The Rebbe’s Questions to the Klausenburg Chassidim

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The Rebbe made clear why he began teaching. I'll tell you soon what happened.

A delegation came to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe told them why. It was on Parshas [unclear], in the year — that means two weeks after [the Frierdiker Rebbe] passed away — that the Rebbe began teaching. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was... this was a new revelation, and he taught like a teacher teaches children — a classroom. I'll tell you soon what I mean by that.

So the question is: why did the Rebbe choose to teach the way he did? As we know — and we've spoken about this on the program a few times — when the Rebbe came to America in 1941, the Frierdiker Rebbe told Rabbi Jacobson, I think, [to gather] more people, a whole delegation, to go and meet with him, the Rebbe. And he said to them, "Go, be mekabel [learn] from my son-in-law, who is expert in Kabbalah, in everything." So the Rebbe could have said something else.

Why did the Rebbe choose [to teach this way]?

So, I'll explain to you now what happened. I don't know — maybe the Rebbe said this to other people also, but this is a source that I know, and I heard this from the uncle [or: one] of one of the people from the delegation — what the Rebbe said in 1985, [when a] Klausenburg [delegation] visited the Rebbe to ask for help, because he [the Klausenburger Rebbe] wasn't well. So they sent them to ask for help.

Now, the head of this delegation was Rabbi Williger [?]. I knew him very well. And the Rebbe said that when Williger gives something over, he gives it over exactly — in other words, he's accurate, very accurate in what he gives over. And the Rebbe said, "I like this." And here I want to say, since the Rebbe said that — it's very important to give over things accurately about the Rebbe, or about anybody, many times. The Rebbe mentioned this somewhere, in a letter, that people say things "b'shmi" — in my name, about me — and it's not accurate. And we see this: if speakers want to speak about the Rebbe, it has to be exact, not putting in their own thoughts, which happens all the time, that speakers put in their own thoughts.

So anyway, that was the conduct of Mr. — Rabbi Williger. He passed away, I think, the same week — I think it was [Tes Tammuz]; that week was Gimmel Tammuz, and also [another person] passed away, I think, the same week, if I'm not mistaken. He was very close to the Rebbe.

So the Rebbe began talking — at this [meeting] of the five people — when the Rebbe said, "When people come together, you first begin speaking about gashmiyus [physical, material matters]."

So the Rebbe asked them, "How is the Klausenburger Rebbe feeling, b'gashmiyus?" And this was also, the Rebbe says, the conduct of the Frierdiker Rebbe — that he always asked first about the health, the gashmiyus. So they said that this needs improvement; they told him he has medical treatment, and the delegation explained to the Rebbe about his treatment, the whole progression of how it's going — he's at the hospital, then he came home, then back to the hospital, anyway, whatever it is. And the Rebbe responded.

Afterwards, the Rebbe asked about — I'm afraid to ask, I don't know what that means, but this is — he's afraid to ask about [something]; I mean, he was a holy man. Then the delegation asked the Rebbe, "How is the Rebbe feeling, b'gashmiyus?"

So the Rebbe answered, "When my surroundings are good, I feel good" — meaning the life and health of a tzaddik are bound up with the state of the people. If the people behave the way they're supposed to — if they do what the Rebbe wants, if their time is used the way it's supposed to be, precious — then the Rebbe's health is the way it's supposed to be. So it depends. That's what the Rebbe answered.

Then the Rebbe said to them, "I heard that the Klausenburger Rebbe learns [Rashi] at public gatherings, and I am happy to hear this." The Rebbe expressed a lot of joy and enthusiasm about this — that he learns — and the Rebbe said he's happy that there's another scholar who supports learning, and he's happy that he's doing it in public.

Now, you know that for years [the Lubavitcher Rebbe] was learning [Rashi] on Thursday nights. And then the Rebbe says that he had received complaints when he began — people complained. The Rebbe tells them what the complaint was: that it looks like a classroom.

[The speaker recalls:] When the Rebbe taught — I remember, I was a bochur then — sometimes the Rebbe learned on Shabbos, and he stopped in the middle. He had, let's say, five questions, six questions, seven questions, and then he would look [at the crowd], and the Rebbe would say, "Does anybody know what number I'm up to?" Or the Rebbe would say, "Does anybody know the answer?" In other words, it was like a teacher teaching children. The Rebbe called this "kashes" — the Rebbe called it "kashes." So people complained that it looked like he was a teacher.

Now, by the way, talking about this — there is a letter from the Rebbe. I don't have it here. There is a letter that the Rebbe [wrote to] a younger man — he is a teacher and he is in teaching, and then he wanted to become a rav, to "go on," so he wrote to the Rebbe that he's a teacher but he wants to go on. So the Rebbe answered — it's a very sharp answer; maybe in a few weeks I'll read the answer — the Rebbe was very, very strong against what he wrote, that he's a teacher but he wants to "go on." Who says that to be a rav you have to have a shul (a house), and if you don't have a house — [that's fine too]. In other words, he's a teacher because — the Rebbe also mentioned that when people told him about teaching like a classroom, he said, "I'm a teacher, I teach, this is what I do." I wanted to bring this out, that people should not think that the only way to be a rav is if you have a shul, and if you don't have one, that's not correct. That's not the way the Rebbe thought. There are a lot of letters like that.

