CONTENTS

4
FEATURED ARTICLES

WEEKLY COLUMNS

3 Dvar Malchus
12 Moshiach & Geula
37 Parsha Thought
49 News
50 Tzivos Hashem

LIVING WITH THE

REBBE IN 770

AND
14 TORAH
PHILANTHROPY
Avrohom Rainitz

TOWER OF
22 ACHASSIDIC
STRENGTH
Shneur Zalman Berger

THE DANCING
14 32 KEEPING
GOING UNTIL DAWN
THE SIFREI TORAH
40 THAT
WERE SAVED AT
THE LAST MINUTE
Menachem Ziegelboim

THE
46 BUILDING
HEAVENLY SUKKA

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
M.M. Hendel
HEBREW EDITOR:
Rabbi S.Y. Chazan
editorH@beismoshiach.org

ENGLISH EDITOR:
Boruch Merkur
editor@beismoshiach.org

9/19/2015 11:34:15 PM

DVAR MALCHUS

NO TIME TO
WAIT FOR THEM
TO GET IT
It makes no difference whether it is within their capacity to
assimilate it or not, and there is simply no time to wait until
they can grasp it. * Chapter Three of Rabbi Shloma Majeskis
Likkutei Mekoros Vol. 2. (Underlined text is the compilers
emphasis.)
Translated by Boruch Merkur

10. In continuation to what was

said above regarding the shluchim
(emissaries) of my revered father
in-law, the Rebbe, leader of our
generation, it is significant to note
that the word shliach with the
addition of ten equals Moshiach.
Now, Moshiach is the leader
of the generation, nasi hador (as
will be discussed). Thus, when a
shliach, the emissary of nasi hador
(the emissary of a person is like the
person himself), devotes and adds
ten his ten soul-powers, meaning
that he dedicates all ten soul-powers
towards fulfilling the shlichus, the
mission he reveals within himself
the aspect of the meshaleiach, the
director of the mission, Moshiach.
To elaborate:
The leader of the generation is
Moshiach, beginning with the
simple connotation of Moshiach
(Moshiach Hashem), meaning
mashuach anointed, for he is
anointed and chosen to be leader
and shepherd of the Jewish people.
Indeed, there are no qualms
about interpreting Moshiach in the
literal sense Moshiach Tzidkeinu

for that is the truth: the leader of

the generation is the Moshiach of the
generation.
In simple terms, the leader
and shepherd of the Jewish people
in our generation is the Moshe
Rabbeinu of the generation, the
incarnation of Moshe in each and
every generation. Moreover, every
true Torah scholar is called by the
name Moshe [as we see from
the Gemara (Shabbos 101b), where
Rav Safra, to express his esteem
for Rava, addresses him as Moshe]
Moshe, have you then spoken
well? And since Moshe Rabbeinu
is also Moshiach Tzidkeinu the
first redeemer is the final redeemer
it follows that the leader of the
generation, the Moshe Rabbeinu of
the generation, is also the Moshiach
Tzidkeinu of the generation.
In this sense, when the leader of
the generation appoints a shliach
the emissary of a person is like the
person himself and the shliach
fulfills his shlichus, devoting and
dedicating his entire being, his ten
soul-powers to do so, then shliach
with the addition of the number

ten (his ten soul-powers) makes

Moshiach, meaning that within
him is revealed the meshaleiach
Moshiach. And in so doing
he brings about the revelation of
Moshiach Tzidkeinu in the literal
sense.
In any event, in response to
those who argue that this manner
of speech and these [allegedly
provocative] expressions are beyond
the power of their minds to absorb
it makes no difference whether it is
within their capacity to assimilate it
or not, and there is simply no time to
wait until they can grasp it.
Rather, they may interpret
the meaning of the nasi hador
is
Moshiach
however
they
please; the main thing is that
they fulfill the shlichus of nasi
hador in disseminating Judaism
and spreading the wellsprings [of
Chassidus] outward, as well as the
timely directive to go and bring joy
to other Jews on Simchas Torah and
inspire them to add in all matters of
Judaism, Torah, and its Mitzvos.
This
directive
includes
strengthening faith in the advent
of Moshiach and yearning for his
arrival A king will rise from the
Continued on page 11

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INTERVIEW

LIVING WITH
THE REBBE
IN 770

From right to left:

R Sholom Yaakov Chazan, R Avrohom Rainitz,
Rabbi Akiva and Noam Wagner
Photo by Zalman Vishnefsky

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Two brothers, R Akiva Wagner rosh

yeshiva in Toronto, and R Noam Wagner
rosh yeshiva in Johannesburg, meet once a
year for a week at the Rebbe. * R Sholom
Yaakov Chazan and Avrohom Rainitz
interviewed them for Beis Moshiachs Sukkos
issue, in the course of which the roshei
yeshiva provided an edifying view of what it
means to be devoted to the Rebbe, the inner
work needed in inyanei Moshiach, and about
the hiskashrus of bachurim today.

etting up a meeting with

both Wagner brothers is
difficult. Both of them
serve as roshei yeshiva,
but whereas R Akiva Wagner is
a rosh yeshiva in Toronto, where
he grew up, his brother R Noam
lives far away in South Africa.
They meet once a year for a week,
during the Aseres Yemei Tshuva,
at the Rebbe. They bring with
them nearly all their talmidim so
that their yeshivas essentially move
to Crown Heights for ten days.
Although, generally speaking,
roshei yeshiva set the tone for
the learning of nigleh in yeshiva,

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Interview
while the Chassidic tone is in
the hands of the mashpiim, with
the Wagner brothers lomdus
and Chassidishkait go together,
supporting and strengthening
one another. Even during the
interview with them, which
dealt with Chassidic topics,
they brought proofs from the
Gemara along with quotes from
maamarim, because to them its
all one thing.
During
our
fascinating
conversation, the brothers shared
their memories of Tishrei with
the Rebbe, and from there we
moved on to Tishrei of today.

Tishrei with the Rebbe is a

unique combination of opposites.
On the one hand, it is a time
where everything happens on a
large scale. A huge crowd comes
and you dont have the privilege
of standing near the Rebbe
without getting pushed, as was
possible the rest of the year. In
the summer months, for example,
the number of people was small
and it was possible to get very
close to the Rebbe. In Tishrei it
was all brov am. On the other
hand, during Tishrei there were
many personal moments, starting
with Erev Rosh HaShana when

Chassidim continue to come to the Rebbe not

because of what was, but because of what there
is now! The Rebbe is here and this is the reason that we
urge the bachurim to come, so they will spend Tishrei
with the Rebbe.

Although we do not see the

Rebbe, we feel the Rebbes
presence in 770, but more than
ever we need deep avoda pnimis
(inner work) in order to absorb
the great revelations.

TAKE WHATEVER
YOU CAN TAKE
We would like to hear from
you about when you were with
the Rebbe for the first time and
what memories you have of
those days.
R Akiva: I first went to
the Rebbe for Rosh HaShana
5743/1982. I was not yet a
bachur in a Chabad yeshiva, but
the spiritual experience of a Rosh
HaShana with the Rebbe was so
powerful that I spent every Rosh
HaShana since then with the
Rebbe with the exception of one
year when I was on shlichus in
yeshiva in California.

we passed by the Rebbe and

gave the Rebbe a pidyon nefesh.
That is a very personal, private
moment.
There were other moments
like that in Tishrei, but the
most special moments were on
Simchas Torah.
The crowd
was huge, bigger than on Rosh
HaShana, but during the Rebbes
hakafa, as the Rebbe danced
with the Torah, he looked at each
person, thats how we felt.
These two aspects that
comprised
the
spiritual
experience of Tishrei, after just
one time, made it impossible for
me to consider Tishrei anywhere
else ever again.
R Noam: I went to the Rebbe
a number of times during the
year, but I went for Tishrei for
the first time in 5751. That year,
each Yom Tov was three days of
continuous holiness and it was

a special spiritual elevation. On

the Sunday following Shabbos
BReishis, the Rebbe gave
out dollars for tzdaka and R
Gershon Mendel Avtzon went
past with a group of bachurim
from
non-Chabad
yeshivos
whom he had brought with him
from Eretz Yisroel.
Since, the year before, I had
learned in a non-Chabad yeshiva
in Eretz Yisroel and had learned
Chassidus with R Avtzon, he
invited me to join his group. I
stood behind him as he pointed
at the bachurim who came with
him and told the Rebbe, these
are bachurim from non-Chabad
yeshivos who came to the Rebbe
for Tishrei.
The Rebbes response was: It
should be with great success, and
you should take along with you
whatever you can take along.
These
words
impacted
me strongly. It is a general
instruction for every person and
for every Tishrei.
The next year I went much
earlier.
That year I started
learning in Oholei Torah so I
was in 770 starting from 15
Elul. That year, the learning of
Chassidus in the evening took
place in 770. Ostensibly this was
because of the riots in Crown
Heights and they were afraid
to have the bachurim walking
at night on Troy where the
yeshiva was. But the bachurim
speculated that the real reason
was that the Rebbe had been
saying a sicha nearly every night
and in order to prevent our
having to run from Troy to 770
they arranged for us to learn in
770.
I can never forget the sicha
of the third night of Slichos
in which the Rebbe urged the
farbrenging like the farbrengens
in Lubavitch, when the Chassidim
showed up for Slichos tipsy. The

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Rebbe also urged learning one of

the maamarim of the Rebbeim
about Slichos. After the sicha
we went to Oholei Torah and
despite the late hour, close to
midnight, we all sat down to
learn the maamarim and then we
farbrenged all night.
My brother mentioned that
within the vast crowding of
Tishrei, each person has private
moments with the Rebbe. One
of my special moments was the
night of Yom Kippur 5752. That
day was unforgettable for anyone
who was present.
It started
with a sicha after Mincha which
lasted nearly an hour, despite it
being Erev Yom Kippur. After
the sicha, the Rebbe started the
Hakafos niggun and gave out
dollars. I did not pass by to
receive a dollar but from where I
stood, you could see the Rebbes
glowing face, just like the parable
of the king in the field who
displays a smiling countenance.
After the birkas habanim in
the small zal, I hurried downstairs

Sometimes we too can delude ourselves into

thinking we are living with Moshiach and Geula
while we are bothered by the most exile-like sorts of
things. In order to truly live Geula and Moshiach, we need
to learn a tremendous amount.
to the big zal for Maariv with the
Rebbe. Since all of Anash had
taken places and the bachurim
had just come down from birkas
habanim, it was impossible to
go to your usual spot and so we
all stood wherever we could find
a place. I stood near the place
the Rebbe passed on his way out
after davening. On Yom Kippur
they did not sing when the Rebbe
went out after davening. A path
was made for the Rebbe and
there was an odd silence in the
zal. A little boy stood next to
me and when the Rebbe passed
by, he stopped for a moment
and made a strong, encouraging
motion with his hand. I did not

know what I was supposed to do

but that motion remains etched
in me forever.

NEEDED: AVODA PNIMIS

Although over twenty years
have passed in which we have
not seen the Rebbe, you still
come to 770 and even bring
your talmidim. When you come,
you are certainly reminded of
those days and feel longing and
for the Rebbe, but what about
the bachurim who never saw the
Rebbe why are they coming?
R Noam: Chassidim continue
to come to the Rebbe not because
of what was, but because of what

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Interview

Whoever merely engages in analytic study of the

topics pertaining to Geula and does not learn the
sichos of 5751-5752, is like someone using a horse and
wagon instead of a car.
there is now! The Rebbe is here
and this is the reason that we
urge the bachurim to come, so
they will spend Tishrei with the
Rebbe.
At the same time, since we
have not yet merited to see the
Rebbe, to our great sorrow, we
need deeper, inner work to feel
that we are with the Rebbe, and in
order to receive the tremendous
inner hashpaa that the Rebbe
bestows upon us during Tishrei.
R Akiva: Even when we
saw the Rebbe, inner work was
needed in order to absorb the
lights and revelations of Tishrei,
just like they would announce
before the shofar blowing that we
need to think about where we are
and before whom we stand. For
if we dont think about it, then
the effects are only in a way of
makif and would be lacking the
inner Chassidic sensitivity.
The Gemara in Psachim
relates, There were three
Kohanim one said I received
a portion the size of a bean, one
said I received the size of an
olive, and one said I received
like the tail of a lizard. They
checked into his lineage and
found a smattering of a defect
in his lineage.
These were
three Kohanim who pushed to
receive the lechem hapanim,
comparable in our generation to
those Chassidim who push to be
the closest to kdusha. And still,
when they wanted to describe the
part they managed to get, one of
them compared it to a lizards
tail. This teaches us that you can
stand the closest to the Rebbe
and still look at everything in the

coarsest way.
R Noam: True, when you
dont see it openly, the work
is harder, but when you are
successful, you can attain levels
of hiskashrus that are much
higher than in the past. In a sicha
that was published for Shabbos
Chazon 5751, the Rebbe asks
how a person can be inspired
when the Beis HaMikdash is
taken from him, when that
was seemingly the source of
inspiration.
The Rebbe explains that when
the Beis HaMikdash stood, each
person saw it according to his
spiritual level and so the seeing
was limited and sometimes had
no effect. But since the Beis
HaMikdash was destroyed, and
on Shabbos Chazon the Mikdash
is shown from a distance the
vision is not limited by mans
abilities. Furthermore, when you
know that the vision is only from
a distance, just knowing this
arouses a person to make more
of an effort in his inner work.
It is certainly possible that
a bachur who was at the Rebbe
back then, who openly saw the
Rebbe but did not invest in his
inner work, was not actually at
the Rebbe. A bachur who comes
today and does not see the Rebbe
but who does the inner work is
with the Rebbe!
R Akiva: When talking about
this, I cannot help but remember
that refined young man who
came every year for Simchas
Torah by the Rebbe and even
had a permanent place on our
pyramid from where he could see
the Rebbe during hakafos. But

he was unable to deal with the

tremendous pushing and every
year, before the hakafos began,
he would go down. He got to
see the Rebbe when he entered
and exited, but aside from that he
saw nothing. Every year we felt
bad for him and tried to help him
come back up to the pyramid but
he couldnt. I would look at him
and think, what a pity. He is in
770 during the Rebbes hakafos,
and he knows that the Rebbe is
leading the hakafos right now,
but his location makes him
unable to see the Rebbe.
What is the avoda pnimis
needed in order to be able to
feel the Rebbe and connect to
him?
R Akiva: The very same
inner work that the mashpiim
demanded in earlier years, to
increase in learning the Rebbes
sichos and maamarim, and to
be particular about fulfilling
the Rebbes enactments and
instructions. The Rebbe says
that when you learn his teachings
and fulfill his instructions, you
are mekushar to him. When you
are mekushar to him, you sense
him.
Today, it is important to
prepare properly to go to the
Rebbe and to make the inner
investment while at the Rebbe,
more than ever before. This is
because when we saw the Rebbe
it had a certain effect, even for
someone who did not prepare.
Today though, when we dont see
the Rebbe, the main investment
of energy has to be on the inner
work of the soul.

THE TRIP DEVOTION

TO THE REBBE
If the main thing is inner
soul preparation by learning
the sichos etc. why not just
stay home, in Toronto or Kfar

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Chabad, and learn the sichos

and maamarim and connect to
the Rebbe? Why travel to 770?
R Akiva: In the maamer
Vchol adam lo yihiye bohel
moed 5723 the Rebbe
explains that on Yom Kippur an
extremely lofty light shines, the
essence of the day, and the job of
a Jew is to bring down that point
of essence into his personal
life. This is why Yom Kippur
has five tfillos, so we can draw
that point of essence into all
aspects of the soul: the nefesh,
ruach, neshama, chaya, yechida.
Or as the liturgical hymn goes,
one above and seven below
the lofty aspect of one needs
to penetrate the persons inner
character which is made up of
seven faculties, starting from the
midda of chesed until the midda
of malchus.
That means, we cannot
suffice with the power of the day

itself without drawing this light

into our vessels; contrariwise, we
cannot successfully do the work
with our limited vessels without
the essential light of Yom
Kippur.
The same is true for traveling
to the Rebbe. When we are at
the Rebbe, we receive a light of
essence that the Rebbe bestows
to whoever comes. But after
we receive this light, we need to
draw it down, and this occurs
through inner work. Someone
who wants to stay at home and
do the inner work, loses out on
the great and essential light
that is to be found here, by the
Rebbe. We need to combine both
things.
R
Noam:
A
similar
question is brought in Kuntres
HaHishtatchus where it asks why
do we need to go and prostrate
at the grave of a tzaddik when
you can accomplish everything at

home without physically going to

the tzaddik? It explains there that
the point is that in order to receive
the hashpaa from the tzaddik, we
need to devote ourselves entirely
to the Rebbe and set aside our
own existence. This is expressed
when a person leaves his place of
domicile and goes to the tzaddik.
He gives himself over to the
tzaddik and this devotion enables
him to receive hashpaos from the
tzaddik.
Similarly,
we
can
say
regarding traveling to the Rebbe,
a Chassid needs to know the
Rebbe is here, in Beis Chayeinu,
and he needs to nullify all of his
existence and leave his place and
go to the Rebbe.

