CONTENTS

5
FEATURED ARTICLES WEEKLY COLUMNS
3 Dvar Malchus
5 JEWISH SOULS AT
WINGATE 11 Parsha Thought
Nosson Avraham
29 Moshiach & Hayom Yom
14 JEWISH EXTREMISTS
Sara Spielman
35 Tzivos Hashem

16 CHINUCH ROUNDTABLE
DISCUSSION
Mendel Tzfasman

14 22 IFELT
HAVE NEVER
SO CLOSE AND
CONNECTED
Yaron Tzvi
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 DVAR MALCHUS

DOVID
HAMELECH:
STILL KING OF
THE JEWISH
PEOPLE
Dovid HaMelechs eternal state of life pertains HaMelech stands eternally; even
today he is called Melech Yisroel
to every single Jew who says, Dovid Melech and he is chai vkayam as a king of
Yisroel chai vkayam, on a monthly basis, at the Jewish people. That is, even now,
the time of Kiddush Levana. * Through Dovid during the time of exile, after the
destruction of the Beis HaMikdash,
HaMelech, Dovid Malka Meshicha, one goes etc., the Torah says that every month,
out of his own personal exile. at time of Kiddush Levana, one
must say Dovid Melech Yisroel chai
Translated by Boruch Merkur vkayam, because that is the way it
is even now [i.e., Dovid HaMelech
lives forever].

T
hrough Dovid HaMelech,
Dovid Malka Meshicha, one
goes out of his own personal
exile, and goes in the way of
Dovid HaMelech, conducting himself
according to his teachings, insofar as
Dovid Melech Yisroel chai vkayam
Dovid, king of the Jewish people,
is alive and well. That is, even now
he is chai vkayam, in a manner of
Melech Yisroel. Dovid HaMelechs
eternal state of life pertains to every
single Jew who says, Dovid Melech
Yisroel chai vkayam, on a monthly
basis, at the time of Kiddush Levana.
It is said regarding Dovid
HaMelech, I have found Dovid,
My servant (Thillim 89:21),
This constitutes the general
meaning that the Alm-ghty G-d has difference between Dovid HaMelech
found and discovered that Dovid is and Chanoch, as well as Eliyahu
a faithful shepherd. This is true of HaNavi (who are also chai
Dovid HaMelech both with regard to vkayam, living eternally): Dovid
sheep, in the literal sense, and how HaMelech is chai vkayam as
much more so with regard to the a king of the Jewish people. The
Jewish people (regarding whom it is special quality of a king is that he is
said, And you, My flock, the sheep one who leads them out and who
of My pasture (Yechezkel 34:31)). brings them in (BaMidbar 27:17),
Indeed, Dovid is the shepherd and meaning that he leads every single
leader of the entire Jewish nation. Jew (including one who sins, for
(Although from the outset, Dovid even after he sins, Yisroel hu he is
was only the king of Yehuda, later, [still considered to be] a Jew), and
for thirty-three years he ruled as every single Jew conducts himself in
king over all the Jewish people accordance with his teachings.
not just over Yehuda, but the entire
Jewish nation.) (Sichos Kodesh 5741, pg. 17, second
The leadership and rule of Dovid day of Chag HaShavuos, bilti muga)

Issue 1070 3

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 SHLICHUS PROFILE

4 8 Sivan 5777

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JEWISH
SOULS AT
WINGATE
The Wingate Institute, located at the
Poleg Interchange between Netanya
and Hertzliya, is the largest professional
learning institution in Eretz Yisroel
for physical education. Thousands of
students pass through its gates each
day. Waiting for them there are Rabbi
Asaf Shaked and his wife Noa, Chabad
chassidim who made their own long and
winding journey until they discovered
the light of Torah and Chassidus. In this
profile, the shluchim at Wingate tell
their life story for the first time, as they
provide a fascinating account of their
growing outreach activities.
By Nosson Avraham
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
1070_bm_eng1.indd 5
T
wilight. The sun
starts to set and its
rays of light mingle
with the gathering
clouds. A light westerly wind
begins to blow, as the stunning
flowers adorning the student
dormitories and study halls
at the Wingate Institute move
softly in the breeze.
During these moments
of calm and tranquility, after
another heavy day of study in
the field of athletics, several
dozen students sit together in
one of the campus dormitories
to hear a fascinating lecture
on Judaism, sponsored and
organized by the Rebbes
shluchim to Wingate, Rabbi
Asaf Shaked and his wife
Noa. This is a monthly event,
in addition to the seasonal
holiday activities, and the
shluchim make certain not
to let a month go by without
holding at least one lecture on
Judaism.
This months lecturer is
former actor R Gilli Shushan.
In his inimitable style, Gilli
tells the students his life story,
including the various ups
and downs he experienced
before coming to the light of
Yiddishkait and Chassidus.
The many students, some
of whom even knew him in
the past, thirstily absorb his
words. When he finishes his
lecture and opens the floor to
questions, one student asks:
Gilli, this is the story of your
life. Why do you think that
this should have an influence
upon us?
Gilli thought for a moment
and then proceeded to answer
the question with a metaphor.
Do you like soccer? Gilli
asked the student, who replied
in the affirmative. Running
after the ball on the soccer
Issue 1070 5
2017-05-28 12:47:45 PM
 SHLICHUS PROFILE
field represents the sea of material
and spiritual possibilities that this
world has to offer us. When we
manage to put the ball through
the goal this is the whole point
of the game. Its a tremendous
enjoyment, and its a point in our
lives that not everyone manages
to attain. And even for those
who do attain it, it only comes
after a great deal of effort. The
revelation of the light of Judaism
can be compared to putting the
whole world through the goal
the thrill of victory. Now, think
about a situation of no more trips
around the field, yet youre in a
constant and never-ending state
of goal.
The student accepted the
answer. This was the first Torah
program he ever attended and
he quickly caught the bug. He
hasnt missed an event since.
This is what characterizes
the Chabad activities at a college
that trains thousands of IDF
officers each year alongside
sports teachers in a wide range
of athletic fields in Eretz Yisroel.
Asaf himself is a Wingate
graduate and former curriculum
director, and since becoming
a baal tshuva, he has used his
connections at Wingate to spread
Yiddishkait throughout the
campus together with his wife in
a uniquely charming fashion.
IN THE NATIONAL
INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE
R Asaf was born in Petach
Tikva and was raised in a
typically traditional Jewish
home. Tradition in our house
meant making Kiddush and
then doing whatever we wanted.
When I was seven years old,
my paternal grandfather passed
away. This was a most traumatic
experience for my father. As a
result, he took a step back in his
religious observance, and our
6 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 6
family became a classic middle-
class unit without a shred of
Jewish tradition. The fact that we
moved to the citys Ein Ganim
neighborhood, whose residents
are primarily secular and left-
wing, merely intensified the
distance from the path of Torah.
From a very early age, Asaf
was drawn to the wide world
of sports, where he invested
considerable effort and even
competed in the field of indoor
soccer on the national level.
Despite my great dedication to
sports, my parents didnt let me
neglect my studies. They were
constantly worried about their
childrens employment future,
and I subsequently passed my
matriculation exams with very
good marks.
After receiving his high school
diploma, he was inducted into the
Israel Defense Forces and served
as a tank machinist on an artillery
base in Mitzpeh Ramon. While
on that base, I got my first direct
exposure to the traditions of our
forefathers. A group of hesder
yeshiva soldiers served on the
base, and I learned from them
for the first time in my life the
number of daily prayer services,
how to daven, when to say
Amen, when to sit, and when to
stand. This was a group of very
serious young men, and I was
happy to establish a connection
with them. During that military
stint, I put on tfillin for the first
time since my bar-mitzvah.
As a result of that experience,
Asaf began an in-depth study
of the essence of tfillin, and he
decided to put them on every
morning. Based on where I was
holding at the time, I still hadnt
thought about becoming a baal
tshuva. I settled for putting
on tfillin and went back to my
regular pursuits.
After completing my military
service, I earned my bachelors
degree in business administration
and got a job in a bank. The
managers approved of my work,
and I was quickly promoted to
run one of the departments. At
a certain stage, I began to feel a
sense of boredom and emptiness,
and I decided to leave my
comfortable life, my good salary,
and resume my involvement in
sports.
Asaf registered as a student
at Wingate College, and then
boarded a plane for the Far East
to do a little traveling before the
start of the new academic year. I
arrived in Bangkok a week before
Yom Kippur. My decision was
not to go into the Chabad House,
rather to investigate the local
sources of spirituality. I visited
the shrines and monasteries
with a few friends and checked
out their leaders. I saw how the
local Gentiles put every form of
crawling insect into their mouths,
and I realized that I simply wasnt
prepared to accept anything from
these people. I made my way to
the Chabad House and had a
meeting with Rabbi Nechemia
Wilhelm a meeting that
changed my life.
Asaf arrived at the Chabad
House for the Mincha service
on Erev Yom Kippur and was
immediately captivated. In
retrospect, he notes three things
that had a powerful influence
upon him during this visit.
First, the shliachs family unit:
the honor and respect Rabbi
Wilhelm gave to his wife and
children. Second, there was
amazing hospitality in their
home. Jews from all walks of life
come to them and are welcomed
cheerfully, he recalled. The
third thing that touched his
heart was the happiness and
joy. From his youth, he recalled
the High Holidays as a time of
tears, mourning, fear, and dread.
2017-05-28 12:47:45 PM

