What Was Different Before Chof Zayin Adar 5752

Welcome to our weekly program, "The Inside Story of Chabad in America," through the Mindel Archives.

We are now in the middle of an Ibur year, a leap year (Shana Me'uberet), and next week is Purim Katan. A month later is called Purim Gadol. It says in a sefer that on a leap year we need a special shmira, a special protection - it's a difficult year, it's a challenging year, and it's a heavy year. And I heard from Alter Chassidim that they were always afraid of a Shana Me'uberet, a leap year. So on the leap year one should try to be extra careful in Ahavas Yisroel, and to prevent negativity, and to always [be mindful] of everything.

As the Rebbe says in some letters I saw - also I think in the sichos - [the two Adars equal] 60 days; each month is 30 days, so it's 60 days, and 60 days nullifies [b'tul] any negative effects. So the Rebbe tried to counteract the negative impact of the year [with brochos] - because this year we have to be careful - I mean the month of Adar.

And we do see, by the Rebbe, what happened. We see [Tof Shin Lamed, Shemini Atzeres - ?] a heart attack, and I think - I'm not sure - I think Tof Shin Daled [?] was also an Ibur year. The Rebbe then also had a heart attack, a minor heart attack, I'm not sure, but b'amito shel davar [?] it did [happen]. And also Tof Shin Nun Beis [5752] - exactly 30 years this month - the Rebbe had a stroke. So this is the month that we have to be very careful.

The Rebbe also said, excuse me, that Purim Katan has a maalah, an advantage, over Purim Gadol. Even though next month, Purim Gadol, we read the Megillah and we send Shalach Manos and Matanos L'Evyonim, Purim Katan has an advantage: what's the advantage? In 19 years there are 19 Purim Gadols - every year there's one - but there are only seven Purim Katans; it's seven times Purim Katan [in the 19-year cycle]. So Purim Katan is not a frequent guest, it's not an often oreach. And we should welcome Purim Katan with extra enthusiasm, because it's a guest - when a guest comes, and especially not a frequent guest, we always welcome with more enthusiasm.

Now, this reminds me of a story about a guest. Rabbi Mindel used to go in to the Rebbe three times a week to take dictation. He saw the Rebbe three times a week, sometimes even more. He spoke to the Rebbe on the telephone when he was in Long Beach, many times. But when the Rebbe had the stroke, Rabbi Mindel didn't feel he could go see the Rebbe - he just didn't want to. I mean, you can imagine, working with the Rebbe for almost 50 years, at one table, writing Igros Kodesh and letters and other things, and here the Rebbe cannot speak, and the Rebbe is in this situation - he just didn't feel he could go in [to the yechidus], excuse me. So he was waiting for the opportunity, for the Rebbe to become better, and then he would go in to the Rebbe.

So after five months the Rebbe felt a little better, and he went in to the Rebbe, and he said to the Rebbe, "I am a guest, I should bentch you." What is the brocha? The brocha in the Shemoneh Esrei is "Hashem" - meaning that Hashem should give the Rebbe a refuah. So he told me that the Rebbe's face lit up so much - he had never in 50 years seen the Rebbe's face light up like that, with a smile, when he heard this. So we see from here that a guest can give a brocha too.

So, since Purim Katan is a guest, I want to wish a Refuah Sheleima. A few people asked me that I should mention a Refuah Sheleima for Meir Yehuda Yisroel ben Beina Shahabari [?] and [?] Yisroel [?], that everybody should have a Refuah Sheleima b'karov mamash.

Looking back exactly 30 years ago, exactly, we can now try to understand what happened in Tof Shin Nun Beis - what the Rebbe said, what the Rebbe did then. We didn't realize it was different. The year Tof Shin Nun Beis, until the Rebbe had the stroke - from the beginning of Tishrei there was a different kind of hanhaga, and we didn't [realize] the Rebbe was preparing himself for this situation.

Now, whether the Rebbe knew he would have a stroke or not, I don't know. But I do know that there was a maaseh from the Rebbe Rashab - that somebody asked the Rebbe Rashab - I heard it from Isaiah [?] - somebody asked the Rebbe Rashab about his father, whether he should travel - I think with a plane or with a ship, I don't remember exactly - [the Rebbe Rashab] told him to travel, I don't know which one, but [the father] did not listen, and something happened to him. So the son came to the Rebbe Rashab and said, "If you would have told me that something would happen, I would never have let my father do what he did, go with the ship or the plane, I don't remember exactly." So the Rebbe Rashab answered, "Believe me, I didn't know myself, but when we say [something], you have to listen."

So I don't know the preparation before Chof Zayin Adar, I don't know whether the Rebbe knew what was going to happen or not, but the Rebbe's hanhaga was completely different. I know that before Yom Kippur the Rebbe gave out dimes to children. [Rabbi Groner? - ?], I think, said he didn't [usually, but] he just gave out [this time] - and it says maybe only if a young child, children can help [bring Moshiach] - I don't think that's [directly relevant], but [it was the practice] of the Rebbe. So I will just mention a few things - the hanhaga of the Rebbe was completely different than all the [other] years.