THE HISKASHRUS
OF THE TMIMIM
After your talmidim spend
Tishrei with the Rebbe, do you

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Interview
see any changes in them?
R Noam: Ill answer you
with a question (as a good Jew
does). Thirty years ago, when
the bachurim saw the Rebbe, was
a change apparent when they
returned to yeshiva?
R Akiva: Since we are talking
about an inner change, you
dont always see it immediately
and it certainly is not always
apparent externally, even though
personally, every one certainly
feels it. I remember when I was
a bachur, when I came back from
the Rebbe there was a change in
me.
Aside from that, generally
speaking, you see the special
chayus of bachurim at Tishrei
with the Rebbe, and that itself
shows a fundamental change.
I am talking about American
bachurim who dont like the
whole commotion of Tishrei,
bachurim to whom comfort,
order, and privacy are important,
and yet they come here. That
itself is quite amazing and
indicates a fundamental change.
The wonder is all the greater
in light of the fact that we
dont actually see the Rebbe. I
mentioned before the man who
went down from the pyramid
every year and I always thought,
what brings him back to the
Rebbe when last year he didnt
see anything, and over there he
sees only a little, when the Rebbe
comes in and goes out; that was a
chiddush to me. What should we
say about all the bachurim who
come year after year even though
they see nothing?
It is a spiritual inspiration that
the Rebbe himself bestows upon
these bachurim and it is this
which arouses in them the desire
to come back again and again.
Is it correct to say that the
hiskashrus of bachurim today
is greater, despite the absence of

giluyim?
R Akiva: They say that once
the elder Chassidim sat and
spoke longingly about hiskashrus
of Chassidim in days gone by.
R Avrohom Pariz was there and
he said: In the stories, it was all
wonderful once upon a time
When the Rebbe Rashab
instructed that people should
learn safrus they did not all stand
at the ready to do his bidding.
One learned, another had an
excuse, a third had reasons
In the seventh generation, by
contrast, the bachurim do the
Rebbes bidding without excuses.
By the same token, we can say
that with the bachurim of today
we see a special devotion to the
Rebbe, more than we had in our
time.
R Noam: Take the Simchas
Beis HaShoeiva as an example.
The Rebbe said to start the
simcha on the nights of Yom
Tov even though you cant use
musical instruments.
In the
first years they did not dance
all night, just for two or three
hours. Today, they fulfill the
Rebbes horaa bhiddur and
even on the nights of Yom Tov
they dance until dawn, hundreds
of bachurim and Anash. And
those bachurim who danced all
night go on Mivtza Dalet Minim
during the day!
When I tell bachurim today
that when the Rebbe came
down for Shacharis on Simchas
Torah there were only about 200
people in 770 because the rest
were all exhausted after a week
of Simchas Beis HaShoeiva,
Tahalucha, and dancing hakafos
the night of Simchas Torah,
they look at me incredulously
and cannot understand how
it is possible that bachurim
would sleep and not take the
opportunity to see the Rebbe at
hakafos on Simchas Torah by

day! In later years, although there

are no giluyim, bachurim come
to tfillos with the Rebbe and 770
is full at Shacharis on Simchas
Torah.
R Akiva: The bachurims
care in attending tfillos in the
Rebbes minyan and their special
chayus in singing Yechi before
and after davening, are amazing.
When we were bachurim and got
to see all the giluyim, when the
Rebbe encouraged singing with
his hand motions, we sang with
greater chayus, but the moment
the Rebbe stopped encouraging
us, all the chayus vanished.
The bachurim of today who
dont see the Rebbe encouraging
the singing, sing with enthusiasm.
This chayus does not come out of
nowhere. It comes from the fact
that the light of the Rebbe shines
forth in them in a revealed way.

AVODA PNIMIS
IN INYANEI MOSHIACH
In the last sicha that we
heard from the Rebbe at the
Kinus HaShluchim, the Rebbe
said that all aspects of shlichus
need to be permeated with
Moshiach and Geula. As roshei
yeshivos, how do you teach your
talmidim to live with inyanei
Moshiach and Geula?
R Akiva: The Rebbe said
clearly that the way to live
Moshiach and Geula is through
learning about it. This is the
very same point we spoke about
Chabad demanding pnimius.
It is true for the preparations
for Tishrei by the Rebbe and for
inyanei Moshiach and Geula.
When we delve into learning
about the Geula, especially in
Chassidus, we discover that the
central point of everything is
Moshiach. Then, even when we
speak about hiskashrus to the
Rebbe it automatically connects

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to Moshiach, and when speaking

about G-dly revelation, it too
is part of the discussion about
Moshiach.
Its one central
thread.
R Noam: Enthusiasm in
inyanei Moshiach and Geula
doesnt come out of nowhere.
You need to work on it, mainly by
learning a lot. As the Rebbe said,
when the mind is full of inyanei
Moshiach and Geula, it will reach
the heart (for the mind controls
the heart) and from there it will
have practical effects.
There was once a Chassid
who stood on the corner of
Kingston and Eastern Parkway
and asked bachurim: You came
to the Rebbe?
They did not understand what
he was asking. After all, he could
see them near 770, so of course
they came to the Rebbe.
He explained: You can come
here and still not have arrived.
As the Rebbe himself once said,
Lchaim for those who did not
come yet and lchaim for those
who are here and still did not
arrive. Or, in another version,
for those who think they are
here but arent.
The same is true for inyanei
Moshiach and Geula. If you
dont learn it in a pnimiusdike
way, it can seem that we are
living Moshiach and Geula but
we are really very far from it.
R Akiva: They tell of a
Continued from page 3
Davidic Dynasty, etc., a mortal
of this physical world, regarding
whom it is said, Anyone who
does not believe in him, or who
does not await his arrival, denies
not only the other prophetic
writings but also the Torah and
Moshe Rabbeinu, for indeed the
Torah testifies about him, etc.
[Of course] in the words of

Chabad Chassid who ended up at

a tish of a Poilishe Rebbe on Shvii
shel Pesach. Their practice is to
mimic the splitting of the sea
in which they pour some water
on the floor and Chassidim sing
and their Rebbe goes through
the middle. When it came time
for their Rebbe to walk through,
he carefully lifted his bekeshe so
it would not become wet. The
Lubavitcher watched this and
thought: Hmm, he is standing
there in great dveikus as though
at Krias Yam Suf but he is
concerned that his clothing not
get wet.
Sometimes we too can delude
ourselves into thinking we are
living with Moshiach and Geula
while we are bothered by the
most exile-like sort of things.
In order to truly live Geula and
Moshiach, we need to learn a
tremendous amount.

LEARNING
THE FINAL SICHOS
R Noam: When speaking
about learning inyanei Moshiach
and Geula, the emphasis should
be on learning the sichos of the
later years which contain a wealth
of inyanei Moshiach and Geula.
It is especially important to learn
these sichos, as we know what
the Rebbe said about the special
fondness for the last sichos we
heard from the Rebbe.

the prophets all the[ir] works

are full with this subject (as
Rambam rules in Laws of Kings,
Ch. 11, end).
As an automatic result, doing
so speeds up, draws near, and
brings about the revelation
and the advent of Moshiach
Tzidkeinu, for (as expressed in
the liturgical supplication and
request, Speedily cause the

In the sicha of 6 Tishrei

5749, the Rebbe spoke about
his mother who would copy
maamarim of the Rebbe Rashab
and the Rebbe described the
whole system of reviewing and
writing the maamarim. He said
that although there were earlier
maamarim, to Chassidim there
was always a special fondness for
the last maamer that the Rebbe
said.
R Akiva: Aside from the
fondness for the sichos of 57515752, it is very important to
learn them for that is where the
Rebbe talks about the current
reality. It is not just an analytic
discussion about what will
happen when Moshiach comes
but where exactly we are holding
in the Geula process and about
how close we are to Moshiachs
coming.
Whoever merely engages
in analytic study of the topics
pertaining to Geula and does not
learn the sichos of 5751-5752,
is like someone using a horse
and wagon nowadays. In 57515752 we moved on to completely
different stages, which is why
it is so important to learn these
sichos, so we are aware of the
great significance of the current
era, the stage we are in now,
and this itself inspires us with
a chayus and great expectation
for the hisgalus of the Rebbe
immediately, now!

scion of Dovid, Your servant, to

flourish for all day we have
hoped for Your salvation [])
faith in the coming of Moshiach
and yearning for his arrival
speeds up and draws the advent
of Moshiach Tzidkeinu closer, in
real terms.
(From the address of the night of
Simchas Torah, 5746; Hisvaduyos
5746, pg. 342-3, bilti muga)

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MOSHIACH & GEULA

MITZVAS
HAKHEL AS A
BLUEPRINT FOR
SUCCESSFUL
CHINUCH
By R Gershon Avtzon

Dear Chassidim shyichyu,

I write these thoughts, on
Motzaei Shabbos (of Parshas
Nitzavim), after hearing the
reading of the Torah by Mincha
(Parshas VaYeilech) that speaks
openly about the Mitzva of
Hakhel:
Then, Moshe commanded
them, saying, At the end of
[every] seven years, at an
appointed time, in the Festival
of Sukkos, [after] the year of
release, when all Israel comes
to appear before the Lord, your
God, in the place He will choose,
you shall read this Torah before
all Israel, in their ears. Assemble
the people: the men, the women,
and the children, and your
stranger in your cities, in order

that they hear, and in order that

they learn and fear the Lord,
your God, and they will observe
to do all the words of this Torah.
Of course, hearing these
words once again made me think
of the special year 5776
which just began, a year in which
the
aforementioned
Hakhel
would and IYH will take
place in the Beis HaMikdash.
Much has been written
about this special Mitzva, and I
would like to share some of my
thoughts as well. These thoughts
are raw and fresh, yet I will
try to communicate them in a
comprehensive way.
A small background:

It is well known, the answer

of Moshiach to the question of
the saintly Baal Shem Tov (on
Rosh HaShana) When are you
coming? To which he answered
When your wellsprings will be
spread out!
It is clear that the wellsprings
mentioned mean the teaching
of Chassidus. These are the
teachings taught by our holy
Rebbeim. The question and
there is much debate about it
is whether included in that
directive is also the spreading of
the TEACHER (i.e. the Rebbe) of
those wellsprings?
In other words, is it possible
that the wellsprings will have the
desired effect on the one being
taught, if he does not eventually

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 know the real teacher behind

the teachings?
This is the real lesson from
the Mitzva of Hakhel: At a certain
point, it must be known and
recognized that the Torah being
taught comes from the king! One
can learn Torah and Chassidus
in the comforts of his home and
never learn about the existence
of the king. So Hashem gives us
the Mitzva of Hakhel, to teach us
that at a certain point it must be
clear to all the existence of the
king and that all revelations to
the Jewish people go through the
king.
The wellsprings/teachings of
Torah cannot and therefore will
not have a lasting affect if there
is no recognition of the king
that is behind the teachings. He
is the well itself from which the
wellsprings come forth.

This is especially true in

regards to Chinuch in our
current time: We all know that
it is a difficult challenge to raise
Chassidishe children in a very
technologically-advanced
era,
when the concealment is so
strong.
Many try to fill this void
with videos and descriptions of
memories of the Rebbe. While
these are very important, this
will not provide the necessary
strength to the young generation
which is being tempted and
spiritually attacked every day.
The youth of today need to
know and feel that Chabad
is current and that they have
a Rebbe that they can have a
personal connection with today.
I have spent over ten years now
educating and trying to inspire
young Bachurim. There is

nothing more life-changing as

when the young boy gets his first
answer of the Rebbe through
Igros Kodesh. In one second, he
knows that the Rebbes mission
and vision doesnt just belong
to his father or eltere chassidim
but rather is current and
connected to him.
A boy will find it very difficult
to ignore the temptations in front
of his eyes and heart for an ideal
that he feels deep down is not
real and current. As parents and
Mechanchim, we must embrace
the mitzva of Hakhel and
bring our children to the Rebbe.
It is not so much about the
Torah that they hear from the
king,rather the knowledge that
there is a king! Only then will the
stories about the king or his
teachings have the desired and
lasting impact.
We must explain to our
children that at this point the
Rebbe is A king in the field. We
have a special chance to connect
with him now, and only through
connecting now (when the king
in not revealed in the full glory of
the palace), can we be with him
in the palace when the Hisgalus
happens!
In the spirit of Rosh HaShana:
Zichronos is very important to
mention, but only after you have
Malchiyos (the knowledge that
we have a king). When we live
and educate in this specific order,
we will merit Shofros the
Shofar of Moshiach now!
See you all in the Beis
HaMikdash!
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.
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WEISS PROFILE

TORAH AND
PHILANTHROPY

R Berel Weiss friends and acquaintances say about him that he was first a
Chassid and then a philanthropist. * From when he first became connected
to the Rebbe, he did not make a move in business before receiving the
Rebbes bracha. To him, whatever the Rebbe said was holy of holies. *
We spoke with some people who were close with him, who told us the
fascinating story of how he came to Chabad, about private audiences with
the Rebbe, and miracles that he experienced.
By Avrohom Rainitz

our years ago, R Berel

Weiss, the Chassid and
philanthropist from Los
Angeles, passed away at
the age of 85. R Berel had gone
to LA after the Holocaust and was
brought close to Chabad by the
shliach, R Shmuel Dovid Raitchik.
R Berel had the privilege
of supporting many Torah
institutions and was in the
forefront when it came to tzdaka
and chesed. His home was open
to all and he was known for his
blessed work on behalf of the
public.

HE ALMOST MET THE

REBBE RAYATZ
R

Berel

came

from

Chassidic
family
in
the
Siebenburgen
(Transylvania)
area of Romania. He learned
by the local rav, R Yosef the
shochet. The melamed was a
Chassidic Jew who incorporated
Chassidic stories in his lessons
and instilled love for Chassidus,
yiras Shamayim, and love for
tzaddikim in his students.
The melamed once spoke
about the Baal HaTanyas
Shulchan Aruch. When R Berel
asked him, what is the Shulchan
Aruch HaRav, the melamed
raised his hand and said, The
Shulchan Aruch HaRav was
a student of the holy Maggid
and the Maggid said about him,
hilchasa kRav (the halacha is
according to Rav). R Yosef

said the grandchildren of the Rav

lived in Lubavitch and they were
Admurim. These few words later
changed R Berels life.
After the war, R Berel was
sick and he was hospitalized in
a transit camp in Germany. As
soon as he recovered, he began
looking for ways to continue
his Torah studies. He obtained
Jewish newspapers and in one
of them he saw an ad that said
the Lubavitcher Rebbe was in
New York. When he read this,
he remembered what his teacher
said about the Shulchan Aruch
HaRav and his descendants in
Lubavitch and he decided he
had to go to America where the
Rebbe was.
R Berel arrived in New York

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in the summer of 1948. During

his first week there, his kalla
suggested that they go together
to visit her aunt who lived in
Williamsburg.
Her aunt and
uncle were very happy to see that
their niece had become engaged
to a learned bachur and told
him that their son learned in the
Lubavitcher yeshiva.
Amazed by this turn of events,
he told them that he wanted
to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The uncle advised him that on
Motzaei Yom Tov, when his son
went to the Rebbe, Berel could
join him.
However, Hashem
wanted otherwise and when
Yom Tov was over, R Berel was
so sound asleep that his relatives
did not want to wake him up and

he lost the opportunity to see the

Rebbe Rayatz.
He received an invitation from
his uncle who lived in California
to go live with him in Los Angeles
where the weather was better for
him. Thus, more years passed
before he came to Lubavitch.

FIRST CONNECTION
WITH CHABAD
R Berel married in California.
About a year later, R Shmuel
Dovid Raitchik went to LA
on shlichus from the Rebbe
Rayatz. R Raitchiks Chassidic
conduct reminded R Berel about
authentic Jewish life in Jewish
towns before the war and they
formed a close bond.