However, in the Chabad House,
people do tshuva through
simcha.
When he returned to Eretz
Yisroel, he began his studies at
Wingate, while developing a close
connection with the shluchim in
Petach Tikva Rabbis Eliezer
Weissfish, Asher Deitsch, and
Mordechai Gorelick. Due to my
previous familiarity with the sport
of indoor soccer, I was appointed
as a curriculum director. I was
then revealing the lights of
tshuva, and I called our team
the League of Peace. According
to my vision, its objective was
to build a bridge between Arabs
and Jews, establishing greater
brotherhood among the nations.
At the same time, I learned the
teachings of Chabad, especially
via the Internet, with the constant
assistance of the shluchim in
Petach Tikva.
While Asaf knew that the
path of Chabad was his path,
he was still far from a decision
to become a chassid. The
revolution occurred five years ago
on the Seder night, when Rabbi
Gorelick asked me to help in
organizing the citys main Pesach
Seder. I happily agreed and met
there a young baal tshuva who
had come from Ramat Aviv,
named Shimi Bar Mucha, and
he had come back to his Jewish
roots in Pushkar, India, with the
1070_bm_eng1.indd 7
This months lecturer is former actor R Gilli
Shushan. The many students, some of whom
even knew him in the past, thirstily absorb his words.
When he finishes his lecture and opens the floor to
questions, one student asks: Gilli, this is the story of
your life. Why do you think that this should have an
influence upon us?
assistance of the local shliach, THE FATHERS
Rabbi Shimi Goldstein. He UNWRITTEN WILL
was very enthusiastic, and his
enthusiasm was contagious. A Noa Shaked was born and
month later, I traveled to Pushkar raised in Cholon by parents in
and went to learn in the Chabad constant conflict about religious
House yeshiva. matters. Her father ah was an
observant Jew who believed in
When Asaf came back from
G-d and His Torah with every
Pushkar, he was a full-fledged
fiber of his body and soul. He
Tamim in every respect in
went to shul to daven three times
both his internal and external
a day, following the traditions of
garb. He went to learn for a
the Jewish People with utmost
lengthy period at the Chabad
stringency. Her mother, on
yeshiva in Ramat Aviv, followed
the other hand, was raised in
by another six months at the
a secular home and was not
central Yeshivas Tomchei
particularly observant of Torah
Tmimim in Kfar Chabad. His
and mitzvos. We were raised in
Torah studies continued at the
a home with daily conflicts about
Tzemach Tzedek kollel in
religious observance. During
Yerushalayim. I developed a
the early years of my childhood,
close relationship over a period
my father obligated us to go to
of time with Rabbi Yair Calev of
synagogue and we even learned
Kfar Chabad. After completing
in a religious school. However,
my studies at Wingate, I met my
we did this out of a sense of
future wife while I was working
compulsion, not love.
for the Eshnav organization.
Issue 1070 7
2017-05-28 12:47:46 PM
 SHLICHUS PROFILE
In later years, the family
abandoned all signs of Jewish
tradition, and my father was
the only one who faithfully
continued to attend synagogue
services, wear a kippah on his
head, and stringently observe
Torah and mitzvos. When we
had completely left the path of
mitzvos, we saw that it caused our
father tremendous distress. While
this bothered our conscience,
we didnt feel the need to be any
different from our mother or
our friends and neighbors. This
situation continued until the day
when we received the terrible news
that our father had contracted a
terminal illness and his days on
this earth were numbered.
My father lay in bed for six
weeks suffering in pain, but not a
word of complaint passed through
his lips. I would see him writhing
in agony, and when someone
asked him how he felt, he would
reply, Praise to the Creator.
Hearing this answer made me
seethe. Finally, I got up the nerve
and asked him, Abba, if youre
in so much pain, how can you
possibly thank G-d? He looked at
me and said, My daughter, before
making Kiddush on Shabbos, we
say, They will comfort me. My
interpretation of these words is
that whatever the Alm-ghty does
is for the good.
As I listened to my father, I
realized that despite his physical
pain, he had no complaints against
G-d. I suddenly understood that
his faith is also a form of lifestyle.
A few weeks after his passing, I
decided in my heart that I must
make an in-depth exploration
into his way of life, a path I had
constantly tried to avoid. During
this time, I was living on Sheinkin
Street in Tel Aviv. I had heard
about a local Litvishe-brand study
program for women, and I went
there to learn about Yiddishkait.
In those first classes, I put up a
8 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 8
defiant front out of a deep-rooted
fear that they would manage to
get me to do tshuva.
According to Noa, she still
didnt understand the differences
between the various strands of
ultra-Orthodox Judaism. In her
eyes, all Jews wearing yarmulkes
were the same. The dramatic
moment that caused her to make
a change in her life was a visit to
the Ascent Institute in Tzfas. We
came to spend a Shabbos there
and we ate the Shabbos meals
at the home of one of the local
Chassidic families. It was a very
exciting experience. The warm
and friendly atmosphere had a
truly uplifting effect upon us.
That Shabbos in the home of
a Tzfas Chabad family was the
turning point, and anything after
that was, in her words, merely
a form of spiritual addiction.
I started taking vacation from
work to travel to Tzfas whenever
I could. One Shabbos at Ascent, physical education, exercise,
I learned about the possibility of
writing to the Rebbe via Igros
Kodesh, and I did so at the
first opportunity. The answer I
received was a long letter from
the Rebbe on the subject of tznius.
After inquiring into the concept
of Jewish modesty at length,
I decided to buy a whole new
wardrobe that would meet Torah
standards.
Noa completed her process of
becoming a baalas tshuva, and
during a visit to Kfar Chabad
with the Eshnav organization, a
shidduch was proposed for her
with one of the Eshnav activists
none other than Asaf Shaked.
The two became engaged with the
Rebbes bracha, and after their
wedding, they established their
residence in Kfar Chabad.
The young couple began
their new lives together Asaf
as a sports instructor and Noa
working in hi-tech. It was
clear to them that they owed a
tremendous debt of gratitude to
the Rebbe, and they wanted to
show their appreciation by going
out on shlichus. At this point,
Asaf recalled the Wingate Institute
where he had worked and had
many friends.
BETWEEN ONE SPORT AND
ANOTHER DO ANOTHER
MITZVAH
The Wingate Institute,
located at the Poleg Interchange
between Netanya and Hertzliya,
is the largest professional
learning institution in Eretz
Yisroel for physical education.
The Academic College at
Wingate, founded in 5704, is
an independently recognized
learning institution for higher
education. The college provides
academic studies on a high level
for training students in sports,
dance, health and motor
rehabilitation.
The college was founded
with the objective of achieving
greater professional training
in education, exercise,
administration, and leadership
for various fields of sport,
thereby creating a study and
learning center for advancing
these subjects.
The campus has an attractive
green landscape, giving those
passing through its gates a
comfortable feeling of tranquility.
The spacious and air-conditioned
lecture rooms include the most
modern and advanced learning
tools and sports equipment in
their respective fields. Each year,
the college trains thousands
of graduates in its academic
studies program, together with
its various schools dealing with
alternative medicine, licensing
sports coaches and trainers,
2017-05-28 12:47:46 PM

