General Assembly 5734 in Kfar Chabad

00:01 Speaker 1 Friends, this will bring machlokes. Why? The agenda has been brought back again: choosing the spiritual committee and the physical affairs committee through ten people, and having them choose more than ten—fifteen people. Is this a village of two hundred Jews? Who says certain people should do the choosing? We thought there should be more people from Kfar Chabad. Kfar Chabad is not a village like other villages. Eighty to ninety percent of the Jews in Kfar Chabad belong to Agudas Chassidei Chabad. And do you know what Agudas Chassidei Chabad is? So we thought that perhaps people from Agudas Chassidei Chabad should conduct the elections. What elections will there be here? An election committee? Will that be the spiritual committee? The spiritual committee should put forward candidates. You cannot just put forward any candidates; the spiritual committee should see which candidates are suitable and which are not. But it should not be only ten or fifteen people choosing the rav. And that is what you are talking about. Rebbe, I am not talking only about an election committee. I am talking about whether these ten or fifteen people will choose the rav. No, no—the question is whether the ten or fifteen people choose the rav, not merely nominate candidates.

01:09 Speaker 2 Yes, yes, yes.

01:09 Speaker 1 Yes, that is how I see it: there will be machlokes.

01:12 Speaker 2 Yes, yes.

01:12 Speaker 1 If we have just ten or fifteen people choose the rav, there will be machlokes. What do you think? I am not talking about nominating candidates. I am saying that choosing the rav will cause it.

01:22 Speaker 2 Nu.

01:22 Speaker 1 You are talking about choosing the rav.

01:23 Speaker 2 Yes, yes, yes.

01:24 Speaker 1 And that is how I see it: there will be machlokes.

01:28 Speaker 2 Shh. Quiet, quiet.

01:31 Speaker 6 Avrum Mider[?].

01:33 Speaker 1 Avrum Mider[?].

01:34 Speaker 6 Please, this has to be quiet. Why should this meeting fall apart? Why should it fall apart? We will leave with nothing. We will leave with nothing. Time is passing, and this is a very serious matter. We can give it some thought and conduct ourselves quietly, like people. Good, good. Good, we can talk again later.

01:53 Speaker 1 Let him finish, yes.

01:54 Speaker 6 Let us be quiet for a while. There is still much to do; this is a serious matter, and it must be handled properly. We have to send the Rebbe an account of the situation, based on the records—what happened and what the people’s positions were. It has to go to the Rebbe. That is what we want. Does Avrum Mider[?] have the floor, Doctor?

02:13 Speaker 1 Ah, I want to say one more thing about how this whole matter developed. This is the order in which we wrote to the Rebbe. What was written to the Rebbe and said to Neville Klein[?] concerned the spiritual committee, the physical affairs committee, and the audit committee[?]. They were a group acting together. They said what they considered essential, but the community was not involved. They wrote to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe answered that it had to go through the community. An answer from the Rebbe then came immediately, in which the Rebbe said, “If he is suitable in your eyes.” What did he mean by “suitable in your eyes”? We understood it to mean the entire community: the village was asking the Rebbe, and the candidate had to be suitable in its eyes. But the Rebbe’s answer was not understood that way at first. It went back again to Neville Klein[?] and the same people, and they wrote to the Rebbe again. The Rebbe wrote back about proposing candidates. The Rebbe answered again that the candidates had to be proposed—not that we should propose candidates to him. Candidates do not have to be proposed to the Rebbe. They have to be proposed here, to a group of ten. And if they want a particular person to serve as leader, they should propose him. Then what the community says will be conveyed to the Rebbe. I still do not think they have grasped the point: the whole village, the chassidim, want an answer from the Rebbe. That—

03:35 Speaker 1 is the community’s position: they rely entirely on the Rebbe, and whatever the Rebbe says will be done. So there is no question about that. But we cannot simply say, “Who appointed you?” to the committee—the spiritual committee, the physical affairs committee, the audit committee—when they tell the Rebbe what they think. On the other hand, people keep shouting, “Who appointed you?” But if the whole village speaks, the Rebbe will answer.

