvillage to village. They meanderedalong rivers roaring along at thebase of majestic mountains,climbed to the summits, andfeasted their eyes on thebreathtaking scenery.

“In one forsaken village, Iwalked on a dirt path betweenhouses made of clay. The peoplewere illiterate. I noticed a housewith big letters that spelled thename of Hashem. I was takenaback. I had been feeling so distantand Hashem had sent me thisreminder.

“When I told the locals that Iwas from Israel, they all gatheredround in amazement to hear what Ihad to say. I used the opportunityto teach them about Moshiach andthe Seven Noachide Laws.

“I decided to end my trip, goback to Israel, and rebuild myself. Iwas far from the internationalairport, 27 hours by bus. Myfriends suggested that I go by bus.It was cheaper but dangerous. I

preferred flying because it wasfaster and safer.

“The intercity airport was a six-hour bus ride away. I had matzawith me, the only food available tome. I noticed some tough lookingArab guys at the back of the buswho were talking the locallanguage. With my poor commandof the language I understood thatthey planned on killing me. Theirplan was that when we got to astop, one stop before the airport,they would take care of me. I waspetrified. I mumbled chapters ofT’hillim and prepared for thebiggest challenge of my life.

“Again I remembered to picturethe Rebbe. To the surprise of thepassengers, the bus continued tothe terminal and drove inside,which was unusual. In the terminalwere armed policemen. I took mybelongings and quickly left the bus,though not before throwing them awave. Then I disappeared into theterminal.”

Nadav left Peru and flew to NewYork and went to 770, where hebegan seriously learning while


Rabbi Avrohom Rosenblatt, who brought Nadav to the Chabad yeshiva in Tzfas

planning his future.

After a few days, he decided toreturn to Eretz Yisroel and enter ayeshiva. Upon the recommendationof the shliach, Rabbi AvrohomRosenblatt, where he lived in NaveShaanan in Chaifa, he went to learnin Tzfas.

It wasn’t easy for him to

acclimate to yeshiva life. RabbiRosenblatt tried to arrangechavrusas for him but adjusting toyeshiva life was something Nadavfound very difficult. After a weekhe returned home for a break untilhe mustered his energy to tryagain.

Nadav got into yeshiva life untilhe became an inseparable part of

the yeshiva scene. For a while hewas a madrich in the Chabadyeshiva in Chaifa. Nadav is engagedand is about to build a bayisne’eman b’Yisroel, founded on Torahand mitzvos as they are illuminatedwith the light of Torah, TorasHaChassidus.


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CHABAD HOUSEON WHEELS

When was the last time youtraveled by bus? It doesn’t reallymatter. Surely everybody can recall atrip in which they nodded off, or anoisy ride, a driver who yelled or anice driver, lots of empty seats or socrowded it was hard to find a place tostand, good air conditioning or so hotyou thought you’d faint, early or late,a fast driver or a slow one... If youhaven’t traveled on the 47 line of theDan Company that leaves Carmalit forRaanana, you’ve definitely lost out ona unique experience.

The 47 line operates everymorning, from five o’clock until ten atnight. It’s a relatively long line andgenerally serves to take people towork in the center of the country. Thebus driver is Yosef Yaskin, an

impressive Chassid who is dynamicand persuasive. In his time, when hewas an actual driver, Rav Yaskin wasone of the big record-setters of theDan Company with the number ofhours he amassed daily.

R’ Yaskin became frum and aChabad Chassid and now he is aLubavitcher who is a member of theChabad community in Hertzliya. Hequickly showed himself to be aninnovative and daring outreachactivist. Upon becoming frum he notonly changed his way of life but alsothe nature of his job on the bus. This,in turn, changed the lives of manypeople.

The driver area turned into aChabad house with all the necessaryparaphernalia – t’fillin, Igros Kodesh,Jewish books, a pushka, brochures,and more – but the main change was

in the atmosphere of the bus. In orderto appreciate what we’re talkingabout, let’s remember that this busline primarily serves those going towork. The people who needed the 47would go to work with him in themorning and return home with him.Some people even traveled anadditional round with him when theywent home for a break during the day.The passengers are mostly regularswho know one another. Yosef drovethe same people for a period of timeand was acquainted with thempersonally.