teaching sports medicine and
methodology, and more.
When did you start your
activities at Wingate?
Even before we got married,
during my studies there, I began
my outreach work. The germ
of shlichus apparently catches
anyone who comes to Chabad,
even if they havent become full-
fledged Lubavitchers. Our first
activities were on Chanukah.
I brought menorahs, hung
up signs, purchased a sizable
quantity of donuts, and we lit
the Chanukah lights before
a large assemblage of people
in the student dormitories.
By Purim I was already much
more committed to my mission,
and I organized a mishloach
manos distribution to numerous
Wingate students. In addition,
I traveled with several friends
to the Abarbanel Mental Health
Center in Bat Yam to bring some
holiday cheer to the patients.
After our wedding, we
arranged a pre-Pesach workshop
in the student dorms to explain
how to celebrate the Seder
night. Similarly, we organized a
program in preparation for the
Shavuos holiday. During the
following Chanukah, we brought
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton to speak,
and on Purim, our guest was R
Gilli Shushan. This past Rosh
Chodesh Nissan, Rabbi Amram
Shaetel from Telmon came and
taught the maamer Ana Nasiv
Malka to the students. The
participation is considerable and
grows all the time. Dozens of
people who come to each activity
ask when the next one will be.
Do they give you a free hand
to come in and make activities
on the campus?
During the initial stages
of our work, even my wife was
certain that after the first outreach
activity, they would throw us out
1070_bm_eng1.indd 9
A fair number of Arabs learn at the college,
and some of them even live in the dormitories.
They come from very well-to-do homes, and several
Jewish girls rl have already been seduced into entering
permanent relationships with them. A part of our outreach
work is to increase the sense of Jewish identity among
these young women and encourage them to dismiss any
thought of assimilation.
but they didnt. The fact that I rabbinical authority and then gets
had previously learned there and back to her with an answer.
had even served as a curriculum The connection has become
director established connections stronger over the years, and
and personal recognition with a short time ago, she and her
the institutes administrative husband were blessed with
board, and this definitely made the birth of a child. Not long
it easier to arrange our activities. afterwards, I heard that they
The directors not only didnt had added another mitzvah to
interfere, they were more than their list. The new mother had
happy to help. They spread begun keeping Shabbos and
the word before each outreach lighting Shabbos candles, while
activity via text message and her husband started coming to
social media, asking students to synagogue each evening and for
attend. They even help organize Shabbos. I was very inspired. We
an appropriate venue for each have a good connection with the
event. The students come here couple, and they are currently
with an open mind to listen and going through a process of
acquire some knowledge. strengthening their commitment
Your activities are to Torah and mitzvos.
continuous, taking place Theres another young
throughout the year. Have they woman who was in a very
borne fruits? complicated emotional state. She
We dont do this for the had gone from place to place
fruits, however, we constantly in search of a little peace for
come across moving stories of her soul, but to no avail. Then,
students who became stronger in during one of our Torah classes,
their adherence to Torah values she heard that every Jew no
after taking part in our activities. matter how depraved he/she may
Theres a female student who have become is a portion of
has established a very close G-d Above. This deeply moved
connection with my wife, and her. This passage in Tanya really
she told her that while she wasnt spoke to her and it made a far-
religious and wasnt ready for reaching change in her life. She
a life of mitzvah observance, started getting stronger in her
she committed herself since mitzvah observance, and some
her wedding to keep the laws time ago, she married a baal
of family purity. Whenever she tshuva and they established a
has a question, she turns to my home together on the foundation
wife, who consults with a proper of Torah values.
Issue 1070 9
2017-05-28 12:47:46 PM
 SHLICHUS PROFILE
Can you tell us about a case
of Divine Providence you have
encountered?
Absolutely. Some time ago,
I decided to explore the subject
of the interface of body and
soul from a Torah perspective.
Someone who has helped me a
great deal in becoming familiar
with the Torah sources on
this subject is Rabbi Yitzchak
Ginsburgh of Kfar Chabad. After
I learned the material in depth, a
young Wingate student met me
after he had a class on Aristotle
and Plato, and he expressed his
disappointment that Judaism
brings nothing on matters of
physical health and fitness.
Naturally, he fell into my hands
like a ripe plum, and I poured
out everything I had learned
from Torah sources, primarily
Rambam...
Tell us about your work in
curbing the tide of assimilation.
A fair number of Arabs learn
at the college, and some of them
even live in the dormitories.
They come from very well-to-do
homes, and several Jewish girls
rl have already been seduced into
entering permanent relationships
with these young Arabs. A part of
our outreach work is to increase
the sense of Jewish identity
among these young women and
encourage them to dismiss any
thought of assimilation.
Several months ago, we held
a successful Chanukah event
in the dorms. About a week
later we received an emotional
e-mail from one of the students.
She wrote to us that she has a
relative who is a medical student,
and while in school, she met a
young Arab and married him.
Although many family members
shunned her, she never seemed
to understand why. People are
people and theyre all the same,
she thought. After she heard the
10 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 10
Chanukah lecture, she realized
the uniqueness of the Jewish
People and the mistake that her
relative had made.
These activities cost a
considerable amount of money.
How do you manage?
Due to the character of the
people here, the activities are
conducted on a very high level.
When we organize an event, it
will have a lot of refreshments.
The publicity is done through
the students social media.
With high-profile lecturers, the
events incur heavy expenses.
We obtain all the funds on our
own or through the charitable
contributions of friends and
family. We clearly see numerous
cases of Divine Providence in this
manner. Quite often, we organize
activities without knowing how
we would cover the costs. Then,
the money miraculously comes
through.
Ill give you one example:
Before our last Rosh Chodesh
Adar event, we made a deal with
an artist and had already printed
an advertisement. Many students
registered for the program,
however, we still didnt know
how we would manage to pay all
the expenses. To be quite honest,
I was very troubled by this.
Then one day, I got a letter in
the mail that I have a retirement
fund from a previous job in
the amount of eleven thousand
shekels, and if I didnt withdraw
the money immediately, it would
be forfeited...
I recall before one of our
activities, one of my wifes good
friends asked if she could make
a contribution in memory of one
of her acquaintances. She ended
up sponsoring the entire event.
Similarly, we have good friends,
avreichim in Kfar Chabad, who
help us out with some nice
contributions.
How are the subjects of
Moshiach and the Redemption
broadcast in your activities?
Every lecture includes
some reference to the subject of
Moshiach and the Redemption.
When we open the floor to
questions, there will always be a
student who will raise the issue.
Its interesting that theres one
question that comes up all the
time: Why are you so interested
in doing whatever the Rebbe
demands of you? What do you
profit from this? In the secular
world, every good deed has a
hidden interest. Our response:
Yes, we do have an interest
we want Moshiach to reveal
himself. Only then do we start
discussing what Moshiach is,
how close we are to his arrival,
and how he is affecting the world.
Moshiach has become a universal
subject.
We openly publicize the
holy proclamation of Yechi
Adoneinu on our printed signs
and announcements, and we
bring Moshiach flags to all our
events. Its also interesting to
note that when I ran the indoor
soccer league, we gave it the
logo of a Moshiach flag and the
inscription Tachshov tov, yihye
tov (Think good and it will be
good).
THE FUTURE
The Shakeds are in constant
touch with the students and the
educational staff, and at the end
of each outreach activity theyre
already making preparations for
the next one. Our big dream,
they say, is to rent a caravan
near the student dorms and
turn it into a permanent Chabad
House with Shabbos meals and
daily activities. This will demand
a larger and much more extensive
budget.
2017-05-28 12:47:46 PM
 PARSHA THOUGHT
THE INTERFACE
OF TORAH AND
NATURE
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg
THE PRIESTLY BLESSING
One of the central sections
in this weeks parsha, which we
read right after the Holiday of
Shavuos, celebrating the Giving
of the Torah at Mount Sinai, is
the Birchas Kohanim, the Priestly
blessing.
Rabbeinu Bachye provides
several explanations for the
division of this blessing into three
parts:
First, there are three
categories of Jews: Kohanim,
Leviim and Yisroelim. These
blessings were directed to all
segments of Jewry.
Second, the first verse
consists of three words which
correspond to the three
Patriarchs. This invokes the merit
of the Patriarchs. The second
verse contains five words which
correspond to the Five Books
of Moses, given in the merit of
the Patriarchs. The third verse
contains seven words which
correspond to the seven heavens.
THE JEWISH LEAP YEAR
Rabbeinu Bachye then quotes
the Talmuds discussion of the
procedure for declaring a Leap
1070_bm_eng1.indd 11
Year, in which there is also a
division into three, five and seven.
The Jewish calendar is a
lunar calendar. A lunar year is
approximately 11 days shorter
than a solar year, which can pose
some problems. One example is
the scheduling of the Holidays.
Over the course of a few years
the Holidays would revolve
around the seasons absent a
calendar adjustment. That would
be untenable since the Holidays
must conform to the seasons. For
example, Passover must be in the
spring. To synchronize the two
calendrical systems the courts
periodically convened to decide
whether the circumstances of
that year warranted adding an
extra month of Adar to bring
parity between the lunar and
solar calendars.
The Mishnah states that the
court must begin its deliberations
with three judges present. If
the majority decides that the
necessary circumstances are
present the court adds another
two judges to the panel, for a
total of five. Once this larger
panel agrees that the year should
become a Leap Year, the court
adds on two more judges for a
total of seven who then must
declare that year to be a Leap
Year.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin
10b) states that the three, five
and seven judges correspond to
the three verses of the Priestly
Blessings which contain three,
five and seven words.
WHATS THE CONNECTION?
To understand the connection
between the institution of the
Leap Year with the Priestly
Blessing we must first discuss the
power of the courts to declare a
Leap Year.
The Jerusalem Talmud makes
an astounding claim in this
regard. When the court added
a month to the year, time itself
was affected with a concomitant
impact on the very physical
nature of the world. A persons
biological system would reverse
itself when the court decided to
add on another month thereby
reducing the biological age of
that person! This power wielded
by the Sanhedrin is the power of
Torah.
In addition to being G-ds
instructions how to live our lives,
Torah is also the very blueprint of
creation. The Zohar and Midrash
state that when G-d created
the Universe He first consulted
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 PARSHA THOUGHT
There are many conditions that prayer must
meet for it to be effective. A prayer must be
heartfelt and the person must be worthy and possess
special merit so that his or her prayer will incline G-d
to accede to the request and alter His will. The Priestly
blessing, however, enjoys the benefits of both worlds.
It enjoys the power of a blessing that is not dependent
on the worthiness of the recipient. It also possesses the
power of prayer to change nature. This is the exact same
power Torah possesses.
the blueprint of Torah and then
created the world. If it is in the
world, it must be in the blueprint.
If the blueprint is changed then
the world too must change.
Based on this premise we are
left with a conundrum. On the
one hand, Torah is the instrument
of creation and thus transcends
the world and is not subject to
its limits and constraints. This
is why anyone, at any time of
the year, who studies the laws
pertaining to a Kohen serving
in the Beis HaMikdash during
Passover, for example, it is as if
he were performing that very
service. Torah resides beyond the
parameters of time and space.
On the other hand, Torah was
introduced into our realm and
given to us to refine and enrich
our lives and the world at large
within the framework of our
natural existence. And it is our
reality, which is not necessarily
the reality of Torah, towards
which the Torah is directed.
We therefore shouldnt try to
perform a Mitzvah by way of
miracles. Torah was sent down
here to our world; to relate to and
guide our world and experiences
within their natural and limited
parameters.
However, Torah itself
12 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 12
remains above the natural world
and occasionally makes its
transcendent nature enter into
our world and alter its pathways.
PRAYER AND TORAH: TWO
STORIES
There are two stories that
contrast the difference between
the power of prayer and the
power of Torah. During a
drought in Israel, the Jews
sought out a saintly man named
Choni. He drew a circle around
himself and told G-d he would
not leave until it rained. He stood
in prayer for three days. Finally,
the rain descended in droplets.
Choni argued with G-d that the
droplets were insufficient. The
rain then descended in torrents.
Again, Choni protested the
excessive rainfall. Finally, the
rain descended in the correct
measure.
There is a contrasting story in
the Zohar describing how Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai caused it to
rain by simply delivering a Torah
discourse on the words, How
good and pleasant when brothers
dwell together. The rain
descended in the right measure
without delay.
Chassidus explains that if one
has the command over Torah,
as Rabbi Shimon certainly did,
he is empowered to alter nature
just as he can do with prayer.
Furthermore, Torahs power is
superior to that of prayer as seen
in the two foregoing stories.
POWER OF TORAH VESTED
IN THE DECLARATION OF
THE LEAP YEAR
Torahs power to alter nature
can also be found in the role of
the courts to adjust the calendar
by adding another month to the
year thereby stretching time,
as it were. And, as mentioned
before, the decision to add the
extra month actually alters the
parameters of time and even a
persons biological clock.
Where do we find precedent
for the power of Torah to channel
G-ds supernatural powers into
this world? Where do we find
that Torah itself occasionally
allows its transcendent nature to
extend into and even override the
world of nature?
THE PARALLEL TO THE
PRIESTLY BLESSING
The answer is the Priestly
Blessing.
The Priestly Blessing is
qualitatively different from all
other blessings. In Chassidic
literature it is taught that a
blessing cannot alter nature.
However, it can clear the way for
hidden resources to be channeled
into a person who, for some
reason, was not able to access
those resources.
A Bracha, the Hebrew
word for blessing, can also
be translated as a channeling
instrument that allows energy
to flow unobstructed from one
source to another. A blessing
changes nothing. It simply
enables the free flow of positive
2017-05-28 12:47:47 PM
 energy that has already been
allocated.
Prayer, on the other hand,
does have the power to create
new channels. Many of our
prayers are prefaced with the
words, Yehi Ratzon, May it
be the will, which can also
be rendered may there be
the creation of a new will.
We entreat G-d, even if You
previously expressed Your will
for us to suffer, please change
Your will and bring us relief. In
other words, we are asking G-d
to change nature.
However, there are many
conditions that prayer must meet
for it to be effective. A prayer
must be heartfelt and the person
must be worthy and possess
special merit so that his or her
prayer will incline G-d to accede
to the request and alter His will.
The Priestly blessing,
however, enjoys the benefits
of both worlds. It enjoys the
power of a blessing that is not
dependent on the worthiness of
the recipient. It also possesses
the power of prayer to change
nature. This is the exact same
power Torah possesses.
1070_bm_eng1.indd 13
And it is this component of
the Priestly Blessing that sheds
light on the power of the courts
to alter the nature of time.
The very same dynamic of the
Priestly Blessing (divided as it is
into three sections of 3, 5 and
7) applies to the Jewish court
when engaged in determining
the length of the year. They too
plug into the transcendent source
which allows them to exercise
the power vested in them by the
Torah to alter the year with all the
profound changes that entails.
A NEW ALIGNMENT: THE
NEW NATURAL
The Messianic Age will
see many changes. Even
Maimonides, who declares that
the Messianic Age will follow the
rules of nature, concedes that a
time will come when our world
will become a different world.
For example, Maimonides writes
