CONTENTS

6
FEATURED ARTICLES

WEEKLY COLUMNS

4 Dvar Malchus
13 Thought
23 Parsha Thought
26 Thought
38 Crossroads
41 Tzivos Hashem

SHLICHUS A WAY
OF LIFE
Shneur Chaviv

FEAR OF HEAVEN
16 FOR
YOU NEED TO GO TO
LUBAVITCH

Shneur Zalman Berger

16

CHASSID
28 ADovPASSIONATE
Levanon
THE NATIONS
34 AND
SHALL GO BY
YOUR LIGHT

Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz, ah

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2014-08-19 3:52:20 AM

DVAR MALCHUS

770 LIFTS UP
THE LAND OF
THE 70 NATIONS
Uplifting the world in this way is in virtue of Beis
Rabbeinu, located in the Lower Hemisphere.
Beis Rabbeinu is the place from which light shines
forth to the rest of the world. * From Chapter
Six of Rabbi Shloma Majeskis Likkutei Mekoros (Underlined text is the
compilers emphasis.)
Translated by Boruch Merkur

6. [] In this generation,
the final generation of exile
and the first generation or
redemption, we are finishing and
completing our deeds and our
service throughout the entire
duration of exile to transform
Eretz HaAmim, the land of the
Gentile nations of the world
even the lowest possible place
of the Diaspora, the Lower
Hemisphere (where Mattan
Torah did not take place) into
Eretz Yisroel. By elevating the
very lowest region, all other
places of the Diaspora ascend.
Uplifting the world in
this way is in virtue of Beis
Rabbeinu, located in the Lower
Hemisphere. Beis Rabbeinu
is the place from which light
shines forth to the rest of the
world. Thus, the entire world
(even the most remote corner)
is transformed into Eretz
Yisroel, in fulfillment of In
the future, Eretz Yisroel will
extend to all the lands and In

the future, Yerushalayim will

extend to all of Eretz Yisroel.
All the synagogues and study
halls of the entire world will
adjoin to the Beis HaMikdash,
the Holy Temple, with the
true and complete redemption
through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
The Moshiach (redeemer
of the Jewish people) of our
generation is the leader of the
generation (as above, Section
5). The main thing, however,
is that he is the leader of the
teachings of Chassidus,* for the
dissemination of the wellsprings
of Chassidus outward (when
your wellsprings are spread
outward, reaching even the
furthest possible distance,
spanning the entire face of the
earth) brings about the advent of
Malka Meshicha.
The latter discussion brings
to light the great virtue of Beis
Rabbeinu, the Mikdash Mat
haikari the main Miniature
Sanctuary, of the final exile,

for it journeyed from Kadeish

and settled there. Thus, It is
the place of the future Mikdash
itself; the Mikdash of the
future will be revealed there,
and from there it shall return
to Yerushalayim (as discussed
above in Section 4).
7. This concept is also
alluded to in the name of Beis
Rabbeinu in our generation:
Rabbeinu: Both the first
and second names of the Rebbe
allude to the redemption. His
first name, Yosef, is in the spirit
of the verse, It shall be on
that day that the L-rd will add
(yosif) [the effect of] His hand,
a second time to acquire the rest
of His people, who will remain
from Assyria and from Egypt
and from the islands of the sea
and He shall gather (vasaf) the
lost of Israel, and the scattered
ones of Yehuda He shall gather
from the four corners of the
earth (Yeshayahu 11:11-12).

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His second name, Yitzchok,

alludes to laughter and joy, which
will achieve its quintessence in
the true and compete redemption
by Moshiach Tzidkeinu, as it
is written, then our mouths
will be filled with laughter
specifically then, referring to
the Future Era,** when we will
say (specifically) to Yitzchok for
you are our father.
And Beis (Rabbeinu): The
building address is 770***
[Eastern Parkway]. The name
of Beis Rabbeinu, of course,
comes from this number, for all
Jews call Beis Rabbeinu 770.
770 is the gematria of paratza
you have burst forth, in the
spirit of the verse, And you shall
burst forth westward, eastward,
northward, and southward. This
verse alludes to the fact that light
shines forth from this building to
all four directions of the world,
and in a manner of bursting
forth through boundaries,
elevating all corners of the globe
to the status of Eretz Yisroel
(In the future Eretz Yisroel will
extend to all the lands).
This particularly includes
the fact that all synagogues and
all study halls throughout the
entire world become established
in Eretz Yisroel and adjoined to
the Beis HaMikdash, with the
true and complete redemption

The name of Beis Rabbeinu, of course, comes

from this number, for all Jews call Beis Rabbeinu
770. 770 is the gematria of paratza you have burst
forth, in the spirit of the verse, And you shall burst
forth westward, eastward, northward, and southward.
This verse alludes to the fact that light shines forth from
this building to all four directions of the world, and in a
manner of bursting forth through boundaries, elevating
all corners of the globe to the status of Eretz Yisroel

through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

Regarding Moshiach it is said,
paratza alecha Perez, and our
Sages interpret that this refers
to Moshiach, as it is said, the
poretz will rise before you.
(From Kuntres Beis Rabbeinu
ShBBavel, Seifer HaSichos 5752,
pg. 472-473)
NOTES:
*To note that the teachings of
Chassidus corresponds to the level
of the Yechida of Torah (see On the
Essence of Chassidus), which is
connected with the yechida of the
Jewish people, the soul of Moshiach
Tzidkeinu (as above in Footnote 53)

man to fill his mouth with laughter

in this world, as it is said, then our
mouths will be filled with laughter
(Brachos 31a).
***To note the practice of great
Jewish scholars to teach allusions
and lessons in the service of G-d
even from mundane matters, and the
like (such as the number of a car in a
train, which is [seemingly] arbitrary,
how much more so is the number
of a permanent structure something
that carries significance), especially
in our case, where the number
became the name of the building, as
discussed inside the text proper.

**Which is not the case in the time

of exile, for it is prohibited for a

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SHLICHUS

R Shneur Chaviv
during the interview

SHLICHUS
A WAY OF LIFE

The four of them are representative of the Chabad community in Eretz

Yisroel. One is a veteran director of a Chabad house, another is a senior
employee in the weapons manufacture industry, a third is the owner of a
printing house, and the fourth is the principal of an elementary school and
the director of a Chabad house. * Discussions with hard-working Chassidim
for whom mivtzaim is part of the air they breathe and a shliach who dreams
of a Chabad house on every street corner. They are Chassidim who dont
seek a title or official appointment in order to carry out the Rebbes horaos.
By Shneur Chaviv
Portrait photography by Koby Kalmanowitz

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know R Yisroel G. about

as long as I know myself.
He is the senior supervisor
of a team of engineers in
one of the key weapons plants
in the center of the country and
an old friend of the family from
France. G. is a mainstay of the
Chabad community in the Gilo
neighborhood in Yerushalayim and
is the gabbai of the Chabad shul
there.
Recently, my family and I
spent Shabbos in Yerushalayim
with my parents. After davening
he came over to me. Can I
invite you to farbreng at our plant
in honor of 24 Teves? he asked.
He explained that he arranges a
farbrengen on every special date
in the calendar for the employees
of the plant during the lunch
break and he brings someone to
farbreng.
I agreed. After much back
and forth and endless pleading
and warnings to come on time
and how important being on time
was, and after a series of security
checks and interrogations I
arrived (late of course), though

not before they had taken away

my mobile data device and
covered my camera phone with
special stickers.
This was not the first time
that I was invited to speak in a
workplace, but this time I was
surprised. Instead of a minyan
of men waiting impatiently
around an elliptical table in a
conference room, I found a fully
appointed shul that was packed
with employees. They all sat with
their eyes glued to Yisroel (after
all, I was late) who stood behind
the bima and spoke excitedly
about the Alter Rebbe.
After a short farbrengen, in
the time remaining to me until
the end of the farbrengen, Yisroel
announced that whoever wanted
to write a pn to the Rebbe could
do so at this auspicious time.
He took out white papers and
the guys stood in line to write a
request of the Rebbe for a bracha.
When I left, I noticed the
colorful flyer on the door of the
shul which said Beis Chabad
(the name of the company)
on top. Yisroels Chabad house

is so active that it would put to

shame a more conventional type
of Chabad house.
We have mivtza tfillin
every day, a weekly Tanya class,
and big farbrengens with guest
speakers on Chassidic holidays.
Like every Chabad house, we
work to bring the messages of
a holiday and its mitzvos to the
thousands of employees of the
company. Whether its lighting
the menorah on Chanuka, matza
for Pesach, and even a special
event for 15 Shevat, we organize
it here, says Yisroel.
Yisroel G. is not the only
one. Its a growing phenomenon
of Chabad Chassidim who
consider themselves shluchim
at their place of work. You see
it generally after the Chassidishe
holidays in the Chabad media
news items about employees who
farbrenged at Kodak, Bezeq, Alta,
Machon Lev, etc. The common
denominator between all those
who initiate and organize these
fabulous activities is that these
are Chassidim who internalized
the idea of know Him in all
your ways. They have realized
that the role of a Chassid as
a lamplighter is to illuminate
himself and his surroundings
with the shlichus of the Rebbe
MHM.

NO WORK BEFORE
DONNING TEFILLIN
A few kilometers away from
the defense plant and Yisroels
Chabad house, a salesman
for paper goods enters a large
printing factory. Without asking
a lot of questions, he rolls up his
sleeve and offers his arm to one
of the employees who puts tfillin
on him.
Every customer or supplier
who walks in here, is asked to

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Shlichus
put on tfillin, says R Yaakov
Kenig of Kfar Chabad, one of the
leading Chabad industrialists and
manager of the factory. Today
they all know already that if they
skip the tfillin, they will have a
hard time doing business with
us, he says with a smile.
R Kenigs printing factory is
Lubavitch owned and the style of
operation is somewhat different
than the weapons plant but the
goal is the same: in all your ways
shliach.
We have a pair of tfillin
here. All the employees, without
exception, do not begin working
until they put on tfillin. We
also arrange farbrengens on
all the Chassidic holidays with
guest speakers and sometimes
the employees are asked to
prepare something to say and
the management and employees
farbreng together.

EMPLOYEES
CHANGED THEIR LIVES
Shlichus in the workplace is
different and unique, usually in a
good way. Often, when we do
mivtzaim at work, we are able
to reach places or people that
we would never have reached
otherwise, says Yisroel.
He
thinks that the professional
respect and interaction among
work colleagues which is created
after years of working together,
sometimes literally shoulder
to shoulder, breaks barriers
and creates an openness and
readiness to listen to someone
with whom, on the outside, he
would never cooperate.
One of the vice-chairmen
told me that he never considered
putting on tfillin at the tfillin
stand near the mall. But when I
ask him, he cant refuse.

Its twenty years already that

Yisroel has been leaving his house
every morning for the defense
plant. But he did not always see
himself as a shliach. The defining
moment, according to him, was
nearly a decade ago when he
took his son for hanachas tfillin
in 770.
We stood there, it was a
very special moment, and I felt
that it was an auspicious time,
a moment when you can ask for
anything. I closed my eyes and
clenched my fists and asked the
Rebbe for one thing I want to
be a shliach.
When we left, I felt like
an altogether different person.
When I returned to the plant
after that trip, I no longer felt like
an engineer doing mivtzaim now
and then, but like a shliach who
uses his advanced education to
spread the wellsprings.

R Yisroel G.

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R Yaakov Kenig

When its a workplace, the

main outreach is done during
breaks. I do wide-ranging mivtza
tfillin that includes all the levels
of employees starting with the
cleaning crew and ending with the
top executives of the company. I
measure out the Yiddishkait to
each one in the proper dosage.
Over time and the years, the
impact of mivtzaim during lunch
has a progressively deeper effect
and there are employees who
have changed their lives because
of these encounters.
Two years ago, the employees
decided to make a menorah
according to the Rambams
design out of jet engine parts.
Every night we lit the menorah
together with the employees and
the managers. After Chanuka,
the vice-chairman said to set up
the menorah at the entrance to
the plant.

A NEW ERA AND

A NEW PROJECT
In all your ways being a
shliach doesnt only have to be
at ones place of employment; it
can mean helping the shluchim.
One of the Chabad houses where
most of the work is based on the
full cooperation of the Chabad
community is the UfaratztaBeis Chabad of the Kibbutzim
organization, which is run by R
Yaakov Tzvi Ben-Ari.
The Rebbe did not build
Lubavitch
communities
so
that in Lubavitch there should
be
flourishing
communities
that in the best case donate
money to the local shliach,
says R Sholom Dovber Chaviv,
director of Ufaratzta. Chabad
communities
around
Eretz
Yisroel are meant to serve as
home base for outreach in
the area. A sort of command

center in the south, center and

north or more correctly put,
the manpower arm of the
shluchim.
Ufaratzta-Beis Chabad of
the Kibbutzim is one of the
oldest Chabad houses in the
country and its reach extends
to an extremely wide range of
activities. Under its jurisdiction
are hundreds of kibbutzim
around the country. For many
of those living on kibbutzim,
Ufaratzta is their only contact
for Jewish matters.
On
holidays,
the
organizational
headquarters
at the Chaviv family in Tzfas
is reminiscent of a military
command center.
Every few
minutes another group goes out
equipped with a full kit ready
to tackle their assignment.
This will usually be house calls
with addresses provided but

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Shlichus
sometimes it is a big party or
event at a kibbutz.
The manpower arm of
the shluchim in the Tzfas and
outlying areas is the Matteh
HaMivtzaim
of
the
Vaad
HaAvreichim of the Chabad
community in Tzfas. The vaad
has a list of people who are
interested in going out and pairs
them up with shluchim in the
north.
Our job is to harness the
horses to the wagon, says R
Menachem Kretz one of the
coordinators of the vaad. He
explains how it works. Before
every holiday, we run a campaign
in the community encouraging
people to go on mivtzaim. We
make sure the mashpiim speak
about this at farbrengens, we put
out flyers, and then we ask each
person when he is interested
in going out and whether he
has preferred locations, special

interests or skills.
Then we
map out all the applications and
divide the teams according to the
shluchims requests.