During the trips, Yosef begantalking to the passengers. He knewhow to get people interested by firstchatting with them about this andthat and then slowly introducingtopics of k’dusha. Yosef is a goodconversationalist and it’s a pleasure tolisten to him. He knows how tocompliment and how to gently jokearound so that everybody enjoys it.Little by little, his “bus k’hilla” ofpeople who eagerly listened to whathe has to say was built up.

SHOFAR ON THE BUSThroughout his trips, Yosef

distributed over 7000 Moshiachcards! The passengers who have amonthly pass knew that along withshowing their pass they had to showhim their Moshiach card, or else...Yosef would put on a show of mockanger. Many of the passengers said“Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach” ontheir own as they boarded the bus.People began asking questions.

Some he responded to himself

FEATURE

Each one has a job and no you won’t find themon the list of shluchim at Chabad.info and notat the Kinus HaShluchim. Yet, each of themdoes mivtzaim in a way that would make anyChabad house proud. When I say, “Wow,you’re mamash a Chabad house!” they sighand say, “halevai.” * Stories about unofficialshluchim, working people who combineHafatzas ha’Yahadus and Chassidus and theBesuras HaGeula with their daily job. * Part 3

WORKING FOR THE REBBEBY YISROEL YEHUDA

PICTURES BY MEIR DAHAN


while with others he arranged a liveconnection with Rabbi YisroelHalperin of Hertzliya on thespeakerphone of his cell phone, whiledriving his bus. Those whom hethought were ready, he sent to RabbiHalperin personally in order for themto participate in shiurim that takeplace in the community.

Everybody knew Yosef was a greatguy. When a new passenger showedup who didn’t know Yosef, he wouldsometimes be taken aback byeverything happening on the bus, theconversations, the t’fillin, etc. Theother passengers would calm downthe passenger by telling him that Yosefwas a nice person who waited foreveryone, who remembered who hadto get on or off and when, and he wasalways ready to help, and it wasactually enjoyable to listen to what hehad to say on any topic.

In Elul, Yosef would stop the busand blow the shofar every so often.Some people heard the shofar five or

six times per trip because it’s a longride.

Every Friday he stopped at anadditional stop, at the t’fillin stand.Yosef would stop, take on or let offpassengers and do Mivtza Neshek andMivtza T’fillin on the bus too. BeforePurim he gave out mishloach manosand so on, before every holiday. Theresults: dozens of Jews interested inJudaism and Chassidus and two baaleit’shuva!

TRAVELS OF A PICTUREOne morning, one of the regular

passengers boarded the bus, presentedher monthly pass but the Moshiachcard was missing. She apologized toYaskin and explained that it wasn’tlost and told him the following story:

The woman’s husband had heartdisease. He always had to carrymedications around with him. Thecouple went on a trip to Turkey andwhile standing near a rock to bephotographed, they put their bag

down. A short while later theyrealized it had been stolen.

Their bag had everything theyneeded in a foreign country: theirpassports, cell phones, money, addressbook, and most important of all – themedication. You can well imagine thecouple’s consternation and feelings ofhelplessness, their fear that at anymoment he might need medicinewithout which he could die, and itwas gone!

The couple went back to theirhotel distraught. They had no ideawhat to do next. For two hours theywavered between hope and despair.The wife was a bit calmer because sheremembered that in the bag was apicture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe,“and the driver of the 47 linepromised that the Rebbe helpswherever you are, no matter thesituation.”

Just then, the phone rang. Theydashed for the phone and the man onthe line was from the embassy. “Your


bag is here,” he reported, “though thecell phones and money are gone.”

“Are the medications there?” askedher husband anxiously.

“One second, let me check. Yes,they’re here,” said the man, notrealizing how relieved the couple wasto hear this.

They quickly took a cab to theIsraeli embassy, where the employeethere greeted them. After checking tosee that everything else was there,they sat down to hear the story ofhow the bag had ended up at theembassy.

“The person who stole the bag wasonly interested in the valuables itcontained and he threw the rest on astreet corner. A short while later,someone found the bag and when hesaw the Israeli passports he turned itin to the embassy.

“I didn’t know where to find you.I looked in the bag for your address, ahint of some kind, but couldn’t findanything. I emptied the bag on thetable and finally found your addressbook. I opened it and saw the pictureof the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I gazed at itfor a few seconds, at the warm smile,the Rebbe’s gaze, but the urgency Ifelt to locate you pushed me tocontinue looking for you.