that all jealousy will cease. What,
may we ask, is it that will alter the
nature of the world? If miracles
were to be part of the Messianic
Age dynamic then it would be
clear that nature would change
just as it did at the Exodus from
Egypt. Even though Maimonides
asserts that the Messianic Age
will not change nature, he himself
claims that certain natural traits
will be forever altered.
The answer here is that Torah
represents the true nature of
reality. It is just that our reality
and the reality of the Torah are
not in perfect alignment during
our state of exile. We therefore
need Torah to refine us within
our reality. Only in certain
situations do we see the Torahs
reality superimpose itself on our
reality. We can see it with the
Priestly Blessings, the institution
of the Leap Year by the courts
and by Sages of Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochais caliber who may
summon rain through Torah
study.
In the Messianic Age the
world will finally be so refined
and elevated by the cumulative
effect of our Mitzvos that the way
we experience nature will be fully
aligned with the nature of Torah.
The changes will not be from
supernatural causes; instead,
they will represent a reordering
of things that will be the new
natural.
Issue 1070 13
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 FEATURE
A SOUL CRYING OUT
TO BE REDEEMED
C
sanad Szegedi was a
leader of a right wing
pro-Nazi Hungarian
political group in
Budapest called Jobbik, which
formed the Hungarian Guard, a
paramilitary organization. Since
its establishment in 2003, he was a
member of this extreme party and
part of the hardcore that started
it, devoted to an ideology of anti-
Semitism and holocaust denial.
One day, Szegedi discovered
from a critic who did extensive
research into his background
that he is actually a Jew. Even
more shocking, he learned that
his maternal grandmother is a
holocaust survivor, a secret she
kept from the family for fear of
further persecution. As soon as
word got out, Szegedis political
party rejected him and he was
thrown into an existential crisis.
The infamous anti-Semite
had nowhere to turn, except
to face the very identity he
vehemently condemned and was
now, ironically, coming to haunt
him. Yet, who in the Jewish
community would believe in his
sincerity? After all the damage
he had orchestrated, who would
accept him?
Szegedi had one call to make
to open the door to his Jewish
soul; he called the local Chabad
House in Budapest. Against
immense criticism, Rabbi Boruch
Oberlander, President of the
14 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 14
By Sara Spielman
Orthodox Rabbinical Council in
Budapest, answered his call and
invited him into his synagogue,
handed him a kippah, allowed
him to pray, don tfillin and
eventually learn Torah. The
congregants pretended not to
watch Szegedi, but they all knew
who he was.
Rabbi Oberlander, who is
also a noted historian and prolific
academician, explained that he
accepted the previously anti-
Semitic leader because the man
is nonetheless a Jew and we must
love every Jew, even those who
have done wrong. Furthermore,
we must give him a chance to do
tshuva.
Theres a story that took
place some two hundred and
fifty years ago involving a ten
hour journey the Baal Shem
Tov took to Leipzig with one
of his devoted students, whose
parents lived in that town. The
Baal Shem Tov was quick to
tell his student that he most
likely wont have time to visit
his parents. Instead, the student
was led by his master down a
mysterious path as the sun was
close to setting before Shabbos.
Their first stop was at an isolated
house near a forest, where the
holy Baal Shem Tov spoke to an
old man with a radiant face that
the student had never before
seen. They then went to a nearby
river where he filled up a cup of
water, made the blessing on it
and drank from it.
Finally, moments before
Shabbos descended, they found
themselves on a street lined with
taverns near a university known
for its anti-Jewish sentiments,
where violence and drunkenness
reined the streets. No Jew ever
dared to venture there, as the
chances of survival were slim.
Yet, the Baal Shem Tov had a
clear destination. He knocked on
a tailors door, a Jew who was
allowed to live there because the
local folk needed his services.
Much drama ensued when the
local mob tried to invade the
house that Friday evening when
they heard the Baal Shem Tovs
melodic prayers, but he soon
paralyzed them with his gaze.
Over the entire Shabbos,
however, a lone, shadowy figure
stood in the corner of the tailors
home intently observing the
Baal Shem Tov, watching his
prayers and listening to his lofty
discourses. The tailor later told
the Baal Shem Tovs student,
That man is Professor Shlanger,
one of the biggest anti-Semites in
the country. I have no idea what
brought him here.
When they later returned
home after Shabbos, the Baal
Shem Tov offered his student
explanations for only two of
their previous destinations.
The man he spoke with at the
onset of the trip is a hidden
tzaddik who knows the secret
2017-05-28 12:47:48 PM
 of when Moshiach will arrive and they discussed
these secrets. The second detour by the river was
because it was soon going to dry up and needed
to be elevated by a blessing in order to fulfill its
purpose in this world. The strange man who was
standing in that room all Shabbos at the tailors
home? One day, the Baal Shem Tov said, his
student will learn the answer.
Twenty years later, the student was traveling
to the city of Minsk. It was years after the Baal
Shem Tovs passing and he stayed for Shabbos by
a distinguished Jewish man, who gave over deep,
esoteric concepts, similar to the ones the student
remembered hearing that Shabbos in Leipzig at
the tailors home. I was the famous professor who
visited the tailors home, the host revealed. I
was at a turning point in my life at the time, full of
unanswerable questions as to my purpose in life.
When I heard of how the Baal Shem Tov paralyzed
those students,
I knew I had
to see him for
myself.
The sight
of his davening
and his words
of Torah had
such a profound
effect on me
that a few
months later
I disappeared
from the
university. I
dont know how
your Rebbe could possibly have known that a Jew-
hater like me carried a Jewish soul crying out to be
redeemed.
The Rebbe created a modern empire of
followers, also leaders, his shluchim, who every
day ignite souls and help them on their journeys
to teshuva. Many have incredible stories of return,
some even as unlikely as Szegedi, who visited
Auschwitz only after the passing of his dear
grandmother, who he eventually spoke to about her
brutal past, one she had kept hidden for so long.
While she was alive he could not face the harsh
realities or horrors of the camps where she had
been suffered.
The pain Szegedi experienced when he stood
by the gas chambers and the crematoriums, the
gravesite for his unburied great-grandfather, the
1070_bm_eng1.indd 15
confusion he felt about an era so inhumane, was
perhaps the moment that he became a transformed
Jew. A once Jew-hater who denied the holocaust is
now a man wrapping tfillin and davening. Rabbi
Oberlander saw his pintele yid, his Jewish soul
crying out to be redeemed, because the Rebbe saw
it in every Jew, as did the Baal Shem Tov.
On the streets of Manhattan a few years ago, a
university student on his way to class one morning
was stopped by a young Lubavitcher Chassid near
a mitzvah tank insisting he put on tfillin. But
Im not a Jew, the student insisted. I was raised
going to church every week.
The Lubavitcher bachur told him with love
and confidence typical of a Chassid on mivtzaim,
You have a Jewish face. Afterward, the student
couldnt shake the feeling, the question, of what if
he really is a Jew? He asked his Catholic parents,
but they denied such a heritage. The boy got
sick over this
question.
He became
obsessed and
couldnt stop
thinking about
it, especially
since he was
raised to
hate Jews. So
tormented
he became
that he was
hospitalized,
until his parents
finally revealed
the truth that he was adopted at six months old,
born to Syrian Jewish parents now deceased.
It took a Chabad Chassid to see a pintele yid, to
recognize a Jew in a man passing by on the street,
who would never have known otherwise. And
just one moment to awaken and transform him,
ultimately becoming a Lubavitcher Chassid himself.
It is this very type of transformation of souls so
lost that return, that embrace tfillin, that change
their ways, like a Nazi political leader in Hungary,
the Catholic college student on his way to class
and the anti-Semitic professor during an era when
violence towards Jews reined the streetsit is
these moments that bring such sweetness to G-d
and redemption to this world.
Issue 1070 15
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 CHINUCH
CHINUCH
ROUNDTABLE
DISCUSSION
Mechanchim discuss our children will be our
guarantors from the perspective of Yemos
HaMoshiach and the imminent Geula. * Part 2 of 2.
By Mendel Tzfasman
Chazal say on the verse,
do not touch My anointed
ones, that these are the
tinokos shel beis rabban.
Why are schoolchildren the
anointed ones? What is unique
about them over rabbanim
and others who work day and
night to prepare the world to
greet Moshiach, the Tmimim
the chayolei beis Dovid,
who fight those who scorn the
footsteps of Your anointed one,
the righteous women in whose
merit the Jewish people were
redeemed, and working people
who redeem their place of
work and personal space as a
dwelling for Hashem?
R Cheruti: In the Rebbes
sicha about the material wonders
that were promised to take
place in Yemos HaMoshiach, he
explains that it is when G-dliness
truly penetrates the physicality
of the world to the point that it
manifests in the form of material
16 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 16
PARTICIPANTS:
Rabbi Refael Cheruti
teacher in Ashkelon
and author of educational
books for children
Rabbi Yosef Avrohom
Pizem a veteran educator,
principal of a Chabad
elementary school and
initiator and producer of
the HaDerech Hayeshara
Limud HaDvar Malchus
lYaldei Yisroel
Rabbi YY Friedman
teacher in Nachalat Har
Chabad, Kiryat Malachi
plenty, that demonstrates openly
that G-dliness has spread so far
that it has even penetrated the
physicality of the world.
I see this every day during
recess, where even the childrens
games have Geula themes. In
the sandbox they build the Beis
HaMikdash, they make the
Kohen Gadols garments out
of pieces of paper and material,
etc. These are Lubavitcher
children who imbibed concepts of
Moshiach and Geula along with
their mothers milk.
By adults, it is the wonderful
qualities, which find expression in
the revealed faculties of the soul,
that conceal the yechida of the
nefesh, the aspect of Moshiach
within us. While in children who
are pure, the aspect of Moshiach,
the essence of the soul, the
yechida of the nefesh, openly
shines. This is why they are called
My anointed ones. This is why
we see that deep topics in emuna,
that might elicit a smile from
an adult who sees himself as an
intellectual, are accepted by
children in all innocence.
2017-05-28 12:47:48 PM
 R Pizem: We can explain
it based on what the Rebbe
says in the HaYom Yom for 5
Teves, With the coming of
Moshiach, we will appreciate
the distinctive quality of hodaa
[i.e., acknowledgment of Gd
and belief in Him] and tmimus
artless sincerity, the pure
faith with which all [Jews]
believe in G-d, His Torah, and
His mitzvos. When it comes to
study, even the highest levels of
understanding have their limits.
Hodaa, by contrast, is a feeling
that has no boundaries. Melech
HaMoshiach will endow us with
an understanding of the superior
worth, as expressed in action,
of sincere, heartfelt, and earnest
Divine service.
It is Moshiach who will reveal
the advantage of tmimus and
emuna (which children have
naturally), or as a certain great
person said, I pray to what
this little child has in mind. It
1070_bm_eng1.indd 17
is because of their sincerity that
they are connected directly to the
essence, to Moshiach.
R Friedman: I am not sure the
following example is appropriate,
but to me, it demonstrates what
My anointed ones is about. in the sicha of Tazria-Metzora
A long time ago, two of my
children who were under the age
of three were sitting on musical
potties. The music player in one
of the chairs malfunctioned and
the one sitting on it began to
cry. To my surprise, I heard the
other one say to him, Dont cry,
Moshiach is coming right away
and everything will be all right.
In the sicha of Simchas
Torah 5752, the Rebbe uses
an unusual expression, The
chinuch of Jewish children
needs to be such that the
children become permeated
with the subject of Moshiach so
that when you just glance at a
Jewish child, what do you see?
Moshiach!
Can you, who work with
children all day, explain what
this means. How can a child
look Moshiach-like, and how
can we make this happen?
R Cheruti: The Rebbe says,
5751, that the direct, easiest
and quickest way among all
Torah approaches to bringing
the Geula, is by learning inyanei
Moshiach and Geula. The Rebbe
goes on to say that this enables us
to open our eyes and it changes a
persons nature to a Geula state.
If learning about Moshiach and
Geula can change our nature,
then with children, where there
is no need to change their nature,
but to reveal their true nature, all
the more are inyanei Moshiach
and Geula going to make children
appear Moshiach-like.
I remember that for a long
time after publishing a certain
Geula-oriented book for
children, I got many requests
Issue 1070 17
2017-05-28 12:47:49 PM
 Chinuch
The music player in one of the chairs
malfunctioned and the one sitting on it began
to cry. To my surprise, I heard the other one say to him,
Dont cry, Moshiach is coming right away and everything
will be all right.
from children who asked when
the next volume is coming out. To
me, this proved that the messages
got through to them, and kids
considered the book, which was
about a group children whose
goal it was to bring Moshiach,
to be worthy of emulation. In
the book, the childrens lives,
including their games, food, trips
and adventures, revolve around
Geula.
R Friedman: When we flip
this switch in our heads, when
we lock onto the target, the
Geula, the end-goal of everything
we do, and we know that every
positive action hastens it, and any
resistance puts the brakes on, we
can convey the message to a child
in the best possible way.
Children are pure, anointed
ones, and our job is to educate
them properly, i.e., not to ruin
them.
R Pizem: I will tell you a
story that happened at Nefesh
Chaya in Kiryat Shmuel at a
seudas Moshiach. Men went to
the shuls in the area where they
held seudos Moshiach and then
they came back to Nefesh Chaya
after sunset. The farbrengen
lasted until late at night. Each
one told how he was warmly
received, what he spoke about,
and how the crowd reacted. We
sang and danced without limits
as the hours passed.
Later on, in the middle of
the night, after birkas hamazon
and Maariv, when we went
outside, we saw children dancing
exuberantly and with childlike
18 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 18
innocence, out in public where
passing cars honked to encourage
them. When we went out, they
drew us into the dancing. We
said to one another, This is what
it means to see Moshiach on the
children.
There are those who ask,
how can we teach abstract
ideas, such as hiskashrus, to
children, when we dont see the
Rebbe; that our generation is
the generation of Geula, despite
the terrible concealment and
the numerous tzaros; that the
Rebbe MHM is chai vkayam,
when what we see looks exactly
the opposite?
R Pizem: The first thing that
must be emphasized is no answer
is good enough, because we need
to see the Rebbe!
As to your question about
hiskashrus, this is definitely
something we can and must
do. Each of us has a story or
miracle that happened to him,
some people have a dollar they
got from the Rebbe, or a letter,
a kuntres, a Tanya, etc. You need
to sit with the children now and
then and show them the letters
and the dollars that Abba and
Ima preserve so carefully, and tell
them the stories behind the letter,
dollar, etc.
Show them a video of the
Rebbe or play recordings in which
the Rebbe spoke to children in
their language or Lag BOmer
parades. Show your children
where you or some family
member usually stood at the
Rebbes farbrengen. Familiarize
them with personalities from
770. This makes the childrens
connection to the Rebbe
something personal, tangible, not
spiritual and abstract. Talk about
the importance in writing to the
Rebbe and explain to them in
their language how to prepare to
write.
Send them to a camp that
instills hiskashrus and love for
the Rebbe, chayus and simcha
and emuna in what the Rebbe
said. Send the children to 770 for
Tishrei. As mechanchim, weve
seen major changes in children
who have been to camp or to 770
for Tishrei.
As far as emuna in the
Rebbe MHM, I can tell you the
approach at the Talmud Torah
in Krayot. We teach the sichos
as part of the curriculum. We
use the Derech Hayeshara
the Dvar Malchus for children,
and teach the sicha of Yaakov
Avinu Lo Meis, and other
sichos. When the children see
what the Rebbe said, that the
Nasi Hador is the Moshiach of
the Dor, Moshiach Menachem
shmo, etc., and the material is
taught seriously and in a pleasant
atmosphere, the children accept
it with emuna and tmimus.
Obviously, the goal is to
implant the emuna in the eternal
life of the Rebbe, to learn more
seriously and to go on mivtzaim,
because the Rebbe will be
revealed momentarily and we
need to be ready.
R Cheruti: I think that we
adults have a lot to be envious of
the younger generation that grew
up in the reality of post-Gimmel
Tammuz and whose faith is as
strong as a rock. Their hiskashrus
and devotion to the Rebbe and
his horaos are amazing. Take the
trip to the Rebbe, for example.
Did so many people go to the
Rebbe before Gimmel Tammuz?
2017-05-28 12:47:49 PM
 Rabbi Friedman
Rabbi Pizem Rabbi Cheruti