In Elul 5717/1957, before

R Raitchik went to the Rebbe,
R Berel met him and wanted to
send along a kvittel with him,
as is customary among Polish
Chassidim.
R Raitchik took
the kvittel from him along with
a nice sum of money, and when
he returned from the Rebbe
he brought with him a piece of
lekach and some mashke which
he had received from the Rebbe,
for R Berel. R Berel said lchaim
with R Raitchik and one could
say that from this point on, he
became mekushar to the Rebbe.
He began asking the Rebbe
before doing any business deal
and was outstandingly successful.
Under R Raitchiks influence, he
began sending maamud money

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Weiss profile
to the Rebbe and saw openly that
from that point on, all gateways
and channels were open for him.
R Berel was a big baal tzdaka
and gave special attention to
all, to a rosh yeshiva as well as
to a homeless person. Even if
he did not have ready cash, he
would borrow money in order
to be able to give tzdaka. He
supported and helped R Raitchik
and also gave him money to buy
handwritten manuscripts for the
Rebbe.

promised to lend him the money

he needed, but after a while the
person said he couldnt give him
the loan.
While R Berel thought about
what to do next, the salesman
from the bed company came to
his office in the company of a
gentile who was his supervisor.
When he told them that he was
looking for someone to lend
him the balance of the funds,
the gentile asked how much
he needed. R Berel stated an

R Berel, who was greatly inspired, told the

Rebbe that he committed to giving the Rebbe
$100,000. That was a huge sum at the time. The Rebbe
merely responded with lchaim vlivracha and showed
no signs of excitement. It was this cool response of the
Rebbe that captivated R Berel.

In general, R Shmuel Dovid

would collect money for various
projects of the Rebbe and
would give the money to the
Rebbe. One time, R Berel said
to someone he knew, When
Raitchik comes to you, give him
a blank check and the Rebbe
will decide how much to make
it out for. The man listened to
him and gave the check. A few
weeks later, he received a call
from the bank in which he was
told that the check was made out
for $4000. Although in those
days that was a significant sum,
he approved the check. Several
weeks later he earned $40,000 in
a business deal.

WHAT CAPTIVATED
R BEREL
In those days, R Berel bought
some old age homes as a result
of which he wanted to buy a
large quantity of beds instead
of renting them.
Someone

amount and the gentile said he

had a fund that he used for loans
to good customers. He did not
know how much he had in the
fund but he thought he would
be able to lend him most of the
money he needed. In the end, R
Berel was able to get the entire
amount, $10,000, as a loan, at
low interest.
R Berel attributed his
miraculous success to the
Rebbes bracha and decided he
must travel to 770. On Chol
HaMoed Sukkos he went to 770
for the first time. He was used
to what happens by Poilishe
Admurim that a Chassid sees
the Rebbe to give shalom, but
R Raitchik explained that in
Chabad its different and you
could not just walk in and see the
Rebbe. The next morning, on the
third day of Chol HaMoed, R
Berel saw the Rebbe for the first
time.
Back then, there was no

special platform for the Rebbe

yet, and he stood near the wall.
R Berel took a spot where he
could see and waited eagerly for
Hallel. He was sure he would
see a major production with the
Rebbes naanuim (shaking of the
lulav) as other Admurim did. He
put his dalet minim aside and
waited for the Rebbes naanuim.
Surprisingly, the Rebbe took
the lulav and esrog and did the
requisite naanuim without any
outlandish gesticulations.
R
Berel noticed that the Rebbe drew
the four minim toward his heart
which is not customary by Polish
Chassidim. He also noticed that
the Rebbe spent a bit more time
on the words, Ana Hashem,
hoshia na.
After the Hoshaanas, they
sang Hoshia es Amecha with
great vigor. After the davening,
the Rebbe left the shul. Since
outwardly, the Rebbe had not
done anything special, no shaking
of the lulav more than usual and
not raising his voice, R Berel
stood and watched the Rebbes
holy face. Right after that tfilla
with the Rebbe, R Berel realized
that here was something entirely
different.
During Maariv on Friday
night, R Berel stood near the
Rebbe. When the chazan finished
Hashkiveinu, R Berel began to
passionately recite VShomru,
which is what Polish Chassidim
do. It was only when he finished
that he realized that he was the
only one saying it and everyone
else was silent. Later on, when he
had yechidus with his daughter,
the Rebbe gave her a Thillim
and said: This is according to all
nuschaos (liturgical versions).
On Simchas Torah, R Berel
took his son Yona Mordechai
to 770. Before the farbrengen,
R Raitchik told him that it
was possible to go over to the

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Rebbe with a bottle of wine, as

was the practice then. R Berel
approached the Rebbe with the
bottle and said lchaim. The
Rebbe gave him a piece of lekach
and blessed him with success. R
Berel, who was greatly inspired,
told the Rebbe that he committed
to giving the Rebbe $100,000.
That was a huge sum at that time.
The Rebbe merely responded
with lchaim vlivracha and
showed no signs of excitement at
all.
It was this cool response
of the Rebbe that captivated
R Berel. In other places, the
Admur would have immediately
said a good word and placed him
on the eastern wall, while here,
the Rebbe blessed him and that
was all.
A few days passed and it was
time for yechidus. R Raitchik
guided R Berel and said that if
we want to accept the Rebbes
authority, we refrain from giving
the Rebbe our hand and we do
not sit.
When R Berel walked in, the
Rebbe got up and asked him, Nu
Weiss, you rested up already?
R Berel replied, Yes, boruch
Hashem.
The Rebbe held out his hand
and suggested he sit down. R
Berel refused.
R Berel gave the Rebbe a
kvittel and said that he attributed
his successes to the Rebbes
blessings. The Rebbe spoke to
him about several matters, and
at the end said, Regarding the
large sum you promised to give
to tzdaka, the yetzer hara will
come and try to dissuade you.
See to it that he is not successful
in convincing you.
When R Berel said that it
wasnt a problem for him, for the
Rebbe would give him a bracha
that the yetzer hara would not
prevail, the Rebbe smiled.

R Berel Weiss with R Leibel Groner, the Rebbes secretary

From that point on, R Berel

began corresponding with the
Rebbe frequently and received
answers which encouraged and
strengthened him.
Upon his
return from seeing the Rebbe,
he bought a house that was very
similar to 770. Indeed, it was a
home that was especially open
to anything associated with
Lubavitch. R Kazarnovsky ah
would visit LA occasionally and
all the farbrengens would be in R
Berels house.

HE WILL PRINT SIFREI

LUBAVITCH
With the atmosphere at home
revolving around the Rebbe,
it wasnt surprising when the
youngest son, Moshe Aharon,
wanted to join his father on
his trip to the Rebbe. R Berel
consulted with R Kazarnovsky
who said you dont take little
children to the Rebbe. However,
in one of the private audiences,
the Rebbe asked R Berel, How
old is Moshe Aharon?
R Berel told the Rebbe that
his son greatly desired coming to
the Rebbe, but R Kazarnovsky
said you dont bring children to

the Rebbe. The Rebbe dismissed

this and said, Ah, you should
bring him.
R Berel told the Rebbe that
his sons desire to see the Rebbe
was so great that in school he
asked his teacher for a piece
of paper and when the teacher
asked what for, he said: To make
a Lubavitcher Siddur.
The Rebbe said, He will yet
print Lubavitcher sfarim.
Another year, it was very cold
and although he had a high fever,
R Berel would not forgo his trip
to the Rebbe. However, he asked
his sons to remain in California.
When the Rebbe entered for
hakafos, R Berel suddenly felt
completely well. Afterward, in
yechidus, he told the Rebbe why
he had not brought the children.
When the Rebbe asked him,
how do you feel now, he said
that when the Rebbe entered for
hakafos, he suddenly felt like
a new man. He hinted to the
Rebbe about the famous story
with the Alter Rebbe who ordered
that all the sick people be brought
to him for hakafos and the Rebbe
smiled.
When R Berel told the Rebbe

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Weiss profile

I did not tell anyone of my decision; it was only in

my mind. Then, to my enormous astonishment,
at the farbrengen the next day, the Rebbe suddenly spoke
about the inyan of the 13 Tikkunei Dikna and said there
were businessmen who think they will lose out if they
have a beard, but if they knew how much they would
profit and how successful they would be, they wouldnt
think about it at all!
that his son Mordechai would be
bar mitzva the following year, the
Rebbe said it was an opportunity
to come with the entire family.
That is what he did.
Yona Mordechais bar mitzva
was held in the sukka and the
Rebbe told R Chadakov to
participate. In yechidus of that
year, the Rebbe no longer held
out his hand and he did not offer
R Berel a seat. Until then, for
five years, the Rebbe always said
he should sit down. R Berel
understood from this that from
then on, the Rebbe was treating
him like a Chassid.

THERE WILL BE A
REVOLUTION IN LIBERIA
R M. M. Labkovsky ah, one
of his close friends who learned
with him regularly, told the
following story:
We were learning together
when the phone rang. I did not
hear the person on the other
end, just what R Berel said. I
understood that the person who
called him was asking him to
join him in a business deal but R
Berel said, I cant do it without
the Rebbes consent.
The
person
apparently
continued to cajole him but
R Berel repeated, I dont do
anything without the Rebbes
consent. The person seemed to
ask whether this obligated him

too, and R Berel said, I dont

know about you. Maybe for
me it is not good and for you,
it is. You have to ask the Rebbe
separately. Anyway, I cant do
anything without receiving the
Rebbes consent and blessing.
He once told me that when
he does business deals without
asking the Rebbe, he loses. In
general, in anything having to
do with the Rebbe, he was the
first. He helped the Rebbes
shluchim, sometimes by giving
and sometimes with loans. I
know that one time he wrote to
the Rebbe that there were many
shluchim that he helped, but
the expenses were great and he
did not have the wherewithal to
support them all.
The Rebbe responded by
saying that he bore the burden
with Hashem, and then the Rebbe
said to him the words gar grois
(very large, apparently meaning
to do things in a big way).
One time, R Berel told this
incredible story:
Once, in yechidus, I told the
Rebbe that I was considering
investing money in diamond
deals in Liberia.
The deal
involved millions of dollars. It
had to do with several diamond
dealers from Antwerp who
were on Antwerps big diamond
exchange. I told the Rebbe that
I said to them that I would be
willing to invest only after the

Rebbe approved of it.

The businessmen, some of
them Chassidic Jews, who really
wanted me to invest, asked
me: And if the Rebbe says no,
you wont do it? They couldnt
understand it.
Even though
they also asked their Rebbe for
a bracha, they had never asked
for his approval of a business
deal, for what does a Rebbe know
about business?
The Rebbe listened and then
told me not to get involved since
there would be a revolution
in Liberia. I responded with
incredulity, for Liberia was
known as the Switzerland of
South Africa, but the Rebbe
repeated what he said and
added: If you still want to, you
can invest, but on condition
that you have the ability to take
your money out immediately,
whenever you ask for it.
When I relayed the Rebbes
answer
to
the
Chassidim
in Antwerp, they were very
disappointed and could not
believe how there could be a
revolution in the most stable
country in Africa.
About a year later, I invested
thousands of dollars in diamonds.
I spoke with the diamond dealer
and said he should buy diamonds
for me in Liberia but then
immediately get out. I gave him
the money and he bought rough
diamonds. A short while later a
revolution began in Liberia. The
diamonds remained there due
to the situation and the dealer
gave me back only part of my
money. The other part was never
returned. But boruch Hashem, I
did not invest millions and I did
not lose.
In another yechidus, I asked
the Rebbe whether to take my
company public on the stock
market. I told the Rebbe that
businessmen told me that by

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doing this I could become a

millionaire in a short time, And
Ill be able to give a million
dollars to the Rebbes mosdos.
But the Rebbe did not react.
After a moment of silence,
he said, Why do you need
balabatim over you? (for when
you go public, the shareholders
become the real bosses). In the
end, the Rebbe gave his bracha.
Then he suddenly asked, What
will you give me?
I
immediately
answered,
Whatever I have, I am willing to
give to the Rebbe.
The next time you come
here, bring me a thousand blatt
Gemara! was the Rebbes
answer.

HE EARNED
FIVE TIMES AS MUCH
R Naftali Estulin, a shliach
in California who knew R Weiss
well, related:
One year, at the Simchas
Torah farbrengen, the Rebbe said
that when you commit to a large
sum, Hashem gives five times as
much. The Rebbe said: Better
that Hashem owes you, than you
owing Him.
The Rebbe added, whoever
commits now that after Simchas
Torah he will give a sum to
tzdaka, Hashem will owe him.
Both of us, R Berel and
I, were at that farbrengen. I
knew that R Berels financial
state wasnt good at that time,
but when we met on Kingston
Avenue I was all excited and I
said to him, You heard what the
Rebbe said! Now is the time to
decide to give a lot of tzdaka!
B Berel said to me sadly, I
want to, but I dont have.
I asked him, How much?
He said, at least $100,000.
I said that in that case, I

R Berel with his friend R Naftali Estulin at a dinner for the Chabad house

would take a loan from the bank

on account of his future profits.
He gave me a Chassidishe kiss,
then and there, and I was able to
obtain a loan for him and I sent
the money to the Rebbe. A few
months later, he earned five times
the amount in a certain business
deal.
***
Another time, R Berel went to
the Rebbe and asked permission
to do a certain deal. The Rebbe
said, R Berel, its not glatt. On
the table was a Thillim and the
Rebbe took it and said, Print
several thousand, thats a straight
deal.

FAMILY MATTERS
R Berel saw the fulfillment
of the Rebbes brachos in every
area of his life, both family and
business. R Berel told about one
of these personal matters:
One year, before Rosh
HaShana, I wrote to the Rebbe
that I hope to relay good news
and the Rebbe asked me in
yechidus about the details.
Shortly after that there was
the situation with my son, Moshe
Aharon. He had a problem with
his spine and the doctors wanted

to operate. However, they were

afraid to operate because they
were nervous about injuring
major nerves. They hoped he
would heal on his own, and if
he doesnt heal, then we cant do
anything, they said.
In the meantime, the child
suffered terribly as a result of a
pulled muscle. Medication to
alleviate the pain did not help
and he began using crutches.
Now, in addition to the physical
suffering, he was embarrassed.
He was still little and was afraid
the other children would laugh at
him since he used crutches.
I wrote to the Rebbe about all
this. At that time, I didnt write
to the Rebbe about business or
about anything else, only about
Moshe Aharon. I asked for a big
bracha and the Rebbe responded
with, I will mention it at the
gravesite.
We went to the Rebbe for
Shavuos. At the farbrengen on
the Shabbos before Shavuos, the
Rebbe spoke about the mitzva
of tzdaka and mentioned the
Midrash (on the verse, He who
is gracious to the poor, lends
to Hashem) which says that
Hashem promises that one who
revives the soul of a pauper,

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Weiss profile

I told the Rebbe that businessmen told me that

by doing this I could become a millionaire in a
short time, And Ill be able to give a million dollars to
the Rebbes mosdos.
when his son needs salvation, it
will come.
I sat at the farbrengen and
immediately realized that the
Rebbe was saying that in merit of
tzdaka, I would be saved. After
Yom Tov, I had yechidus and
I asked the Rebbe on behalf of
Moshe Aharon once again. The
Rebbe told me to ask a rav about
the matter, but I got up the nerve
and said I did not want to ask a
rav, I wanted the Rebbe to give a
bracha that Moshe Aharon would
be well.
The Rebbe said: Tell the
doctors that you dont want an
operation.
I said: Good, I will tell the
doctors that the Rebbe said not
to operate, and the Rebbe agreed.
When we returned home, my
sons condition worsened so that
the doctors wanted to hospitalize
him again. I told them that the
Rebbe said not to operate. They
could not understand my refusal
considering the childs suffering,
and they did not offer any other
treatment.
The next day, the doctor said
to me, I am waiting for you. It
seems they had discussed my
sons condition at a meeting
and one of them, a well-known
doctor, had said he had treated a
boy who came from Mexico who
suffered from a similar problem
in the spine and he decided it was
too dangerous to operate. In the
end, he healed the injury with
radiation.
Under this doctors guidance,
they decided to treat Moshe
Aharon in this way and boruch
Hashem, his condition began to

improve, but he still had problems

with his feet. The doctors said
again they needed to operate.
The child came to me crying:
They said they would not operate
and now, I was at the doctor with
Mommy, and they said they have
to operate.
I thought of how I could calm
him down. It was before Yud-Tes
Kislev and I said: We will go to
the Rebbe for Yud-Tes Kislev and
then we will go to a top doctor.
I meant Dr. Markov who was
famous in New York.
We went to New York and my
son was at the farbrengen and
afterward he had yechidus along
with my wife, in the course of
which she told about the plan of
seeing that doctor. The Rebbe
agreed to this and said he wanted
to know what the doctor said.
Armed with the Rebbes
bracha, we went to the doctor
and after hearing the story and
about what had been done thus
far, he said he wanted to conduct
his own examinations. In order
to do this, he said my son had to
be hospitalized. My wife told the
Rebbe what the doctor said and
the Rebbe said to make sure that
my son lit the Chanuka menorah
in the hospital.
My son lit the menorah and
it attracted a lot of attention with
all the gentiles watching how my
son lit the candles. They were
moved and they hoped that in the
merit of my sons lighting, they
too would be healed.
Dr. Markov finished his
tests and told my son to throw
away the crutches. He said the
situation was not so dire and he

arranged for leg braces. My son

asked the doctor whether he
could go to school in New York
and the doctor said yes. When
my wife told the Rebbe, the
Rebbe noted: Does the doctor
know that the conditions in
yeshiva are not so well organized
from a physical standpoint?
My son remained in New
York and was a talmid in Oholei
Torah. Nearly a year passed and
certain complications remained.
After Sukkos, we had yechidus
again and my wife cried about
Moshe Aharon still not being all
better. The Rebbe said to her:
You cant cry. I promise you that
you will lead him, in good health,
to the chuppa.
Boruch Hashem, the Rebbes
blessings and promises were
fulfilled in their entirety.
***
Years later, Moshe Aharon
became a shliach and merited
special kiruvim from the Rebbe.
A few years after he married, he
still did not have children, which
was very upsetting.
In 5750, R Berel took this
son to the Rebbe for Lag BOmer.
At the distribution of dollars for
tzdaka which took place after
Maariv, R Berel introduced his
son to the Rebbe and said he was
asking for a bracha for children
for him.
The Rebbe said: Today we
have with us R Shimon Bar
Yochai.
But R Berel, as a seasoned
businessman and a loyal Chassid,
pointed at the Rebbe and said:
We want a bracha from this
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
The Rebbes face turned
serious and he said loudly and
firmly, May he have sons and
daughters. The bracha was
fulfilled and a few years later he
had twin sons.