A TEACHER WHO DOES

MIVTZAIM WILL BE A
BETTER TEACHER!
There are people who, along
with their jobs, do shlichus fulltime. R Barak Kochavi, principal
of a Chabad school in Lud, is a
shliach in yishuv Chashmonaim.
Chinuch demands all of
ones attention and so does
shlichus.
How can you do
both?
Chinuch is a full-time job
which demands my complete
attention and so does shlichus,
but I love each of these positions.
Each of them gives me much joy
and satisfaction. When I come
home and have to throw myself
full force into my second role, it

is amazingly energizing, says R

Kochavi.
In
general,
combining
mivtzaim and chinuch is a good
thing, and each one enhances
the other. A mechanech who
is involved in mivtzaim will
definitely be a better mechanech
and a better shliach. Its also
good for the students to see you
as a role model.
The combination of running
a school and full-fledged shlichus
is very demanding and may not
be for everyone. Nevertheless,
the two roles have many things
in common; the ability to focus
on the neshama, to see a person
beyond the layers he is wrapped
in, to focus on him and to enable
him to blossom. It is the greatest
possible pleasure.
I personally combine the two
because of answers I received
from the Rebbe, both to work in
chinuch and shlichus. Since our

R Yitzchok Gruzman

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R Barak Kochavi

yishuv is religious, the kind of

activities are somewhat different
and provides the necessary room
to maneuver in order to succeed
both in working with Jewish
children in the school and on
shlichus in Chashmonaim.
Another thing, without which
I could not manage to wear two
hats, is delegation of authority. If
you insist on maintaining control
over everything, it will be hard to
do other things. The ability to
decentralize and delegate both at
the school and on shlichus is one
of the keys to success.

SIXTEEN CHABAD HOUSES

IN ONE CITY!
Speaking
of
delegating
to others, one of the cities
where Chabad is growing at
an astonishing rate is Rishon
LTziyon. In recent decades, the
city that has been developing very
quickly in every respect including

upward, is also developing from

a Chabad perspective. Sixteen
Chabad houses, three of them
on one street! A community and
mosdos.
The one responsible for the
shlichus explosion in the city
is veteran shliach, R Yitzchok
Gruzman.
Sixteen Chabad houses in
one city, most of them opened in
the past decade. Was this your
plan or did it just work out this
way?
Of course it was planned.
I think everyone needs to
recognize his limitations. We
were told by the Rebbe to take
responsibility for every Jew in our
city. In Rishon LTziyon there are
over 350,000 people. Can one
person, even the most talented,
reach that number of people?
We have that many Chabad
houses, and yet I can tell you
that we are still not reaching

every person in this city. If you

calculate what percentage of the
people Chabad is reaching, we
have a ways to go.
Can having so many Chabad
houses in one place be the cause
of friction?
G-d forbid.
On the
contrary, the cooperation and
mutual farginin among the
shluchim is amazing. It is simply
siyata dShmaya. I remember
that when we wanted to open a
second Chabad house on Rechov
Rothschild, some tried to stop
us with the excuse that it was a
surefire recipe for friction. Today
there are three Chabad houses
on Rothschild and each one does
its thing. If there arent any
special events, I get to see the
other shluchim twice a year at the
Kinus HaShluchim in 770 and at
the Kinus of directors of Chabad
houses in Eretz Yisroel.
I think all shluchim should

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Shlichus

*.(@Y

do the same.
Bring more and
more shluchim to your area and
there is always enough work for
all to do. Beyond that, Ive asked
Lubavitcher couples
*.(@Y to move here,
even not as official shluchim. Just
to live here with a shlichus mindset.
The shlichus will happen naturally,
on Shabbos in shul, on line in the
supermarket, at the playground.
Continue doing what youve been
doing, just live here and you will
make an impact.
Others do it with a nucleus of
bnei Torah. Is this a model we
should adopt?
Certainly! Why not? It will bring
enormous chizuk to every Chabad
house and to every shliach, wherever
he is.
With certain things, do you
insist on Chabad in Rishon
presenting a united front such as in
dealings with the municipality?
No way. Way back when, the

city asked that the shluchim not

come separately; rather, the central
Chabad house should centralize all
requests. I told them, nothing doing.
Every shliach is a separate corporate
entity with a separate budget and
separate activities, so why should
they present their requests jointly?
The results have shown us that when
*.(@Y
each one applies separately, they
have achieved far more than if they
had filed their applications jointly.
What criteria are there to
decide whether to bring in another
shliach?
In principle, just as there is a
grocery store on every corner that
sells bread and milk, there is no
reason for there not to be a Chabad
house too.
Actually though, it
depends. It is usually divided by
neighborhood but it can also be
according to function. I believe that
each person needs to fit his role in
shlichus. If I see a young man suited
for rabbanus, I will try to find him a

position as rav in a shul. If someone

is suited to working with kids, I will
match him up with that job.
When I came to Rishon
LTziyon, I worked a lot with
young people. The years passed
and the young people grew up and
I discovered that I no longer spoke
the language of the young people.
Thats why I decided to bring
another
shliach to work with young
*.(@Y
people. But boruch Hashem, he also
matured and we brought another
new shliach for the young people and
I will be bringing another shliach to
replace the third one. The previous
shluchim have plenty of work to do
with the families of mekuravim who
were once the young people.
The truth is that I believe that
the Rebbe MHM is going to come
any minute now and this belief
makes me very nervous about that
moment when we will be asked, Did
you do all that you could do?

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THOUGHT

THE SIMCHA
OF THE GEULA
Each of us has a barrel that weighs
heavily on his heart and that doesnt allow
him to be joyful. If we want to get rid
of it, we need to arouse joy from a place
where it does not depend on anything, but
exudes from our very being. Through this
joy, we will be able to remove the barrel
and bring in the Geula.
By Rabbi Nadav Cohen

REWARD OR
PART OF THE JOB?
Is simcha a reward for our
avodas Hashem or is it part of
the assignment we got?
I once learned with someone,
a beginner who had started
committing to mitzvos like tfillin
and Shabbos. At the same time
though, he was involved with
all sorts of spiritual workshops
that are not from a holy source.
Whenever we spoke about his
adding to his davening and not
sufficing with reciting the Shma,
he would say, But I dont feel
anything when I put on tfillin!
He explained to me, At
the workshops I attend, I feel
something special, a spiritual
atmosphere.
That doesnt
happen when I put on tfillin. I

told him that in Judaism it works

the other way around we did
not come here to receive; we
came here to give.

WE DIDNT COME TO
AN AMUSEMENT PARK
There are people who want
to be happy. They do mitzvos
as they are supposed to do and
wait for Hashem to appreciate
their service and grant them the
expected reward, happiness.
Likewise, there are people who
go and daven every morning and
wonder when will Hashem
excite me and let me feel some
G-dliness?
In both cases, the anticipation
comes from an incorrect grasp
of reality and from an incorrect
understanding of the relationship
between us and Hashem. We are

not guests at G-ds hotel. We are

not here to enjoy all the services
that He offers and to do His will
in exchange. We did not pay to
enter the amusement park and
we are not waiting to enjoy the
various rides to be happy, to
feel holiness, to attain serenity,
to have shalom bayis, to reap
the benefits of chinuch of the
children, etc.
We descended to the world
for a goal and mission that we
need to carry out. Our neshama
was in the upper world and
chose to come down and enter
a body to do the tasks Hashem
assigned it. Yes, we are promised
a reward for doing it, but when
we understand the greatness
of the privilege of carrying out
the assignment, that itself is the
greatest possible reward.
Furthermore,
when
we
understand that our neshama is
part of G-d, part of the Creator,
and we are not just His workers
but His children, who is thinking
about a reward?! A son does not
help his father for the reward he
will get but because he loves him.
He loves him because he feels
connected to him. If the father
would give his son a reward,
the son would be insulted.
Because by paying him for the
work he does he shows that the
relationship between them is one

Issue 939

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Thought
of give and take and nothing
more.

THE ADVANTAGES OF
BEING A HAPPY PERSON
Our main job is to bring the
world to Yemos HaMoshiach,
to the final state in which the
world ceases to conceal G-d and
starts to reveal Him. That is the
state in which G-dliness is seen
openly. In every person, we will
actually see the G-dliness within
him shine. We accomplish this
through a list of instructions we
received, i.e. the mitzvos. The
moment we focus on the task, we
start to forget about ourselves,
what we have and what we
lack. Only when a person stops
focusing on himself can joy start
to penetrate his inner being.
Now we can begin harnessing the
simcha in our work too.
Joy definitely adds a lot
of flavor and enthusiasm to a
Jews life; it is not enough to
simply do mitzvos. Part of the
job is to fulfill mitzvos with joy.
Everything that is done with
simcha and enthusiasm is done in
a much better way. The simcha
is contagious, infecting everyone
around us. Everyone loves to be
in the company of happy people
and when someone walks in with
a smile, people smile back.
When we are happy, we move
faster, lighter, ready to carry out
any job without being fazed by
obstacles that might crop up.

JOY SHATTERS BARRIERS

There is another component
to simcha, from which we can
understand just how pertinent
simcha is to the Geula, and to
what extent the Geula depends
on our simcha.
Simcha poretz geder, it breaks
down barriers. Each of us has
his personal limits, emotional

blockages,
psychological
obstacles that prevent our
neshama from expressing itself
in the world. For one its hard
to give tzdaka, for another
davening properly is hard, for
another its learning Torah
lishma, for another its Ahavas
Yisroel, and so on.
How do we break through our
inner roadblocks? How do we
overcome the obstacles?
Through simcha! When a
person is happy, he can break
through all limitations and knock
down all the barriers. We can
see this when even a tightwad
is willing to freely give tzdaka
on the day he marries off his
child. Even those who dont get
along on a day to day basis hug
and dance with one another on
Simchas Torah.
But even within limitations
there are levels, and not all types
of simcha break down all the
barriers. The greater the simcha,
the greater the limits it can break
through.
When a person rejoices with
what he has, with his personal
successes in life and the selfactualization he has achieved,
this is a limited simcha since
there is a limit to how successful
a person can be; ultimately its
a material success. Since the
simcha is limited, the boundaries
broken through by this simcha
are also limited, and he only rises
up a little above his present state.
When the simcha comes from
spiritual things and a person
rejoices over spiritual success
and Torah achievements, it is
a loftier type of simcha for it is
connected to spiritual things.
But this simcha is still dependent
on something, and therefore it is
also limited and it can only break
through some limitations.
But when a person rises to
the state of essential joy, the joy

over the very fact of being a Jew,

joy over being on the threshold of
Geula and hinei zeh Moshiach ba,
this is a simcha above limitations.
Consequently, it breaks through
all boundaries and reaches to the
essence of the persons neshama
and the very essence of Hashem.
This is a simcha which reveals the
essence and brings the Geula.
A simcha like this has an
effect not only on us and not
only on those around us, but on
all Jews in the world even if they
are unaware of it. An example of
this is our simcha over the Geula
of the Rebbe Rayatz on the Chag
HaGeula of 12-13 Tammuz.
When we rejoice on the Chag
HaGeula, we break additional
boundaries in the world and add
to the Geula itself. When we
rejoice on this day over the very
fact that we have a Rebbe and
this Rebbe went from darkness to
light, we break boundaries, reveal
the essence, and add to the Geula
of the Rebbe Rayatz.
Since the Geula of the Rebbe
Rayatz is the Geula of all the
Jewish people, for by his leaving
jail we were all redeemed, when
we rejoice on the Chag HaGeula,
we add to the Geula of every Jew
everywhere, even those who dont
know about the Chag HaGeula.
Not only that, but we also receive
additional powers to overcome
our obstacles, to break through
our personal barriers.