04:01 Speaker 7 David Rukman. David Rukman. Quiet. Quiet. David, David. Quiet. I ask that everyone be quiet. When someone is speaking, please be silent. What I am saying relates to what is written. I want to add a point to what Rabbi Vormet[?] said. With all due respect to the committee members, I think that in addition to consulting with representatives of the community, the rav decided several days before the meeting to sit down with them. It is true that the committee represented the residents of Kfar Chabad in routine, ordinary matters. This, however, is a matter for the entire community, and a weighty one. The rav sat with representatives of the community, and the committee gave them the opportunity to gather. I can say this on behalf of those who signed, though I am not [unclear]. I think this actually strengthens what Rabbi Vormet[?] said. There are fine Jews among the representatives. The committee sent its position to the rav, or asked the rav, and the rav sat with them because the committee had brought them to him. That may be so, but the entire community, from beginning to end, is looking to the rav. That is my opinion: the representatives of the community should bring the matter to the rav, and the rav should sit with them. Otherwise things may turn out very differently, and we will have machlokes. On the one hand, you say that every person here accepts the rav. On the other hand, you say that... Hello?

06:13 Speaker 7 I’m in Chabad; he’s a rabbi, and that’s that. Quiet! [unclear], by the way. Quiet! [unclear]. Abish’le Steinberg[?]. I want to add to what was said before me. To my mind, the first thing this evening should be to send a letter to the Rebbe—a letter from everyone in the village. The whole village should be represented in that letter. [unclear] The Rebbe should be free to decide, and the entire village should accept his decision. [unclear] Everyone must be included in this letter; that must come first. I know from practical experience that when the Rebbe was approached about England, the Rebbe sent a person himself. [unclear] A living person came, sent by the Rebbe. And ten years later, [unclear] said that the whole purpose of all the efforts, of everything—

08:16 Speaker 7 —done in England was to send someone there. That was the whole purpose. [unclear] The Rebbe should have a free hand and should not have to take account of the wishes of particular people. We should leave the decision to the Rebbe, so that the Rebbe has a free hand. [unclear] We must be confident about both the general and the particular concerns, and about the development of Kfar Chabad. [unclear]

08:57 Speaker 8 Amen! Quiet! I want to add...

09:31 Speaker 7 I just need to say two more words. In that letter, [unclear] with all ten [unclear], and everything should be as the Rebbe sees fit.

09:50 Speaker 8 I want to add to what I said earlier, and to what was said before me. I agree, but perhaps there is a mistake on one particular point. The first time we wrote to the Rebbe about the matter proposed here, we asked the Rebbe for a halachic authority. We received a different reply. Perhaps some people expressed things we should not have said, but in the meantime we have received a third letter from the Rebbe. In that third letter the Rebbe writes: “Do not propose candidates to me.” That is a letter in which “do not propose to me” is underlined in the Rebbe’s holy handwriting. Now, if we write again, perhaps we will receive an instruction from the Rebbe. The proposal we had [unclear]—perhaps now is the time to act just as the Rebbe wrote in the second letter: “The merit of the community assists them, and may Hashem, blessed be He, grant them success.” Perhaps that is what the Rebbe meant. But we say that the merit of the community is not enough reason for us to write, because then we might receive a third letter, and that would [unclear]. Perhaps that would not be appropriate. It would be right to propose, plainly—

11:38 Speaker 8 —a candidate who would travel to the Rebbe. Of course, this would be with the agreement of all the residents of the village, and with our request that the Rebbe appoint someone for us. Not to send names of candidates, but to send a representative. It will cost the village three thousand pounds, four thousand pounds. But to write another letter when the Rebbe has explicitly written not to do so—that is not something to undertake lightly. I propose that Rabbi Futerfas be the representative who travels to the Rebbe.