There used to be a time when
for hundreds of Tmimim, the
first time they went to the Rebbe
was for the year on kvutza. They
had no videos to see the Rebbe
and calling New York was a rare
occurrence.
Today, children see the Rebbe
in videos every week and there
are children who travel to the
Rebbe and stay for a month.
There are children who forgo
their bar mitzva celebration and
opt to celebrate it in 770. They
write to the Rebbe and tell their
friends about the importance of
writing to the Rebbe, and the list
goes on.
Experience has shown that
not only can you educate children
about the eternal life of the
Rebbe, but they accept it in the
most sincere way without doubts
and questions. I am sure that
when the Rebbe is revealed, we
will see how it was in the merit of
the children.
R Friedman: A child accepts
everything readily, just like we
explain that in the beginning,
Hashem created the heavens and
the earth, and before that, there
was nothing, not even air, or
like the Luchos were carved all
the way through and the letters
did not fall, like the candies that
the angel Michoel throws at
the hachnasa lcheder, etc. To a
child it is clear that if the Rebbe
is the Rebbe, then there are no
questions.
It seems that the questions
and problems are ours, and if
we see that the message is not
accepted by the children, then we
need to ask ourselves whether it
is clear and firm by us.

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 HALACHA 2 GO
WOULD-BE
SOTA SCENARIO?
Selected Halachos from the
One Minute Halacha project
Mara Dasra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights
WARNING YOUR WIFE
Im on my way to work,
the husband calls out to his wife,
That electrician is still working
on the fuse box, so Im leaving
the door ajar. Remember not
to close it until he leaves! Ten
minutes later, when morning
traffic and a cool wind disturb
her household tasks, the wife
forgetful of the stranger in the
basement until he comes upstairs
in a trail of dusthad locked the
door.
The laws governing a Sota
(wayward wife) state that a
husband who wishes to implicate
his wife in secluding herself with
a stranger must first issue a
kinui (warning) to her that she
not put herself in a situation of
stirah (solitude) with a particular
man. A woman who nonetheless
ignores her husbands warning
which cannot be retracted, even
by a forgiving husband, once
stirah occurshas but one
recourse: she must drink the
mei Sota (waters of the Sotaa
special preparation by a Kohen in
the Beis HaMikdash) before she
20 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 20
By HaRav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, Shlita,
is permitted to live again with her
husband.
warning is not offered with
The laws of yichud (seclusion
of a woman with a strange man
or vice versa) would equally
apply to any womanmarried
or not, even without a husbands
warning.* In most contemporary
situations an innocent
transgression would normally
have no bearing on a marriage.
However, an issue may arise
innocuously when a husband
advises his wife concerning
yichud with any particular
individual. What if the wife
forgets her husbands warning
such as in the above scenario
where he reminded her to leave
the door ajar so she is not home
alone with the handyman, but she
mistakenly closed the door? Has
she inadvertently placed herself
in the position of a would-be
Sota? If that is the case, is she
prohibited from continuing to
live with her husband indefinitely
since there is no mei Sota
solution in current times?
Practically speaking, there
are many reasons why the above
scenario is not categorized within
the strictures of a Sota; primarily,
an unsuspecting husbands
the intention of kinui, only as
a friendly reminder about the
laws of yichud. In addition, even
when she admits to closing the
door, her testimony would only
be valid if her husband trusts
her. However, the Beis Din
cannot unconditionally accept a
husbands claim that he believes
his wife, because it would be
difficult to verify that he does not
have an ulterior motivesuch as
using the situation as a reason
to file for a get (Jewish bill of
divorce).
A woman in this situation can
simply refrain from verbalizing
her mistake in closing the door,
and would not be considered
guilty of stirahthere are
no witnesses (and no one is
ever required to incriminate
themselves in this manner). Even
if she did admit to the yichud
situation and her husbands
statement that he believes
her that the door was closed
would be accepted, she is still
considered innocent of Sota-
2017-05-28 12:47:49 PM
 hood. She issues a statement
that she remained faithful to
her husband; by virtue of her
admission to wrongdoing when
she could easily have lied, she
has neemanus(trustworthiness)
or, alternatively, zchus hataanah
(the right to argue [in her own]
defense). On the strength of
either of these grounds, her
testimony is irrefutably accepted.
*It should be noted that in the
case of kinui, the laws of stirah
are much stricter than the normal
parameters of yichud; exclusions
such as baalah bair (her
husband is in town) or pesach
pasuach (an open doorway [to
the public]) do not apply.
WHEN A BRACHA ON
FOOD MAY NOT COUNT
I should have realized a
free chocolate bar would make
problems... Now Im stuck: I
recited the bracha of shehakol,
but as I was about to take a bite,
I glanced at the package and
instead of the usual hechsher, I
see the small not for individual
sale warning. So what do I do?
I know a bracha lvatalah (a
blessing said in vain) is a biggie.
And the chocolate might actually
be kosher, if only I could have
verified the kosher symbol on the
big box this complimentary snack
came in. Hashems holy name
versus a possible issur* of kashrus:
which lapse trumps the other?
The best option in this case
is to reject the foodeven spit
out any unswallowed morsel
and say Baruch shem kvod
malchuso lolam vaed (Blessed
be His honored Majestys Name
forever and evera statement
that is a form of apology for
having uttered the Holy Name in
vain). There are several reasons
why saying baruch shem is
preferable to consuming the food
in this situation: according to
1070_bm_eng1.indd 21
many opinions, this statement can
actually rectify the transgression
of saying Hashems name in
vain, while eating something that
might be not kosher has no such
immediate fix. Additionally, it can
be argued that the bracha isnt
considered lvatalah, since at the
time when the bracha was recited
it was for a specific purpose
when the person recited it, they
did not realize that the food
might not be kosher.
Another facet of the dilemma
rests on the food itself. If it
is indeed non-kosher, we are
actually forbiddenaccording
to many opinionsto recite a
bracha on it, so eating the food
would not correct it in any case,
and saying baruch shem
is the safer course. Finally, by
making a decision to eat the food
when its kosher status cannot
be verified, the transgressor is
actively committing a possible
wrongdoing, while refraining
from eating food on which
a bracha was recited would
at this point constituteat
mosta passive, unintended
transgression.
* The rationale that holds true
for the unmarked chocolate bar
would equally apply to all levels of
unconfirmed maacholos asuros
(forbidden consumables) or any
possible food contraventions, for
example, making a bracha on a
milchig (dairy) snack within six
hours of eating fleishig (meat) or
food or drink on a taanis tzibbur
(public fast day).
A LAST-MINUTE MAARIV
It is a mitzvas aseh (a positive
Biblical commandment) to recite
the Shma both in the evening
and in the morning. The ideal
time for saying the evening Shma
is during Maariv (the evening
prayer); Shma and Maariv
should be recited immediately
after tzes hakochavim (nightfall,
literally, when stars emerge)
halachically defined as the time
when three kochavim ketanim
(minor stars) are visible to the
naked eye in the night sky.
A person who is delayed from
reciting the evening Shma at the
optimal time may still do so until
chatzos halaylah (midnight; the
sixth halachic hour after sunset).
This deadline was established
lharchik adam min haaveirah
(to spare a person from
transgressing), to avoid a cavalier
attitude toward the obligation
to recite the Shma in its correct
time.
However, bdieved (post
factoi.e., chatzos has passed)
a person may recite the Shma
until alos hashachar (dawn, the
rising of the morning [suns
rays]), after which the time for
reciting Maariv and the Shma
has passed. Someone who is
an annus (forced) due to
unavoidable circumstancesfor
example, one who is too drunk
to daven before alos hashachar
should nevertheless say the Shma
and Maariv until netz hachamah
(sunrisewhen the sun is visible
on the horizon). In this case, the
tfilla (prayer) of Hashkivenu
(Put us to sleep) should not
be said, since it is limited to the
time when people normally go to
sleep. There is also a machlokes
haposkim (a halachic dispute)
whether Shmoneh Esrei (the
nineteen blessings [of the silent
Amida]) of Maariv may be recited
at this time.
One Minute Halacha is
a succinct daily presentation
on practical and contemporary
Halacha in video, audio, and
text formats, and can be accessed
by phone at 718.989.9599, by
email, halacha2go@gmail.com,
or by WhatsApp 347.456.5665.
Issue 1070 21
2017-05-28 12:47:50 PM
 PROFILE

I HAVE
NEVER FELT
SO CLOSE AND
CONNECTED
Beis Moshiach wrote about the life and work of
Reb Yehoshua Aryeh Dashiff a number of years
ago (see issue #688). Now, sadly, besides some
additional details, we are also sharing a glimpse
into his final days, including a powerful family
goodbye gathering, only one day before his
passing, showing what it means to be a Chassid
until the end.

By Yaron Tzvi
Photos by Meir Alfasi

I
got to know the Chassid, R
Yehoshua Dashiff ah when
I lived in Rechovot, where
Yehoshua lived in recent
years. R Yehoshua, an American
born Jew whose Chassidic
refinement was readily perceptible,
was a tall man whose friends say he
was also tall spiritually. He did
not call attention to himself, but
many noticed him as he touched
the lives of many people around
him without having an official
Torah position.
In preparing this article, I
spent an evening with the family
in his home in Rechovot. I went
around to meet friends, and
spoke on the phone with key
people in his life. What I heard
about him was quite fascinating,
starting with his childhood in
California, how he came to
Chabad, his visits to 770, then his
learning in Ohr Tmimim in Kfar
Chabad and in 770, and the other
stations in his life. [More about
his background and how he came
to Chabad was written in Beis
Moshiach, issue 688].
EARLY YEARS
R Yehoshua was born
on 15 Iyar 5717/1957 to
Holocaust survivors who were
not observant. They lived in a

22 8 Sivan 5777

1070_bm_eng1.indd 22 2017-05-28 12:47:51 PM

 Issue 1070 23

1070_bm_eng1.indd 23 2017-05-28 12:47:52 PM

 Profile
small town in California called
Lancaster where he grew up until
the end of his teens.
After his fathers passing, R
Yehoshua went to Mexico to do
some soul-searching which led
to strengthening his Judaism. He
started studying at the University
of California, Berkeley, where
there was a campus Hillel
which he was involved with. He
also connected with Chabad
at Berkeley. He then switched
to Ohr Elchanan Chabad in
Los Angeles and developed a
relationship with Rabbi Chaim
Citron, who oversaw the baal
teshuva division.
I quote Yehoshua and his wise sayings a lot
when I treat people. He was a tremendous
influence on me. He had such inner wisdom that it is hard
to describe in words.
R Adam Dales, a friend of R
Yehoshua from the beginning of
his journey in Los Angeles, said,
Together we experienced the
teshuva process and entered the
sea of Torah. Unlike me, he was
a Californian. He had a special
sense of humor and lightness.
I remember him singing Lecha
Dodi with the dance movements
popular at the time. He combined
a lot of humor with commitment
and depth out of a true desire to
understand Jewish life.
Around the year 5741 he
moved to New York for a brief
period which included visits to
the Rebbe and learning in the
yeshiva in Morristown.
At that time, he took upon
himself a regular schedule of
learning and davening and
became stronger in his avodas
Hashem, said his brother. My
brother was a deep person, and
24 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 24
very exacting when it came to the
details of tefilla and learning. He
made a serious change of course
in his life when he did teshuva.
He always said that being in the
Rebbes presence changed his
life, as he realized this was a real
tzaddik.
IN ERETZ YISROEL
In 5742 he made aliya and
learned in Ohr Tmimim, the
yeshiva for English-speaking
baalei teshuva, headed by Rabbi
Shneur Zalman Gafni. R Adam
Dales recounted, He once
reminded me that he made aliya
because of a letter I sent him at
that time, in which I told him how
impressed I was by the learning
and the style of Ohr Tmimim.
He was gifted with depth and
a broad perspective which he
used to understand Torah. On
Shabbasos I remember him
dedicating time to learning before
davening. He was able to learn
even from someone like George
Washington, whom Yehoshua
used as a model of someone who
maintained his principles.
After learning there for a
while, he decided he wanted
to attend the Chassidus
classes of the mashpia, Rabi
Berel Kesselman. So too with
Gemara, and although he found
Gemara difficult, he persisted
in understanding it and devoted
many hours to it. He had a very
precise schedule; he would learn
Chassidus before davening for
several hours, translating every
word, working hard to learn the
language and understand the
words, and only then did he try
to understand the content of the
maamer. He invested a lot of
energy into it, a thorough work
that he did for years, says his
wife.
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, one
of the roshei yeshiva of Ohr
Tmimim, adds, Yehoshua was
a multifaceted person, talented
and not run of the mill. We would
speak a lot about his insights on
life and about his approach to
treating trauma.
He knew when to be quiet
and when to talk, and how to
help someone with constructive
criticism. As a truthful person
who could not abide falsehood,
he always sought to help others.
He enjoyed talking to people
who held opposing views and
respected them, as long as they
were straight and intellectually
honest. He could not stand lies.
We can definitely learn from
him when it comes to the issue
of devotion to the Rebbe and
Chassidus. With him, you could
see davening at length, thorough
and comprehensive learning, out
of a desire to internalize inyanim
in Chassidus. He never sought to
belong to a stream or group, and
never tried to curry favor with
anyone.
In 5747, he met his wife and
after they married he continued
learning in the kollel in Kfar
Chabad until they moved to
Rechovot. Over the years, R
Yehoshua worked as a teacher
and mashpia in various places,
like the Chabad House in
Nes Tziyona where he taught
Chassidus. He was also the
mashpia in the Kollel Menucha
Rochel in Chevron. In every
location where he gave of himself,
people would connect to him and
follow him for years. He gathered
students around him who were
2017-05-28 12:47:53 PM
 a sort of Chassidishe kibbutz
galuyos.
In one of my conversations
with him, R Yehoshua explained
to me how he thought a person
should learn Chassidus, as he put
into practice with himself and his
students.
You need to learn a maamer
four times, and the fifth time, you
need to do a thorough review.
The first time, you simply read
the maamer. The second time
you read it with understanding
but without depth, including
understanding the concepts, the
abbreviations, etc. The third time,
you review what you understood
of the maamer without the book
in front of you. The fourth time,
student had to give a lecture of going to buy a kit like this from
you learn the entire content of
a few minutes on the topic being him. When he arrived, he met
the maamer, word by word, with
learned. He looked for all kinds the new rav of the neighborhood,
full comprehension including
of activities that helped them be who had recently been appointed,
the footnotes. Then, the fifth
involved and grasp the material who was smoking. He went over
time, you review the content of
they learned in class. There were to him and said, with words from
the maamer by heart. This way,
students who told him that this the heart, You are a rav now and
the maamer becomes something
was the first time that they were are a role model to others! When
that you have truly acquired in
asked what they think and were they see you smoke, they will
your consciousness. You will
not just lectured at. smoke too because you give them
remember it even ten years later.
The marks that he gave a negative example. So you are
on their work and tests were not allowed to smoke!
CHINUCH WITH ALL HIS not graded on the usual scale From the intensity of the
HEART AND SOUL of one to a hundred. He always words and the depth of heart
R Yehoshua had a unique weighed other factors. If the from which they were said, the
educational approach which he work wasnt presented properly cigarette dropped from the ravs
developed over the years. to his mind, he would give it hand and he never took another.
back with comments that urged R Mordechai Brown, a good
My husband was a teacher
them to correct themselves, friend of R Yehoshua, tells
in Bais Rivka in Kfar Chabad,
such as questions that led them of another approach of his in
said his wife. He never had
to rethink it, or with corrections chinuch:
the students remain a passive
and the like, but he never failed During the shalom zachor
listening audience. He turned
anyone. His goal was to educate for his youngest, Avrumi, who
them into active participants
and enrich them, not just to was born when Yehoshua was
in the lesson. The learning
deliver a lecture or to reward or already sick, he spoke about
too, he turned into something
punish them based on their level the approach that is needed in
experiential, as much as possible.
of understanding. chinuch. R Yitzchok Roitmar
For example, they had special
assignments that had them In general, R Yehoshua was was there at the time and he was
learning the material before a role model of an educator. For excited by what Yehoshua said.
the lesson, including questions example: Yitzchok, who is a computer and
that spurred them to think and At some point he sold stop- media person, later videotaped
express their opinions in writing. smoking kits. He once went to Yehoshua giving shiurim and put
Once a semester, every meet with someone who was them on YouTube, so we can view