THE STORY OF SIMCHA

The story is told of the two
holy brothers, R Elimelech
of Lizhensk and R Zushe of
Anipoli, who were both arrested
and put in a small cell. Not only
was it small and crowded, but in
the center was a bucket which
is where the prisoners relieved
themselves.
R Elimelech saw this and was
sad since it was prohibited to

14 26 Menachem Av 5774
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even think Torah thoughts. He

looked over at his brother and
saw that R Zushe was happy. He
asked him wonderingly, What
are you happy about? We are in
this crowded cell, we are the only
Jews here, and we cant even
think Torah thoughts because of
that bucket!
R Zushe replied, Its true
that I am usually happy because
I connect to Hashem through
learning Torah, but now I am
also connected to Hashem. Its
just that now I am connected

Each of us has a bucket

by not learning Torah [by
following the halacha which that weighs heavily on his heart
says he cannot learn under these and that does not allow him to be
joyful. If we want to get rid of
circumstances].
Hearing this, R Elimelech it, we need to arouse joy within
also rejoiced and the two of ourselves from a place where it
them began to dance. When the does not depend on anything, but
warden came to check what the exudes from our very being. And
commotion was about, all the through this simcha, we will be
prisoners pointed at the bucket able to get rid of the bucket and
and said it was because of the bring in the Geula, as the Rebbe
bucket. The warden immediately always says, Mtoch simcha vtuv
had it removed and R Zushe and leivav.
R Elimelech were able to learn
Torah.
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Issue 939

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PROFILE

FOR FEAR OF
HEAVEN YOU
NEED TO GO TO
LUBAVITCH
R Shraga Elimelech (Meilich) Kaplan went to Tomchei Tmimim as a thin,
sickly child. He overcame many obstacles and became one of the diligent
talmidim there. Despite the wandering he had to endure with his fellow
talmidim, he continued to learn diligently. In his memory he had stored
away images of the great Chassidim that he saw and he later wrote about
these Chassidim. * Part 1 of 2
By Shneur Zalman Berger

LAST MINUTE REPRIEVE

R Shraga Elimelech Kaplan,
known as R Meilich der
Shvartzer (the dark one), was
born on 18 Adar II 5673/1913
in the town of Milicz in Poland.
His parents were R Aryeh Leib
(Kosovitsky) Kaplan, who served
as rav in a number of Russian
towns and Rebbetzin Dobra,
the daughter of R Boruch
Grossbard.
His grandfather, R Boruch
Kaplan, was not a Chassid, but
he had an affinity for Chassidim

and kept a few of their customs.

World War I began when R
Meilich was a young boy. Many
refugees fled from one country
to the next to get away from the
hostilities. His family was among
these refugees. He was only three
when his family began wandering
from place to place and ended
up in the town of Petrovsk. Their
financial situation was dismal and
the family had to live on the aid
provided by the Joint Distribution
Committee.
Bands of hooligans traveled
among the towns and killed

and
pillaged
anyone
they
encountered.
Most of the
victims were Jews, of course.
The family fled to a small town
called Gradishitz which is near
Kremenchug. There too, they
were unable to relax due to fear
of the wild bands. The family,
including young Meilich, suffered
from hunger and contagious
diseases. After a few years of
suffering, the family moved
to Krilov which was very near
Kremenchug with only the
Dnieper River separating them.
His father began running a

16 26 Menachem Av 5774
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They spent a few weeks there

since he did not have any money
with which to continue.
R
Kaplan,
who
knew
of Chabad, decided to have
yechidus with the Rebbe Rayatz
and ask him whether to continue
the journey to Eretz Yisroel. The
Rebbe said no, explaining that
people like him, rabbanim and
maggidei shiurim, were needed
in Russia to strengthen Judaism.
R Kaplan still strongly desired
to go to Eretz Yisroel despite
what the Rebbe said. He went
to the train station in Rostov and
waited there an entire day. As he
stood on line to buy a ticket and
was already close to the cashier,
a train from Baku entered the
station. A Jew from Baku, who
had come on this train, saw him
standing on line. He went over
to him and pulled his sleeve and
whispered, What are you doing?
You are endangering your entire
family! He said that any Jew who
arrived in Baku was immediately
arrested since the authorities had
learned about citizens fleeing the
country via Baku.
The Kaplan family thus
remained in Russia.

R Meilich Kaplan

yeshiva for teenage boys who

had learned in Yeshivas Slabodka
in Lithuania.
However, the
Communist Revolution began
and the new communist regime
closed all the yeshivos, including
this one. A short time later, he
was appointed the rav of the
town.
After things quieted down, R
Kaplan and his family were asked
to return to Poland along with the
many other Polish refugees, but
it did not work out. R Kaplan
wanted to move to Eretz Yisroel

but the way there was blocked

by the communists who forbade
leaving Russia. R Kaplan still
hoped to carry out his dream.
He heard about the possibility
of traveling to Eretz Yisroel via
Baku in distant Azerbaijan. He
decided to go to Baku with his
family and to smuggle across the
border.
Their bags were packed and
the family set out on the long
journey. They passed through
Yekaterinoslav and then, after a
long trip, they arrived in Rostov.

TOMCHEI TMIMIM
After a few days, the family
returned to Krilov where they
discovered that the people had
already appointed another rav. In
order not to generate dispute, the
Kaplan family left immediately.
R Kaplan still hoped he could
smuggle across the border, this
time through Poland, but on the
way to the border he heard that
that smuggling route was very
dangerous. At the same time, he
was offered a rabbinic position
in Skorodna. Since the escape
plan had come to naught, the
family settled in Skorodna. For
various reasons, a short while

Issue 939

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Profile
later R Kaplan became the rav
in Norinsk and then in Severov.
A year later he returned to his
position in Krilov.
Meilich was ready for yeshiva
and his father considered where
to send him. He knew that the
Litvishe yeshivos were unable
to counter the communist spirit
which prevailed. He considered
two yeshivos: the Chafetz
Chaims yeshiva and Yeshivas
Tomchei Tmimim. He finally
decided on Lubavitch because,
You can learn Torah even at
home, but in order to get a
measure of yiras Shamayim you
need to go to Lubavitch.
Meilich went to Tomchei
Tmimim despite the doctors
warnings that the young boy
was too weak and fragile to leave
home. His son, R Nachum,
mashpia in Shikun Chabad in
Lud, tells of his fathers physical
condition after years of suffering
and wandering:
In his youth, my father was
thin and very weak. He once said
that his fellow Tmimim found it
hard to get an exemption from
the army, but he did not have
to play sick. When he got on
the scale at the draft office, the
doctors were shocked to see an
18 year old boy weighing only 51
kilograms (=112 pounds). They
immediately released him.
If
that was his weight at 18, he was
much weaker at 13.
Thats why the doctors told
his parents they would be doing
the wrong thing by sending him
away from home. Despite this,
since his father raised him to love
Torah, he was sent to Tomchei
Tmimim in Kremenchug. R
Kaplan himself went with his son
to yeshiva where he was tested
by the rosh yeshiva, R Yechezkel
Himmelstein. Only after his son
was accepted into the yeshiva,
did his father leave for home.

R Aryeh Leib Kaplan

HE INSISTED
ON RETURNING
The material circumstances
in the yeshiva at that time were
particularly poor. For most of
the talmidim there was no place
to sleep and they had to sleep
on benches in the womens
section of the shul where they
learned during the day. Food
was inadequate. These harsh
conditions negatively affected his
health from the very beginning.
He became sick with malaria and
his fever skyrocketed.
His father was a softhearted
person and knowing how weak
his son was, he returned a few
days after putting his son in
yeshiva to see how he was. To
his dismay, he found his son
lying on a bench burning up with
fever. He decided to take his
son home. On their way, they
visited a doctor who said the
boy had to rest throughout the
summer. When the doctor heard
that Meilich was supposed to be
learning away from home, he was
taken aback. He firmly stated
that the boy had to spend a few
months resting.

Meilichs
parents
were
disconsolate over their son not
being able to learn in yeshiva.
Their heartfelt desire was for
their son to grow into a ben
Torah. They decided that he
would stay home and his father
would teach him Torah. Every
day, father and son went to a
nearby forest where the father
taught his son while following the
doctors orders for him to rest
and breathe fresh air.
Learning in the forest did
not satisfy Meilich, even though
his father was an outstanding
scholar. He wanted to return to
yeshiva. He said, Ive already
gotten a taste of yeshiva life
and have already experienced
what learning with friends is
like. At home I have no friends
to learn with.
At first, his
parents ignored this because they
feared for his health, but then
they received a letter from R
Himmelstein, the rosh yeshiva in
Kremenchug.
R Himmelstein apologized
to the parents for not writing to
them all summer since he himself
wasnt in the yeshiva due to his
weakness and illness.
Now,
before the winter zman, he asked
that Meilich come to yeshiva and
he promised to arrange a place
for him to sleep as well as teg (a
place for him to eat each day).
After much begging on
Meilichs part, he was sent
back to yeshiva. He was in
R Himmelsteins shiur.
R
Himmelstein arranged teg for
him in the homes of wealthy
people and had him sleep in the
home of a widow whose sons
learned in the yeshiva.
Meilich
found
these
conditions hard at first, even
though they were considered
quite comfortable, since he was
shy and wasnt used to eating
with strangers.
But after a

18 26 Menachem Av 5774
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while, it became routine. In the

meantime, he began learning
perek hasholeiach assiduously.

A GOOD INFLUENCE
He learned Nigleh diligently;
the hanhala and the talmidim
recognized his talents and
scholarliness. But he refused to
learn Chassidus. He said that he
had never heard about Chassidus
and his father did not practice
Chassidic customs. He did not
attend the Tanya shiur along with
the other boys. He also refused
to change his nusach hatfilla
and other customs that his father
followed. As a result, the boys
called him the Misnaged.
One day, the hanhala decided
to remove him from the widows
house where he slept since her
older son was veering off the
derech and had undesirable
books in the house. The hanhala
was afraid for Meilich and so
they informed him that he would
no longer be sleeping there. His
pleading did not help, nor the
reminder of the promise that
he would sleep in a comfortable
place.
He had to get used
to sleeping on a bench in the
womens section of the shul
again.
A few days later, the hanhala
arranged other lodgings for the
boy in the home of an old man
who lived alone. They had a boy
named Heschel Churkin join
Meilich since Heschel was older
and could supervise him (Heschel
was later killed in World War II).
Heschel had a great influence
on him and eventually was
mekarev him to Chassidus.
The very first night, as Meilich
prepared to go to bed, Heschel
saw him reading the bedtime
Shma not according to Chabad
nusach.
He
immediately
demanded that he read the Shma
in nusach Chabad.
Meilich,

R Itche der Masmid

time. He made a tremendous

impression on me. I remember
that he once had yahrtzait and
he asked permission from the
mashgiach, R Dov Koznitzov,
to daven for the amud in the
minyan of the talmidim. The
mashgiach knew what R Itches
tfilla was like and said he agreed
on condition that he speed things
up so the bachurim would not
lose time from learning. R Itche
promised to daven quickly.
I remember his davening
which, even though it was
relatively quick, made a huge
impression on me. When he
got up to the blessings of the
Shma, we suddenly saw that the
chazan had disappeared from

When he got on the scale at the draft office,

the doctors were shocked to see an 18 year
old boy weighing only 112 pounds. They immediately
released him.
who had gone to sleep without
tzitzis, was given a lecture by his
older friend about the spiritual
reason to sleep with tzitzis
(despite it not being halachically
mandatory). Every night, before
going to sleep, Heschel would tell
him Chassidic tales and slowly
draw Meilich into the world of
Chassidim.

R MEILICH DESCRIBES
CHASSIDIC PERSONALITIES
When he learned in Tomchei
Tmimim, Meilich met some
of the Chassidic greats of that
time. Their Chassidic ways made
a deep impression on him and
this too was mekarev him to the
ways of Chassidus. He described
some of these stories in his notes:
When I was in the yeshiva in
Kremenchug, I met the Chassid,
R Itche Masmid for the first

the amud. R Itche was standing

next to the southern wall of the
beis midrash, his hands raised
high, and you could see that he
was completely removed from all
matters of this world and had no
idea where he was. When I saw
him, a great dread fell upon me.
We did not know what to do until
the mashgiach went over to him
and grabbed him by his hands.
He was slowly drawn back to
the amud where he continued
davening.
I also remember the YudTes Kislev farbrengen with
R Himmelstein. We heard a
maamer from him and although
I did not understand any of it,
I saw the tremendous dveikus
on his face. I heard his pleasant
voice which inspired our hearts
and saw the hiskashrus of the
people who stood around him
to hear the divrei Elokim chaim.
Issue 939

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Profile
All these made a powerful
impression which will never be
erased from my memory.
No less than that are
engraved in my heart the
heartfelt tfillos of the Chassid,
R Shmuel Leib Levin (Shmuel
Leib Paritcher, one of the Rebbe
Rashabs chozrim). He was a
great oved Hashem and spent a
long time on his davening in a
sweet voice and an outpouring
of his heart. We had tremendous
love from the innermost depths
of the soul toward the menahel
of the yeshiva, R Yisroel
Noach Blinitzky who, with his
elevated character and with his
complete self-negation, made a
tremendous impression on us all.
I spent the winter of 5687
receiving a Chassidishe chinuch
and being influenced by noble
Chassidic figures.