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At the seuda following the

brissin for the twins, R Berel
told the story about the bracha
given on Lag BOmer and said
now of course they were waiting
for daughters. Sure enough, a
daughter followed soon after.

R Berel after he grew his beard

OPEN RUACH HAKODESH

R Berel related the following
at a farbrengen:
I want to tell the story about
my beard. In 1960 I wrote a
letter to the Rebbe and asked for
a bracha for Torah and gdula
(greatness, i.e. wealth). Some
time after I wrote the letter, I
had yechidus and felt that it was
an auspicious time to ask again.
I figuratively banged on the
desk and asked, how come the
Rebbe does not want to give me a
bracha for Torah and gdula?
The Rebbe suddenly turned
serious and he looked as though
he had entered another state. I
prayed that the earth swallow me
up because I was afraid that I had
pressed too much.
Finally, the Rebbe said: For
that, you need to grow a beard.
I wanted to immediately
say that I agree but the Rebbe
continued, as though reading
my mind, that before making
a decision like this, a person
ought to consult his family and
make the decision with a settled
mind while at the same time
remembering not to be ashamed
by those who mock.
Indeed, my wife was not
thrilled by the idea and the matter
of the beard was dropped. Some
years passed until the first day of
Shavuos 5749/1989. During the
davening with the Rebbe, I was
feeling in an elevated state and
that yechidus came to mind. I
decided then and there to carry
out what I said in that yechidus.
I did not tell anyone of my

decision; it was only in my

mind. Then, to my enormous
astonishment, at the farbrengen
the next day, the Rebbe suddenly
spoke about the inyan of the 13
Tikkunei Dikna and said there
were businessmen who think they
will lose out if they have a beard,
but if they knew how much they
would profit and how successful
they would be, they wouldnt
think about it at all!
Those who knew me, R
Shmuel Dovid Raitchik and my
other friends who were there
at that farbrengen, told me
afterward that they were sure the
Rebbe was referring to me, but I
knew that I had already decided
to grow a beard the day before.

The Rebbe, with his ruach

hakodesh, read my thoughts and
encouraged me with this sicha
and spoke as though directly to
me.
Some time later, I went by
the Rebbe for dollars and the
Rebbe gave me thirteen dollars
to correspond to the 13 dikna
kadisha. For three years, when I
passed by the Rebbe, he gave me
thirteen dollars and said, For the
13 tikkunei dikna kadisha.
R Naftali Estulin concludes,
Two days before R Berel passed
away, I went to visit him. He
suddenly began to talk about the
Rebbe. How characteristic of
him that was.

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PROFILE

A TOWER OF

CHASSIDIC
STRENGTH
Whoever knew the Chassid, R Chaim
Shneur Zalman Kozliner, known by
the acronym Chazak, knows that
he was a different sort of Chassid.
He was strong, like his nickname, a
courageous Chassid who was afraid
of no one. Despite the suffering and
torture he endured the two times he was
arrested, he continued to live a Chassidic
life and spread Torah everywhere. * From
his childhood in the Chassidic town of
Disna and his learning in Lubavitch, to
his working as a secretary for the Rebbe
Rayatz, and then imprisonment and exile
to Siberia, the image of a Chassid.* To
mark his passing on 13 Tishrei.
By Shneur Zalman Berger

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CHASSIDISHE ROLE MODEL

R Chaim Shneur Zalman
Kozliner, known as Chazak, was
born in 5661/1901 in Disna in
White Russia. His father, R
Boruch Yosef, was a teacher of
Torah to young students. They
said about him that when his
students got older, they were
the best students in Tomchei
Tmimim in Lubavitch.
When Chazak was small,
the mashpia, R Yisroel Noach
Blinitzky lived in his parents
home. He saw and absorbed
from R Yisroel Noach what a
Chassid is, and how he behaves.
Why did R Yisroel Noach
live with the Kozliner family? He
had married Sterna, daughter
of R Itche Yaffe, who lived in
Disna. After they married, the
couple wanted to live in Disna
near her parents, but they did not
have money to buy or even rent
a house. So R Boruch Yosef
came to their aid. He was a dear
friend of the kallas father and
was willing to host the couple for
several years for free.
So aside from the Chassidishe
chinuch that R Chaim Zalman
received from his father, R
Yisroel Noach provided him with
a role model of a Tamim from
Lubavitch.
Disna in those days was
called a town of Chassidim
since all its residents were
Lubavitcher
Chassidim.
Although they did not all conduct
themselves punctiliously in all
the
Chassidishe
minhagim,
when it came to a Chassidishe
farbrengen, they all participated
with Chassidishe warmth and
enthusiasm.
In those days, R Itche Disner
became sick with typhus and
he died shortly thereafter. The
doctors forbade burying him in
fear that all those who handled
the burial would contract the

Brothers on the right, R Chaim Zalman

and on the left R Efraim Kozliner

R Boruch Yosef Kozliner of Disna

He could not accept that his good friend would

not be given a Jewish burial. What he did was
drink a large cup of vodka. When he finished he said,
Now Im clean. Typhus wont harm me. He then buried
his friend and miraculously did not contract typhus.

disease. The family was beside

itself.
They could not make
peace with the fact that their
father would be buried in one
large communal grave with
others who died of typhus, Jews
and gentiles.
Once again, the family friend,
R Boruch Yosef, came to their
aid. He could not accept that his
good friend would not be given
a Jewish burial. What he did
was drink a large cup of vodka.
When he finished he said, Now
Im clean (i.e. sterile). Typhus
wont harm me.
He then buried his friend and
miraculously did not contract
typhus.

I GAVE YOU TO
TOMCHEI TMIMIM
At the age of nine, Chaim
Zalman went with his father to
Lubavitch where he attended the
local elementary school. When
he got a bit older, he entered
Tomchei Tmimim under the
direct leadership of the Rebbe
Rashab.
His brother Efraim
was there too. His good friends
in yeshiva later became famous
Chassidic figures such as R
Zalman Shimon Dworkin, later
rav of Crown Heights, the
mashpia R Nissan Nemanov,
R Sholom Posner and others.
These true friendships continued
throughout the years.

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Profile

In his later years

Now and then, his father

would visit the yeshiva where he
met with the maggidei shiurim
and the mashpiim and had long
conversations with them. Chaim
Zalman was very curious to know
whether his father was asking
them about him. He asked one of
the mashpiim whether his father
was inquiring about his diligence
in learning or his Chassidic
behavior. To his great surprise,
the mashpia said, Your father
never asked me about you.
Chaim Zalman went over to
his father who was still in the
yeshiva and asked him why, as
his father, he did not inquire
about him. R Boruch Yosef
replied, also in surprise, I gave
you over to Tomchei Tmimim.
Do I need to ask about you? I
rely on the hanhala of Tomchei
Tmimim that they are educating
you properly.
Indeed, R Chaim Zalman
was considered a lamdan among
the talmidim of the yeshiva. His
friends said that he was gifted
with an eizene kup (head of iron).

In his youth

THE REBBES SECRETARY

With
the
Communist
Revolution of 5677/1917, the
yeshiva had to leave Lubavitch
and wander among various
towns.
R Chaim Zalman
wandered together with the rest
of the talmidim.
In Tishrei 5684/1923, the
Rebbe Rayatz sent word that he
wanted the Tmimim to return
from their places of study to
Rostov where the yeshiva was
reestablished.
R Chaim Zalman merited
an unusual kiruv when, even as
a bachur, he served for a brief
while as the Rebbes secretary
when he lived in Leningrad. His
main task was responsibility for
the monies of Yeshivas Tomchei
Tmimim. R Chaim Zalman,
who was by his very nature a
closed-mouthed person, never
spoke about the time he shared
an office with the Rebbe Rayatz,
but Chassidim related some
episodes from those days.
While sitting there with the

Rebbe, they usually did not

speak, because the walls have
ears.
Their communication
was mainly with their eyes; hints
from the Rebbe sufficed for him
to know what to do. The great
care and secretiveness of that era
was necessitated by the reality of
the times.
However, it once happened
that they discussed an important
topic and R Chaim Zalman
expressed his opinion and the
Rebbe said his, and thus began an
analytic discussion of the views
which were expressed. Suddenly,
the Rebbe looked up and gazed
at R Chaim Zalman who became
silent. It was a moment when he
realized that the subject was no
longer up for discussion and that
he had to obey with kabbalas ol.
One time, he took the
opportunity and complained
to the Rebbe that his gentile
neighbor was making his life
miserable. The Rebbe gave a
short, sharp response, quoting
the verse, his spirit will depart,
he will return to the earth.
R Chaim Zalman, who
understood what this meant, ran
home in order to tell the neighbor
that hed be better off asking
forgiveness before his life ended,
but when he got home, wailing
could already be heard from the
neighbors house.

HE LEFT IN THE MIDDLE

OF HIS SHEVA BRACHOS
Tuesday night, 15 Sivan
5687/1927, the police knocked
at the door of the Rebbe Rayatz
and after a protracted search,
they arrested him. This was the
beginning of the famous and
terrible arrest.
R Chaim Zalman happened
not to be in the area at the time,
for he had married his wife
Tzippa, daughter of R Chaim

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Elozor Garelik, a few days

before. The wedding took place
in Rogatchov, where the kalla
lived, and R Chaim Zalman was
in the midst of the week of sheva
brachos when it happened.
R Chaim Zalman was quickly
called by the leading Chassidim
to return to Leningrad in order to
help get the Rebbe released. R
Chaim Zalman did not delay.
By orders of the Rebbe
Rayatz, he was entrusted with the
black notebook, as he called it.
This notebook contained a list
of rabbanim, maggidei shiurim,
mashpiim, melamdim, and mikva
ladies in every city of the Soviet
Union.
News of the Rebbes arrest
spread quickly among the
Chassidim of the Soviet Union,
but time elapsed before the
news also went beyond the Iron
Curtain and reached the Chabad
Chassidim in America. Nobody
dared to write a letter abroad,
especially not on such a sensitive
matter, something which could
have cost the life of the letter
writer. The first who dared to
write to the US was his father,
R Boruch Yosef Kozliner, who
was willing to endanger his life to
save the Rebbe.
Although R Chaim Zalman
knew that the secret police
were nipping at his heels, he
continued to work to maintain
the yeshivos. He moved to Nevel
where he joined the hanhala of
the yeshiva and the beis midrash
for rabbanim and shochtim.
Together with him were other
venerable Chassidim: R Shmuel
Levitin, R Nissan Nemanov,
R Yehuda Eber and R Zalman
Alpert.
Dozens of bachurim studied
shchita and rabbanus and after
being ordained for these roles
they were sent to various cities
throughout the Soviet Union

A Chassidishe farbrengen in Samarkand. From right to left: R Eliyahu Levin, Betzalel

Shiff, R Berel Yaffe, R Chaim Zalman Kozliner, R Feivish Hankin

to help the communities which

were destroyed by the Yevsektzia
(Jewish communists).
In the yeshivas good days,
about eighty Tmimim learned
there, and these years were like
a microcosm of Lubavitch
as R Yehuda Eber, the rosh
yeshiva, later said, referring to
the days when the yeshiva was in
Lubavitch.
The Yevsektzia did not leave
the yeshiva alone and the hanhala
and the students suffered from
persecution until Kislev 5689
when the yeshiva was closed
down. R Shmuel Levitin, the top
administrator, was arrested and
the other administration and staff
members went into hiding, as is
described in Yahadus BRussia
HaSovietis:
In Kislev 5689 some
bachurim
were
arrested
and vigorous searches were
conducted to try to find the
members of the staff. Some
shuls where the bachurim had

been learning were closed even

to those who davened there. The
one who was in charge of this
work was a Jew named Altshuler.
He did not rest with his work of
destruction. The yeshiva would
have been completely destroyed
if not for G-ds kindness that the
administrative staff managed to
hide somewhere, and from their
place of hiding they gave orders
to the talmidim to leave Nevel.
Groups scattered to a
number of cities. One group
went to Leningrad, led by R
Nissan Nemanov, another group
to Vitebsk, led by R Avrohom
Drizin, and a group went to
Yekaterinoslav.
Everything that was done was
reported to the Rebbe Rayatz,
and he wrote about this in a letter
dated 2 Shevat 5689, Surely
they have read about all that was
done with the hanhala of the
yeshiva in Nevel and the hanhala
of the beis midrash for rabbanim
and shochtim, may Hashem
have mercy and may they soon
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Profile
go out in freedom. But thank
G-d, in their stead there are now
serving other appointees who
are involved with the talmidim,
many of whom traveled to other
places.

THE SENSIBILITIES
OF A THREE YEAR OLD
The persecution of R Chaim
Zalman continued and increased,
especially since he was one of
the directors of the yeshiva. The
secret police tightened the noose
around him. It was at this time
that his oldest child Mordechai
was born, on Acharon shel

on the run, so that three year

old Mottel already knew how to
behave in troubled times.
One day, the police entered
his home and began conducting
a search. Mottel sat down on
a suitcase which contained
documents. These documents
contained incriminating material
that, were they to be found, would
place his parents in grave danger.
The police did not suspect a little
boy, who was innocently sitting
on an old suitcase and playing, of
concealing anything.
That is how, with Hashems
kindness, and thanks to a little

He complained to the Rebbe that his gentile

neighbor was making his life miserable. The
Rebbe gave a short, sharp response, quoting the verse,
his spirit will depart, he will return to the earth. R Chaim
Zalman ran home in order to tell the neighbor that hed
be better off asking forgiveness before his life ended, but
when he got home, wailing could already be heard from
the neighbors house.

