What Was Found in the Litvish Rosh Yeshiva’s Tefillin

Welcome to our weekly [unclear] program. At the end of this program, I want to share with you a story that I read in one of Rabbi Mindel's notes.

We are now in the Three Weeks, between Shivah Asar B'Tammuz and Tisha B'Av. And we have "Hayomim Eilu Yehafchu LeSasson U'LeSimcha." As the Rambam says, "Yisroel Osin Teshuvah U'Miyad Hein Nigolim" — Israel will do teshuvah and immediately they will be redeemed. So the Geulah depends on doing teshuvah. But until Mashiach comes we are in the Ikvesa D'Meshichah — we're still in Golus, and it's a Choshech Kaful U'Mechupal, a dark Golus, the Olam HaGashmi VeHaChomri. And the Rebbe wishes and [unclear] that soon we should merit that these Hayomim Eilu should Yehafchu LeSasson U'LeSimcha.

So I want to share with you a letter someone wrote, and he asked the Rebbe these questions. He says, "Rebbe, why are we in Golus, in exile, so long?" Then he says, "Rebbe, will Mashiach ever come? Tell us the truth — will he ever come?" That's how he writes to the Rebbe. Then he writes, "Rebbe, we — we have doubts. We were promised so many years ago by great tzaddikim throughout the generations: Mashiach is coming, is coming — and Mashiach is not here. What's happening?" And then he says that even your father-in-law — [unclear: "the faith of Caleb"] — in other words, in 1945 he promised that through teshuvah Mashiach will come, and Mashiach is not here. "We are confused." That's how he writes. "What is this? What did this whole thing mean? And you even said — he said — [unclear] everything is done. So what does it mean? Generations go on. I guess he had some kind of tragedy. Young people pass away, young people are born. The world goes on, and it's been like this for many, many years. And we were promised — what? What does it mean? Is Mashiach coming, or is he not coming? Please tell us."

So he writes that since he has questions and no answers, he began to look into a radio missionary program about Mashiach. That's what he wrote to the Rebbe. And he wants to know, is Mashiach coming? And the reason he was looking into the radio program, he says, is because he is confused. So he's writing to the Rebbe. This is, I guess, years ago.

Now I'll tell you what the Rebbe answered. "You are right — you have been listening for the past year and a half to a certain radio program which has to do with the prediction of the coming of Messiah. And you also write that — through listening to the program — you also saw the literature. And that really confused you." It is very surprising — the Rebbe says, "And it's a great pity that you had wasted, and are wasting, so much of your time listening to this missionary program and their literature, which confused you. How much better use you could make of the time by studying the Torah. It is the true guide in life and contains clear information and guidance on all questions, especially on the question of the coming of Messiah." This is what the Rebbe answers him.

And then the Rebbe continues in that letter: "Since our Sages say that the coming of Messiah depends on the deed, it calls for reflection on the causes that had brought about the Golus. Because of our sins we have been exiled from our land, it is necessary to nullify the cause. So my suggestion to you is: strengthening, adding in daily mitzvos. One single good deed by one single individual will tip the scale towards the good. I want to suggest that you check your tefillin, daven with a minyan, and say Tehillim after davening." This is what the Rebbe told him. So, in other words, the answer is: to get rid of these machshavos, people should go check their tefillin and say Tehillim. This is what the letter says.

Talking about tefillin — I saw a note in Rabbi Mindel's archives where he writes, you know, he wrote down what he heard; he wrote down from the Rebbe every day, he wrote down what people told him. So one of the things he wrote down — and I'll tell you the story — this person's brother is a Rosh Yeshiva, and he is a big, big misnaged, opposed to Chassidus. The one who writes to Rabbi Mindel says that he was not raised by Chassidim, but he started to learn Tanya, and by beginning to learn Tanya he felt something closer to the Aibershter — there is more closeness to the Aibershter, that's what he writes. And he tells his brother, the Rosh Yeshiva, that he should also learn Tanya. So his brother says, "Chas V'Shalom" — whatever he said against it — and he says to his brother, he says, "Chassidus is salt, Gemara is the meat. When you learn Nigleh, you're learning the meat. It's like eating meat, but it doesn't have a taste. By learning Chassidus, that gives a taste to the meat." Whatever.