IF ONLY I WAS
IN YESHIVA
As Nissan approached, many
of the talmidim prepared to go
home. R Meilich also decided to
visit home after being in yeshiva
for six months.
He was home for Pesach
and after Pesach fell sick. The
doctor who came to see him
warned his father to watch over
his sons health and forbade him
to send Meilich away from home
to study. He said the boy must
relax.
Having no choice, it was
decided that Meilich would spend
summer at home again and learn
with his father in the nearby
forest. This decision remained a
bitter memory for his entire life
as he later wrote:
I stayed home. Since then,
my heart aches when I recall that
summer the Rebbe was arrested
and I had no idea, being at home.
If I had been in yeshiva, I would

R Shlomo Chaim Kesselman

surely have visited the Rebbe

in Leningrad because nearly all
my friends went there for Rosh
HaShana.
In Sivan of that year, the
Rebbe was arrested and on
12 Tammuz he was released
and went to live in Malchovka
temporarily. The Rebbe left the
Soviet Union right after Simchas
Torah. When R Meilich returned
to yeshiva after the Yomim Tovim,
he heard all about the arrest and
release and about the Rebbes
departing the country and he was
heartbroken.
After the summer, R Meilich
continued his studies in Tomchei
Tmimim in Polotzk, which
is where the talmidim from
Kremenchug had moved. The
communists stepped up their
persecution of religious Jews,
especially the Schneersohns.
The various branches of Tomchei
Tmimim were their targets
which is why the talmidim moved
from city to city.
R Shlomo Chaim Kesselman
was the mashgiach in the branch
in Polotzk. He later taught with
R Meilich in Tomchei Tmimim
in Lud. There were about forty

talmidim in the yeshiva.

R
Meilich wrote in his memoirs that
the yeshiva was very organized
and most of the talmidim were
outstanding in their learning.
At night he slept in the home
of the shochet, R Shmerel
Flagrin. R Shmerel was a unique
type of Chassid who made a
tremendous impression on R
Meilich:
He was a consummate yerei
Shamayim. Every conversation
was in measured words so he
would not, G-d forbid, say
anything forbidden.
I never
heard him say a negative word
about anyone. Actually, Shmerel
never spoke about others.
He would say: We need
to praise others and disparage
ourselves.
He
was
an
incomparable baal middos tovos
(person of excellent character).
When he was sick, one of the
talmidim of the yeshiva took care
of him like his son. They said
that one time his wife had new
galoshes made for him. He was
walking down the street in the
winter and saw a poor man with
torn shoes and he immediately
took off his new rubbers and
gave them to the poor man.
He spent a long time
davening, especially on Shabbos.
He washed for bread late in the
day and it was interesting to see
how he washed his hands for
the meal. First, he would take a
large cup that could hold a lot of
water. He needed a lot of water
and since they drew water from
the well that was at a distance, he
did not want to bother someone
else for this. So he brought water
from the well himself.
Then he would stand and
examine his hands to make sure
they were clean. This took a
long time.
He would check
again and again. Then, when
he got up to the actual washing

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R Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn

and the bracha, I have no words

to describe this... Whoever saw
him doing this realized how
punctilious in mitzvos he was.
The same with Birkas HaMazon
and with the bedtime Shma. All
this made a strong impression on
me.

loved to learn and teach

When he got up to the blessings of the Shma, we

suddenly saw that the chazan had disappeared
from the amud. R Itche was standing next to the
southern wall of the beis midrash, his hands raised high,
and you could see that he was completely removed from
all matters of this world and had no idea where he was.

WANDERING
In Polotzk, Meilich began
learning Tanya properly for
the first time in his life. This
was thanks to the wonderful
explanations
given
by
R
Kesselman.
From him I learned what
avoda pnimis is. Only then did
I start to understand a little of
what Chassidus is about.
The material circumstances
were pitiable. The bachurim who
came from homes with money
rented lodgings for themselves.
Those who did not have money
ate teg. While in Polotzk, R
Meilich was no longer hosted by
wealthy people as before, and he
sometimes had to walk a great
distance in the freezing cold in
order to satisfy his hunger with
a meager supper; sometimes he
forwent even that.

From Polotzk he went to

Tomchei Tmimim in Nevel
where he heard shiurim from
the rosh yeshiva, R Yehuda
Eber. For a while he was under
the guidance of the mashpia R
Mendel Futerfas, who was just a
few years older than him.
In the winter of 5689 the
yeshiva in Nevel was closed and
the bachurim scattered to various
cities throughout the Soviet
Union. R Meilich together with
his friends went to Yekaterinoslav
where
R
Levi
Yitzchok
Schneersohn was the rav.

IN THE SHADOW
OF GREATNESS
While
in
Yekaterinoslav,
he was very close with R Levi

Yitzchok and he often heard

Chassidus from him. R Meilich
said that once, at a farbrengen, R
Levi Yitzchok told a story about
the Alter Rebbe. He began by
explaining the simple meaning
of the story and then explained
it according to Chassidus,
delving deeply until he gave
deep explanations according to
Kabbala.
The Rebbes father would
often interpret the names
of participants according to
Kabbala.
He once explained
R Meilichs nickname der
Shvartzer (which he was called
because of his dark skin), Your
name is Meilich der Shvartzer
and the verse says, I am black
and beautiful. And he went on
to explain the status of Knesses

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2014-08-19 3:52:42 AM

Profile
Yisroel in exile according to
Kabbala and Chassidus.
The persecution by the
communist government forced
the rabbanim to act warily. R
Meilich said that the 15 Shevat
drasha that was given on Shabbos
by R Levi Yitzchok in 5792 was
said with exceeding cleverness.
It was announced in advance
that on Shabbos the rav would
deliver a sermon in the shul.
The congregants all waited
expectantly to hear what he
would say since he usually did
not give drashos.
The rav delivered the entire
drasha in allusions and those who
got it, got it.
Outside in the street it is
very cold now and you cant
go out without a coat. All the
trees are bare and have no fruit
and yet, we still celebrate the
Rosh HaShana of trees because
in Eretz Yisroel the trees have
started to blossom.
The message was clear. In
the street there is a coldness for
everything Jewish but despite
it all, in Eretz Yisroel the trees
are blossoming. So they should
be encouraged and continue to
strengthen their observance of
mitzvos.

Once R Levik took him along

to immerse in the river. He said
that he saw R Levik take off his
clothes and remain with just a
long shirt and a large yarmulke.
The rav stood near the river
and thought for a long time.
Then, with great enthusiasm, he
removed the shirt and yarmulke
and quickly immersed three
times. He put on the shirt and
yarmulke and stood there lost
in thought for a long time. The
scene repeated itself with his
immersing three times with
great enthusiasm.
The scene
took place a third time and only
then did he return home with R
Meilich.
The persecution and suffering
were the constant lot of the
bachurim and the rabbanim. In
5692 his father was arrested for a
brief period of time.
While R Meilich learned in
Yekaterinoslav his father went
to visit him and was also happy
to meet with R Levi Yitzchok.
They already knew one another
from the meeting of rabbanim in
Korostin.

TRAP
From

Yekaterinoslav,

Meilich went to distant Georgia

where he and some other
bachurim settled in Sachkhere.
The bachurim continued learning
in the relative quiet there.
Some time later, they heard
about the possibility of smuggling
across the border from Georgia
to Turkey and from there it
wasnt far to Eretz Yisroel. He
and his friends negotiated with
professional smugglers.
After
agreeing on a deal the bachurim
planned for the fateful night.
A few days before Pesach
1933, twenty-three Jews gathered
in Batum, Georgia. They came
from all over Georgia and
Uzbekistan. Some of them were
Tmimim. This city was just ten
kilometers away from Turkey.
The group and the smugglers
had agreed upon a password.
Upon hearing it, they were
supposed to start crossing the
border. They heard the password
and the group began walking
quickly toward the border, but
within minutes they were shocked
to see secret police agents closing
in on them from all sides. They
realized they had fallen into a
police trap.
To be continued

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PARSHA THOUGHT

AVRAHAM OR MOSHIACH:

WHO IS
SUPERIOR?
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

THE SECRET TO WEALTH

The Torah introduces the
commandment to tithe our
produce (and by extension to
give one tenth of our net earnings
to Tzdaka) by using a repetitive
expression: Tithe you shall
tithe. In most translations the
repetition is simply translated
as You shall surely tithe. The
repetition is understood as
emphasis, conveying a sense of
urgency. However, the fact that
the Torah indicates urgency by
repeating the word tithe must
serve us didactically as well.
The
Talmud
addresses
this issue and translates the
repetitious phrase in a novel
way: Tithe in order that you
shall become rich. In Hebrew,
the word for Tithe (which
means give a tenth), is aser.
The Hebrew word for you
shall become rich is taashir.
Since there are no vowels in
the Torah, both words share
the same consonants and are
therefore understood to be
interchangeable.

THE PATH TO A REFINED

MIND AND HEART
One can take this promise of

Tithe so that you will become

rich, i.e., wealth as a reward for
giving tzdaka, a step further:
The Talmud states: There
is no one poor except one
who is poor in knowledge. It
follows, conversely, that no one
is truly rich unless he is rich
in knowledge. Wealth is thus
primarily a spiritual concept. The
reward of wealth for the giving
of Tzdaka is therefore one of
spiritual wealth. When a person
gives tzdaka it actually has a
beneficial effect on his or her
mind. In the words of the Alter
Rebbe in his Torah Or: When
a person gives to another his
mind and heart become refined a
thousand-fold!
If one wants to enjoy true
intellectual and emotional wealth
he or she must give to others.

THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION

IS PAVED WITH TZDAKA
On yet another level we can
interpret this statement in a novel
fashion:
Just as there is spiritual
wealth and poverty which is
measured by the degree of
ones intellectual and emotional
sophistication, there are also
historical periods which can be

characterized as poor or rich.

For example, the generation of
the desert is referred to as the
generation
of
knowledge,
because they received the Torah
at Mount Sinai. In the days
of King Solomon, the Jewish
people reached their pinnacle and
enjoyed incredible spiritual
as well as materialwealth.
Generally speaking, as long as we
were in the Land of Israel with
our Beis HaMikdash we enjoyed
great spiritual affluence.
By contrast, the period
of Galus, bereft of our Beis
HaMikdash and exposed to
great suffering and assimilation,
is
a
period
of
spiritual
impoverishment.
The ultimate period of
wealth is reserved for the future
Messianic Age, which we are
eagerly anticipating.
Hence, the Torah informs
us that if we tithe today in the
period of exile we will enjoy great
spiritual wealth in the coming
Age of Redemption.
This interpretation actually
echoes the words of the Talmud:
Tzdaka is great for it hastens
the Redemption. What is novel
about the interpretation is the
way it clarifies the connection

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Parsha Thought
between tzdaka and Redemption.
Why is tzdaka singled out
as the Mitzvah that leads to
Redemption? Arent all Mitzvos
that we perform the agents that
bring Redemption? What is so
unique about Tzdaka?
One answer is that Tzdaka
reverses the status of a person
who is poor and needy. G-d
reciprocates in kind and takes us
out of the state of exile/spiritual
impoverishment into the state of
wealth-Redemption.

completely altruistic form of

giving because the Messianic
Age is the ultimate Tzdaka.
The Jewish people and indeed
all of humanity will be liberated.
Material and spiritual poverty
will cease to exist. Even G-d is
said to be suffering in exile and
He too will be liberated with us.
There can be no greater act of
Tzdaka than to bring Moshiach.
Thus, giving Tzdaka so that it
will lead to the ultimate Tzdaka
is arguably the purest form of
Tzdaka.

MITZVAH FOR
ULTERIOR MOTIVE?

AN ENIGMATIC MIDRASH

All of the abovementioned

explanations agree that it is
appropriate to perform the
Mitzvah of Tzdaka with the
intention of becoming wealthy,
materially or spiritually.
This
accords
with
the
Talmudic statement that it is
completely justified for one to

With this introduction of how

Tzdaka leads to Redemption
we might be able to decipher an
enigmatic Midrash on the words
Tithe you shall tithe.
The Midrash cites an earlier
verse in Genesis as an elucidation
of our verse:
The verse in Genesis refers

Just as there is spiritual wealth and poverty which

is measured by the degree of ones intellectual
and emotional sophistication, there are also historical
periods which can be characterized as poor or rich.

give Tzdaka with the intention,

for example, that it should secure
his sons recovery from illness.
This appears to be an
exception to the ideal expressed
in Ethics of the Fathers that one
should serve his Master without
the intention of getting a reward.
While giving tzdaka for ulterior
motives is justified it is still not
the highest form of the Mitzvah.
Upon
deeper
reflection,
the giving of tzdaka to hasten
the Redemption is not the
same as giving for a personal
benefit. Giving for the sake
of Redemption is indeed a

to Avrahams statement to his

nephew Lot before they parted
ways: If I go to the left then you
go to the right, and if I go to the
right then you go to the left.
This
Midrash
is
quite
puzzling. How does this verse
shed any light on the verse Tithe
you shall tithe?
The simple explanation given
is that the difference between
the word for tithing in Hebrew
(Asair) and the word for you
shall be wealthy (Taashir)
wealth is the placement of the
dot on the letter shin. If it is
placed on the left then the letter

shin is pronounced like the

English letter s. If it is placed
on the right side of the letter then
it is pronounced as the English
sh.
This then is what the Midrash
had in mind:
To understand the repetition
of the word Asair-Tithe taasairyou shall tithe one must look at
the placement of the dot.
If I will go lefti.e., if I will
place the dot on the left and read
the word Asair-tithe, then the
result will be wealth, where the
dot is placed on the right side
and reads tashair-you shall be
wealthy. If however, I place the
dot on the right, and my focus is
to get rich, and I relegate tithing
to a secondary position, then
the result will be that I will end
up with the dot on the left; I will
have only one tenth of what I
could have earned.
As
ingenious
as
this
interpretation is, we must search
for a deeper meaning that will
provide us with a lesson about
life in the present and how we are
to prepare for the future.