Pesach 1929. Shortly thereafter,

the new father had to flee the
city.
A month after the birth,
Tzippa began to worry because
it was time for a pidyon haben,
but her husband, whose mitzva
it was, had disappeared. Not
long after, she received a coded
telegram from him which said,
Mazal tov on the purchase.
She understood that her husband
had remembered the rare mitzva
and had redeemed his son from
his place of hiding.
Some time later, R Chaim
Zalman returned home but
the persecution and searches
continued. In the home there
was a constant feeling of
underground activity and being

boy who grew up to become a

mashpia, his father was saved.
A few years later, R Chaim
Zalman moved to Shchyolkovo, a
suburb of Moscow. Here too the
fears did not subside and arrests
were conducted now and then
among the Chassidim.
One night, his fear was
realized. There was pounding at
the door and in walked men in
black coats who brandished red
certificates of the NKVD. They
informed R Chaim Zalman that
he was under arrest and took him
away.
During the interrogations he
realized that they knew his full
name, Chaim Shneur Zalman
Kozliner and not the shortened
form, Chaim Zalman. It turned

out that they had been looking

for a Chaim Zalman (thats
what it said on all the letters and
documents of Tomchei Tmimim)
but they hadnt managed to
figure out who this man was.
(In a similar vein, they say
that one time policemen went to
his house and asked him where
is Chazak.
He replied that
his name was Chaim Zalman
Kozliner and that Chazak lived
nearby. He went outside with
the policemen and showed them
the way to Chazaks house
The policemen left and he took
his tallis and tfillin and fled out
the window for he figured they
would soon realize they had been
duped.)
After lengthy interrogations,
suffering, and torture in the
cellars of the NKVD, he was
sentenced to exile in Siberia.
After a long, exhausting journey
he arrived at a labor camp where
he spent a long time together
with his friend, the mashpia, R
Nissan Nemanov.
As was his way, he also kept
this part of his life to himself,
so not much is known about the
interrogations and imprisonment.
When he returned home,
his family members sensed that
something was bothering him.
When he was asked, he said he
was troubled by having been
contaminated by forbidden foods
and he explained:
The prisoners in the labor
camp worked primarily on
chopping down trees. The work
was backbreaking and dangerous.
At the end of a days work each
prisoner received a small portion
of bread and treif soup. He and
R Nissan would pour out the
treif soup and would suffice with
bread and water but the Jewish
prisoners who they became
friendly with begged for their
soup. The two Chassidim knew

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that the hot soup was something

the prisoners were halachically
allowed to eat because they were
engaged in hard labor in bitter
cold conditions. Still, how could
they knowingly give a Jew treif
food to eat?
R Nissan just could not give
treif food to these Jews while
R Chaim Zalman could not
withstand their pleas and decided
that since it was pikuach nefesh
he could give them the soup
and save their lives. Every day,
he gave them his soup and told
them, Just eat the soup, but
dont gnaw on the bones.
Nevertheless, this bothered
him more than all the suffering he
had endured in the interrogations
and the exile in Siberia. He felt
as though he himself had eaten
treif.
Even after both of them were
freed from the labor camp in
Siberia, the danger of another
arrest was still a possibility. R
Nissan hid in the home of his
good friend, R Chaim Zalman.
They provided him with a hidden
room and every knock at the door
sent R Nissan back to his hiding
place which the family called the
freezer since it had no heat and
during the winter was freezing
cold.
The good friendship between
these two Chassidim led their
friends to say about them, R
Chaim Zalman and R Nissan are
one body and one soul.

RESCUE MIRACLE
In 5701, the Nazis invaded
Russia and the great flight began.
The residents of Russia tried
to escape from wherever the
German army was approaching.
Civilians, especially Jews, fled to
distant parts. Chabad Chassidim
fled mostly to Central Asian cities
like Tashkent and Samarkand.

At a granddaughters wedding. From right to left: His son Mottel, His friend R Meilich
Lebenharz (standing), R Chaim Zalman, his friend, R Mendel Futerfas

At that time, R Chaim

Zalman and his wife had three
children, Mottel who was 12,
Dreishke (Levin) who was 8,
and Devorah (Vera Boroshanski)
who was 3. The Kozliner family
packed their meager belongings
and left by train with other family
members for distant Uzbekistan.
The train was packed with
passengers and the terrible
crowding made for suffocating
conditions. Contagious diseases
felled many of them.
Many
could not take the travails of the
journey and died on the way.
Mottel and his two year old
cousin Faiga Katzenelenbogen
became seriously sick. There
was no medicine and it wasnt
possible to rest on the train. The
family constantly prayed that the
children would survive at least
until they arrived someplace
civilized where a local doctor
could treat them properly.
R Mottel became better
but Faiga was still in serious
condition. Having no choice,

her parents, Shimon and Mussia,

got off the train with her and
hospitalized her in Tashkent
while the rest of the passengers,
including
the
Kozliners,
continued to Samarkand. Faiga
miraculously recovered.
The refugees suffered from
starvation and disease.
The
Chassidim who were already
in the city did a lot to help the
newcomers who were streaming
into the city, lacking everything.
They provided for both material
and spiritual needs. A branch of
Tomchei Tmimim was opened in
Samarkand where distinguished
Chassidim, including R Chaim
Zalman, taught the students
Nigleh and Chassidus.
R Berish Rosenberg was
someone who became involved
with Lubavitch at that time,
thanks to those Chassidim. He
got to know the Chassidim and
their way of life and became
attached to the ways and
teachings of Chassidus.
R
Chaim Zalman was greatly

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Profile

MRS TZIPPA KOZLINER

Mrs. Kozliner was a fearless woman who was not
afraid of the police. She was very involved in various
important matters.
As related in the article, after she was arrested,
she faced a severe sentence since she was accused of
being a traitor to the state. As one of the organizers
of the mass escape from Russia, the government
wanted to sentence her to twenty-five years in Siberia,
or worse.
Upon her arrest, the Chassidim who had left the
country thanks to her efforts felt obligated to do
something to have her released. Some Chassidim
repeatedly asked the Rebbe Rayatz for a bracha but
the Rebbe remained silent. It was only after more
importuning that the Rebbe gave a blessing that she
should quickly leave prison.
Indeed, the unbelievable happened. Her trial took
place in Lvov, and it was clearly a prearranged show
trial. She wasnt even brought to the courtroom. A
troika sentenced her to only ten years imprisonment.
It seemed obvious that she would be sent to
Siberia where political prisoners were usually sent,
but that is not what happened. From the prison in
Lvov she was transferred to a way-station from where
prisoners were sent to their places of exile. Here is
where she first met with her family. They found it
hard to recognize her. They were shocked to see her
suffering from swelling all over her body.
For no apparent reason, she was sent to a labor
camp near Lvov where she worked in a bulb factory.
The location, in the center of Russia, was a great
lightening of her sentence.
There were also dangerous criminals that were
sent to this labor camp. She later told that at her
last meeting, before being sent to the camp, she was
given a package of kosher food by her daughters.
But her cellmates wanted it and the first night, as
she lay in bed, she heard the prisoners talking among
themselves: lets kill the Zhidovka (derogatory word
for Jewess) and take her package. She got out of bed
and gave the package to them and said she did not
like the food they had sent her from home. Thats
how her life was saved.
Her daughters, who were very concerned about
her, asked their aunt, Mussia Katzenelenbogen,
to try and get her sister released early. Mrs.
Katzenelenbogen told about these efforts in Soarot
BDmama:

One day, my sister Tzippas daughters came to

me and asked me to save her. I dropped my work
and planned for a long trip. Before I took action, I
received brachos from three Chassidim, including R
Berke Chein. I could not wait for the Rebbes answer
due to lack of time and the urgency of the matter.
Tzippa suffered from heart trouble and was
hospitalized in the camps main infirmary. I went
to Lvov where I met her at the camp. She said the
doctor was Jewish and he could be spoken to about
her release. When I spoke to him, he maintained that
she was a political prisoner and could not be released.
He offered to try and get her another trial. For that I
traveled to Kiev where they told me that the opinions
of three doctors were needed who would say that she
is sick and only then could she have another trial. I
expended much effort until I was able to convince
three doctors to sign off on her supposed sickness.
During this period, I visited her in the camp
several times. The last time we met she asked me not
to come again because the commanders of the camp
looked askance at this. I am afraid they will arrest
you too, she explained.
At precisely that time, an opportunity arose to
shorten the sentence. It was after one of the inmates
had murdered someone.
A special committee
arrived which served as a sort of court, in order to
sentence the murderer. It was rare for judges to go
to a labor camp. The doctor who decided to help
Tzippa exaggerated her condition and sent her file to
the judges along with a recommendation that she be
released as a dangerously ill person.
The efforts bore fruit and her doctors soon
informed her of her release. She was freed in 1949,
two years and eight months after they had sentenced
her to ten years incarceration. As the Rebbe Rayatz
had predicted, she would not have to be there for
long.
She was released on Tisha BAv 5709. The two
of us happily boarded a train but then the camp
commander asked his men to search for me. He
wanted to take revenge on me for having successfully
released Tzippa. He boarded the train and looked for
me in all the compartments but I lay there with eyes
closed and a different kerchief so he couldnt identify
me. It was only when the train began moving that I
could breathe a sigh of relief. I thanked G-d for the
big miracles He did for us.

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mekarev him and would disclose

to him where the farbrengens
were taking place. In those days,
the location of farbrengens was
a secret but R Chaim Zalman,
who knew that R Berish was very
interested in Chabad, always told
him.
The relationship between the
two continued for many more
years.
Their friendship was
so strong that when R Berish
passed away, they did not tell R
Chaim Zalman.
During the war years, the
government drafted all men.
They searched after those trying
to escape being drafted and
arrests were a daily occurrence.
R Chaim Zalman himself was
avoiding the draft. Whenever
soldiers came to the house, he
managed to hide. One time,
soldiers knocked and R Chaim
Zalman realized it was too
late for him to escape, but his
daughters saved him. They took
the mattress off the bed, he laid
down on it, and they put the
mattress and blankets on top of
him and quickly made the bed
again.
The soldiers searched
for him unsuccessfully and left
without him.
During the war, his mother
Rochel Miriam was killed by the
Nazis as well as his brothers and
sisters in Disna. His father died
a few years before the war.

THE FAMILY DISPERSES

At the end of the war there
was an opportunity to escape the
Soviet Union. Many Chassidim
left with forged Polish papers.
Like many other Chassidim, R
Chaim Zalman went to Lvov for
the purpose of trying to cross
the border. Here is where his
and his familys mesirus nefesh
and courage came to the fore.
His wife and some relatives
worked very hard to help as

many Chassidim as possible

leave Russia.
They helped
forge documents and with the
organizational aspects of the
escape. Although they could have
crossed the border themselves
early on, they decided to remain
in Lvov to help others and only
then escape themselves.
His brother-in-law, R Mendel
Garelik, who was artistic, forged
the passports. Tzippa would then
go to the OVIR emigration offices
to get the passports signed with
the stamp that allowed Polish
citizens to leave the country. She
had dozens of forged documents
on her. Whenever she visited
those offices she knew that she
was endangering herself, for
whoever was caught smuggling
across the border was exiled for
years and some were even shot.
It was Friday afternoon, 28
Cheshvan 5707. Tzippa was on
her way to the OVIR office. She
was holding a small bag which
contained dozens of passports.
On the way, she realized she was
being followed. She immediately
ran to the public bathrooms so
she could get rid of her bag, but
she didnt make it. The NKVD
agent ran after her and caught
her. She pulled Tzippa toward a
waiting car.
While under arrest she was
tortured but she did not reveal
anything since she did not want
to incriminate other Chassidim.
The next day, Shabbos
morning, the secret police made
wide-ranging searches, entered
the homes of Chassidim and
made arrests. When they reached
the Kozliner home, Mottel
opened the door. He told them
he did not know where his father
was. R Chaim Zalman had fled.
Surprisingly, they decided to
arrest Mottel, who was just 18
years old, in an attempt to get
incriminating information from

him against his parents.

Mottel was interrogated for
hours. They told him that they
knew that Jews going to Poland
were not Polish citizens and that
they were continuing on to other
countries. They also informed
him that his mother was arrested
and they had found the passports
on her of those who sought to
escape.
Mottel was released toward
the end of the day. It was now his
responsibility to care for his two
younger sisters, since his mother
was in prison and his father had
disappeared into hiding.
Tzippa was sentenced to ten
years of exile. That was a light
sentence, relatively speaking (see
box), as many others were sent to
exile for decades and others were
even killed for crimes like this.
Life at the Kozliner home
was terrible. Their parents were
gone. Mottel tried to live below
the radar most of the time. His
sister Dreishke was sent to Lvov
where she stayed with a local
family so she could be near
her mother and bring her food
packages. The younger sister
Vera was passed around among
Chassidishe families that were
willing to have her. She spent a
significant amount of time with
the Lebenhartz family.
Her
hosts, who knew where her father
was hiding, brought him to their
home once every few months so
he could see his daughter. He
would come in the middle of the
night, talk with his little girl and
then go back into hiding.

ARREST AND TORTURE

Tzippa was released from
a labor camp early, after about
three years. Her joy was not
long-lived for a few weeks later,
the evil ones laid hands on her
husband. He had sensed that

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Profile

trouble was approaching and he

had consulted with his family
about whether it was better to
run away or to turn himself in
and take all the blame in order to
exonerate others. In the end, he
decided to flee, maybe Hashem
would have mercy and he would
be saved.
The secret police continued to
follow him. They did not arrest
him because they wanted to see
with whom he met. The wicked
ones chose to play the game
with him until the end.
One day, as he walked
down the street, a policeman
approached him and asked
him for his passport. R Chaim
Zalman innocently handed him
his passport.
The policeman
eyed it briefly and then put it in
his pocket and began walking
away. The point was to hobble
him, for with his passport in their
possession, he could not escape
anywhere.
He realized what was going
on and worked to get a new
passport. The forgers among the
Chassidim asked him whether he
wanted his real information on it
or not. He said they should enter

the real details.

Not much time elapsed and
he was caught again, this time
with his forged documents. When
they accused him of being in
possession of forged documents,
he said, You took my passport
and since I couldnt go around
without one, I had to make
another one.
It was years later that he
revealed a little bit of the time he
was arrested:
When I entered the prison,
I determined not to break and
not to give them the name of a
single Jew. I planned that if I
felt I was going to break, I would
make believe that I was revealing
information but only give them
made up details. As expected,
they tortured me severely but in
my mind I was like a dead man;
no wife, no children, no life on
the outside and no suffering;
nothing interested me. That is
how I survived.
The
torture
intensified.
They placed a branding iron on
my shoulder and forced me to
crouch with it, no chair beneath
me, for days, with a jailer
standing nearby. I knew that if

I did not do as they ordered, he

would beat me. The suffering
was tremendous but I did not
break.
Three weeks had passed
since I was incarcerated. One
night, at four in the morning,
I informed them that I was
willing to reveal the secret about
who forged my passport. They
immediately convened all the
interrogators. They brought me
into the interrogation room where
there was a festive atmosphere.
Everyone smiled. Kozliner had
broken. He was going to tell
everything.
But I did not consider telling
any of the truth, G-d forbid.
While I was in jail, I remembered
an old Jewish man who had
married a gentile and had
recently died. I decided to blame
him for he had already died and
wouldnt be harmed.
I said
there was an old Jew who was an
expert forger and he took care of
my documents in exchange for a
lot of money.
They bought the story and
went to search his house. After
I left prison, I heard that they
had turned the house over,
but did not find anything. His
gentile wife cursed her husband
for having fooled her. For all
those years she had thought he
was an avowed communist and
now she was told he had forged
documents and was an enemy
of the state.
They searched
his house, found nothing and
were sure he had managed to
destroy or hide all evidence of his
forging.
R Chaim Zalman was
exiled to Siberia again where
he did hard labor. Despite the
circumstances, he kept mitzvos
with tremendous mesirus nefesh.
The evil Stalin died in
5713/1953 and the oppression
let up somewhat. Many political

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and religious prisoners were

freed early including R Chaim
Zalman Kozliner.

A BEARD AT ALL COSTS

After he was released, he lived
with his family in Chernovitz.
The mashpia, R Mendel Futerfas
lived with them for a while.
When the younger daughter,
Vera, got married and moved to
Samarkand, near her in-laws,
R Mendel convinced him to
move near one of his children.
R Chaim Zalman agreed and
moved to his daughters house
in Samarkand. A short time
later, R Mendel also went
to Samarkand and R Chaim
Zalman, his daughter and son-inlaw, hosted him in their home for
a long time.
Throughout the years, R
Chaim Zalman had a beard even
though this endangered him.
When he was not in hiding, he

farbrenged with the Chassidim

a lot and encouraged them to
continue working according to
the instructions of the Rebbeim,
despite the enormous obstacles.