“I noticed a phone number on topof the picture. I had no idea who yourrelatives are that would know whereyou are and so I didn’t know whichphone numbers to look for. I decidedthat the phone number closest to theRebbe’s picture is the number Ishould dial. I called the Israelinumber and I have no idea whoanswered the phone but sheimmediately gave me your address inTurkey and here you are...”

The couple couldn’t get over thestory. “Do you realize that the onlywoman who knew where we are andhow to reach us is the one whosenumber appears next to the Rebbe’spicture?”

The embassy employee returnedall their stuff and said with a smile,

“There is one thing I won’t give backto you and that is the Rebbe’spicture!”

“So that’s why,” concluded thewoman, “I don’t have the picture.Now I need a new one!”

SUSPENDED LICENSEOver the years of working as a bus

driver, there were many interestingstories and miracles. One of theamazing stories took place whenOfer’s license was suspended for threemonths and the poor fellow had totravel with Yaskin every day in orderto get to work in Hertzliya.

Who is Ofer? Ofer is a Leftist whobelongs to the Bohemian crowd inIsrael. He’s a bit famous, speaking atvarious extreme Left rallies. Ofer has aterrible allergy. He can’t standchareidim.

Now imagine Ofer’s dismay afterhis license was suspended and heboarded the bus only to come face toface with a Chabad house on wheels!The passengers tried to calm himdown and explained that Yaskin is aterrific driver and “it’s always this wayon his bus,” but it only got him moremad. He had to travel with thisreligious guy?! For three months?

Ofer took out his frustration onYaskin. Wherever he sat on the bus,he directed his arrows at the driver bymocking him and otherwise beingcompletely obnoxious, and he did thisall the way to work. When he got offthe bus, no doubt he breathed a sighof relief, “Ah, air free of dosim(religious Jews).”

It wasn’t easy for Yaskin.Sometimes it was hard to restrainhimself, especially when what Ofersaid could cause damage to his“k’hilla,” but “restraint is strength”and Yaskin continued to welcomeOfer with a smile. Every so often,Yaskin would say a sentence or two inthe attempt at penetrating the walland reaching Ofer’s Jewish heart.

For the first month and a half,Ofer continued full force but then hegot used to the idea and began totemper his words. In the final monthOfer got off the bus saying, “YechiHaMelech HaMoshiach,” and hewasn’t being cynical.

From a sentence here and therethey got into longer conversationsabout life and a little bit aboutJudaism. It was hard for him, butYaskin saw the fulfillment of thepromise with his own eyes that “we

Yosef Yaskin at his desk at the drivers’ club area under his care


are assured that our efforts do not gofor naught.” Ofer’s pintele Yid beganto wake up.

Around that time, Yaskin visited770. He met Avi Taub and discoveredthat he was Ofer’s friend from wayback. Yaskin told him about thechange in Ofer. Avi was skeptical andsaid, “It just can’t be. Ofer hatesreligious people. He can’t even look atthem.”

In the course of theirconversations, Ofer told Yaskin thathe was suffering from cancer, whichwas eating away at him physically andemotionally. Yaskin tried to encouragehim. He even tried to connect Ofer tohis Judaism but Ofer rejected thethought.

One time, Yaskin suggested thatOfer come to the Chabad house inHertzliya for one of the Chassidicspecial days. Ofer’s reaction wastypical, “Listen Yaskin, I just can’t.Our personal relationship is nice butthat doesn’t mean that I can standchareidim.” Ofer did not show up atthe farbrengen but Yaskin didn’t forgetabout him. He asked for a bracha forhim in the collective pidyon nefeshthat they wrote to the Rebbe, and putit in a volume of Igros Kodesh.

Rabbi Halperin opened the volumeof letters and began reading it. Part ofit said that whoever asked inconnection to a refua shleima wouldget what he needed and even if thingslooked just the opposite, it would belike Purim when what lookeddefinitely bad turned out to be good.

Yaskin didn’t keep this to himselfbut called Ofer from the farbrengen.He didn’t reach Ofer (who wasundergoing tests and treatment at thetime) and so he left him a message,“Ofer, I wrote to the Rebbe for you.The Rebbe says you are healthy andthere is nothing to worry about!”

Three days later Ofer returned thecall, shouting like a little boy, “Yaskin!It’s all over! It simply stopped! It’samazing!”