THE IDEAL
The following is based on
the words of the Shaloh (a 16th
Century sage) who interprets
Avraham and Lot as people who
personify two ideals:
Avraham is the man of
kindness. He is consumed with a
passion to love and give to others.
Lot, surprisingly, is the symbol of
Moshiach! Lot was the ancestor
of Moab, Ruth, King David and
the entire Davidic dynasty leading
to Moshiach. When we speak
of the positioning of Avraham
and Moshiach it emerges
that Avraham, the man who
epitomized kindness, is on the
right. The right hand is the giving
hand and therefore symbolizes

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kindness. The monarchy, with

its wealth and power to impose
itself on others is associated with
the left hand. Particularly the
Messianic Era is one in which the
spiritual power associated with
the left (Gvura) will be superior
to the spiritual force of the right
(Chesed).
This poses a riddle. Who
is greater and whose ideal
is superior Avraham or
Moshiach? Is it Avraham, whose
kindness and tzdaka are the
catalysts that bring about the
Messianic Age? Avraham is the
very source and impetus for the
entire process of making this
world a Dwelling Place for
G-d, which will be fully realized
in the Messianic Age. Without
Avrahams initiative there would
be no process. Or perhaps
Moshiach is superior, because

highest ideal.
This then is the connection
to the idea that tzdaka leads to
the era of richness, indicating, on
the one hand, the preeminence
of tzdaka as the catalyst for
Moshiach, and also intimating,
on the other hand, that Moshiach
is the ideal.
In these last moments of exile
as we wait for Moshiach to usher
in the Messianic Age it behooves
us to keep both ideals in mind:
Our obsession today must be
giving; giving material assistance,
teaching the values of Judaism
to assimilated Jews and bringing
the message of the imminent
Redemption to the entire world.
When we combine Tzdaka with
Moshiach we solve Avrahams
riddle. We have both Tzdaka and
Moshiach combined!

he represents the culmination of

that process and the ushering in
of a new world order of Divine
revelation with all of its attendant
benefits such as world peace.
Hence Avrahams question
as to which direction he and
Lot should go right or left was
actually a theological question as
to whose role is superior.
The answer is that from one
vantage point the argument
can be advanced that without
Avraham there could be no
Moshiach, while, it can also be
said that without Moshiach,
Avrahams work would not
be crowned with success. In
addition, the fact that one
may give Tzdaka with the
express intention that it brings
Redemption implies that it is
not an inferior form of Tzdaka
because the Messianic Age is the

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THOUGHT

TO SEE YOUR
OWN TRUE ESSENCE
A point from the weekly Dvar Malchus
with a relevant message. * This week, you
dont need to dig in order to see the
revelation of Anochi. Just look and youll
see!
By Aryeh Yehuda

hassidim relate that one

time, the talmidim of
the Maggid asked him
to show them a hidden
tzaddik. The Maggid sent them
to spend Shabbos with a certain
person. The talmidim expected a
spiritually elevated Shabbos with
the revelation of wondrous secrets
and apparent miracles.
Upon arriving at the mans
house, they found it hard to
believe that this was the right
address and that this person was
the man they were looking for. A
huge man stood in the doorway.
Instead of shalom aleichem he
roared, What do you want?
After some discussion, he agreed
to host them for Shabbos on
condition that they do as he did
and did not bother him with their
practices.
As Shabbos approached,
the man threw some clay onto
the table and stuck a candle in
it. He lit the candle and began
mumbling something.
The
talmidim of the Maggid could
barely make out that this was
a candle for Shabbos when he
thundered at them again, Why
are you looking at me like that?

Move on Kabbalas Shabbos.

Hurry up so I wont have to wait
for you to start the meal.
As they ate and wanted to
sing, he reminded them of their
agreement not to annoy him. In
the morning, he woke them up
early and ordered them to hurry
up the davening. When they
asked him about a nearby river
for them to immerse in before
davening, he chortled and told
them to stop with the nonsense.
The man raced through
Shacharis, skipping words and
making mistakes.
A coarse
peasant
song
occasionally
accompanied his recitation of
the text. The meal was like the
one of the night before. When
the Chassidim tried to say
divrei Torah quietly amongst
themselves,
he
immediately
ordered them to be quiet. Dont
bring new customs here.
After the meal, he lay down
to sleep and told them to do
likewise. That is how they spent
the Shabbos which seemed like
an inordinately long day to them.
On Motzaei Shabbos, the
talmidim breathed a sigh of relief
over being able to leave the house

of this tzaddik. They packed

their bags and went to the door
nervously, hoping the man would
let them leave. The man just sat
quietly. A moment before they
went out, he went over to them
and said, You sought to see
something hidden, eh? Rei
Anochi, dont seek it elsewhere;
its within you. Look at yourself
and see the Anochi [i.e. the
Divine Essence] within you. See
that you yourself are Anochi.
This story is a perfect
introduction to this weeks
Dvar Malchus, but just an
introduction.
The chiddush
in the Dvar Malchus and the
manner of avoda demanded of
us is altogether different. Both
the Rei and the Anochi
have Geula connotations. In the
past, Chassidim had to travel to
the hidden tzaddik in order to
internalize that the Anochi
lay within them. Today, it is
an inseparable part of the life
of every Jew, every day, every
moment, in thought, speech and
action. In our generation there
is no need to travel to a distant
village and suffer throughout an
entire Shabbos in order to get
that the Anochi is within me.
The Rei also gets a Geula
connotation in this Dvar
Malchus. Today it is easier to
see, to see the Anochi in
the world, to see the Anochi
in me, and to see the Anochi
within every Jew. This is because
today we are in a time when we
have already seen a number of
wonders both regarding the

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Geula of the individual and

regarding the Geula of the klal
(os 9 of the sicha). Today the
Anochi is revealed, so we see.
Today, we dont need to dig in
order to see it. If you look, you
see it!
To put it in terms of Elul, I
am to my beloved and my beloved
is to me not simply a twosided relationship, mutuality, a
yearning for unification between
the I and the my beloved
but: I and my beloved are one
and the same!
The best preparation a
teacher can do before the school
year begins is to look at the list
of new students and review again
and again: Levi Rei Anochi!
Mendy Rei Anochi! Yisroel
Rei Anochi If he does this
every morning during the year,
he will see the Anochi in each
talmid every day and throughout
the day. An entire class of Geula!
A director of a Chabad house
who looks at a mekurav needs
to first look at the Anochi in
him, and from there to begin
approaching all of the other
elements that make up the
person.
Parents who want to teach the
Meshichoi of the generation
of Geula have to see (Rei) the
true reality (Anochi) in the child.
From this perspective, you can
advance and help the child be
truly redeemed.
It all begins by a person

It all begins by a person looking at himself. If

you live with the Anochi within yourself, you
will also see it in everyone else.

looking at himself.
If you
live with the Anochi within
yourself, you will also see it in
everyone else.
Therefore, the result of
the spiritual accounting as
we approach Elul and find
ourselves in the time of see I
give before you today a blessing
leads to the conclusion that
there is already all aspects of
blessing and foremost, the main

bracha of the true and complete

Geula, that it is not enough
that we hear (understand)
that
hinei
zeh
(Melech
HaMoshiach) ba, but we need
to see with our physical eyes,
and not merely I will show
them in the future tense but
Rei, in the present, and as a
command!
May it be immediately.

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Issue 939

27

2014-08-19 3:52:43 AM

OBITUARY

A PASSIONATE
CHASSID
One year ago, the Chassid R Gershon
Chanowitz, one of the ziknei hachassidim in
New York, passed away. R Gershon learned
in Yeshivos Tomchei Tmimim in Poland and
America and was saved from the clutches of
the Nazis. He established a beautiful Chassidic
home and was an example of a Chassid, Yerei
Shamayim, and Lamdan in his community.
By Dov Levanon

he Chassid R Gershon
Chanowitz was born in
Glubokoe in the Vitebsk
region around Chanuka
5681/1920. The small town which
today belongs to White Russia
(Belarus) was located at that time
on the Polish-Russian border and
exchanged hands every few years
between the Poles, the Lithuanians,
and the Russians. The town had
a decidedly Jewish character a
census of the year he was born
shows 63% Jews in the towns
population.
Glubokoe is even
mentioned in the listings of the
Vaad Arba Aratzos.
Although
Glubokoe
was
small, district government offices
were located there and in contrast
to the majority of villages in the
area, it had electricity. Most of
the Jews lived in the center of
town while the wealthy people

lived in villas on the outskirts.

The town had a large market
which was visited by people from
the surrounding villages.
Glubokoe was a bastion of
religious Zionism and also had
a Chabad community. There
were four Chabad shuls that
were divided according to the
various Chabad strains (Liadi,
Strashela, and Lubavitch). One
of them even had a second-room
for the davening of the ovdim,
a mainstay of a Chabad shul.
There were two rabbanim in the
town, one Litvish and the other
Lubavitch.
R Gershons parents were
Bentzion and Elka. R Bentzion
was a distinguished shochet.
In those days, the position of
shochet was honorable and
influential like the position of a
rav. He inherited his position

from his father, R Yisroel, who

immigrated to the town from
Sloboda (a town in Russia where
many Kopust Chassidim lived).
R Bentzion was also known as
a representative of the Rebbe
Rayatz in the town.
Their home was known
among the Chassidim who
smuggled over the border as
a place of refuge. There were
Lubavitcher communities in
Disna and Dokshitz that were
closer to the border, but refugees
were afraid to hide there because
of their proximity to the border
and opted instead to continue to
Glubokoe which was considered
safer.
Elka was the youngest child of
Shmuel Avrohom Hellman. Her
brother, R Chaim Meir, is known
as the author of Beis Rebbi. Her
other brother, R Moshe, was a

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IN TOMCHEI TMIMIM
IN OTVOTZK

well-known rav. Elka was also

a wise woman. R Itche der
Masmid would talk to her in
learning and R Yosef Wineberg
said she was considered a
lamdanis.
The couple wrote to the
Rebbe often, albeit not always for
themselves. At that time, most
Jewish women and even many
men could not read and write.
When they wanted to write a
letter to the Rebbe, they asked R
Bentzion or his wife to write for
them.
R Gershon was one of ten
children. He studied with the
famous melamed, Yosse Tishes
(who passed away when R
Gershon was 12). The Nach that
he learned by R Yosse remained
with him forever.
Then his father sent him to

Dokshitz because he felt that the

melamed there would be better
for him.
The distance from
Glubokoe to Dokshitz is not
far, just thirty kilometers, but in
those days, because of the poor
condition of the roads, it would
take half a day to get there.
R Gershon learned in
Dokshitz until he was bar mitzva.
His bar mitzva celebration
was typical of those days. His
family was sick with typhus and
in quarantine so they could not
attend the simcha. His mother
sent kugel and his father sent
money so he could buy some
mashke and cake. The event was
celebrated in shul with a minyan
of Jews, without gifts, without a
seudas mitzva and without all the
frills that characterize bar mitzva
celebrations today.

A few months after his bar

mitzva, he went home and after
Pesach he left for Vilna to learn
in the Lubavitcher yeshiva there.
His name appears in the list
of students in the second class
on 25 Sivan 5696/1936. His
teachers were R Gustman, R
Ushpal, and R Yehuda Eber.
A year later, before Tishrei
5698/1937, he went to Warsaw
and from there to Otvotzk
in order to learn in Yeshivas
Tomchei Tmimim near the
Rebbes court. The Rebbe lived
a half kilometer from the yeshiva.
R Gershon began learning in
the youngest class where he was
taught by R Yehuda Eber and
R Boruch Friedman. Then he
moved to the zal where he heard
shiurim from R Dovid Teiblum
(Dovid Ricker) who was later
appointed Admur of Kotzk.
R Gershon learned with
much chayus both in Nigleh and
Chassidus and developed a close
relationship with the teachers
and mashpiim. Throughout the
entire time that he learned in
Vilna and Otvotzk he did not go
home. Aside from the fact that
he did not have the money to
pay for the trip, he had another
good reason to stay his uncle,
R Moshe Leib Rodstein, was the
Rebbes secretary and lived near
him. When the Rebbe would eat
the Yom Tov meals with a minyan
of Chassidim, young Gershon
was allowed in, thanks to his
uncle. Pesach night he would
repeat the divrei Torah that he
heard from the Rebbe in those
years. He would repeat them
word for word with the special
niggun that the Rebbe used.
R Yechezkel (Chatshe) Feigin
also allowed him to attend the
Rebbes minyanim more readily
because he was related to R
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Obituary
Rodstein. R Chatshes son was
one of his very good friends in
those days. R Gershon also
spent time with Chassidim
like R Itche der Masmid (who
was a relative) and heard their
farbrengens.
Erev Sukkos, R Itche asked
him to help him bind the four
minim in the sukka since he
found it hard to do it himself.
To repay him for his help, he
learned with him the maamer,
Ushavtem Mayim in Likkutei
Torah. Until the end of his life R
Gershon had a special chayus in
this maamer.
In those days, he loved to
learn Ketzos, Nesivos, and the
Avnei Nezer on Friday night.
One time, the mashgiach, R
Berel Kurenitzer passed by and
noticed that he was learning
Nigleh. After a few minutes he
came back and told R Gershon
to review a maamer on Shabbos.
This was very short notice, for
usually they told a bachur way
earlier.
The way it was in yeshiva
was that there were a number of
bachurim who would review a
maamer and each of them would
have a group to whom they
said the maamer. Among those
who listened to R Gershon was
R Berel Kurenitzer who came
to ascertain that he knew the
maamer despite the short notice.