A MAN OF FEW WORDS

He received a visa at the
beginning of the 1970s and
made aliya with his family and
settled in Nachalat Har Chabad.
In 5737, when the Rebbe urged
that mashpiim be appointed in
every community, the residents
of Nachalat Har Chabad wanted
to appoint him as the mashpia
but he refused. Even when the
pressure increased, he adamantly
refused. Finally, his brother-inlaw, R Sholom Vilenkin, and
R Michoel Mishulovin were
appointed as mashpiim.
R Chaim Zalman was a
happy, modest and closedmouthed Chassid.
When he
visited 770, he refused his

friends request that he sit

together with the elder Chassidim
and mashpiim who sat behind
the Rebbe. He said, I cannot sit
within the Rebbes four cubits.
R Chaim Zalman was
an extremely taciturn man.
Only rarely did he tell about
his life.
When his children
and grandchildren asked him
questions, he answered briefly
and obliquely. His family knew
that to him, his past was behind
a sealed wall. Even the little that
they knew about his activities was
learned from his friends in Russia
and not from him.
This is why, what has been
related here is only a drop in the
bucket of the life and times of R
Chaim Zalman.
He passed away on 13 Tishrei
5746, on the yahrtzait of the
Rebbe Maharash. Incredibly, his
father and wife had also died on
the same date.

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FEATURE

KEEPING THE
DANCING GOING

UNTIL DAWN
People know already, Whoever did not see the
Simchas Beis HaShoeiva in Crown Heights, never
saw simcha in his life. * Shraga Crombie spoke
with the man at the keyboard, R Yossi Cohen,
who has been playing every night of Sukkos
for twenty-five years. * About the first time,
and about the unforgettable moments when he
played in front of the Rebbe in 5753 and 5754.

Im going to sleep until Yossi

Cohen. Wake me up at two,
please.
If that sounds strange to
you, then I guess you havent
been (at least in recent years) at
the Simchas Beis HaShoeiva in
Crown Heights. For thousands
of Chassidim, this request is
most reasonable. They go to
sleep early, while the big band
plays, and wake up at two in
the morning when the band
is replaced by one man: Yossi
Cohen.
From the moment he gets up
on the stage, they dont miss a
minute. They dance joyously to
his singing and playing until six

in the morning and thats only

because the police come and
open the street to traffic again.
But there is one person who
doesnt go to sleep until Yossi
Cohen, and that is Yossi Cohen
himself. He plays starting at
eight oclock at the Simchas Beis
HaShoeiva in Boro Park. When
he finishes at twelve, he goes to
Crown Heights where he stops
at home to wake up his children
and the guests who asked to be
woken at two.
I wanted to meet with Yossi
and hear from him what its
like to play for the thousands of
people who come to the Rebbe
for Tishrei, from which they

derive simcha for the entire year.

How do you have the
strength to play all night, night
after night?
When I think about it, Im
also amazed. Its hard work that
demands a lot of energy. Its not
easy being up all night on your
feet. Its definitely not easy doing
this night after night, but here
its different since I get kochos
from the Rebbe. I have no other
explanation for it. Although I
dont understand it, I feel the
kochos flowing into me one hour
after another, one night after
another.
Lets go back a bit. How did
you become a musician?
Divine
providence
is
wondrous. When I was nine,
I stayed home one day since I
didnt feel well. My aunt watched
me. She spent the time with her
daughter who played a melodica
which I found fascinating. I
asked to try it. She let me try and
I asked her to teach me a song.
She taught me Ki MTziyon.
That was the first song I learned
and I could immediately see that
I had a talent for music.
The next step was trying my

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Feature

I got a phone call from someone in Monroe who

said he was at that wedding and he was making
a bar mitzva for his son which would be attended by the
Satmar Rebbe. He wanted me to play at the bar mitzva
but only Chabad niggunim. I asked him if he was crazy.
How could I play only Chabad niggunim in Monroe in the
Satmar Rebbes presence?
mothers accordion. She has
a talent for music but did not
develop it and her accordion
wasnt much in use until I
started playing it. I continued to
improve on the accordion, but in
the years to come playing music
wasnt more than a hobby I did in
my free time.
When I was in yeshiva, I
would play music with friends.
One bachur, who had a talent
for chazanus, would sing, and I
would accompany him. When we
went to army bases on mivtzaim
or to Evenings with Chabad, I
would play Chabad tunes on the
keyboard.
Did you study music?

I was given a great gift from

G-d, a developed talent for
music. I never took lessons, not
as a child and not when I turned
professional. Whatever I know,
including notes, is self-taught,
and boruch Hashem, I see that
its better than anything I could
have learned from others.
So how does a bachur who
plays as a hobby, become a
famous musician?
For a short while after I
married, I still played only as a
hobby or on mivtzaim, mainly for
the shliach in Queens, R Shraga
Zalmanov. In those days, he did
many Evenings with Chabad for
Israelis and I played for them.

I remember one time we did a

Chanuka party at a radio station
and I played HaNeiros Halalu
and other holiday songs. Boruch
Hashem, it was very successful.
I did not think about a career
in music and I started a business
in which I invested a lot of money.
Unfortunately, it failed and I lost
all my money and even more than
that. I had no idea from where
my help would come, until my
wife suggested I become a oneman band. She said G-d gave
me a talent and it was time to use
it. I was nervous since I had no
real experience in playing beyond
what I did on mivtzaim, but I had
nothing to lose and I put an ad in
the Jewish Press.
I got a phone call from
someone asking whether I could
play at a sheva brachos and of
course I said yes. It didnt seem
too challenging. Then he asked
me whether I could sing too.
The problem was that I had never
sung and played simultaneously
and I was nervous, but I took
the job and was happy that there
were a few months to go until
the event. Boruch Hashem, I

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was successful and everyone

was pleased. From then on, my
name got around by word of
mouth and I got more and more
requests for events. From sheva
brachos it turned into weddings
and I became a one-man band.
So its thanks to your wife
For sure.
Not only for
encouraging me to develop my
musical career, but also for
dealing with the work at home.
Its not easy when your husband
is out of the house nearly every
evening and you are left alone to
handle the children.
But the truth is that its more
than that. Here is an anecdote
that shows what a sacrifice my
wife makes. Ten years ago, I
had a job playing at a wedding
in Boro Park on a snowy night.
In the afternoon, I went with my
wife, who was in labor, to the
hospital. Time passed and she
still had not given birth. I was
very concerned since I knew that
at seven oclock I had a wedding
to play at. I had tried to find
someone to replace me but was
unsuccessful.
I didnt know
which was worse to leave my

wife in the hospital without me or

a wedding without a musician.
My wife maintained that I
had to go bring joy to the bride
and groom and the merit of the
mitzva would help her in giving
birth. The Jewish doctor there
said that if this is what she wants,
I should go to the wedding and
right after she gave birth he
would call and update me. Thats
what we did. A few minutes after
the bride and groom went out to
the dance floor, I got a phone call
from the doctor telling me about
the birth of my son. The simcha
that night was double.
Why would a Lubavitcher
musician be asked to play for a
wedding that is not Chabad?
Not only is it not surprising,
its very appropriate; and not
only a Lubavitcher musician but
Chabad niggunim! All groups
know that Chabad niggunim
are pure simcha and when you
want a special simcha and not
something empty, vacuous, then
you request Chabad niggunim.
A number of years ago,
there was a wedding in Crown
Heights of a couple who became

interested in Chabad through

Heichal Menachem in Boro Park.
They came from well-known
Satmar families.
Before the
wedding, the couple told me that
they wanted Chabad niggunim at
their wedding and no niggunim
from other Chassidic groups,
even if relatives asked for it. That
made me a little nervous since I
knew that many distinguished
rabbis would be attending, but I
promised to do as they said.
There were hundreds of
guests wearing shtreimlach and I
put in my best effort. The simcha
was tremendous and I got a lot of
positive feedback.
A few weeks later, I got a
phone call from someone in
Monroe who said he was at that
wedding and he was making
a bar mitzva for his son which
would be attended by the Satmar
Rebbe. He wanted me to play at
the bar mitzva but only Chabad
niggunim. I asked him if he was
crazy. How could I play only
Chabad niggunim in Monroe in
the Satmar Rebbes presence?
But he said this is what he wants
and that is what I did. There

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Feature

too, the simcha was exceptional.

Everyone danced and sang with
great liveliness.
How did you become
the official musician for the
Simchas Beis HaShoeiva?
Simchas Beis HaShoeiva out
on the street began on Sukkos
5741/1980 when the Rebbe
spoke about it in a sicha. A
few years later I saw that when
it got late, the musicians were
all tired. I spoke with Yisroel
Shemtov who arranged the
festivities and offered to replace
them and play alone. He was
hesitant. Back then, the one-man
band hadnt taken off yet and he
wasnt convinced that I with my
keyboard could replace a band
and be able to hold the crowd.
In the end he was willing to give
me a one night trial. The rest is
history.
For me, the Simchas Beis
HaShoeiva lasts all year, both
because I take kochos and
simcha from it for the rest of the
year, and because I get feedback
wherever I go. At weddings in
frum neighborhoods, little kids

come over to me and ask me

whether I am the musician from
the Simchas Beis HaShoeiva.
People on the street stop me and
thank me for the great simcha
during the dancing on those
nights of Yom Tov.
Unlike weddings and other
events when I plan what I
will play, at the Simchas Beis
HaShoeiva I dont plan or
prepare. I feel that the ones who
decide what I should play is the
crowd itself and I just go with
that. Sometimes, they tell me
there is a certain niggun that I
always play towards morning.
But I never noticed that; it just
happened naturally. I see the joy
of the crowd increasing as time
moves on. I see the bachurim
dancing on and on, nonstop, and
my fingers find the right keys and
the right niggunim that will keep
them going.
I know and feel that I am only
a channel, and my job is to do
what I can, but the great simcha
is something from heaven. For
me, its a great zchus to give
such nachas to the Rebbe.

What was the highest point

in your musical career?
No question, the highest point
was when I played for the Rebbe,
when the Rebbe came out on the
balcony after Mincha in 5753
and 5754, and I would play Yechi
with the Rebbe encouraging the
singing.
How did you get that zchus?
In 5752, when the Rebbe
spoke about an increase in
simcha and doing away with
undesirable things with sixty
days of joy, R Kuti Rapp ah
arranged dancing every night in
770. He asked me to play. I was
happy to do so, and any night
that I did not have a wedding
or other event, I played in 770.
On nights I could not show up,
I found replacements. That is
how there came to be a rotation
among musicians.
When the
Rebbe started going out on the
balcony in 5753, we continued
the rotation of musicians with
someone else playing every day in
front of the Rebbe.
It was a huge zchus and
it was obvious that the Rebbe
had nachas from it. When the
Rebbe motioned with his hand
to increase the singing, I had to
increase the speed of my playing
since the crowd sang Yechi faster
and faster, over and over, as you
can see on the videos of those
days.
Those moments are etched in
my mind forever, how the Rebbe
encouraged the singing and the
crowd had emuna shleima that
the Rebbe was about to reveal
himself and the Geula was
beginning.
Today I pray that I merit
this once again, to play at the
true and complete Geula and to
see the Rebbe encouraging the
singing with both his hands.
Amen.

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PARSHA THOUGHT

GLOBAL
WARMING OF
THE FUTURE
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

DONT KICK YOUR SUKKA

The Talmud (Avoda Zara 3a)
discusses an intriguing dialogue
that will take place in the future
Messianic Age between G-d and
the Nations of the world:
After discussing how they
will testify that the Jewish people
observed the commandments,
they too will come and demand a
reward. They will say:
Master of the Universe! Give
[the Torah] to us anew and we
will observe it.
The Holy One Blessed is He,
says to them, Fools of the world!
Whoever toiled on the eve of the
Sabbath will eat on the Sabbath,
but whoever did not toil on the
eve of the Sabbath from where
will he eat on the Sabbath?
Nevertheless, [I will accede to
your request]. I have an easy
Mitzvah and its name is Sukka.
Go and perform [it].
Immediately, each [member
of the Nations] goes to construct
a Sukka on the roof of his house.
The Holy One Blessed is He
pierces them with the sun in the
Tammuz season. And each and
every one kicks his Sukka and
leaves.
The Talmud questions G-ds
tactic in proving the disloyalty of

the Nations to the performance

of a Mitzvah. Even a Jew would
be exempt from dwelling in a
Sukka under these circumstances
of extreme heat since the rule is
that when one is in distress he is
exempted from the Sukka. The
Talmud answers that although a
Jew would be compelled to leave
the Sukka he would not kick it
on the way out.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Many questions have been
asked about this enigmatic story
in the Talmud.
First, why did G-d choose the
Mitzvah of Sukka specifically as
a test of the Nations desire to
fulfill the commandments?
The Talmud seems to address
this question by referring to the
Sukka as an easy Mitzvah
because it doesnt involve a
significant monetary cost. But
there are many other Mitzvos
which do not involve major
expense. Why this Mitzvah
specifically?
Second, why did G-d then
make it difficult for them to
observe the Mitzvah of Sukka?
Certainly it was G-ds way of
demonstrating that they were
not serious about serving Him.

But, the fact that G-d made

the performance of this easy
Mitzvah difficult seems to
undermine the initial emphasis
that this was an easy Mitzvah. It
turned out not to be so easy.
Third, why did G-d cause
them to leave the Sukka as a
result of the extreme heat? G-d
could have poured rain down on
their Sukkos, which would have
yielded the same result.
Fourth, why did they build the
Sukkos on their rooftops?
Rashi explains that in those
days roofs were flat and people
used roofs for many of their
needs.
However while this explains
how it was possible to build
a Sukka on a rooftop, it does
not explain why they chose
the rooftops instead of their
yards. And, more importantly,
why were the Talmudic authors
interested in reporting such an
inconsequential aspect of the
story?

TOTALITY!
One way of approaching
this matter is to reflect that the
Mitzvah of Sukka was chosen
specifically because, despite its
simplicity, it is one Mitzvah that
comprises all the other Mitzvos,
both subjectively and objectively.
From the perspective of the

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PARSHA THOUGHT
person who fulfills this Mitzvah,
the Sukka is unique. When
we perform this Mitzvah it
encompasses the totality of the
person. One enters the Sukka
wearing his clothing and his
boots. Even the Mikveh, which
requires full immersion, does
not involve ones clothing. The
Sukka is the sole Mitzvah that
involves the totality of the person
and encompasses all of ones
routine activities such as eating
and sleeping.

walls, each consisting of 7 by 10

tfachim (handbreadths-about 3
to 4 inches). A third wall must
be at least one handbreadth by
10. If we add the schach (the
covering of branches), which is
7x7 it amounts to an additional
49 handbreadths. If we add
on the floor space it gives us
another 49 handbreadths. When
we add up all these dimensions,
70+70+10+49+49, they equal
248!
Another connection of the

The test here is not whether they will respect the

Mitzvah or be willing to do it. Rather, the test is
whether they have the spiritual stamina to absorb the
lofty warmth and heat of the cumulative power of 248
Mitzvos. G-d would not test them merely to see how
faithful they would be. Rather, it will be G-ds way of
showing them they did not have the capacity to absorb
the spiritual reward for all the Mitzvos.

SUKKA = 248
The word Sukka, when
spelled phonetically [i.e., when
we take each letter and spell
it as it is sounded] adds up to
248, which is the number of
positive commandments in the
Torah. [There are a total of 613
commandments in the Torah of
which 248 are prescriptive, the
dos, whereas the other 365 are
proscriptive commandments, the
donts.]
Another
fascinating
connection between the Sukka
and the number 248 has been
stated by the famous Chassidic
Masters, Rabbi Chaim of
Tzanz and Rabbi Avraham of
Sochotchov:
The minimum dimension of a
Sukka (in terms of Biblical law)
is that it must have at least two

Sukka to the number 248 is

in the Talmuds association
of the 248 Mitzvos to the 248
organs of the human body.
When we enter the Sukka we
enter with all of our limbs and
organs, which symbolize all of
the positive Mitzvos. Here we
see how the subjective nature
of the Sukka (entering with all
of our 248 organs) matches the
Sukka which represents the 248
commandments.

ENTERING G-DS DOMAIN

Conceptually, each and every
Mitzvah enables us to enter into
G-ds Sukka, i.e., G-ds abode,
one Mitzvah at a time. However,
a single Mitzvah gets us only part
way into the Divine Sukka. The
Mitzvah of dwelling in a Sukka
allows us to enter G-ds Sukka

completely.
We can now understand why
G-d will test the Nations with the
Mitzvah of Sukka. When G-d
tests these clamoring protesters
he chooses to give them a
Mitzvah that comprises all the
other Mitzvos. If they were to
pass this test they would be ready
for all of the commandments.
Otherwise, even fulfilling one
Mitzvah would still not entitle
them to the same reward the
Jewish people are destined to
receive for observance of all the
Mitzvos.
On a deeper level, one may
suggest that by giving them the
one Mitzvah that contains all of
the Mitzvos, G-d would expose
them to incredible spiritual
energy.
This then is the deeper
significance of building the
Sukka on their rooftops. The roof
is the closest part of ones home
to the rays of the sun. These
test-Sukkos will not be ordinary.
The object of having the Nations
perform this Mitzvah is to expose
them to the powerful spiritual
G-dly energy that is compared to
the sun.
Contrary to the surface
understanding of the story, the
test here is not if they will respect
the Mitzvah or be willing to do
it. Rather, the test is whether
they have the spiritual stamina
to absorb the lofty warmth and
heat of the cumulative power of
248 Mitzvos. G-d would not test
them merely to see how faithful
they would be. It will be G-ds
way of showing them they did
not have the capacity to absorb
the spiritual reward for all the
Mitzvos.