Ofer had heard Yaskin’s messagethree days before. His life had alwaysbeen one of “my strength and thepower of my arm,” i.e., what I canobtain with my strength, I obtain, andwhat not, not. Now Ofer wasconfronted with something beyondhis abilities, with a miracle! He hadinternalized the concepts that Yaskinhad persistently mentioned to himover the months, concepts like Rebbe,Geula, Moshiach, emuna, etc.

Ofer agreed to join an ongoingshiur that took place at Yaskin’shouse. It so happened that the firsttime in his life that Ofer showed up toa Torah shiur was Nittel Nacht, so theshiur was just a nice conversationabout this and that. This served toease Ofer into things.

Today Ofer participates in theprograms of the Chabad house inHertzliya. He helps distribute foodpackages and assists those in need. Hestill speaks at rallies (“I tempered thecontent a bit,” he told Yaskin),however, he has clearly made hugestrides in coming closer to Yiddishkeitand the Rebbe.

PERMANENT CHABADHOUSE

A year ago, Yosef asked the Rebbefor advice regarding his work. He felthe had done all he could do in his jobas a bus driver, and as a loyal Chassidhe asked for direction. The answer heopened to spoke about involvement inshlichus. Rabbi Halperin said it meantthe continuation of his shlichus in hiswork.

Yosef wrote a letter to hissuperiors at the Dan Company, askingfor another position within thecompany. To his surprise, he was sooninformed that he was assigned to thejob of dispatcher of one of the buslines. Normally, in order to be adispatcher, something has to havehappened like an accident or injuryor the like. To get this position justlike that is unusual and Yosef Yaskinsaw it as a sign from Heaven that thiswas his new shlichus.

Yosef quickly integrated into hisnew role as dispatcher of one of thelines at the office in Tel Aviv. Thecompany provided him with a smallbooth, in addition to a club area forthe drivers and a tiny office. Whatshould the drivers’ club area looklike? You can well imagine, but Yosef’slooks different.

From a distance you already noticethe “Boruch HaBa” sign over the door.

Yosef Yaskin alongside a bus advertisement about consultingthe Rebbe through the Igros Kodesh


There’s a picture of the Rebbe andother Jewish signs. Yosef’s office is acomplete Chabad house. The closetsare packed with Jewish material thatis distributed to thousands ofpassengers on the line that he ischarge of. T’fillin, a pushka, forms tofill out for a letter in a Seifer Torah,all these cover his desk along withvarious forms and documents fromthe Dan Company.

As usual, Yosef puts his efforts intoreaching people’s souls and within afew months he managed to create arevolution among the drivers. Heshows up at the office at dawn andthe drivers put on t’fillin with him.

Afterwards, most of the driverslearn the Rambam’s Seifer HaMitzvos.During the course of the day, Yoseflooks out for the material andspiritual welfare of his drivers. He hasalready convinced some drivers tobuy t’fillin for themselves.

Yosef knows the mentality of thedrivers and with lots of Ahavas Yisroeland determination he is bringingabout real changes. The drivers knowalready what bracha to say on what.They come every day with questions

in halacha and Judaism and just toconsult with him and unburdenthemselves.

On the day that I visited hisbooth, Yosef had brought some formsfor the purchasing of a letter in aSeifer Torah, for the first time. In hischaracteristic manner, he publicizedthe idea in simple terms via thecompany’s announcements. The formswere quickly filled out and having runout of space, he wrote additionalnames on plain paper.

While we spoke the loudspeakerannounced, “Yechi Adoneinu MoreinuV’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’olam

Va’ed!” It was a driver who had parkedhis bus in the parking lot outside thebooth and had announced his arrival.

Yosef is interested not only in thedrivers but in the thousands ofpassengers who use the bus line daily.Each bus is equipped with Jewishmaterial and signs. Some of thedrivers know enough to provideJewish information to theirpassengers. Yosef has plans foropening his own Chabad house.

“When I came to work at thebooth as a dispatcher, there werepeople who were afraid that Danwouldn’t like all this Jewishness andthey advised me to take it step bystep. I did it l’chat’chilla aribber andcame with all the stuff you see here,and baruch Hashem, it worked out.