I'll just mention one thing: Sukkos, the first day of Sukkos. Usually the Rebbe came in the morning, seven o'clock, eight o'clock, went into [the sukkah] to bentch Lulav, and then gave the signal, and when it came to about 10:30 or 11 o'clock - when it was time to say Hallel - the esrog and lulav were brought back. The last Sukkos, the Rebbe came in the morning, seven, eight o'clock, I think, and they opened the door of the sukkah, and the Rebbe was standing, watching everyone go in and bentch Esrog v'Lulav. It was like a yechidus - the Rebbe was looking at each and every one, I remember - and this was eight o'clock in the morning. The Rebbe was standing the whole time - nine o'clock, ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock, one o'clock, two o'clock, I think three o'clock - and that never happened [before]. It was very strange, we didn't know [why], but we see that this was the last Sukkos that we could bentch Lulav with the Rebbe - this was our honor also.

It came out [that] the special kuntres that the Rebbe gave with cake - you know, the Rebbe used to give lekach every [erev Rosh Hashana] to the [community] - for the coming year. The Rebbe, the year after the stroke, would not give lekach anymore. So I guess the Rebbe gave out the lekach through Gimmel Schwartz [?]. The Rebbe gave a sicha a few weeks before the stroke - he spoke about a maamar - after that the Rebbe couldn't speak, [the stroke] took away his speech. I'm not going to go into the whole sicha, you can always look it up. The Rebbe couldn't speak - this is what happened with the stroke.

Purim Katan, Tof Shin Nun Beis, the Rebbe gave out a kuntres with two dollars and cake, and inside, a piece of cake. Here is the kuntres which we got from the Rebbe - this is the kuntres, the last kuntres that the Rebbe gave, and this kuntres [contained] a maamar that was said on Purim, Tof Shin Mem Alef [?], and the Rebbe gave it out on Purim Katan. And here we have - we have two dollars from the Rebbe and a piece of cake. And this kuntres is about his hadrachos, his [directives] to [unclear] - I mean, this is obvious now, we can see what the Rebbe meant, but then we didn't know what was happening. [The Rebbe] gave this out, and a week later, Parshas Vayakhel was the last [Shabbos] that the Rebbe farbrenged, and the Rebbe left us.

I think this is [significant]: at the sicha of the Rebbe there, he spoke about Ahavas Yisroel, he spoke about giving tzedaka, and he gave out the kuntres - meaning, these are the three things the Rebbe left us with. And I think the next day he had the stroke. This was the last Shabbos.

Now, by the way, we can also see - when the Rebbetzin passed away, six years later was Gimmel Tammuz - yeah, six years later. So from the time the Rebbetzin passed away, the hanhaga of the Rebbe changed. The Rebbe never stopped farbrenging except on Shabbos - no more [during the week]. Also [the Rebbe] stopped [writing personal] letters. There were certain letters - I think we spoke once about it, I'm not going to go over how the letters went - through [unclear] and then through Rabbi Mindel - I don't want to go over exactly how it went, but there was a change.

And here we saw a change: I think the Mazkir [?] - the same name as the Rebbetzin - the Mazkir's wife had the same name as the Rebbetzin, and I think it was also six years later [that] the histalkus of the Mazkir [occurred], after his wife passed away, I think. Anyway, so we didn't realize [this at the time].

One more thing, also very strange: the Rebbe used to be mekadesh levana every month. The last month, the month of the stroke, he was not [able to be] mekadesh. And it says that Kiddush Levana has to do with health, specifically with teeth - a refuah for teeth - and that's why, I remember, when the Rebbe would be mekadesh, he always used to touch his lips, like that, because it has to do with a refuah for teeth. And that last [month the Rebbe] did not [do so], because all these things were a preparation for the stroke - before, we didn't know anything.

And this is our aveida - today the Rebbe left us - it's tzedaka. Tzedaka doesn't mean giving only charity; of course it means charity money, [but] tzedek means righteousness. The Rebbe left us [with]: do the right thing for the right reason, kindness, goodness, Ahavas Yisroel - this is what he spoke of, nothing more. And also he gave us the kuntres - to show the kuntres - the last, the last thing. This is the connection between us and the Rebbe.

It says in Devarim, "u'vo tidbakun" - you should be connected to Him. So we say the word hiskashrus. Some people, you know, [ask] what does it mean, hiskashrus? And we once spoke about it - some people say hiskashrus means that you have to learn the sichos, which is correct, which is supposed to be [part of it], but I think the most [important] thing about hiskashrus is to do like the Rebbe, do like the Rebbe. It's unbelievable - it's already almost 30 years now, almost 30 years since Gimmel Tammuz, and we want to see the geula b'poel mamash.

So I would like to say the wish that through this tzedaka and through Ahavas Yisroel and his hiskashrus to the Rebbe, we should bring Moshiach, and the Rebbe will have a lot of nachas from us, and we should have [real] answers from the Rebbe - not answers [obtained] through some