THE REWARD OF A
MITZVAH IS THE MITZVAH
This is based on a deeper

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understanding of the reward

for our observance of Mitzvos.
Understood conventionally, a
reward is something received
in return for doing something
meritorious. The true meaning
of reward for a Mitzvah,
however, is that the reward is
the Mitzvah itself. Each Mitzvah
generates a measure of G-dly
light, which, when experienced
fully, is the greatest form of bliss
and pleasure.
In the pre-Messianic Age most
of us cannot experience this bliss.
The coarseness of the body and
Animal Soul is an impediment to
this feeling. Moreover, if every
Mitzvah produced an immediate
blissful state beyond any delight
we can imagine, it would be
virtually impossible to resist
doing every Mitzvah possible.
Every Mitzvah we perform
has a gradual impact on our
bodies and souls that prepares
us for the Final Redemption by
conditioning us to absorb the
powerful blissful energy that we
generated by our own Mitzvos.
This thought is based on
the statement of the Talmud
(Nedarim 8b): G-d will take
the sun out of its sheath; the
righteous will be healed by it,
whereas the wicked will be
punished by it. In the Messianic

Age, the world will experience

a spiritual form of Global
Warming.
The suns effect on the
wicked is not simply punishment,
but a direct consequence of
their sins. One who commits a
transgression becomes resistant
to the G-dly energy generated by
a Mitzvah. As a result they will
be ill prepared to tolerate and
enjoy the incredible delight and
magnitude of G-dly light that will
be generated when G-d removes
the sheath that has obscured
the effects of the Mitzvos in the
present day and age.
This then also explains the
meaning of the phrase that G-d
pierces them with the sun. This
image is meant to suggest that
they will be unable to tolerate
the Divine radiance generated
by the all-encompassing
Mitzvah of Sukka.
One cannot just show
up
for
the
Messianic
Age, unprepared by the
performance of Mitzvos,
and expect to bask in the
G-dly light. Even if they
are able to generate light
in the Messianic Age, they
will not be able to reap the
full benefits because they
will be unable to safely and
comfortably absorb such

intense light.
As the Talmud (in the context
of their demand for reward in the
future), explains the verse: You
shall keep the commandments
which I command you today to
do them: Today [in the preMessianic Age] was made to do
them, and not tomorrow [the
Messianic Age]. Today was to
do them, and today was not for
receiving reward.
The Mitzvos (and particularly
the Mitzvah of Sukka) we do
today serve a dual function:
They generate G-dly light and
they refine and shield us so that
we are capable of being exposed
to the G-dly radiance and fully
equipped to enter into G-ds
overarching Sukka.

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STORIES

THE SIFREI
TORAH THAT
WERE SAVED AT
THE LAST MINUTE
Presented for Simchas Torah
By Menachem Ziegelboim

here was a very special

man by the name of R
Refael Chudaitov.
He
was a Bucharian Jew who
had a great love for Sifrei Torah.
He would rescue Sifrei Torah
from destruction, and he often
endangered his life for this.
R Refael considered it a
double mitzva to rescue Sifrei
Torah and get them to safety and
enable other Jews to use them.
He did this despite the Iron
Curtain which separated Russia
from the rest of the world.
As a sofer who lived in
Samarkand, said R Yitzchok
Mishulovin, now of Crown
Heights, I also fixed Sifrei
Torah. R Chudaitov often gave
me Sifrei Torah to fix.
He would bring me old Sifrei
Torah that he got in all kinds of
places, even from Siberia, and he

would pay me to check and fix

them. Then he would send them
to Eretz Yisroel.
The following stories tell of
this simple tzaddik and his soul
connection with Sifrei Torah.

PART I
As told by R Gershon
Klivansky ah:
At the end of nine years which
I spent in a city in Siberia, the
local Jewish community decided
to express its gratitude for the
spiritual help I gave them and
gifted me with a rare Torah
scroll. I was very moved by
this magnificent gift. But I had
a problem how would I get
this forbidden item across the
Russian border?
One night, as I got ready to
go to sleep, there was knocking

at the door. In Soviet Russia,

when you heard knocking at
the door late at night, your heat
started beating rapidly.
There was no peephole and I
called out, Who is it?
Please open, said the
voice of an old man who spoke
Russian. I was taken aback.
I opened the door and there
was a man with a white beard
who introduced himself as Refael
from Bucharia.
Would you please let me
sleep here? he asked.
That posed a serious dilemma.
On the one hand, his appearance
demonstrated that he was
kosher. On the other hand, he
could be a spy and imposter with
a beard glued on. The principle,
respect and suspect was very
much accepted in Russia. That
was the only way to live. In the

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meantime, he stood there and

asked me again, Please, allow
me to sleep here near the door.
My logic screamed out: How
can you just let someone in? Why
does he want to sleep near the
door? Maybe hes a thief who
plans on robbing you and then
fleeing in the middle of the night.
Why are you thinking so
much? asked the mysterious
man.
I really have no reason to
think a lot about it, I said, since
it is not accepted to have a guest
sleep near the door, especially
someone as distinguished as
you.
But the man continued to
plead to be allowed to sleep near
the door and I finally agreed. For
the next many hours I couldnt
sleep a wink in my nervousness.
In the middle of the night

I heard a rustling sound. I was

petrified. Should I wake up my
wife and children who would
help me fight the thief? Maybe
I should knock on the wall
between my apartment and the
neighboring apartment and wake
up the neighbors? But they would
surely mock me and go back to
sleep. I decided to quietly get out
of bed and see what was going
on.
A weak light suddenly pierced
the darkness. The guest had lit
a candle, sat on the floor near
the door and began conducting
Tikkun Chatzos!
I couldnt believe my eyes.
Fifty years after the Communist
Revolution, there were still Jews
who went against the mighty
current of heresy that swept the
country and even conducted
Tikkun Chatzos!

I
went
back
to
bed
without revealing that I knew
the guests secret.
In the
morning I asked him, How
did you sleep, R Refael?
Boruch Hashem, he replied.
I slept well. But do me a favor.
Call me just plain Refael. Dont
make me problems.
I didnt understand what he
meant until he provided me with
a convincing explanation.
I am a simple Jew and I
try, as much as possible, not
to generate any big complaints
against me in heaven after 120
years. It sometimes happens that
I am successful, with Hashems
help, in doing something good.
But if I am called R Refael, what
will I answer in the next world
when they ask me, Refael, in
the lower world they called you

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Stories

R Refael (second from left) at the Kosel with family members

In the morning, relatives of the deceased came

and said that this forsaken place was previously
populated completely by Jews who were descendants of
Cantonists.
rabbi. Did you deserve that
title?
I told him that I was about
to leave Russia and he made
me an offer. The trip abroad
entails many expenses. If you
would like, I can give you a loan,
whatever you need, on condition
that you repay it when I arrive in
Eretz Yisroel.
I expressed my gratitude
and said that I did not need
money but I could use his help in
smuggling out a Torah.
That is no problem, he said.
Give me a sum of money (for
bribes in the right places) and
the Torah will reach Yerushalayim
before you do. This is not the
first time I am doing this.
Although I wanted to give him
more than the sum he asked for,
he refused and said he did not act
as the middleman but just did it
as a chesed.

The Torah did indeed reach

Eretz Yisroel a short while later,
thanks to him, and was given to a
yeshiva in Yerushalayim.

PART II
For many years, R Refael
dreamed of going to Eretz
Yisroel and he made spiritual
preparations toward this end.
His
preparations
included
sending Sifrei Torah and other
holy ritual items out of Russia.
He was successful in this holy
and dangerous work because of
his connections with many Jews
all over Russia. One of those
Sifrei Torah is housed in the Aron
Kodesh in the beis midrash of the
Machnovka Rebbe ztvkl of Bnei
Brak.
R Refael had the rare ability
to make numerous personal
connections, even with people
he didnt know. He was highly

energetic and never stopped his

public work. He was always on
the move, in the south or north,
in Moscow or Tbilisi, in Kutaisi
or Tashkent, in Andijan or
Fergana. In all these places, Jews
looked forward to the coming of
R Refael the Angel. His frequent
travels to distant places always
concluded with his acquiring new
friends.
When he traveled, he usually
managed to make it back home
before Shabbos, for he was
particular about not setting out
on a trip close to Shabbos. But
there were times that he was on
long trips and he had no choice
but to spend Shabbos in an
unfamiliar place. Then he would
knock on a door of a Jew where
he was usually welcomed with
open arms. It was impossible
to withstand his personal charm.
That is how he acquired friends
and the friendships were longlasting.
R Refael not only traveled on
the roads but also accumulated
numerous hours in the air.
He went to all parts of Russia
including the Ural Mountains,
and even distant places in Siberia
like Vladivostok, which is on the
Russian-Japanese border.
One year, he flew to
Novosibirsk on business. He
sold dried fruit, wine and liquors.
As soon as he arrived, he found
out where the local shul was and
he rented a place to stay near the
shul so he could easily attend
there.
In the middle of the night
a fire broke out in one of the
wooden houses near the shul.
When R Refael saw the flames
approaching the shul and
threatening to destroy it, he ran
there quickly, jumped in through
a window, and tried to save what
he could from the Aron Kodesh.
He found two small Sifrei Torah

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and with great danger to himself,

he managed to get them out of
the shul before the structure went
up in flames.
When the sun rose, he opened
the two Sifrei Torah and to his
amazement he discovered that
they were new and written with
special ink, different than any
ink he was familiar with. When
he spoke with the gabbai of the
shul, he learned that they were
written in Siberia and were not
completed, for some reason.
He kept this to himself for
years until the day he planned
on leaving Russia.
Then he
had the idea of taking these
two small Sifrei Torah with him
to Eretz Yisroel. He went to
Novosibirsk, met with the head
of the community and told him: A
number of years ago there was a
fire here at the shul and I had the
zchus of rescuing your two small
Sifrei Torah. Now I am about to
immigrate to Eretz Yisroel and
I want to buy these scrolls from
you for a token amount.
R Refael continued: The
Jewish community here is very
small and these scrolls are not
needed. If you send them to
Eretz Yisroel they will be read
over there in your merit.
The gabbai agreed and sold
them to him cheaply.
R
Refael
brought
the
scrolls to Samarkand where
he gave them to R Yitzchok
Mishulovin to check and finish
the writing. When the work
was successfully completed, R
Refael invited dozens of Jews to
a festive farbrengen to celebrate
the completion of the two Sifrei
Torah.
The simcha was great, said
his son Moshiach. We all took
off our shoes and danced quietly
in the big room so as not to draw
attention from potential snitches.
I cannot begin to describe his

Moscow June 18, 1969

Permit #004393 for the
removal of valuable, cultural
items
1-Name of the person taking
them out: Chudaitov, Refael
Niazovitz
2-Citizenry: Soviet citizen
3-Occupation: retired
4-Contents: Torah scroll written
in Hebrew and without a
covering and without sticks (i.e.
atzei chayim)
5-Destination: Israel as a gift for
S (Shoshana) Kogan (daughter
of R Refael)
6 Permit Issuer: Deakonova,
authorized by the Ministry of
Culture, USSR
7 Committee Conclusions:
item is not particularly rare
8-Estimated Value: 150 rubles

great joy with this big mitzva.

R Refael brought the two
scrolls to Eretz Yisroel. He gave
one as a gift to the Bucharian
community in Nachalat Har
Chabad, and gave the other to his
son Moshiach who gave it to his
nephew, R Michoel Tairimov.

PART III
Another Torah scroll that
R Refael rescued and brought

to Samarkand was an ancient

and unique one written on deer
hide. Tradition had it that it
had belonged to the Mezritcher
Maggid. Here too, R Yitzchok
Mishulovin worked hard on
fixing the old scroll. Then R
Refael sent it to the Rebbe as a
gift. It was sent with Mrs. Brucha
Niazov, the wife of R Chananya
ah, who fled Russia in 1930 and
later lived in Crown Heights. At
the end of the 60s, she visited
family in Samarkand and R
Refael took the opportunity and
asked her to take the precious
scroll out of Russia as extra
luggage which she would take on
the plane, as a gift to the Rebbe.
At first she refused because
she was afraid to take something
precious out of Russia lest she
be caught and accused of a
crime. The fear of punishment
in Russia, especially for one who
had lived in that country, was
embedded deep in their hearts.
Nevertheless, this was important
to R Refael who continued to
importune her and said: Those
who are emissaries to do a mitzva
are not harmed. But she was still
afraid.
A few days later, Mrs. Niazov
went to Fergana near Samarkand.
During the trip she was involved
in a serious car accident and
miraculously survived.
In
gratitude to Hashem she decided
to accede to his request and take
the Torah scroll to America.
The Rebbe called this Torah,
the Bucharian Torah, and was
very happy with it.
R Refael asked that it say
the origin of the Torah on the
mantel but the Rebbe said not
to publicize that it had come
from Soviet Russia since the
sender still lived in Russia. It was
only after R Refael left Russia
and went to see the Rebbe that
it could be publicized.
That

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Stories

The locals gave me a lot of honor. They took a

sled, harnessed to three huge dogs, and put me
in it with the Sifrei Torah and all the remaining Jewish
items.
Shabbos, the Rebbe asked that
they read from the Bucharian
Torah. After that, now and then,
they would read from it in the
Rebbes minyan on Shabbos.

PART IV
During World War II, R
Yehuda Leib Levin fled Moscow
and ended up in Bucharia in
a little village by the name of
Margalan.
When R Refael
went to Margalan on one of his
journeys, he found R Levin and
his family who were starving and
had no Jewish ritual items. R
Refael immediately brought them
kosher food and sifrei kodesh.
He helped them a great deal and
they became close friends.
R Levin eventually returned
to Moscow and was appointed
the official Chief Rabbi of
Moscow. R Levin now saw
an opportunity to repay R
Refael and helped him in many
ways.
For example, before
Sukkos, R Refael would send
his son Moshiach to R Levin
to get esrogim from him. These
esrogim were sent from abroad
for Russian Jewry.
R Levin
would meet with R Moshiach in
a quiet place in fear of the walls
have ears, and secretly give him
the esrogim. R Moshiach would
quickly bring them to Samarkand
for the community there.
One time, when R Moshiach
went to R Levin on his fathers
behalf, R Levin told him that as
Chief Rabbi of Moscow he had
received a letter from someone
who lived in a tiny town in
Siberia. The man wrote that

in their town there were some

righteous converts and he was
the head of the community. In
recent years he remained the
sole remnant of the Jewish
community. He felt his end was
near and he was afraid that the
gentiles would take the Sifrei
Torah and desecrate them. He
requested that they send someone
to take the Sifrei Torah and bring
them to a Jewish community.
When R Moshiach returned
to Samarkand, he told his father
about it, who suggested they
send R Berke Schiff. R Berke
tells the story of how he rescued
the Sifrei Torah:
One day, R Moshiach
Chudaitov came over to me
in Samarkand and told me he
had just returned from a trip to
Moscow where he had seen the
Chief Rabbi, R Levin, on behalf
of his father. R Levin told him
about an old Jew by the name of
Yosef Mayassin who lived in a
small village in Siberia. The man
wrote that he had three Sifrei
Torah and he wanted to send
them with someone to a Jewish
community, for after he died
there would be no one to watch
over them.
R Moshiach said his father
very much wanted me to take
care of this. I told R Moshiach
that if I had the opportunity in the
near future to travel to Moscow,
I would think of traveling from
there to Siberia. I consulted
with my mashpia, R Moshe
Nisselevitch, and he encouraged
me to do it.
I was in the middle of getting
ready for a trip to Kursk at the

time.
My brother-in-law, R
Shmuel Rabinowitz, lived there
and his wife had twin boys. My
mother-in-law asked me to go
there to help arrange the brissin.
I knew that if I did not go, it
would be hard for them to get a
mohel.
When I arrived in Moscow, I
asked Anash whether there was a
mohel in Kursk, a nights journey
by train from Moscow. When
I was told no, I hired a mohel
in Moscow and went with him,
traveling all night, to Kursk.
That was a Thursday. When
we arrived, I met the new mother
and she asked that the brissin
take place secretly so that nobody
but us would know about it. Only
we three adults were present,
the mother, the mohel and me,
because
my
brother-in-law,
father of the babies, preferred
to stay away so that if he was
questioned he could say that the
mother did it on her own. So I
had sandakaus twice.
After the brissin, I remained
in their house to help them
and I decided to stay until after
Shabbos. I asked whether there
were any Chabad Chassidim in
Kursk and they told me there was
one man by the name of Zalman
matza zetzer (the one who puts
matzos into the oven), the son
of the famous Chassid, R Dovid
Horodoker. I wrote down his
address and went to his house on
Friday afternoon.
I knocked at his door and it
was soon opened by a young girl.
Who are you looking for?
R Zalman, I said.
She asked me to wait a few
minutes outside and then came
back and invited me in. She
directed me to the kitchen where
she raised part of the wooden
floorboard and told me to go
downstairs. Down below I saw
R Zalman who was standing and

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preparing candles for Shabbos.