WHAT TO DO WITH
ONE CUP OF WATER
Toward the end of 5699,
the peaceful atmosphere in
yeshiva was disturbed by the
bombing of German planes.
The
yeshiva
immediately
disbanded. Many of the Polish
bachurim returned home. The
five American bachurim who
had just arrived returned home
as soon as possible. Gershon

HE HAD FORESIGHT
When the Rebbe published
the sifrei maamarim 57005711, he kept demanding
speedy work.
The editors
worked nonstop in order
to keep up the pace.
In
light of that, R Moshe Leib
Rodstein, thinking ahead, had
already prepared the Seifer
HaMaamarim 5699. Some of
the maamarim were printed
from a copy preserved by R
Shmuel Avrohom Chanowitz,
R Gershons brother who had
died.
The Rebbe did not ask that
it be printed until the middle
of the Shloshim of R Moshe
Leib and the secretary told the
Rebbe that R Rodstein had
already prepared it. The Rebbe
asked where it was and since R
Gershon had it, he was given a
yechidus in order to give it to
the Rebbe. The Rebbe said that
R Moshe Leib should have a
luminous Gan Eden.
walked alongside the horse and
wagon that carried the Rebbes
belongings to Warsaw where the
Rebbe told the bachurim to go
north.
The Germans had already
conquered Poland and began
imposing their tyranny. On one
of his journeys, R Gershon was
locked up along with many other
Jews in a church for two days,
without food and water. In the
end, the cursed Germans gave
each person one cup of water. R
Gershon took the cup and used
half of it for netilas yadayim.
R Gershon tried to avoid the
German soldiers. He managed
to get to Druya where his uncle
was the rav. His uncle found
someone to smuggle him across
the Dvina River.
After a short pause at his

parents house, he continued

his travels and arrived in Vilna
where refugees from Lubavitch
had gathered and restarted the
yeshiva in the shul where it had
been located before the war.
R Chaim Ozer Grodzenski,
who was in charge of the Vaad
Hatzala in Vilna, helped the
yeshiva during those months. For
Pesach, he helped them buy a set
of keilim (pots and plates) out of
respect for the Chabad custom
of not koshering utensils used
for chametz on Pesach. When
R Chaim Ozer passed away,
refugees who included bachurim
from Tomchei Tmimim watched
over his body.
Since he came from a family
of shochtim and was familiar
with the profession, he began
learning the laws of shchita in
his free time with an older man
in Vilna, together with R Yosef
Wineberg. When R Yehoshua
Isaac, the Rosh Yeshiva, reported
this to the Rebbe, the Rebbe
answered: Yosef and Gershons
study of shchita is most proper.

A SURVIVOR
The situation in Vilna
deteriorated for the Jews in
1941. R Gershon miraculously
found out that in Kona it was
possible to get a transit visa to
Japan even though Japan was an
ally of the Nazis. The Japanese
consul in Kovna, Mr. Sugihara,
was a righteous gentile.
He
issued thousands of these transit
visas which enabled numerous
Jews to escape to Japan. The
numbers show the miracle that R
Gershon had: Transit visa #1785
was for himself, #1836 was for
his sister Fruma, #1841 was for
his brother Shmuel Avrohom,
and #2027 was for his brother
Yisroel. The last transit visa was
#2139.
Over 2000 transit visas

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were produced but about 6000

(possibly 10,000) Jews left.
The method was to turn every
transit visa into a family visa.
R Gershon managed to make
his way home to his parents and
suggested that they join the trip
to Kobe, Japan, but they were
too fearful to join in this journey.
He took the Pischei Tshuva
from his parents house and
that is what he learned. He also
took a Torah scroll (which was
later confiscated at the Russian
border) and an old typewriter
which was used to print the
Rebbes maamarim.
The
typewriter survived and arrived
with him in New York.
On 2 Shevat 5701 he arrived
by train in Vladivostok and
from there took a ship to Kobe,
Japan where he joined Yeshivas
Tomchei Tmimim which had
opened there.
After a few
months, the talmidim of the
yeshiva were expelled and R
Gershon moved with the yeshiva
to Shanghai. There he continued
learning diligently despite the
physical hardships that plagued
the talmidim. He excelled in his
learning and R Meir Ashkenazi,
who was the rav of the khilla in
Shanghai, tested him and gave
him smicha.
While in Shanghai, the young
Gershon served as father and
mother to his brothers who
remained without their parents
and without any other relatives.
His uncles had received transit
visas to Japan and then received
visas for the US and had sailed to
S Francisco. Chabad was given
nine visas at that time, but these
visas were given to bachurim who
were there longer and they were
sent, by the Rebbes instruction,
to start Tomchei Tmimim in
Montreal.
When his brother was stricken
with an eye disease, R Gershon

With his fellow Tmimim in Shanghai.

R Gershon is standing sixth from the right in the top row.

On one of his journeys, R Gershon was locked

up along with many other Jews for two days,
without food and water. In the end, the cursed Germans
gave each person one cup of water. R Gershon took the
cup he received and used half of it for netilas yadayim.

worked very hard to deal with

the doctors and hospitals to have
him cured. He was helped by
some of the Jewish leaders there
like the Amshinover Rebbe who
walked the long distance with
him to make sure the patient ate
on Yom Kippur, and Rebbetzin
Kotler (engaged to and later the
wife of R Shneur) translated
for them what the doctors said.
R Gershon paid her back later
on when she was seasick on the
ship to America and he made
sure she had the right food and
medication.
She was forever
grateful to him for that.
Since he wasnt in yeshiva
during his illness, R Gershons
brother did not receive his
small food allotment. Gershon
obtained money for him so he
could buy food and subsist. He
did this for his sister too, who
was not yet married.

R Gershon appears among

the last to receive a transit visa

His help to Fruma was not

just with money. He helped
her find a shidduch.
Since
Lubavitcher
bachurim
were
relatively young and the Mirrer
bachurim were older, the
shidduch was made with R
Michel Berenbaum, a Mirrer
talmid and later the mashgiach
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Obituary

R Gershon with sons and grandsons

information about his parents.

He finally realized that they had
been murdered around 19 Av
1942 by the cursed Germans.

EXEMPTING THE REBBE

in Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim.

The wedding meal was in the
home of the mashgiach of the
Mirrer yeshiva, R Yechezkel
Levenstein, and Gershon was
given the honor of saying divrei
Torah at the Sheva brachos meal.
In general, during those bleak
times, the relationship between
the bachurim of the two yeshivos
was very friendly.
During the war, the news
they received in Shanghai was
meager. After the war, Gershon
wrote to friends and family
and asked them repeatedly for

After the war, R Gershon

went to America without most
of his family and began a new
life on his own. Although for
years he was unable to deal with
memories of the suffering of
the Holocaust, he succeeded in
tapping into tremendous inner
powers. He lived his life without
excuses, trying to attain whatever
he could. He had a sort of inner
drive, perhaps to compensate
for the tremendous loss of the
previous generation.
The Rebbe Rayatz sent R
Wineberg to welcome those
arriving in S Francisco. There
was also a large delegation
which welcomed them at the
train station in New York.
Among them was R Yochanan
Gordon who was a friend of the
family from Dokshitz. When R
Yochanan saw his friend he ran
to hug him but R Gershon, in
his humility, did not understand
what the big deal was about.

Immediately upon arriving in

New York he joined the yeshiva
in 770. In his first years there,
he went many times to fundraise
for the yeshiva. He had the gift
of oratory which he used when
he spoke in shuls about the
importance of a Jewish chinuch
and Jewish life. He then began
working in shchita in Rock
Island, Illinois and other places.
Some years later he began
devoting time to shidduchim.
In America after the war he was
a rare specimen. There werent
many religious bachurim at that
time with full beards.
His wedding took place on 11
Kislev 5711. Since it was in the
middle of the year of mourning
for the Rebbe Rayatz, the Rebbe
did not take part in his wedding,
but at the farbrengen on the
Shabbos of the oifruf, the Rebbe
said an entire sicha about the
aliya lTorah of the chassan.
The morning after the
wedding, R Gershon went
into 770 for Shacharis and did
not know whether to say the
SheHechiyanu blessing on his
new tallis. He asked R Shmuel
Levitin who suggested that he ask
the Rebbe who would be coming
soon. When the Rebbe arrived
and heard the question, he said,
Since you ask, that shows that it
is precious to you. You can make
a SheHechiyanu on something
that is precious. At my wedding
I did not say it because the
Rebbe did not tell me to. Say a
SheHechiyanu and exempt me
too.

TORAH, AVODA,
GEMILUS CHASADIM
Some years after he was
married, R Gershon bought his
first house on President Street
near Franklin Avenue. He helped
his uncle build a mikva in the

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R Gershon leading his son to the chuppa near 770

nearby shul and worked as a

shochet.
Gershon and Leah opened
their home to guests. He was
also involved in one of the first
gemachs in Lubavitch together
with his friend Yochanan Gordon
and later with Shimon Goldman.
R Gershon rose very early
every morning. Before leaving
the house and going to shchita
(around 5:00) he would review
the laws of shchita. Even on his
days off, he would get up early to
learn other things, a practice he
continued even after he retired.
The early morning hours were
the best time for him to learn.
R Gershon learned all his
life. Since he had an eishes
chayil who pushed him to
learn, he had a chavrusa for
Gemara in the middle of the
day and another shiur in the
evening. He went through Shas

One of his neighbors who was the first to discover

him after he had his stroke saw him lying on
the floor with his hand holding his yarmulke so that it
wouldnt fall off.

a number of times. He learned

Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah
regularly.
He remembered a
lot of Tanach by heart from
his youth and always enjoyed
a good svara or deep, learned
chiddush. He was very close with
distinguished rabbanim including
the rav of Crown Heights, R
Zalman Shimon Dworkin, R
Berel Rivkin, R Teitz, and the
Admurim of Tzeilim, Bobov, and
Novominsk.
He
particularly
enjoyed
testing
his
children
and
grandchildren and talking to
them in learning. He always

tried to add to their geshmak and

chayus in learning and would
closely follow their progress in
learning.
He stayed far away from
disputes. If an argument began
relating to community politics, he
stayed out of the discussion. He
was respected by his friends and
peers and was known as a straight
person, simple, goodhearted,
someone who cared, and a yerei
Shamayim. These characteristics
and the respect he gave everyone
enabled him to make connections
Continued on page 37
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STORIES

AND THE
NATIONS
SHALL GO BY
YOUR LIGHT
By Rabbi Yaakov Shmuelevitz, ah
Former shliach in Beit Shaan

here is the story about

one of the Rebbeim who
told one of his Chassidim
to learn a certain maamer
400 times. The Chassid did as the
Rebbe told him. When he finished
this assignment, he left the room
where he had been learning and
no matter what he looked at, all he
saw was the maamer.
In a recent Tishrei there was a
bachur, one of a thousand or so,
who went to 770 after concluding
a stint of several months at a
Chabad house in India. This
bachur said that today too, there
are shluchim who operate with a
similar approach to the Chassid
described above, as occurred
with him on his recent shlichus.
Upon arriving in Dharamsala,
he said, the local shliach, R Dror
Moshe, told him the above story.
It is known among Chassidim
that in order to be even more

mekushar to the Rebbe, especially

in order to be successful in the
Rebbes shlichus, and even more
so in difficult times, you need
to pick a maamer and learn it
over and over until you become
completely saturated with the
maamer. This is what provides
completely different kochos to
work on shlichus.
This shliach in India sat with
the bachur and they learned the
Rebbes maamer Ata Horeisa
LoDaas
Ki
Hashem
Hu
HaElokim, Ein Od Milvado.
In the days that followed they
reviewed the maamer no less
than seven times until they
really felt that the maamer had
penetrated their bones and they
had the kochos they needed for
the shlichus.
Then, one morning, this
bachur went outside and saw a
local Indian ride up on a bike,

holding a large brick and with

a threatening look he began
shouting in English, Get out
of here, you Jews, this is our
country, there is nothing here for
you. Well throw you out! He
kept shouting and threatening as
he occasionally raised the large
brick. It looked like any minute
he would throw it at the bachur
or at one of the visitors to the
Chabad house.
The bachur was scared.
This was the first time he had
experienced anything like this
and he didnt know what to do.
Then, as though welling up from
the depths of his neshama, the
answer appeared.
He looked
directly at the threatening
Indian and shouted loudly and
in the Simchas Torah tune, Ata
Horeisa LoDaas! Ki Hashem Hu
HaElokim! Ein Od Milvado!
The
Indian
was
very

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frightened. He put down the

brick and fled as fast as he could.
He also remembered what the
bachur looked like and whenever
he saw him in the neighborhood
or on the street, he quickly
crossed to the other side of the
street.
Thanks to the shliach in
Tzfas, R Yitzchok Lifsh, who
heard the story from the bachur
and told it to me so I could share
it with you.