12:12 Speaker 9 Ah,

12:15 Speaker 8 [unclear]. We ask everyone to be quiet. The point is this: perhaps what we did was not right. On the other hand, nobody was thinking of anything but the best intentions. The Rebbe is the one in charge here, and if the Rebbe appoints someone, nobody will oppose it and everyone will be satisfied. But perhaps that was our mistake. [unclear] To put forward a candidate and ask the Rebbe whether he is suitable for the village is one question. If the Rebbe says that the person is suitable, we know very well that he is devoted to the Rebbe and has every qualification. The question was whether we should ask. But if the community has changed its mind, should we not write to the Rebbe on behalf of the whole village? The whole village begs that the Rebbe name the person who should be the rabbi. When we ask the community and its view changes, we ask people to say what they think—what the majority thinks. [unclear] One moment, one moment. I wanted to propose that there should be no raising of—

13:44 Speaker 8 —hands here, on any matter. Boruch Hashem, we are not a republic; we have a king, [unclear]. Raising hands should have no place here, especially in a matter concerning a rabbi. I have seen with my own eyes a village where people raised their hands, and it caused [unclear]. Quiet, quiet. I know a story. [unclear] After a rabbi passed away, the whole village [unclear]. No candidates were put forward. What candidates? We ask the Rebbe to send us a rabbi. What should I do—send candidates? Leave it. The Rebbe knows us. The Rebbe knows us. What? The Gemara? Wait, wait. I’m telling a story. Don’t say that; don’t say that. [unclear] No candidates today. The whole village put its request in a letter to the Rebbe, and they all agreed to ask the Rebbe to send them a rabbi—whomever he wished. This is not [unclear]; we submit ourselves completely. But where did candidates come into it? Today [unclear]. They said, in so many words, “We submit ourselves completely, and the Rebbe should send a rabbi.” Whomever he wishes. That settles those questions. What remains is that he describes the

15:34 Speaker 8 The whole village should send the Rebbe a letter with all the names. And we ask the Rebbe to have compassion and appoint a rabbi. Quiet, quiet. One moment. We have prepared a letter to the Rebbe, [unclear], and the people here will come to shul, to each of the three shuls, and we will do it together. [Unclear], it is essential. What? What are you talking about? Whom do you want to embarrass? What needs to be discussed? [Unclear]. The decision was made to write a letter.

17:37 Speaker 10 But only for this purpose. In the letter we are writing, I ask... But just a minute. In the letter we are writing, what I mean is that we should write that the village does not know whom to choose. We do not know whom to choose. That is one of the things that... The Rebbe asks us to choose. But we see that we do not know whom to choose. We do not know. That is the point. Then... Huh? No, the village does not know whom to choose.

18:17 Speaker 8 Quiet! We will draft the wording of the letter right away, right away ... draft the letter, and we will ... the wording. Whoever can sign it will sign it, and the others can sign ... in the morning, ... over the course of the day, ... so everyone can sign. Now we move on to the second item. Meanwhile, until they prepare the wording and collect the signatures, we will discuss elections for the village committee. [Unclear]. Yes, yes. [Unclear]. One moment, we are asking for quiet. Okay. Everyone, quiet. We are continuing the general meeting while they prepare the wording and we get to the letter that will be sent to the Rebbe shlita. In the meantime, we will discuss the elections for the village committee, as announced under item B. First of all, people asked why we called this meeting. [Unclear]. No, no, no, no, no. Reuven, don't... First of all. But sit down first, and I'll tell you. Reuven, please be quiet. First of all. Reuven, listen. People are asking why we called a general meeting about these two matters. I'll tell you simply. Look, Reuven, Reuven, Reuven. Look, although this meeting concerns two such important matters, perhaps only twenty percent of the population is here—perhaps. Now imagine if we had called a meeting only about the village committee. Half as many people would have come, and we specifically wanted more residents to attend. That's all. I think that makes sense. Now then. Why elections for the committee? Because the moshav committee, the village committee—

20:46 Speaker 8 is an official body, and it has a term. Its term is limited. It was elected for a certain length of time. When that time is up, new elections are needed. And we will get to the report for the past two years. I'll tell you briefly: the village committee, myself included, doesn't know much more about what has happened here than any of the residents. These two years have passed. We've had easier times and harder times, and that applies not only to the village committee but to all the residents. We tried to improve the conditions—the, what do you call it?—the municipal conditions that fall under the village committee. I ask everyone to sit down and be quiet. Sir, by the platform, please sit down, and you fellows too. That's... No, no, no, no, no, bring it. What do you want us to do, hold another meeting? No, no, no, that isn't practical. It isn't practical. Certainly. Certainly.