I introduced myself and said I
was a Chabad Chassid. He was
stunned by this and said he did
not believe me. I picked up my
shirt and showed him my tzitzis.
He burst into tears and said,
Who would have believed that
nowadays in Russia there would
be young Jews who wear tzitzis?
I told him that in Samarkand
there were many religious Jews,
including dozens of young
Chassidim who lived Jewish lives.
I suggested that he try to go to
Samarkand soon and join the
Chassidic community.
On Motzaei Shabbos I went
back to Moscow and went to the
home of my brother, R Aryeh
Leib. When I told him I was
going to Siberia he was taken
aback and said, Are you crazy?
Youre going to Siberia in the
middle of the winter?
I told him that I had promised
R Refael Chudaitov that I would
go to Siberia and I had to keep
my word. My brother continued
arguing with me and I finally
said that I would look for a sign.
If, when I go now to the ticket
office I find a night flight to
Kranoyarsk, I will go. Otherwise,

I wont go.
When I got to the ticket
office, I asked whether there was
a night flight. I was told yes, in
three hours. I went back to my
brothers house and said I was
going to Siberia. I left all my
things in his house, and only took
empty suitcases so I could put
the three Sifrei Torah in them. I
arrived in Krasnoyarsk on a small
plane for ten people and from
there I took a small bus. There
was snow wherever you looked
and only the main highway was
cleared.
I arrived in a small village
by morning and asked where
Yosef Mayassin lived. One of
the people gave me a long look
and then said, I know where he
lives but he just died. I felt that
divine providence was directing
me.
I arrived at the house toward
evening after a long day of
traveling. In the dark corridor
sat some women wearing black.
When they saw me they burst
into tears and wails, Oy, what
a pity he did not get to see you.
You have no idea how he waited
for you...
I went to the living room

where, in the center, stood a

table covered with a tallis and in
a corner was an Aron Kodesh
consisting of a wooden box
covered by a handmade paroches.
I opened the Aron Kodesh and
saw three Sifrei Torah.
I stayed there all night. In
the morning, relatives of the
deceased came and said that this
place was previously populated
completely by Jews who were
descendants of Cantonists who
were all religious. The old R
Mayassin was their rabbi and
he was the last remnant of these
Jews. They also said that he
had been waiting eagerly for my
arrival until his final moments,
since R Moshiach had sent him
a telegram saying I was going to
arrive and take the Sifrei Torah.
I took the Sifrei Torah and
put them in the suitcases. The
locals gave me a lot of honor
and took a sled, harnessed to
three huge dogs, and put me in
it with the Sifrei Torah and all
the remaining Jewish items, and
I made my way back to Moscow
and from there to Samarkand.
After many twists and turns I
was finally able to bring the Sifrei
Torah to the trusty hands of R
Refael Chudaitov.
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Stories

BUILDING THE

HEAVENLY
SUKKA
A compilation of stories and aphorisms for Sukkos
HE PAID FOR HIS
ESROG ON CHANUKA

and the Rebbe did not want to do

this.

During one of his farbrengens

in the summer of 5745/1985, the
Rebbe said that the Rebbe Rayatz
would pay for the esrog (since it
needs to be and take for you) a
while after Sukkos (for a reason
known to him), and the seller
knew about this from the start
and bequeathed him the esrog
with an outright acquisition and
during Chanuka he would get his
money.
R Yisroel Jacobson would
bring the esrogim and some time
after Sukkos he would give the
Rebbe a report on the esrogim
and then the Rebbe would pay
him.
The Rebbe said: The first
year I came here [Tishrei 5702],
I asked the Rebbe [Rayatz] to
pay R Yisroel before Sukkos so
it would be completely yours,

SIMCHA AND BITACHON

During Sukkos be joyous
with the joy of a mitzva and with
complete trust in Almighty G-ds
kindness, who heard our prayers
amongst the prayers of His
people, Bnei Yisroel, and gave
us and all our fellow Jews and
their families a year of life and
blessing.
(From a letter of the Rebbe Rayatz,
Igros Kodesh, vol. 4, p. 416)

ESROGIM TO RUSSIA
The first night of Sukkos
5729/1968, the Rebbe revealed
to those sitting around the table
at the meal, This year is the first
time that the Soviet government
allowed esrogim to be sent.
He added, Last year, a
shipment of esrogim was also

sent to Russia, but it was done

surreptitiously as though it
was fruit. This time, this year,
official permission was granted.
Furthermore, when the esrogim
were brought to the consul, he
asked where are the rest of the
minim a goy knows that there
needs to be the rest of the minim
and they gave him the rest of the
minim too!
(HaMelech BMesibo)

ENTERING THE HOLY

A description of Erev Sukkos:
Upon his returning from the
Ohel [13 Tishrei], they would
enter the Rebbes room and
present esrogim for him and for
him to distribute. In later years
they did not bring them to his
room but left them inGan Eden
HaTachton. When the Rebbe
would return from the Ohel
he dealt there with selecting
esrogim.

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R Yisroel Jacobson and his

son-in-law, R Mordechai Altein
(and after R YJs passing on 17
Sivan 5735, R Mordechai and
his son-in-law, R Yitzchok Meir
Gurary) brought esrogim to the
Rebbes room.
In addition R Leib
Bistritzky went in Erev Yom Tov
to the Rebbes room and brought
lulavim, hadasim and aravos.
R Binyamin Gorodetzky also
gave through the secretariat
three esrogim that he obtained in
Calabria.
(Otzar Minhagei Chabad)

PARTICIPATE
IN MIVTZA DALET MINIM
On 26 Tishrei 5717/1956,
the Rebbe wrote to one of Anash:
Even though you do not
mention about Mivtza Dalet
Minim, as the custom of Tzeirei
Agudas Chabad in recent years,

surely this year they were also

involved in this and with greater
expansion as in the psak din
ofmaalin bakodesh(ascending
in holiness).

AFFECTING THE
SUPERNAL REALMS
When a Jew sets up the
walls of the sukka, the walls of
the supernal sukka are set up.
When he covers it with schach,
he thereby covers the supernal
sukka. When he sits in the sukka,
all the lights and revelations of
the supernal sukka are drawn
down.
(Likkutei Dibburim)

The Rebbe Rayatz: In

Lubavitch they did not make
sukka decorations, not under
the schach and not on the walls
of the sukka. R Zalke Persitz
of Moscow once brought an
artificial cluster of grapes to hang
in the sukka and they did not
hang it.
By my holy father, the Rebbe
[Rashab], the sukka decorations
were those who sat in the sukka.
The fear of accepting the yoke
of heaven on Rosh HaShana,
the avoda of Erev Yom Kippur
and Yom Kippur, and the joy
of Sukkos were, for my father,
experiences of the innermost
soul.

NO SUKKA DECORATIONS

A LOT OF SCHACH

In Seifer HaSichos 5704, the

following exchange is recorded:
Question: Did they make
sukka decorations in Lubavitch?

The Chabad custom is to use

a lot of schach on the sukka. The
Alter Rebbe would order them to
make it denser. In order to fulfill

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Stories
the halacha that the stars should
be seen from within the sukka
they would poke a stick through
the thick schach to create a hole
through which they could be
seen.
R Shneur Zalman Butman,
who lived in Paris, heard from
a Jew living there that one year
the Rebbe celebrated Sukkos in
that city. The Rebbe, who was
submerged all day in the tent of
Torah, introverted, quiet, was
seen on the eve of the holiday
on the street dragging a lot of
schach in order to fulfill the
hiddur to cover the sukka with a
lot of schach.

SPIRITUAL PAUPER
In the holy Zohar there is
an unusual warning about the
necessity to have guests in the
sukka. One can say this means
that even someone who is poor
in the mitzva of sukka, i.e. he
lacks the wherewithal to fulfill
this mitzva, it is a mitzva to invite
a pauper like this into the
sukka and acquaint him with this
lofty mitzva.
(Sicha 13 Tishrei 5736)

OUR CUSTOM IS NOT TO

USE DECORATIONS
On Simchas Torah 5730, the
Rebbe explained:
True, in his year-round home,
when he wants to beautify it, he
hangs a nice curtain etc. and why
shouldnt he do so in the sukka
(You should sit in it like in your
residence)?
But there is a big difference
here. In his home there is no
holiness, while in the sukka
there was holiness during the
time of the Beis HaMikdash and
now too.
On
another
occasion,
the Rebbe explained that the

beautification needs to be in
the very sukka itself and not in
external things.
(Sichos Kodesh 5730; Yagdil Torah
New York)

A SPECIAL MITZVA
The mitzva of sukka is a
special mitzva for it completely
surrounds a person from head
to toe, with all his clothing
including his shoes. Furthermore,
any activity done in the sukka
(eating, sleeping etc.) is a mitzva.
To teach you: A person has
the ability to serve his Creator
not only when he learns Torah
and prays but also when he takes
care of his physical needs, and
the matter depends solely upon
him. When he truly desires it, he
will gain the awareness that not
only is this service possible but
its even an easy service, as our
Sages say regarding sukka that it
is an easy mitzva.
(Likkutei Sichos vol. 2)

PERMANENT AND
TEMPORARY
There are two contrasting
aspects of the mitzva of sukka.
On the one hand, the sukka is a
temporary structure as the Sages
say, All seven days go out of
your permanent dwelling and sit
in your temporary dwelling.
This world is like a sukka
for it is a temporary dwelling, a
corridor to the World to Come. A
Jew must feel that matters of this
world are only transitory.
However, when the matters
of this world are not important
to him and he uses them solely
for the sake of heaven, he makes
this sukka into a dwelling for
Hashem. The world and what
it contains become transformed
into a permanent dwelling for
Hashem.
(Likkutei Sichos vol. 9)

WHY THE
USHPIZIN COME
The reason the Ushpizin
appear on Sukkos and not on
other holidays:
During the winter, it is harder
to serve Hashem than during the
summer. In the winter, the sun
does not shine as much and it is
explained that the sun alludes to
the name YHVH, representing
light and revelation (as it says,
for a sun and a shield are YHVH
Elokim the name YHVH is
compared to the sun and the
name Elokim to a sheath which
encompasses it). Therefore, the
Ushpizin come to us on Sukkos
in order to give us strength and
encouragement in our service of
Hashem for the duration of the
winter which is about to begin.
(Sicha of Sukkos 5712)

DERECH ERETZ
FOR THE SCHACH
The attendant of the Rebbe
Maharash once entered the
sukka while angry. The Rebbe
said to him: You need to behave
with derech eretz in front of the
schach; the schach do not like
anger.
(Seifer HaSichos 5704)

THE REBBE CAME

TO THE SUKKA
One Hoshana Raba, the
Mezritcher Maggid entered his
sukka and was followed by his
student, the Alter Rebbe. The
Maggid said to him:
Lock the door so no one
comes in; and dont become
overly excited, the master [the
Baal Shem Tov] is coming.
That was the first time that
the Alter Rebbe saw the Baal
Shem Tov while awake.
(Seifer HaSichos 5705)

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NEWS

VILLAGE RESCUER
AND MISSIONARY CULT
SURVIVOR COMING TO
CROWN HEIGHTS
A MUST ATTEND EVENT TO PROTECT
OUR CHILDREN

In a special event taking

place for one night only in
Crown Heights, two special
presentations will be given,
arranged by Yad LAchim.
Yoav Goldfein is an expert
and one of Yad LAchims top
rescue experts rescuing Jewish
and women trapped in Arab
Villages. Yoav is also an expert
in counter missionary tactics
and the deceitful practices of
cults. For the first time in the
United States, Yoav will present
the firsthand dramatic stories of
rescue the mitzvah of Pidyon
Shvuyim. The captivating stories
are sure to leave a lifelong
impression on all attendees. A
short film depicting an actual
rescue will be shown during the
vent as well.
The same evening will feature
the emotional and incredible
story of the Maharam Schiffs
grandson who returned. A.
Schiff grew up in a traditional
Israeli household and through
a series of events ended up

becoming a missionary for the

messianic Jews for J. cult in
Eretz Yisrael
A. will speak on how he was
fooled into joining the cult and
what finally caused him to leave.
In an important message, A.
will also share important advice
on how to protect yourself
and your children from the
missionaries who have begun

targeting Crown Heights.

This important event, for both
men and women will take place
on Tuesday Evening October
13th at 8:00 p.m. at Lubavitcher
Yeshiva, 570 Crown Street.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR
TO BOOK ADVANCE SEATS, CALL
YAD LACHIM AT 866-923-5224 OR
VISIT WWW.YADLACHIM.ORG

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TZIVOS HASHEM

A ROYAL

RIDDLE
By D Chaim

a serious look and then said,

This year, G-d willing, you will
become bar mitzva. Ima and I
have decided that you are old
enough to travel with me to
770, to the Rebbe, for Tishrei.
And just like that, Abba imparted the exciting news.
Wow! Thank you! How exciting! I rejoiced. Abba did not
want to cool off my enthusiasm.
After I had calmed down a bit,
he said, Dont forget that this
requires something of you.
But I already donated most
of my savings to the contest I
organized with my friends in
school. I dont think I can pay
for a ticket.
My father smiled and said,
No, thats not what I meant.
A trip to the Rebbe requires
preparation. Adding in concentration in tfilla and learning with more enthusiasm. It
would also be good if you made
a good resolution.
The days passed by quickly
and there I was, walking into
770 with my father. It was
so special walking around 770
and seeing everything in person
for the first time. This is the
Yes, Abba.
and thereCome sit on the couch. I place of the Rebbe
of evhome
true
the
also
fore,
want to tell you something.
Jew.
ery
Something in Abbas voice
After I learned a little, I felt
made me very curious.
tired because of the flight and
Abba looked at me with

I woke up early in the morning. After washing my hands

I noticed a note lying near my
I opened it curiously
pillow.
and this is what it said:
A deep matter which is inspiring,
which reaches the lowest of
all places.
On Rosh HaShana it is emphasized,
and every year every moment anew.
Who put this riddle here,
I wondered. I liked the idea.
My friends know that I enjoy
riddles and figuring them out
in my free time. But here, in
my cousins house? How do they
know about my hobby?
Of course you dont know
who my cousins are and why
I am at their house. And you
probably want to know the
meaning of this riddle. I will
tell you everything from the
beginning.
Mendy!
My fathers voice from the
living room roused me from the
book I was reading.

I told my father I was going to

our relatives who were hosting
us. My relatives welcomed me
graciously and urged me to go
nap. I went to my room and
soon fell asleep and had Chassidishe dreams.
The next morning I woke up
early and found the riddle that
I told you about before. The
last of my sleepiness vanished
in an instant. I wondered who
wrote the riddle and was glad I
had something to work on. The
riddle looked hard and I decided I needed to find someone to
help me solve it.
I chose Shloimy, a cousin my
age. He is a bit tall and wears
glasses. Hes smart and I was
sure that together we could
solve the riddle. At first I even
thought he was the one who
wrote the riddle and I decided
I would tell him about it and if
he played dumb I would know
it was him.
That evening I went to his
room and told him about the
He excitedly said, I
riddle.
have a book which has all sorts
of ways to solve riddles. Its in
English and you wont be able
to read it but I will try to find
a solution in it.
When I returned to his room
half an hour later, I burst out
laughing. Shloimy was sitting

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