When asked what his dream is,Yosef points at a full pushka and says,“We are collecting money forpermanent t’fillin for the dispatcher’sbooth. My dream is that every boothof the company will have a smallcloset with Jewish material, t’fillin,and a pushka. This is on the waytowards fulfilling the big dream of theRebbe’s hisgalus.”

Yosef knows thementality of the

drivers and with lotsof Ahavas Yisroel and

determination he isbringing about real

changes.

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43Issue Number 569 - BEIS MOSHIACH

I heard the following from R’Mottel Kozliner a”h, which illustrates aprofound idea about the currentsituation, when the Rebbe said that thework of Exile has been completed andnow we must focus on preparing forGeula:

R’ Avrohom of Zembin, known asR’ Avromke Zembiner was one of thefamous mashpiim amongst Anash inthe early years of Yeshivas TomcheiT’mimim Lubavitch. (He was theteacher and guide of the mashpia inTomchei T’mimim, R’ Shmuel GrunemEsterman.)

Talmidim of the yeshiva inLubavitch once wanted to farbrengwith R’ Avrohom and he agreed tocome to Lubavitch and farbreng. Theyagreed that the farbrengen would goon until two a.m. and that a horse andwagon would be waiting for him totake him back home to Zembin.

The talmidim ordered the wagonand the farbrengen began. R’ Avrohomspoke and spoke, niggunim ofyearning were sung, and theatmosphere warmed up. At twoo’clock, when the wagon arrived asarranged, the farbrengen was at itsheight and nobody thought ofstopping it abruptly.

A few minutes went by and thensome more and even more. It wasalmost an hour of waiting and nothinghappened. The wagon driver was upsetand he banged on the window andbegan yelling, “Avromke! We arrangeda time, I came in the middle of the

night and I’ve been waiting a long timealready! Come immediately!”

R’ Avrohom saw he had no choicebut to leave and he got ready to go.The bachurim groaned: Oy, just as thefarbrengen was starting to get going...

R’ Avrohom said: It’s just theopposite. It’s because it was endingthat it began going so well.

One year, R’ Mottel stayed with hisdaughter in Kfar Chabad for Acharon

shel Pesach and farbrenged in the BeisNachum Yitzchok Shul at theMoshiach Seuda. We heard a “vertel”from him on the Chazal, “Moshiachcomes to bring the tzaddikim to dot’shuva.”

Why do tzaddikim need to dot’shuva? asked R’ Mottel. He answeredin a humorous vein: Nearly all baaleit’shuva proclaim and sing “Yechi,”while not all the “tzaddikim” do so yet.

Apparently that will be Moshiach’s job:to get the tzaddikim to act like baaleit’shuva and to proclaim “Yechi.”

Naturally, after a vort like that, thecrowd began singing “Yechi,” but somepeople didn’t like it and there wereeven a few who tried to interfere.

R’ Mottel couldn’t restrain himselfand he stood on the steps to the AronKodesh and began to scream: It’s onething if you yourself are not holding by“Yechi,” but how can you try toprevent others from singing andproclaiming it?!

He added: If regarding the fourcups that you drink at the MoshiachSeuda the Rebbe [Rashab] said, “This isthe Seudas Moshiach,” then “YechiAdoneinu” is certainly, certainly “theSeudas Moshiach,” for this is the wholepoint of the Moshiach Seuda!

R’ Mottel wasn’t satisfied until headded: It’s known that everybodypushed to eat from the kasha servedon Yud-Tes Kislev, since they knew thatwhoever ate from the kasha of Yud-TesKislev, the kasha of the Alter Rebbe,would not die without t’shuva. Everyperson knows himself that with hisrevealed soul powers there is noknowing whether or not he is a worthyindividual. Therefore, he tries with allhis might to at least grab on to theklamke (doorknob) of Chassidus, the“kasha” of the present Rebbe, which is“Yechi”! You must hold on to this withall your might and push and doeverything possible to grab it and beconnected to it.

MOSHIACH

REB MOTTEL KOZLINER:

“YECHI” IS THE “KASHA”OF THE REBBE

BY RABBI LEVI Y ITZCHOK GINSBURG

R’ Mottel Kozliner

CONTENTS · Beis Moshiach (USPS 012-542) ISSN 1082-0272 is published weekly, except Jewish holidays...

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Transcript of CONTENTS · Beis Moshiach (USPS 012-542) ISSN 1082-0272 is published weekly, except Jewish holidays...