Issue 1070 25

1070_bm_eng1.indd 25 2017-05-28 12:47:54 PM

 Profile
them.
Yehoshua made a big deal
about the Kuntres Chinuch
VHadracha of the Rebbe Rayatz
and took proper approaches to
education from there. Many of
his shiurim were on this topic. He
continued giving classes on this
topic during his illness. He had a
dream of developing this further
and getting schools to implement
it fully. This is one of the reasons
why he started giving a series of
shiurim that were videotaped, but
this was something he was unable
to complete.
BEING HEALTHY BEFORE
ALL ELSE
R Yehoshua was also a
licensed therapist, and can even
be described as an expert and
leading force in Eretz Yisroel in
Somatic Experiencing (SE). This
is a therapy aimed at relieving
the symptoms of post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and other
mental and physical trauma-
related health problems by
focusing on the clients perceived
body sensations (or somatic
experiences).
A person oscillates between
positive and negative states. The
problem, as a result of trauma,
is being immersed in a negative
state to the point of being unable
to use ones G-d-given tools.
With this method, a person learns
to identify areas of physical
or mental distress (which are
sourced in the trauma) through
negative energy (trauma) which
is expressed in various ways
in the body such as itching,
tremors, sweating, etc. The
treatment entails increasing the
positive over the negative through
movement and meditation until
the person frees what is stuck.
R Yehoshua would explain many
of the principles of this method
according to the teachings of
26 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 26
Chassidus.
We spoke with Mrs.
Gila Halevy, a well-known
Lubavitcher therapist, who met
R Yehoshua due to her interest
in his treatment method. She
then studied Chassidus with him.
Today, I quote Yehoshua and
his wise sayings a lot when I treat
people. He was a tremendous
influence on me. He had such
inner wisdom that it is hard to
describe in words. One of the
special things about him was his
ability to draw someone close to
Torah and mitzvos without the
person feeling coerced in any
way. He would go on mivtzaim
and ask people, Do you want to
put on tfillin? I am here just to
make this opportunity possible
for you. It was so nice and
refined, and people responded
positively in most cases.
I heard about his SE
treatment method in a lecture of
his on the internet, and I decided
that I want to know more about
it, so I met with him. Then I
started attending his shiurim
on Kuntres HaChinuch and
Shaar HaYichud VHaEmuna. I
discovered a very special person
and learned a lot from him. Such
humility is rare. I remember my
husband falling asleep at his shiur
because he got up for work at
four in the morning every day
at that time. Yehoshua, in his
great humility, apologized for
imposing on him to come to the
shiur when he was so tired. I was
very impressed.
R Yehoshua connected
his treatment method to the
teachings of Chassidus and
showed everyone that the
source for it is Chassidus. The
method maintains that traumas
are stored in our bodies,
and through the body and its
movements, you can heal them.
Yehoshua would explain that the
bodys root source is higher than
that of the neshama and that is
why the treatment comes through
the body. He would call suddenly
at night, all enthused, to say that
he found yet another connection
and explanation in Chassidus
that was relevant to his treatment
approach.
I once complained to him
about something and he reproved
me and said, Stop being G-d.
That touched on the root of
the problem and my approach
changed. I remember that once
my daughter wanted to follow
Sephardic customs instead of
being a Lubavitcher. I spoke to
Yehoshua about this and he said,
if the Rebbe wanted everyone to
be Chabad, he would have told
Baba Sali to be Chabad too.
Thanks to his truly touching
words, I was able to accept my
daughter for who she was, and I
suppose I gave her the space that
she needed, and in the end she
chose Chabad. He got people to
find the good within themselves.
He had the courage to tell you
the truth but always in a caring
way.
His motto was that the
verse that the Torah starts with,
2017-05-28 12:47:54 PM
 In the beginning, G-d created,
BReishis is from the root brius
(health), i.e., that first be healthy,
then we can talk. He once told
me that you cannot demand that
someone be a Chassid before he
is healthy, just like you wouldnt
demand of someone without
feet, G-d forbid, to run to do
mitzvos. My treatment method
gets people out of the korban
(victim) mindset and he told me
that before being a korban, there
needs to be healing, to be without
blemish, and only then we can
talk about a korban (sacrifice) of
the animal soul. He taught us till
the last moment, until the pain
was too great for him to teach.

TILL THE LAST MOMENT

He told me (author of this
article) when the cancer was
discovered and we discussed
it, As long as a person is alive,
he can do teshuva. Teshuva
preoccupied a pnimi like R
Yehoshua.
R Adam Dales goes on to tell
about R Yehoshuas handling of
his illness:
He battled the illness for a
number of years with various
healing methods. He suffered
a lot and tried different diets,
the main thing being to avoid
toxins. He did not want to use
painkillers that ruined the bodys
innate cleanliness. He lay there,
sometimes in great pain. He
was determined to continue in
this way, with mesirus nefesh.
Whenever his strength returned,
he would go back to learning and
davening at length and giving
shiurim, as much as he could. He
stuck to his principles. He also
maintained that a person needs
to discover what his mission
is in this world and stick to it,
and through this, he will get
whatever he needs. This is why
he expressed his sorrow over
THE CHILDREN RELATE
In preparing this article, I spoke with R Yehoshuas children in their
home in Rechovot and they shared what they learned from their father:
What I got from my father was the knowledge that if you have something
that you believe in, and you are completely sure, then go with it till the end!
That is what he taught us to do. However, if you subsequently discover that
its a mistake, get out and ask forgiveness from whoever you need to, if
necessary. And when you ask forgiveness, look into the persons eyes and tell
him what you are asking forgiveness for.
My father made changes at every age. All his life he had a certain
perspective on the world. When he was sick, he had more time to think and
he arrived at some new conclusions. When he decided that a certain aspect
of his outlook was not okay, he began to work to change his approach. It
was a big thing that at his age he examined life anew and made changes
accordingly. He bequeathed that flexibility of thought to us, to always
examine yourself and be ready to change if necessary.
My father taught me organization. Till the end, he ran everything with
lists in a very organized way including tracking and treating his sickness. He
was an extremely precise and organized person. He bequeathed this to us as
a key to success.
Our fathers final request of us was not to speak lashon hara. This
is what he asked of us. It was on the final Shabbos and we were left with
that. He did not tolerate distortions and lies of any sort. He wanted us to be
honest with ourselves and those around us.
things that he could not do in His persistence in
the fulfillment of his shlichus, or continuing to give was unusual.
about time that was wasted on He was an admired teacher in
side things. Bais Rivka, even when he was
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton relates: sick and suffered. He would
go in a taxi every day and this