22:13 Speaker 11 Matters involving the police.

22:14 Speaker 8 No, no, no. There's nothing to discuss. Bring it. There's not much to discuss.

22:18 Speaker 11 Get those fellows down from there.

22:26 Speaker 8 There is a great deal of work here, and a lot of effort is needed just to keep up, because more and more things that need doing keep piling up. It would be very good for people who want to work, and want to serve on the village committee, to join it. Someone said it half in jest that the people who were on it... I recommend that too, and I'll tell you plainly: the people who served on the village committee worked with as much dedication as they could. If there are others who think they will work with even greater dedication and devote more time to it, by all means, let them put themselves forward as candidates. I would suggest increasing the number of committee members altogether, because the figure of seven people was set many years ago. Since then the village has grown, the population has grown—may it continue to grow—and so it would be worthwhile to have more than seven people on the village committee. It may well be that we also need to change [unclear]. Do you want to say something? Please put your name down; they'll call on you. Another thing I would suggest is that, when we increase the size of the village committee, we also change the proportion of farmers to non-farmers. That is, the number of farmers on the village committee would still increase, along with the total number of members, but the proportion would change. The population has grown, and it is precisely the number of non-farmers that has increased. They therefore need appropriate representation on the village committee. As in previous years, this meeting elects an election committee, which will organize the elections. They need to arrange everything: set an election date, organize the ballot box and ballot papers, and... In previous years the voting was by secret ballot. I hope it will be this time too, even though the law does not require it. In any case, we're great democrats, and that's how we do it. I wouldn't mind if we continued doing it that way in the future. I suggest we get straight to the matter at hand.

25:13 Speaker 12 Where's the report? Where's the report?

25:16 Speaker 8 I spoke about the report. Look, it's two words. There isn't one. If, if, if you have... Look, if you have any questions about what was done, if you have any practical questions, I'm prepared to answer as best I can. Please. And then we should proceed to elect the election committee. That committee will immediately set the election date and make all the necessary arrangements, and that's that. Now, questions. If anyone has questions, I, or one of the committee members, or the secretary, will gladly answer as best we can.

25:59 Speaker 12 Let's appoint an election committee.

26:00 Speaker 8 Wait, but why should I be on it?

26:02 Speaker 12 Avraham Alterman. Avraham Alterman.

26:13 Speaker 8 What do you want?

26:14 Speaker 12 What election committee?

26:14 Speaker 8 What's the problem? It's known, like...

26:16 Speaker 12 A council.

26:16 Speaker 8 Summons his opponent.

26:16 Speaker 12 To a beis din.

26:19 Speaker 8 The honorable sheikh.

26:19 Speaker 12 Well, Bendor.

26:22 Speaker 8 I have a question for the village committee. I don't know whether everyone is aware of this, but for several years the Rebbe has been pressing for a central sewage system. Unfortunately, the Rebbe had to press for it. The situation causes great suffering to most of the public, not to mention its further consequences. If only something would come of it. In any case, you can smell sewage on every street in Kfar Chabad. As far as I've been able to find out, the central sewage system was being dealt with. I'm not saying nothing was done, but it should have been handled with more personal attention and more energy, with every effort devoted to completing it—if not for the good of the village, then at least to fulfill the Rebbe's wishes. I think it's been five years now.

27:12 Speaker 12 [Unclear]. Yosef Avno'i. [Unclear].

27:26 Speaker 8 Since Shleimke said he has nothing to say and no report to give, I suggest we shouldn't elect a committee at all, because there's no point. If he has nothing to report and there's nothing, then let it stay as it is. We can just change the bylaws from two years to four.

27:42 Speaker 12 It shouldn't stay as it is.