Anyway, so that's what people complained about. By the way, people also complained to the Rebbe — the Rebbe says, at the end [of a session], there was [someone] who didn't [behave appropriately] — "What kind of words are these? Who are you playing around [with]?" The Rebbe always said this — this is how you have to speak, this is how people [should conduct themselves] — a reminder of proper conduct b'gashmiyus.

So anyway, the Rebbe was happy that the Klausenburger Rebbe also learns [Rashi]. So the Rebbe asked the delegation, "Can you tell me what's the reason the Klausenburger Rebbe began the minhag, the custom, of [learning] Rashi — what was his reason, why?" So the delegation said to him, "We don't know, but when we go out, we'll ask him, and we'll let the Rebbe know why he started."

Then the Rebbe explained to them why he [the Klausenburger Rebbe] started learning [Rashi publicly] — why. And this is the answer to what I asked before, why did he choose this. So the Rebbe says — here, I marked this down — it says: "Chodosh assur min haTorah" — new grain is prohibited by the Torah. It means new grain, which we are not permitted to use until we bring the Omer. So a person is not supposed to bring anything before the Omer.

So the Rebbe says that [this teaches] what does it mean — everything new, everything modern, is no good, is prohibited — new styles in the world, new philosophy, new social [trends] — this is "goyishkeit." Anything that comes out in this world that's new — philosophy, social movement — that's contrary [to holiness]. The forces of impurity in the world come out with new ideas, technology, styles. When the negative forces, the sitra achra, when the world comes up with new, modern styles and ideas, we need to counteract these new things, which are prohibited, with new things of holiness. We must respond with new expressions of gadlus [greatness/holiness].

In other words — for example, I mean, [the Rebbe] didn't say it this way, but for example — the Rebbe many times asked [someone] to whistle. I mean, the world, especially the world, looks at it [and says], "What do you mean?" The Rebbe — remember, the Rebbe asked Rabbi Serah [?] — the Rebbe especially asked him; he turned around and the Rebbe asked him to whistle. "What's whistling? Why do you whistle? Which Rebbe whistles?" Because whistling exists in the streets — which I don't want to go into. So we have to take [that] which exists, and we have to change it — to take everything that exists in the world and transform it [to holiness]. I guess the same thing also with a niggun — we take, let's say, a French niggun, for example, and transform it, to be elevated from the outside world.

In other words, we need new "ammunition" to fight these new influences. So, as long as the forces of evil, he writes, come up with new things, we also need to harness the power of holiness and come up with new things.

And this is why the Rebbe says, "I introduced learning [Rashi] — by learning we will see why." Now, this also applies to many other things — even, let's say, when people discuss, you know, something "novel" — sometimes you could do it, but you have to be careful not to do it just because the secular world does it. You have — the internet — [the Rebbe] didn't mention [the internet]; there was no internet then. [Today] you can't just look at the internet, because that's also a new thing. I mean, [the Rebbe] didn't mention it because there was no internet then, but the same principle applies — any new thing. So that's why he started Rashi.

And since now — the Rebbe says — this is the time of the coming of Moshiach, the final redemption. So we need to elevate the exile from the very bottom — this world being the lowest of the four worlds. There's Atzilus, which is the highest; then lower is Beriah; lower is Yetzirah; and then we are in Asiyah. And then there are also four levels [of Torah interpretation]: there's Pshat — plain learning; then Remez — that's hint; then Drush — deeper; and then Sod — hidden. Pshat is the lowest level of interpretation.

So, to bring the geulah into the lowest world, a person must elevate the lowest — which is the lowest world — therefore [the Rebbe] focused [on explaining Torah] in a way that even [a simple person] can understand. That means to pick up the lowest, and that's why he chose [Rashi] — engaging in the plain [meaning], pshat, actually brings redemption into the physical world. And this is why he started from there, and that's why the Rebbe was very much enthusiastic about learning the lowest [level] — even to the simplest people, plain people, so that plain people can understand it — meaning, in a way that even a little child can understand. Using simple words, and the kashes, to pick up [understanding], and this will bring the geulah. And this is why he started that.

Now, after this, the Rebbe asked, "When does the Klausenburger Rebbe speak on Shabbos — does he speak before or after [leining]?" And this is also a lesson to the rabbonim — before or after. So they said he speaks before.

So the Rebbe said, "Doesn't [the custom] come before the reading of the Torah? Shouldn't that come first?" So they answered him that the reason he speaks after — even though he speaks after — is that he always starts with [a niggun or story]. He said, whenever he spoke, he said a [niggun] first. So anyway, here we see that when people speak, apparently, from the Rebbe['s view], they should speak after, because that comes from the Baal Shem Tov [or similar source].

So anyway, this was the discussion. Then he asked about when he started — why did he start? He asked them [for the reason], so they [said] he [the Klausenburger Rebbe] would come back [and tell them] — it's a custom from his father and his grandfather; they also spoke [in this way] — that's why the Klausenburger Rebbe started to learn [like this]. Anyway, this happened on Parshas [unclear], the first time, a few weeks after[ward].

So since this week is [this parsha], I thought I would mention this — this explanation that the Rebbe gives for why we learn, why he learned. So the lesson from this is how important it is to pick up every [small thing] in order to bring Moshiach — to learn. And I think it's very important for everybody — everything is printed now, and we should learn; we should continue learning. This is the beginning of the year now, and we should learn, which is very important.

Next week we'll continue our weekly program.