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 Profile
gave him strength. I never
heard him complain about the
great suffering he endured. He
recovered from operations in
miraculous fashion. The doctors
were amazed that he was alive.
I think it came from his being a
pnimi and his taking the study
of Chassidus seriously, and his
avodas hamiddos.
He had the ability to be
happy, to laugh with all his
heart, not to despair in difficult
situations, and to continue to
give from what he had until the
final moment.
His wife tells the following
chilling story:
About a month and a week
before he passed away, he called
his family in America, his mother
and two sisters, and asked them
to visit him in Eretz Yisroel. They
arrived on 10 Elul and planned
on a family get-together on 11
Elul, together with a brother who
was in Eretz Yisroel.
In the days before they met,
it was hard for him to remain
alert. The disease and treatments
had weakened him so much. He
lay in bed with his eyes closed.
On the day of their get-together,
a miracle occurred and he
suddenly came to life. Hashem
gave him strength and he sat with
the family and spoke with them
with a clear mind for about two
hours. This get-together was very
important to him for closure and
to unite them. He asked them for
forgiveness and told them how
much he loved them and how
dear they were to him and how
much they added to his life.
At this point, Mrs. Dashiff
suggests we watch a video of
that get-together. It is hard to
describe the feeling and the
impact, to see a person that you
knew, hours before he died. In
the video, you see him sitting on
his bed with his family in a half-
28 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 28
circle around him. He speaks
slowly and weighs his words
and with every word you see
tremendous affection, sensitivity
and wisdom. They share their
feelings and speak about their
childhood, their education, the
bond he found to the Creator
and his becoming a baal teshuva,
and it is all with tremendous
refinement and feeling.
R Yehoshua speaks about
freedom, about being a free
man, and he explains that a free
man is someone who gives off
light, while a slave does not give
off light. He explained that one
can be enslaved in many ways
to the evil inclination, to a
certain person, to a certain way
of thinking, and how basically,
anything that is not pure
G-dliness is under the category
of enslavement. And this is
associated with the unrefined
animal soul. This type of
enslavement conceals the G-dly
soul. And since the neshama by
its nature illuminates, when a
person is free of all concealment
covering over the neshama, he is
an illuminated person.
His mother asked him, After
G-d gave you so much suffering
from this disease, how do you
feel about Him
and your faith
in Him?
R Yehoshua
looked at
her and said,
Look at me,
although I do
mitzvos with
difficulty now, I
have never felt
so close and
connected to
G-d!
R Yehoshua
passed away on
13 Elul, on the
birthday of his son, Yosef Chaim,
who died a few years earlier.
R Adam Dales says, After
his passing, a discussion arose
about where he should be
buried, whether in Rechovot
or on the Mt. of Olives. Rabbi
Gluckowsky came to the house
with a representative of the
chevra kadisha. They considered
postponing the funeral to give
a son in Argentina a chance
to arrive. The chevra kadisha
member was afraid this would
cause a desecration of Shabbos
by Jews who were not religious
and would attend the funeral.
His wife adds, The day our
son Yosef Chaim was buried,
my husband was tremendously
anguished. When Rabbi
Gluckowsky and the member
of the chevra kadisha discussed
where he should be buried, the
chevra kadisha person said there
was a new section for children
that had been donated, on the
Mt. of Olives, by an anonymous
rich person. This was a great
consolation for my husband and
he agreed. When I was reminded
of this, it was clear to me that my
husband should also be buried
there.
2017-05-28 12:47:56 PM
 MOSHIACH & HAYOM YOM
HISKASHRUS 101
By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon
Dear Reader shyichyeh,
We are now after the Yom
Tov of Shavuos, and Chassidim
are thinking about 28 Sivan-3
Tammuz and their Hiskashrus
to the Rebbe. We all know that
...the true bond is created by
studying Torah. When you study
my maamarim, read the sichos
and associate with those dear to
me the chassidic community
and the Tmimim in their
studies and farbrengens, and
you fulfill my request regarding
saying Thillim and observing
Torah-study times, in this is the
bond. (HaYom Yom 24 Sivan)
There is no true Hiskashrus
without learning the Torah of
the Rebbe and following his
directives. This is similar to
the fact that true connection to
Hashem (see Tanya Ch. 5) is
only through learning Torah.
Nevertheless, just as Chazal tell
us that , in this of Motzaei Shabbos Parshas
weeks essay we will be discussing
the very important first step on
the path to strong Hiskashrus:
a deep love for and personal
connection to the Rebbe.
The Rebbe (HaYom Yom 26
Shvat) writes: Ahava, affection,
is the breath of life in the avoda
of Chassidus. It is the thread that
binds Chassidim to each other,
that binds Rebbe to Chassidim
and Chassidim to Rebbe. Ahava
works in a direct way (initiated
affection) and also in a reflective
way (responding to the others
affection). It knows no barriers
and transcends the limits of time
and place.
This HaYom Yom and the
HaYom Yom of 14 Shvat are
1070_bm_eng1.indd 29
actually based on the same letter
of the Frierdike Rebbe (Igros
Vol. 4, pg. 431): Our holy
forebears, the Rebbeim through
the generations, appealed to Gd
and evoked Divine compassion
toward their Chassidim, those
bound to them. This was not
all; they also had an avoda of
bringing their Chassidim to
mind, inwardly, pondering
their affection and attachment
to the Rebbe, reciprocating
that affection and attachment.
Bringing someone to mind
has the effect of arousing that
persons innermost powers. We
see that when one looks deeply
and intently at another he will
turn around and return the
glance, because the penetrating
gaze awakens the core of the
soul. Thought has the same
effect.
During the farbrengen
5544-47 (1784-87) and the
BShalach, 11 Shvat 5721
(printed in Toras Menachem Vol.
30, pg. 63) the Rebbe quotes
this special HaYom Yom (of
14 Shvat) and teaches what we
can learn from it. Sometimes a
Chassid feels a sudden inspiration
to develop his hiskashrus to the
Rebbe and is not sure where
this arousal is coming from.
This Chassid should know that
it could be coming from the
fact that the Rebbe was thinking
about the Chassid.
The Rebbe compares this
notion to a similar concept
that we find regarding a Jewish
person and his connection to
Hashem. Chazal (Avos 6:2) tell
us: Every day a Heavenly voice
emanates from Mount Chorev
and proclaims, Woe to mankind
for [its] insult to the Torah!
Seemingly, if we do not hear the
Heavenly voice, what is the point
of this daily announcement?
The answer is just as above:
The inner-soul hears this
announcement and will have the
ability to give the Jew a sudden
hisorerus to serve Hashem.
These loves, of the Chassidim
to the Rebbe and the Rebbe to
Chassidim, have a deep effect.
This is evident in the following
HaYom Yom (22 Iyar): Several
of the early Chassidim had a
farbrengen sometime between
core of the discussion was this:
The Rebbe (the Alter Rebbe)
had accomplished something
novel, that we are not alone.
At one time, the Master, the
Rosh Yeshiva or Talmudic sage,
was alone and his disciples
were alone. The chassidic way
instituted by the Rebbe is a
tremendous Divine achievement,
that the Rebbe is not alone, nor
are the Chassidim alone.
The letter of the Frierdike
Rebbe (Igros Kodesh 13, pg.
273) is the source of this HaYom
Yom. In that letter the Frierdike
Rebbe tells us more about that
farbrengen which took place
in that group of Chassidim.
These Chassidim, being the first
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 MOSHIACH & HAYOM YOM
generation of Chassidim, were
not from Chassidic background
and had all sacrificed to become
Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe.
They were discussing what the
Alter Rebbe accomplished for the
individual Chassid himself. They
contemplated: Torah learning
we had before we came to the
Alter Rebbe. We didnt know that
avoda existed, so we did not feel
that we were missing it. Physical
luxuries we did not have before
we came to the Alter Rebbe and
we do not have now. So what
was the innovation of the Alter
Rebbe? They concluded with the
above-mentioned quote, finishing
off that the Rebbe is not alone,
nor are the Chassidim alone.
What does the Rebbe is not
alone, nor are the Chassidim
alone mean? It means that while
usually a Rav and his Talmidim
do not have a soul-connection
or think of their love for each
other, it is not so with the Rebbe
and his Chassidim. In the Rebbe-
Chassid relationship there is a
deep and loving soul-connection.
The Rebbe thinks of the Chassid
and the Chassid is thinking of
his Rebbe. This is evident in the
source of this HaYom Yom. The
letter was written to a Chassid
who wrote to the Frierdike Rebbe
that he is really interested to find
out how the Rebbe was feeling,
to which the Rebbe responds that
he is really interested in knowing
how the Chassidim are doing
and then he recounts the above-
mentioned story.
When the Rebbeim see how
the Chassidim express their
love and affection and go out
of their way to be , him a distinctive blessing that he
they respond with much love
and Brachos. The following
story is connected to the HaYom
Yom of 25 Iyar, which reads
as follows: Among the Alter
Rebbes maamarim of 5555
(1795) in Liozna: The reward
of a mitzva is the mitzva. The
1070_bm_eng1.indd 30
mitzva in its ultimate essence
state is the reward. The revelation
of this essence will take place
in the Time to Come. This is
the enduring principal of the
mitzva. However, man also eats
of its fruits in This World, each
mitzva according to its particular
nature; i.e. when man has that
particular need, he is answered.
A group of Chassidim in
a Russian village had been
imprisoned because of the libel
of an informer. When the charges
against them were dropped and
they were released, they wrote a
letter to the Alter Rebbe telling
him of Gds kindness. One
of the Chassidim, R. Shimon
Blecher, a man of very meager
means, wanted to hire a special
courier to deliver the message
to the Alter Rebbe as soon as
possible.
When his Chassidic brethren
learned of his plans, they
protested that it was wrong for
him to deprive his family of this
money. R. Shimon insisted,
however, and explained that the
satisfaction he could bring to
the Rebbe was worth more to
him and his family than material
benefits.
The matter was brought
before the mashpia, the local
Chassidic mentor, who ruled
that R. Shimon could undertake
the expense. The courier
was dispatched and the letter
delivered. Some time later, when
the Alter Rebbe sent a Chassid to
that region to collect tzdaka, he
also sent a personal handwritten
letter to R. Shimon, thanking
him for his initiative and giving
should always be a bearer of good
tidings. Within a short time the
Alter Rebbes blessing bore fruit,
and R. Shimon and his family
were granted a unique measure
of health and prosperity.
The Rebbe Rayatz concludes
there: The reward of the
mitzvah is the mitzvah, but for
fulfilling the mitzvah of Ahavas
Yisroel with self-sacrifice, R.
Shimon was granted both
material and spiritual blessings.
We all know that the intense
longing to be bound closely (to a
Rebbe) can be satisfied only by
learning maamarim of Chassidus
which the Rebbe delivers as oral
discourses and writes down;
simply seeing him is not enough.
(HaYom Yom 9 Adar II) There
must be a practical application
and expression of the love that
the Chassid has for his Rebbe.
If by all Rebbeim it was so
important that the Chassidim
express the love and connection
and thereby the Rebbe is not
lonely, this is most important
in our generation, when we
are preparing the world for
Moshiach. A Jewish king receives
his life from the people,
. This idea, that the
chayus of the king is dependent
on the acceptance of the people,
is especially true regarding
Moshiach (See Sicha of Beis
Nissan 5748).
This practical act of Kabbalas
HaMalchus by the people can be
the one act that will actually bring
about the hisgalus. As the Rebbe
told us (Mishpatim 5751), The
appointment of David, the King
Moshiach, has already occurred,
as it says, I have found David My
servant, with My holy oil I have
anointed him. It requires only an
acceptance of his kingship by the
people and a complete revelation
of the attachment between the
king and the people in the true
and perfect Redemption.
Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva
of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati
and a well sought after speaker
and lecturer. Recordings of his in-
depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula
uMoshiach can be accessed at
http://www.ylcrecording.com
2017-05-28 12:47:57 PM
 MOSHIACH & GEULA
I WILL HASTEN IT
FROM HEAVEN
It is even possible that Moshiach will come only after the
Resurrection of the Dead. * From Chapter Fifteen of Rabbi
Shloma Majeskis Likkutei Mekoros, Volume 2. (Underlined text is
the compilers emphasis.)
BaMidbar, Parshas Balak 24:17
I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not soon. A
star has gone forth from Yaakov, and a staff will
arise from Yisroel that will crush the princes of
Moav and uproot all the descendants of Sheis.
Rashi
I see it: I see that prominence and greatness of
Yaakov, but it is not at present; only at a later time.
A star has gone forth: As the Targum [Onkelus]
renders, an expression similar to, darach kashto
He has bent his bow (Eicha. 2:4), for a star shoots
like an arrow; in old French, destent, as if to say,
his good fortune shall rise [prosper].
and a staff will arise: A king who rules with
authority and dominance.
that will crush the princes of Moav: This refers
to David, of whom it says, he laid them on the
ground and measured two cord-lengths to put to
death (Shmuel II 8:2).
vkarkar and uproot: [karkar is] a term that
means digging, as in, karti I dug (Melachim
II 19:24); to the hole of the pit from which you
were dug out (nukartem) (Yeshaya 51:1); may
the ravens of the valley pick it out (yikruha)
(Mishlei. 30:17); in French, forer.
all the sons of Sheis: All the nations, all of whom
descended from Sheis (for the descendants of
Kayin were decimated by the Flood, and Noach
descended from Sheis Ikar Sifsei Chachomim),
the son of Adam HaRishon.
1070_bm_eng1.indd 31
Ohr HaChayim
The repetition and change in terms will be
explained in light of what our Sages say (Sanhedrin
98a) that if the redemption will be in virtue of the
merit of the Jewish people, it will be wondrous in
quality, and the redeemer of the Jewish people will
miraculously be revealed from Heaven, as a sign
from On High, as stated in Seifer HaZohar (Vol. 1
119a and Vol. 3 212b).
This is not so, however, were the redemption to
unfold on account of the keitz [simply having
reached the deadline for the redemption], in the
event that the Jewish people are not worthy of a
different manner of redemption. Regarding the
latter outcome, it is said that the redeemer will
come as a poor man riding a donkey (Zecharia
9:9).
Indeed, the first scenario whereby, as a result
of the merit of the Jewish people, Moshiach is
revealed from On High corresponds to the
redemption described as achishena I will hasten
it, alluded to in the phrase, I see it, but not now.
It says, a star has gone forth, for the redeemer
shall shine from Heaven. Also, star here alludes
to a star emerging in the middle of the sky as a
wondrous miracle, as stated in Seifer HaZohar
(ibid).
But corresponding to the redemption bita in
its appointed time, the deadline, alluded to by, I
behold it, but not soon, it says, a staff will arise
from Yisroel. That is, a single staff will rise from
among the Jewish people as a natural occurrence
of those who ascend in the world, as it is said, and
the lowest of men He sets upon it, for he will
appear as a poor man riding upon a donkey
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 MIRACLE STORY

TO EVERY DATE,
THERES A TIME
This is the story of two young men who became acquainted
in a Mitzvah Tank a Lubavitcher chassid and a Jew
who knew little about his Judaism. While initially the
connection between them grew stronger, they eventually
lost contact with one another as each of them followed
his own path in life on different sides of the globe. Then,
due to an error in a wedding invitation, they were shown
evidence of the amazing ruach hakodesh of the Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach.
By Nosson Avraham
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