27:43 Speaker 8 You’ll have a chance to speak. Speak now—that’s my suggestion. Second, a lot of things have been done here. I don’t know. Of course, I’m speaking as a representative of the farmers. Do you know about the purchase? The orchard was previously under the Jewish Agency’s control, and it was transferred to us along with a fairly large sum of money. Right now, the farmers aren’t paying taxes because that amount is being deducted from the orchard, but nobody knows the exact figures—how much came with the orchard, on what terms it was received, and all the rest. That’s one thing. And there are many other things that have been done in the village lately, and we haven’t received any report about them. To say otherwise is simply untrue. I can tell you that. If not you, then there’s an audit committee, and someone has to give a report. You can’t just wipe away two years in one stroke. I know that as well as you do. That’s all I have to say. What? That’s land; that’s something else. Land is... land is a different matter. They handed it over to a Jew. That has nothing to— Anyway, that’s what I have to say. I want a report on the orchard and how much was received. It’s a fairly large sum. And as for my first proposal: if this is how things are going, I think we could put it to a vote whether to hold elections every two years, and if not, make it four years.

29:18 Speaker 13 Why not six?

29:21 Speaker 8 That’s what I have to say. Who else has a question or something to say? Please.

29:37 Speaker 3 I know that even before the state of emergency, when the train service was, you might say, canceled, people suffered a great deal from the lack of transportation. As far as transportation is concerned, you could say the state of emergency is over, but nothing has improved. I don’t think it would be so difficult to improve transportation here. There are many missing bus runs that haven’t been restored, and perhaps more buses could be added. That’s regarding transportation. Second, dozens of families are suffering because there’s no daycare center or nursery for toddlers. Up to the age of one, or a little beyond, you might be able to find a caregiver, but after that it’s very difficult and also costs a lot of money. Newer places already have such a daycare center. Can’t something be done about this?

30:46 Speaker 4 While I have the opportunity, I want to speak on behalf of the residents of what’s called the new neighborhood. Lately, or over the past year, there’s been a very strong need to establish a shul there, and boruch Hashem that need has arisen. Anywhere else, as far as I know, when it’s known that a hundred or two hundred families are going to live in a neighborhood, they prepare a shul before all the families even arrive. I hope I’m wrong, but as far as I know, the committee isn’t showing much enthusiasm for establishing another shul there. That’s a little surprising. In any case, anyone can come and see that at every davening, a large part of the congregation—a very large number of people—daven outside the shul because it’s so small. It really is just a little shtiebel, and there isn’t room for everyone. There simply isn’t room, and people want the children to be there too, while more residents are still coming. Everyone knows that many more homes are being built there—and may they always be built—and sooner or later a shul will have to be established. So I don’t know why there always has to be opposition to everything, and why we have to fight so hard for it. I think the committee should have been the first to push us to do it. And just as space was found for all the expansion, boruch Hashem—the central shul, the old shul, and this shul in its time—space will be found there too. I know there are various considerations; perhaps it will affect donations to the shul being built. But I think this is a matter of holiness, and with Hashem’s help, everything needed will be found, right? So I think—and I’m not speaking only for myself; all the residents are strongly asking for this—that as soon as possible we start choosing a plot and finding a place to establish the shul. It’s very urgent, people are suffering because of it, and they want it. That’s one point. Another point, and I—

32:56 Speaker 4 I mentioned this at the previous committee meeting too: information. The impression is that there isn’t enough information. That’s it. The public needs to be kept up to date, and then everyone can really be more at ease. People don’t even like receiving good news as a surprise. They want things explained, right? And also, at long last we’ve heard the committee chairman accept that the representation of non-farmers needs to be expanded. Right? So perhaps we need a more detailed explanation from him too. I hope we’ll get clear answers on all the points I’ve raised, especially about the shul. That comes first. Security. All right, we’ve been hearing about that too. Just one point—really, one more point that concerns the whole village. I think it’s worth considering the security issue, Hashem protect us, right? It’s—what was that? All right, because as far as I know, there’s only one person dealing with it, and it’s already being handled.