So he's asking the Rebbe: "Whenever I go Shabbos to my brother, or wherever we go to simchas, my brother comes to me — he's always bothering me about Chassidim and Chassidus. What should I do? How should I answer him? I don't know what to do. And he's, baruch Hashem, happy. But what should he do with his brother?" He doesn't know, so he asked the Rebbe.

So the Rebbe answered him that his brother should check his tefillin. And even though the Rebbe says that usually you check tefillin in the month of Elul, and now it's not the month of Elul, he should check his tefillin anyway. So he wanted to answer — whatever the Rebbe answers, he answers. Okay.

Now he writes to Rabbi Mindel — he doesn't know what to do. He's not going to tell his brother that the Rebbe said he should check his tefillin, because his brother would not listen. So he was thinking, what should he do? How can he make his brother check his tefillin? So Rabbi Mindel told him — he gave him an answer: "Go over to your brother and tell your brother that you are going to check your tefillin. And since you're going to the sofer to check your tefillin, maybe you can give me your tefillin also — at the same time I'll check your tefillin, if it wasn't checked for a long time." That's the suggestion Rabbi Mindel told him. He thought it was a very good suggestion — that he's asking him because he's doing it for himself, for his own tefillin.

He went to his brother and asked him, "I'm going to check my tefillin." His brother says, "Okay, I'll give you mine also." So he gave him his tefillin. He went to the sofer. The sofer opened up his tefillin. There was [unclear] tefillin. Opened up empty. No parshiyos. Meaning that he was — I guess — [unclear] tefillin. He sat wearing it. He learned Tanya, he davened, with that tefillin. I don't know whether from this, by mitzvah, he didn't check; maybe, probably, the sofer wasn't careful, or whatever. And it was sold to him, and he thought there were parshiyos there — I don't know, doesn't say — but there were no parshiyos. It was, most probably, a mistake from the sofer.

He told his brother this. His brother was a mensch — a real mensch. He says this is right, to have me tell — [unclear] — and he says, then he told him the truth. He told him — he told him that the Rebbe had said something, that he should check his tefillin. I mean, he could have a change — he didn't become a chossid, but Chassidus, to him, was holy. As a matter of fact, there's a letter that this Rosh Yeshiva wrote to the Rebbe later on. Baruch Hashem.

What is the lesson that we learn over here? If something is going wrong — the Rebbe once mentioned there was a big Rosh Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel, and he said something [unclear: "about the stock him"] — something which is in the Jewish calendar. And the Rebbe was wondering, how can a person, a Rosh Yeshiva, speak like this? So the Rebbe said, "Maybe" — the Rebbe doesn't say for sure, maybe it's possible — that this Rosh Yeshiva, all along, maybe the reason that he was so much against sinners was because — this was — there was no tefillin, he never put on tefillin. And this had to come about this way, that his brother should give him this tefillin and check this tefillin.

And that's what the Rebbe answered him: "Even though it's not a law" — meaning it wasn't a law — meaning, in other words, the Rebbe said you shouldn't wait for a law. Whether the Rebbe knew he had posul tefillin or not, I don't know.

We know the maaseh of the Rebbe Rashab. There was a maaseh — I said it once — the maaseh said that somebody asked [unclear: "you had to go with a dirty soul"], and he had to [unclear] his father, and the Rebbe said he shouldn't — he shouldn't go, with a ship or a plane, I'm not sure. But he did go. The Rebbe said he shouldn't go — this was the Rebbe Rashab. And this was the Titanic, I heard. He was on the Titanic. And something happened to him. So his son came over to the Rebbe Rashab and says, "Rebbe, if you would have told me that something was going to happen with the ship, I would never have let my father go." So the Rebbe Rashab answered him, "Gloib mir, ich hob es nisht gevust" — believe me, I didn't know myself — "ober m'zogt, darf men folgen" — but when it's said, one must follow. The Rebbe doesn't necessarily know what will happen or not, but the Rebbe said, "es iz shoin mit der onvaizung" — it's already [bound up] with the instruction.

So here, with this story — it's an amazing story — that if a person has doubts, or people have [concerns], the answer is always: check your tefillin, check your mezuzos. Because that has to do with your whole being — the whole thing of a person. And it's always: check your tefillin and check your mezuzos. This is the lesson that we learn out of this, and since I saw this note, I thought I would share this with you.

He mentioned — next week we will do the second part of this program. Thank you.