T
wice a week, a Mitzvah
Tank from Crown Heights
would come to one of the
neighborhood streets in
the borough of Brooklyn. The local
Jewish children would come inside
the tank and participate in Tzivos
Hashem activities, while the adults
would put on tfillin and listen to
words of Torah to strengthen their
Jewish roots. Among the Jewish
families living on this street were
the Hoffmans, members of the
local Conservative synagogue.
Their lives were somewhat
compromising, e.g., eating matzos
on Pesach and observing strict
kashrus at home, while adhering to
more liberal standards outside of
the home.
One of the young people who
regularly visited our mitzvah
tank was Yisroel Hoffman. He
had a strong connection with the
Tmimim who ran the activities,
particularly HaTamim Aryeh
Laskey. The bond between
them became extremely close.
Every time the tank came to the
neighborhood, Yisroel would
come inside, put on tfillin, and
enjoy speaking with Aryeh. Their
friendship eventually became
so warm that even on those
occasions when there were no
neighborhood outreach activities,
the two would call one another
and have a chat.
It is here that we begin our
story at its inception many
years ago until its conclusion just
last year.
After I completed my high
school studies, I went to college
to study atomic engineering,
recalled R Yisroel, today a
Breslover chassid living in the
Holy City of Tzfas. I was
strongly connected to the
practical aspect of the learning
material, and I encountered
much success in the early stages
of my collegiate studies. At a
certain point, as part of the study
program, the lecturers wanted
to expose us to various historic
world cultures, giving us the
choice to live for a whole year
in a foreign country with a lot of
history. I chose Israel.
I spent that year at
Kibbutz Gal-On, affiliated with
HaShomer HaTzair, located
near Kiryat Gat. Most of the
students who came with me were
religious Gentiles. They knew
a thing or two about the history

32 8 Sivan 5777

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of the Jewish People and were
constantly ridiculing me for my
ignorance in such matters. The
truth is that my knowledge was
rather limited: I came from an
average Jewish family in the
seventies. My father was a taxi
driver; my mother worked in
an attorneys office. There were
three children in our family
whose only desire was to have
success in the business world,
making money in the Big Apple,
while observing minimal Jewish
traditions but no more than
that. I never understood the true
meaning of being a Jew.
From the young Chabad
yeshiva students, primarily
Aryeh Laskey, I heard a great
deal about the importance of
mitzvah observance. He would
put on tfillin with me and I saw
1070_bm_eng1.indd 33
how much it meant to him, but I
never really delved into a proper
understanding of the whole
concept. Yet, on a kibbutz, of all
places, about as far away as one
can get from being a religious
Jew, alongside all my Christian
friends, thoughts about my
people and my lifes mission in
this world began to evolve within
me.
We had plenty of free
time between work and other
activities. Thus, your mind is
free to think a lot, and when I
was thinking, questions often
arose that my environment failed
to answer to my satisfaction. I
remember that I once asked a
question to one of the kibbutz
members and he replied, Young
man, dont trouble yourself with
such depressing thoughts.
One fine day, the entire
group traveled to Yerushalayim;
my Gentile friends went to their
respective places of worship
while I (lhavdil) naturally made
my way to the Western Wall, the
remnant of our Beis Mikdash.
I remember that when I was
standing before the holy stones of
the Kosel, tears were streaming
down my face as all the anguish
and unease of the previous
months suddenly erupted in a
torrent of emotion. I made a plea
before the Heavenly court: If
Jewish tradition is the truth, and
if there is a Creator, then give
me a sign so I will know. Give
me answers to the questions that
have been troubling me on the
essence of life. After a deeply
heartfelt prayer, I made my way
out of the plaza.
The plan was that I would
meet up with my friends and
return together with them to
the kibbutz. However, I got lost
somehow walking through the
Old City, as all the streets looked
the same. There were no mobile
phones in those days, and as
nightfall came, I realized that
my friends had probably gotten
on a bus and were heading back
down south. With no alternative,
I decided to look for a place
where I could spend the night.
The Hand of Divine Providence
led me to a large and spacious
building where I met numerous
young men. This was clearly not
a private home.
I went inside and asked if
I could possibly stay for one
night. There were several young
English speakers there and they
welcomed me warmly, happily
offering their hospitality. I soon
discovered that this was not a
hotel or a youth hostel; this was
the Aish HaTorah yeshiva for
baalei tshuva.
I was overcome and felt that
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 MIRACLE STORY
I had received a clear sign from
Heaven. While I had initially
thought that I would stay there
for just one day, the magnetic
atmosphere had a powerful effect
upon me. After a few days there,
I decided to enroll as a full-time
yeshiva student. Subsequently,
I informed the kibbutz and the
university that I was leaving the
program.
After three years of intensive
studies at Aish HaTorah,
transforming me into a full-
fledged baal tshuva in every
respect, I was sent to learn at the
Litvishe Marbeh Torah yeshiva
in Bnei Brak.
Not long afterward, I
reached marriageable age and
became engaged to my future
wife. My friend Rabbi Laskey
had been in constant touch
with my parents over the years
and managed to contact me on
several occasions. As a result, he
also heard about my engagement
and even received an invitation to
the wedding.
As a devoted chassid of the
Rebbe, Rabbi Laskey took the
invitation he had received from
my parents and submitted it to
the Rebbes office in request of
a bracha for us. After waiting a
lengthy period of time without
receiving a reply, he called the
office to ask why there was a
delay. While the secretary said
that he didnt know, he did tell
him something quite interesting:
The letter was on the Rebbes
desk, and whenever the Rebbe
saw it, he placed it on the side.
Only several weeks later did the
Rebbe respond to the invitation
with the traditional letter blessing
the chassan and kalla. Yet, for
some reason, Rabbi Laskey
simply forgot to send us the
letter.
When we spoke recently, I
realized why he had forgotten
34 8 Sivan 5777
1070_bm_eng1.indd 34
to send the letter after all, a
chassid doesnt neglect to carry
out the Rebbes instructions. It
turned out that Rabbi Laskey
had become a chassan around
the same time, and due to his
preoccupation with his own
wedding preparations, he didnt
remember to go to the post office
and send the letter off or to give
it to my parents, who came to
Eretz Yisroel for the wedding
celebration.
Many years passed, and
each of us was quite busy with
his own affairs. I had joined the
path of Chassidus, moving from
Yerushalayim to Tzfas. At first, I
was a Boyaner chassid and today
I am a member of the Breslover
Chassidic community. For his
part, Rabbi Laskey moved to Los
Angeles and we eventually lost
contact with one another.
Then, last year, the
connection was amazingly
renewed. Rabbi Laskeys children
had organized the documents in
his home and they discovered
the letter. When they asked who
I was, he suddenly remembered
the chain of events from those
days and was embarrassed
that he hadnt sent me this
important letter. He recalled
the busy times leading up to his
wedding resulting in his failure to
complete his shlichus, and he saw
this as an amazing sign that the
time had come to carry out the
Rebbes instructions and deliver
the letter. After making several
phone calls, he eventually tracked
me down. During a nostalgic
transatlantic conversation, the
two of us fondly recalled the early
days of our friendship. It was
very moving to re-establish the
connection.
During this same time,
someone collecting funds for the
Chabad yeshiva in Tzfas arrived
in Los Angeles, and Rabbi Laskey
asked him to give me the letter
when he came back to Eretz
Yisroel.
Incredibly, even after the
letter arrived in Tzfas, it still
went through several more
twists and turns until it finally
reached our house. It came
on the very night of our eldest
sons engagement, and that in
itself was a tremendous case of
Divine Providence. However, the
most interesting thing was that
during my phone conversation
with Rabbi Laskey, he shared
with me the whole story of
what happened back then to the
Rebbes letter. He told me how
he had submitted my wedding
invitation with a request for the
Rebbes bracha, yet there was an
inexplicable delay in receiving the
reply. It appears that the Rebbe
kept the reply for a while until he
decided for reasons known only
to him to send the letter. When
Rabbi Laskey told me this, I was
positively astounded. I saw this
as a clear demonstration of the
Rebbes ruach hakodesh.
Why? Because the first
invitations my parents had were
with the wrong date for the
wedding. After we had already
set the wedding date and the
invitations had been printed,
we sent a portion of them to
my parents in New York to
give out to their friends and
acquaintances. Among those who
received this first batch was Rabbi
Laskey, who then submitted the
invitation to the Rebbe. Later, it
became necessary to postpone
the wedding for six weeks, and as
a result, we printed another set of
new invitations. Thus, the date of
the wedding written in the letter
placed on the Rebbes desk was
incorrect. Therefore, the Rebbe
did not respond immediately,
as is customary, waiting instead
until we set a new date.
2017-05-28 12:47:58 PM
 TZIVOS HASHEM
SHALOM
ALEICHEM
great gaon and
The
tzaddik, Rabbi Yosef Shaul
Natanson, served as rav of
Lemberg for eighteen years. He
was a tremendous scholar and
published several Torah books.
He was a great Ohev Yisroel
and even though he was not
a Chassid, he drew close both
Chassidim and Misnagdim.
Rabbi Natanson was once
asked to be the sandak in a
village near Premishlan. To be
a sandak is a great honor and
he agreed to do it, but there
was a little problem. The road
to that village passed through
Premishlan, and in Premishlan
lived the tzaddik, R Meir. You
might wonder, so what?
It was not that comfor table
for Rabbi Natanson to visit a
Chassidic Rebbe. However, to
pass through the city without
visiting him would be an
affront to the Chassidim.
What did he do? He told
the wagon driver not to stop
in Premishlan. That solved
Nobody would
everything.
know he had passed through
and it would not be an insult
to the tzaddik who lived there.
R Natanson sat in the
coach, wrapped in blankets
to protect from the howling
1070_bm_eng1.indd 5
By Devorah Leah
winds and biting cold. The
movement of the wagon made
him doze off.
At dawn, the rav woke
up to the sound of squeaking
wheels. He opened the door of
the coach and looked out. The
mornings cold hit him in the
face. It was still quite dark but
there was a faint light.
The rav looked about,
adjusting his eyes to the dim
lighting and noticed that they
were in the yard of a small
inn. The numerous houses
meant they were not at their
destination since in the village
he was heading to, there
werent so many houses. So
where were they? The wagon
driver was not on his perch
and had probably entered the
inn.
The rav got down from
the coach and quickly went
over to the building. There, by
candlelight, he saw the wagon
driver who was holding a cup
of hot tea.
Reb Yid, where are we?
What do you mean, where
are we, replied the wagon
driver. In Premishlan!
The rav was afraid of
that. He asked in annoyance,
Didnt I tell you not to stop in
Premishlan?
The wagon driver, a simple
man whose understanding of
things ended with horses, said,
Honored rav, in Lemberg you
are in charge, but on the road,
I am in charge, and my horse
also has what to say on the
matter. When we are ready,
we will immediately set off
again.
The rav asked the wagon
driver to hurry up and he
went back to the coach, under
the blankets, and waited
impatiently for them to move.
However, the wagon driver
was in no rush. When he
finished his tea, he downed a
few cups of vodka, grabbed a
snack and went to feed the
horses. As the horses munched,
Premishlan came to life.
Jews began to appear on the
streets, rushin g to shul. Seeing
an unfamiliar wagon near the
inn, they went over to say
hello.
The ravs imposing
appearance let them know he
was an illustrious person. There
were also those who recognized
the rav from Lemberg. When
asked how long he was staying
in Premishlan, he said he was
Issue 1070 35
2017-05-28 12:47:42 PM
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things, he would say, shalom
tzaddik! of being busy with things
aleichem, excuse himself for
R Meir went on to ask, other than learning, and he
the short visit and leave.
My question is, what sort of
realized that the
z"x a,wvk ihad
tzaddi uhx u"y | ~ | 7
The rav entered the
ruach hakodesh and knew his
tzaddiks home. Holiness could Torah scholar is this? If he is
thoughts.
be felt in the air and the a genuine Torah scholar, he
does not commit sins, and After that, his attitude
tzaddik was walking back and
if it is someone who does not toward the Chassidim changed
forth, deep in thought. The 5/28/2007 1
know how to learn, but is not and he became close with
rav wanted to say shalom
quite a tzaddik, why would the Chassidic Rebbes and became
aleichem and leave, as he had
Gemara say that surely he did their admirer.
resolved, but R Meir said, Rav

B"H. 8 Sivan 5777

2 June 2017 Number 1070
Price: $6.00 Part 2 of 3

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