GOYIM MEKUSHARIM
GOING TO THE REBBE
In a sicha on VaYeitzei,
the Rebbe explains that an
inseparable part of the Geula
of the Jewish people is the birur
(refinement) of Eisav, to rectify
the nations of the world too, so
that all the inhabitants of the
world recognize and know the

kingdom of Hashem (as we recite

in davening).
The following are stories
about shluchim of the Rebbe
who knowingly, or unwittingly,
encounter the Bnei Eisav and
impact them as part of preparing
the world for Geula.
R Sholom Blau (now a
shliach in Beit Shaan) was on
shlichus in Chabad yeshivos
in Italy for a year. He tells of
an interesting and dangerous
phenomenon which ultimately
produced good results. There
is a group of Christians in Italy
whose priests and nuns make a
special point of greeting every
Jew they see, perhaps for the
purpose of attracting them to
Christianity.
R Blau noticed that a group
of these nuns, whenever they
passed by the yeshiva or the
tfillin stand, would stop for a

second, say a friendly hello, and

then walk on.
One day, three nuns stopped
at the yeshiva in Venice and asked
what went on in the building
during the day. Sholom Blau and
his friend were standing there
and they took the opportunity
to explain the Seven Noachide
Laws. Since the nuns did not
know English, only Italian, a
passerby was found, a local
gentile, who knew both languages
and served as the interpreter.
As they spoke, the bachurim
emphasized that there is a big
tzaddik in America who said
they should publicize the Seven
Noachide Laws and this tzaddik
is called the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The bachurim wanted to explain
to the interpreter, for him to
convey to the nuns some more
details about the Rebbe but the
interpreter stopped them with a
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Stories
smile and said, You dont have
to tell me who the Lubavitcher
Rebbe is. I know him well; Ive
been to see him a few times.
Now it was the bachurims
turn to stop the interpreter.
They eagerly pumped him for
information about his connection
to the Rebbe.
The non-Jew
explained that he had heard and
read a lot about the Rebbe. The
persona of the Rebbe and the
messages he conveyed, really
excited him. He went to New
York several times, met with
the Rebbe, spoke to him, and
learned many things from him.
Naturally, the continuation of
the conversation with the nuns
was in a much more enthusiastic
atmosphere. They all saw that
the Rebbe is in New York but
his net is spread throughout the
world and he affects non-Jews as
well.

THE DEPUTY MAYOR AT

THE KINUS HASHLUCHIM
The Kinus HaShluchim is
also a good opportunity to be
mekarev bnei Noach to their
seven mitzvos and to enable them
to help the shluchim. Here is one
example.
Among the popular speakers
who farbrenged one year on Rosh
Chodesh Kislev was R Shabtai
Slavaticki, shliach in Antwerp.
R Slavaticki sat surrounded by
hundreds of Chassidim who hung
on to his every word and ignored
the clock which said it was six in
the morning.
R Slavaticki, who had a drink
or two, suddenly got up and
told the disappointed crowd that
in another four hours he had a
meeting with the deputy mayor
of Antwerp in the Childrens
Museum in Crown Heights.
He said that the deputy mayor,
who was not Jewish, came from

Belgium especially to see the

4000 colleagues-shluchim of the
shliach in Belgium.
The deputy mayor attended
the banquet, watched what the
Rebbe said about shluchim and
shlichus, and was tremendously
impressed by the stories of the
shluchim around the world.
Now they were going to have
a meeting to arrive at some
decisions regarding the success
of the shluchim in Belgium.
By the way, the deputy mayor
is someone who is regularly
interested in what is going
on with the Jewish people,
Chassidim especially. He visited
Yerushalayim,
and
attended
one of the big Chassidic courts
and saw their magnificent beis
midrash. After that visit, he had
great expectations of Chabad
world headquarters. At first, he
was disappointed, but on second
thought he said to R Slavaticki,
Its true that the beis midrash
of that Chassidic group is bigger
and more beautiful, but I want
to help Chabad because I see
that you are less involved in selfglorification and more committed
to the entire world.
Being a light (also) to the
nations.

FACING OFF WITH A

HOSTILE GENTILE
R Yisroel Gliss, shliach in
Dimona, tells the following story:
A gentile couple made
aliya and settled in Dimona.
Interestingly, their fifteen year
old son decided to convert. He
went to a yeshiva high school and
began visiting the shul in Dimona
on off-Shabbasos from yeshiva.
One day, he met R Gliss and
began to learn Chassidus. When
he finished the yeshiva high
school he switched to the Chabad
yeshiva in Tzfas.

His
non-Jewish
parents
were very angry with him and
were especially angry at R Gliss
who they blamed for their sons
religiosity. The boys mother
called R Gliss and threatened
that if her son did not leave
yeshiva, blood would be spilled
(I will drink your blood, she
said).
R Gliss got up his courage
(and he needed a lot of courage)
and went to the parents to talk
to them about their son. The
conversation wasnt easy but
in the end, even the parents
understood that it was in their
sons best interests to let him
find his own path. The bachur
continued learning, got married,
and now he and his children are
mekusharim to the Rebbe and
belong to a Chassidic community
somewhere in the US.

TAKING ON THE
MISSIONARIES
R
Menachem
Mendel
Wilschansky, shliach and rosh
yeshiva of the Chabad yeshiva in
Haifa, once met a Jew who did
not want to put on tfillin. R
Wilschansky told him sincerely,
My brother, give a hand to the
bringing of Moshiach, put on
tfillin!
As soon as the man heard
about Moshiach, he was turned
off even more and he said, My
older brother told me that the
Messiah has already come. It
turned out that these Jewish
brothers belonged to a Christian
missionary group whose messiah
came 2000 years ago.
R Wilschansky saw that there
were two souls that needed saving
from missionaries and he asked
to speak to the older brother.
This led to a series of meetings
with the brothers and with the
entire group.
Yad LAchim

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was also involved. There were

debates, the Jewish brothers read
some Jewish books, and in the
end they proved to the Christians
and the priests that there was no
justification to direct Jews toward
Christianity (Im telling you the
story in brief; it was actually
much more difficult than these
few lines convey). The Jews
returned to mitzva observance
and the non-Jews understood
that they were better off fulfilling
the Seven Noachide Laws.

AN ARAB BOY INVITING

JEWS TO A SHIUR
Every
Friday,
says
R
Wilschansky, bachurim go on
mivtza tfillin all over the city.
In addition to putting on tfillin,
they give out brochures and
flyers inviting people to visit

Continued from page 33

with Jews from other religious
groups. He was even asked to
review Chassidus in shuls of
other groups.
He was very responsible
financially and never took
anything from anyone.
He
taught his family to live simply
and to live within their means. At
a certain point in his life he was
involved for a number of years
in selling insurance and mutual
funds. Some of his customers
lost money from their investment
so R Gershon took on extra jobs
in order to repay his customers.
Someone who had just
arrived from Eretz Yisroel and
did not have medical insurance
asked him for help in obtaining
medical care for his foot. R
Gershon went out of his way to
help him meet the best doctors
and to go through the treatment
successfully.

the yeshiva and attend shiurim.

Every day, many guests visit the
yeshiva, learn bchavrusa with the
bachurim, attend a shiur, daven,
and sometimes an entire family is
transformed.
One day, an Arab boy went
over to the bachurim at the tfillin
stand and said he wanted to help.
The bachurim gave him a few
hundred flyers advertising the
shiurim and told him to distribute
them to Jews only. The boy took
the job seriously and gave out
the flyers to passersby, to store
owners, etc.
The boy came back every
Friday and continued giving out
flyers. Many people said they
came to the yeshiva because an
Arab boy gave them a flyer!
Some Arabs who work for
the city and were sent to remove

a large picture of the Rebbe

hanging outside the yeshiva
building were told by one of
the rabbis at the yeshiva that
this picture is of a big rabbi and
tzaddik. The Arabs told their
boss that they would not take
down the picture.
The matter came up for
discussion at a full session of the
city council and fascinatingly,
it was the Arab treasurer who
led the discussion and passed
a resolution that said that since
the Rebbe is a special tzaddik (as
well as making the point that it
was not advertising for business
purposes), they should give their
approval to the picture. And
thats what happened.
In a paraphrase of the
prophet, And kings will be your
nursemaids and the Arabs your
defenders.

MOVING SPEECH

audience that for many of them

this was the turning point that
led to their return to Judaism.
Yiras Shamayim was an
inseparable part of him even in
the hardest moments. One of
his neighbors who was the first
to discover him after he had
his stroke saw him lying on the
floor with his hand holding his
yarmulke so that it wouldnt fall
off.
R
Gershon
Chanowitz
passed away one year ago on
2 Av 5773/2013 at the age of
91. His children are: Mrs. Elki
Elbaum of Boro Park, R Moshe
of Montreal, Mrs. Shifi Kohl of
Boro Park, R Bentzion, shliach in
Monticello, Mrs. Esti Fishman of
Boro Park, Mrs. Simi Schtroks,
shlucha in Surrey, BC, R Sruli
Chanowitz of Monsey, and
Mrs. Chani Scheiner, shlucha in
Boulder, Colorado.

R Gershon often used his

oratorical abilities to strengthen
peoples yiras Shamayim. He
would describe the Jewish home
of old and tell tales of tzaddikim
that he heard from Chassidim
of previous generations. In his
speeches he drew his audience
into another world, into a world
that no longer exists. Many Jews
were inspired by his talks. He
made no demands of people but
the stories that he told were like
lanterns that illuminated the way.
One time, he was invited to
speak at a big campus in Boulder,
Colorado where his daughter,
Mrs. Scheiner, is a shlucha.
800 people were present when
he thanked the son of Mr.
Sugihara who had saved him
and his family. He emotionally
told about what European Jewry
went through. He made such
a powerful impression on the

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CROSSROADS

YOU HAVE FAILED MISERABLY,

MR. PRIME MINISTER!

ITS TIME FOR YOU

TO PACK YOUR BAGS!
How many times have we cried out that the
Israel Defense Forces are being constrained
by world opinion? The bitter truth revealed
during the recent military operations is that
we get a ringing slap in the face specifically
when the Israeli government tries to appease
the international community.
By Sholom Ber Crombie
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

1.
If all the commentators last
week were still asking in amazement
if we had been victorious in the
recent Gaza operation, now they
wondering if we actually lost. Its not
just whether we lost the protective
edge, rather how much did we lose
and how painful will this loss be for
us in the long run.
Its no longer a question of why
the Israel Defense Forces went out to
fight a war that it failed to win. People
were asking why we suffered the loss
of sixty-seven of our best soldiers
and citizens, may G-d avenge their
blood, while Hamas eventually won
the battle and attained its objective.
Now the question is whether they
got everything they wanted before

they started this conflict, i.e., the

lifting of restrictions on the coastal
blockade, approval of an airport, reopening the Rafiah crossing or just
a part of it?
Another point: Do you remember
that before this operation began,
the prime minister was taking pride
in how his government did not
and would not negotiate with the
Hamas terrorists? Well, so what that
he promised? During the last two
weeks of hostilities, that promise was
replaced with a new statement: We
will not negotiate under fire. In
other words, negotiating with Hamas
has been approved. The government
of Israel even sent a delegation to
Egypt for that very purpose just
as long as it is not done under fire.
However, the most amazing thing

is that the government of Israel has

even failed to meet this condition.
Hamas continued to fire missiles
while the Israeli delegation talked
with them about the conditions
they had set for the wars success
from their point of view, of course.
Only a few ridiculous excuses
kept the Israelis from sitting at
the negotiating table that Friday
morning during a missile attack on
the cities of southern Eretz Yisroel.
The official excuse was that the
delegation had to leave the talks in
time for Shabbos. Come on, who are
they trying to kid?
According to the latest reports,
the Israeli delegation wasnt just
negotiating with Hamas it was
doing so under fire, while Hamas
was aiming its rockets at the south
with an unceasing barrage. But worst
of all, this same delegation agreed
to virtually all of the terrorists
demands. If so, why did we go to
war? Why were our finest soldiers
killed? To give the Rafiah crossing
to the cursed murderer Abu Mazen,
who pays a monthly salary to these
terrorists, at a rate set according to
the number of Jews they slaughter?
Is this the objective our fighting men
sought to achieve when they went
out to be killed al Kiddush Hashem?
One more question: If they
were firing missiles on Israels

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southern cities before the war, and

they will undoubtedly continue to
do so afterwards at the same pace
and without interruption, what has
changed as a result of the recent
conflict? The apparent claim is that
we went to war to demolish the
Hamas tunnels, as this was part of
the military objectives. However, that
is an outright lie. No one had even
heard of the tunnels existence nor
could they estimate their vastness
in scope until the incident when
thirteen terrorists emerged from a
tunnel shaft beyond the border with
Gaza. Only then did they suddenly
change course and establish a new
military objective destroying the
tunnels.

2.
Everyone is asking: Could it
have been possible to conduct this
battle in a different manner? The
journalist Chanoch Daum wrote
in his inimitable style the same
message that the Rebbe conveyed
time and time again during the war
in Lebanon: Just for the sake of
argument, lets assume that Hamas
got upset with [Egyptian president]
Sisi because he didnt give them the
Rafiah crossing, and they decided
to start firing rockets on Egypt. It
wouldnt take long before Hamas
realized that it had made a colossal
mistake. An hour? Two hours? A
day? Sisi would be nowhere to be
seen. He would simply advance his
tanks to the border with Gaza and
start blasting. Within three hours,
there would be three thousand dead
Palestinians there. The world would
get involved, Hamas would stop
firing its missiles, and everyone
would realize that its not a good
idea to start up with Sisi.
Now, this is certainly not ethical
and its quite clear that this is not
the way to do things. However, lets
admit that from a mathematical
standpoint, Sisi would put a halt to
the firing upon his citizens in three

hours, while making the Palestinians

in Gaza pay a price that Israel is
collecting from them in installments,
over a period of three months. In
other words, if instead of the nearly
two thousand Palestinians killed thus
far in Gaza there would have been
only one thousand killed, yet they
were all on the first day of fighting,
its conceivable that we would be well
into a ceasefire by now, with fewer
killed for them and for us, and quiet

to world opinion. With impeccable

logic, he explained to us how every
ceasefire gives the IDF greater
legitimacy before the world, and how
all the humanitarian ceasefires
have enabled us to receive approval
for continuing the war.
However, this tactic has failed
to prove its effectiveness. Instead
of receiving greater legitimacy
before the world, we have placed
a ring of international media

The recent military operation has also revealed

the simple truth that we are a nation that will
dwell alone. It makes no difference how many ploys
or tricks we use to gain favor before the world atlarge this strategy simply wont work. The only way
to impress the world community is through a firm and
confident declaration of an uncompromising policy
against the terrorist organizations.

that would last for several years.

Daums words are quite logical.
This is the message that the Rebbe
repeated throughout the war in
Lebanon. The Rebbe emphasized
that while the enemy was created
in the image of man, one swift and
mighty blow against them also would
have saved countless casualties on
both sides.
International considerations have
also been added to this operation.
How many times have we cried
out that the Israel Defense Forces
are being constrained by world
opinion? The bitter truth revealed
during recent military operations
is that we get a ringing slap in the
face specifically when Israeli policy
places a heavy emphasis upon its
efforts to appease the international
community. This battle has been
waged by, of all people, an Israeli
prime minister raised overseas, and
he has devoted a major portion of
his diplomatic tactics to paying an
unprecedented amount of attention

cameras around us. As a result,

when they start talking about a
humanitarian ceasefire, the press
immediately goes out to check why
the humanitarian situation in Gaza
is so atrocious. During one military
operation, the government of Israel
agreed to five separate ceasefires.
This war lasted for twenty-nine
days. Since there was no ground
offensive during the first eight days
of action, this means that ground
forces were only in Gaza for twentyone days. During this three week
period, no less than five ceasefires
were called! Some lasted a few
hours, some for a full day. Is this
the way to conduct a war? Whats
really most incredible is that these
ceasefires did us absolutely no good
in the eyes of the world.

3.
Let the truth be told: If it werent
for the unequivocal statements of
the leader of our generation against
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CROSSROADS
showing indecision before the
international community, we could
easily have been convinced by the
prime ministers arguments. There
are even those among our own
ranks who explained to me that
Netanyahu is running the operation
with remarkable shrewdness, as the
logic behind the ceasefire approach
has revealed the true face of
Hamas to the entire world. They
continue to fire missiles while we
receive
greater
understanding
before the community of nations,
they say. When I claimed that the
Rebbe taught us that showing such
indecision merely places us in a
position of weakness and inferiority,
they replied that the situation has
changed and things work quite
differently now.
In the final analysis, its
impossible to deviate from the
Rebbes
words.
Everything
occurring now had been foreseen
long ago in dozens of detailed
sichos that the Rebbe delivered
with pinpoint accuracy. Instead of
proper international recognition,
we get a United Nations war
crimes committee, chaired by an
anti-Semitic Canadian attorney
who previously said that Prime
Minister Netanyahu (and even
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon
Peres!) should be brought before
the International Court of Justice in
the Hague as war criminals.
Here is a recitation of the facts as
publicized by research investigator
Raviv
Druker,
distinguishing
between Operation Protective
Edge conducted according to
a policy of appeasement, and
Operation Cast Lead with its
more conventional Israeli approach.
At first glance, the two
operations were quite similar.
Cast Lead lasted twenty-two days,
resulting in three civilian deaths
and a ground offensive beginning
on its eighth day. Protective Edge
went for twenty-nine days, with

three civilian deaths and a ground

offensive beginning on its ninth
day. However, just look at the
difference: During Cast Lead,
the ground forces went deep into
the [Gaza] Strip, to the outskirts
of Gaza City. There were already
reports on Hamas terrorists shaving
their beards [out of fear for IDF
retaliation S.B.C.], and the price
to Israel was ten soldiers killed.
In Protective Edge, the ground
offensive was superficial, only a
kilometer or two into the Strip. The
cost: sixty-four soldiers. During
Cast Lead, the talk was about
seven hundred Hamas terrorists
killed. Protective Edge apparently
had the same amount, more or
less. The significance: From a ratio
of one of ours killed to seventy of
theirs in Cast Lead, we came to [a
ratio of] one of ours killed to about
eleven of theirs [in Protective
Edge].
Take a look at Hamas. During
Cast Lead, they fired an average
of thirty-nine rockets a day during
the first week. In Protective Edge,
it was four times as much an
average of 144 rockets a day during
the first week. During Cast Lead
they brought Israel to a halt as far
as the Ashdod-Ashkelon border.
In Protective Edge it upset the
routine for residents of Tel Aviv,
the Sharon region, Yerushalayim,
and even Haifa two-thirds of the
country. During Cast Lead, as
long as the operation continued, the
rocket attacks gradually decreased.
By the third week, Hamas was
already firing an average of [only]
fifteen rockets a day a 60%
reduction from the first week,
also proportionate to a successful
ground operation. In the fourth
week of Protective Edge, Hamas
fired more missiles than in the
third week. While this marked a
decrease of 32% in the daily average
compared to the first week, it was
still an average of ninety-seven
rockets a day when the IDF had

tens of thousands of soldiers in the

[Gaza] Strip.

4.
While the present-day reality is
not very encouraging, we can take
some comfort from the fact that as
with all the analysis made in recent
years, here too, we reveal the true
essence of the Jewish People. We
draw the conclusion that there
is only one way to live in Eretz
Yisroel with peace and security in
accordance with the instructions of
the Torah and its eternal message
of the land upon which the eyes of
Gd are focused from the beginning
of the year until the end of the
year.
Just nine years ago, we thought
that the expulsion from Gush
Katif had put an end to the Jewish
Peoples identification with the Land
of Israel according to the Torah of
Israel. Instead, we have discovered
that the expulsion actually brought
a fortification of our true and
justifiable claim to Eretz HaKodesh
for all to see. Today, no one dares to
say that it was good that we chose
to abandon the inheritance of our
forefathers. The People of Israel
have come to their senses. They
have finally understood that only a
connection to Eretz Yisroel through
their faith in the Torah will give us
true peace and security, with the
knowledge that this is our land and
we will protect every inch of it.
The recent military operation
has also revealed the simple truth
that we are a nation that will dwell
alone. It makes no difference
how many ploys or tricks we use
to gain favor before the world atlarge this strategy simply wont
work. The only way to impress the
world community is through a firm
and confident declaration of an
uncompromising policy against the
terrorist organizations as a means
to bring greater security to the
People of Israel in their land.

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TZIVOS HASHEM

THE M YSTERY

OF THE
BO OKS
By D Chaim

Im sure you enjoyed reading

my previous article about what
happened to us in old Sholoms
printing house. I am happy to
report that the Adventures of
Shmuli and Berel in Sholoms
Print House, if I can call it
that, have not ended. All our
friends in class already knew
just how we bravely snuck into
the print shop and managed
to solve the difficult mystery
that disturbed the peace of
all who lived in our quiet
house (okay, now Im
writing exaggeratedly,
like those who tell
stories ).
Anyway, Sholom
suspender
(the
man) fascinated us
so much that our
previous visit made
us want to visit
So a
him again.
week later, Shmuli
and I decided that
it was time for
another royal visit.
When I say royal, I
mean that this time, we
would not hide behind a

machine or something like that,

but would show up for a polite
visit and extract (or at least
try to extract) trade secrets
from Sholom. We set out in the
hopes that Sholom would not
chase us away like he once did.

with
greeted
were
We
as
es
machin
the
of
roar
the
print
the
into
walked
we
shop. Sholoms two eyes were
piercing and for a moment
we were frightened, but we
immediately recovered and I
said, Hello Sholom. You know,
the invitations that you printed
for my bar mitzva were so
impressive that all my friends
immediately asked where I
As
had them printed.
I spoke, I noticed from
the corner of my eye
that Shmulis lips were
I guess he
moving.
was whispering a
chapter of Thillim
for the success of
our visit.
S h o l o m
glowered and then
his mouth opened
and a small smile
appeared.
it!
did
We
Shmuli
whispered
I cant
excitedly.
believe it happened!
Sholom made believe

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Tzivos Hashem
one
answered
Weve
.
that he hadnt heard Shmulis decided to go to the library
i.
Shmul
said
then,
n
questio
y
myster
the
loud whisper and asked me Maybe wed solve
and saw We wanted to thank the man
somewhat sarcastically, So there. We walked in
medium and hurry home, hoping my
a
what did you tell them, that a librarian with
d us to father would be able to help us
directe
Sholom printed the invitations sized beard. He
shelf solve the other questions. But
last
the
and miraculously, he did not the second floor,
you the man continued speaking,
When
on the right side.
manage to ruin them?
you I wasnt born in a Chassidic
what
see
are get there, you will
you
that
see
I
home, but I always heard about
need to do, he said.
Chassidishe kids with heads
the Tanya and wanted to learn
We quickly walked along
on your shoulders, continued
the Baal
a brief it because I heard that
Sholom, who had turned into the hallways and after
chs
Moshia
to
went
Tov
Shem
right
a sweet grandpa. I have a search we arrived at the
when
him
asked
and
er
chamb
shelf. I looked right and left
challenge for you.
Moshiach told
he is coming.
and noticed something odd. A
We perked up, being the
wellsprings
your
When
him:
man sat near one of the tables.
means
curious types, and listened
That
rd.
outwa
spread
In front of him was a book and
ings
closely. Sholom pointed toward
wellspr
the
when
only
that
his fingers tapped on it as he
the left of the shop and said,
us spread to everyone
Chassid
of
stared into space.
You see that machine over
everywhere Moshiach will come.
Look at how hes reading,
there? It is now printing a
So I simply wanted to hasten
He was
book that is different than all I whispered to Shmuli.
Moshiachs coming.
peculiar
the books you know. If you can also surprised by this
But as you surely realize, I
discover what book it is, who it sight.
could not learn Tanya because I
I know what it is, Shmuli
is meant for and what it does
cannot read regular print. One
to bring the Geula, I will print suddenly whispered to me. day, I heard that the Tanya
the invitations for the next bar The man is blind and he had been printed in Braille
mitzva in your class or for any cannot read the usual way. The which is special writing for the
book in front of him is made
event you pick, free.
blind. After learning the book,
Lets
We went over with Sholom especially for the blind.
I became a Chassid. Later on,
Sholom
to the odd looking machine see whether the page
I heard that the Rebbe said in
mans
and he took a paper out of gave us looks like this
one of his talks that after the
a pile that was lying on the book.
Tanya was printed in Braille so
We walked near the table that even the blind can learn
He gave it to us and
side.
said, You have until tomorrow and saw that our page was Chassidus, the spreading of
night to come back to me with just like his book. We suddenly the wellsprings necessary for
We left the print heard a voice saying, Hello Moshiachs coming was already
answers.
shop as we wracked our brains there. We jumped in fright completed and nothing can
trying to figure it out: a strange and then realized that it was delay his coming.
book in which nothing was the blind man who had heard
The man paused and then
written, that only had holes as our footsteps. We began talking said, That, in short, is the
to him and told him why we
though mice had nibbled at it.
story of the page you have. I
The next day, during recess, I had come to the library.
hope Ive been of help.
Put your paper on the book
told the class about the strange
We thanked him and rushed
book that old Sholom was in front of me, he asked. We to Sholoms print shop with the
printing. When they heard the placed the page on his book, answers. On the way I thought,
prize that he offered, everyone hoping it wasnt upside down, I sure hope that the invitations
tried to solve the mystery. Half and he began to quickly touch that Sholom prints will be the
the day passed and we hadnt it. Ah, he said, Its a Tanya. invitations to the biggest event
even come up with a small piece Here Chapter 1 of Tanya, at in the world: kabbalas pnei
the end of chapter 3 of Nida,
of the solution.
Moshiach Tzidkeinu!
be
The school day ended and he is made to take an oath,
a rasha
Shmuli and I were on our own. a tzaddik and do not be
After a lot of thought, we ...

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