34:27 Speaker 5 Who else has a question or something to say? Please. There will be answers afterward. All right, I’ll try to answer the questions now. Actually, I could have told you about the matter raised earlier, but there are other things too. Now I see this is of interest, so I’ll answer it. The matter of sewage is simply very difficult. You should know that it involves millions in costs—millions—and we, the village, will have to contribute toward those millions. The institutions will contribute as well: the Ministry of Housing and the Jewish Agency. We started building a sewage system a few years ago, and many parts of the village already have a central sewage system. There are many difficulties that I can’t go into here; they’re technical matters. I can only assure you that we’re working on this very intensively. There’s an entire file with maps, proposals, and various plans, and the institutions are already involved. I won’t go into what the difficulty is. The main difficulty with the sewage system was finding a site for a treatment facility. A sewage system needs a facility—a kind of pond—and we absolutely did not want that pond to be in our village. The area isn’t very large, and wherever we considered putting it, it would be close to somewhere: either to this village or to the next village, to Beis Rivkah, or to one side of the village or the other. It’s very difficult. In any case.

00:06 Speaker 1 Binyamin Cohen spoke about the orchard. Here’s how it works: there’s an orchard, an orchard committee, and an orchard manager appointed by the village committee. The village committee appointed an orchard committee because the orchard needs special attention; the village committee can’t handle it alongside everything else. After all, it’s a big undertaking, so we appointed a committee for it. They meet from time to time with the orchard manager, sit together, talk, and think about how to improve things, how to get more money out of it, and how to keep it in good condition. As for the money they received: when the Agency sold us the orchard, it gave us a sum of money for the orchard. The amount—why does it matter? Look, I’ll explain why. I’ll explain why it doesn’t matter. I see people saying, “Why? It’s mine!” Altogether, I have two in the whole world here. Two. That’s not...

01:16 Speaker 2 It’s mine too.

01:17 Speaker 1 Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. All right, all right. You can go to the accounting office and ask, and find out. The general meeting here, in the village committee, is different from a general meeting in an ordinary moshav that you may have read about in books or heard about. I’ll tell you in a moment. Yes, yes, yes, that’s a pretext here—a pretext for a general meeting. In an ordinary moshav there are... Whoever wants this place to be a moshav should go to that moshav. This will never be that kind of moshav. Never. Anyone who thinks so, we’ll give him a recommendation so they’ll accept him in whichever moshav he wants. This is Kfar Chabad. That’s that. In another village, a moshav has seventy members, or sixty, and that’s all. So whenever they discuss the orchard or the moshav, they talk about a general meeting. Here, a general meeting is a meeting of more than three hundred families. The orchard concerns some of them; for the rest of the residents, it has no bearing at all. That’s one thing. Second, regarding financial matters in general—an orchard financial report and so on. There was once a letter from the Rebbe, may he live, which stated explicitly—I can show you the letter—that matters like these are not discussed at general meetings. There is an audit committee, and you can ask about such matters. It’s not a matter of getting up and reporting on money and having an argument about it. That’s not practical; it’s just talk. Anyone interested can go to the accounting office, the audit committee, or the supervisory body. That’s all. There’s no reason to turn it into a political issue and an argument. We’re not interested in that. It’s the same...

03:03 Speaker 3 But wait, let me answer. We weren’t talking about a political issue, about whether we want to make this a moshav or not. It’s not as though someone is being cornered because they’re going to make this a moshav. This is about money.

03:15 Speaker 1 All right, but that’s not a matter for a general meeting. Well?

03:23 Speaker 3 It’s not a matter of... This is about money here, and I know—I know the village’s financial situation is terrible. Checks are bouncing. I know that; I’m feeling it myself. Checks are bouncing. So I’m asking, what happened here? I have a right to ask. Someone living in the housing development...

03:39 Speaker 1 Fine, all right, Binyamin, but that’s not of interest to the general meeting.

03:43 Speaker 3 Why do you think it isn’t of interest?

03:45 Speaker 1 Because that’s how it is. That’s how it is.

03:46 Speaker 3 Why isn’t it of interest?

03:58 Speaker 1 Now, moving on. Okay, moving on. He spoke about the buses...

04:04 Speaker 3 I want an answer.

04:06 Speaker 1 Fine, I gave you an answer. I’m not going to say more than that. I’m not going to say more than that. The buses concern the whole village. We can discuss that here. It’s true that during the war they cut our bus service considerably, perhaps by seventy percent. About twenty percent of that has been restored, and we already have a promise. It isn’t just an empty promise. We met with them—we went to Egged’s headquarters and sat down with them. They promised us that from the first of next month, they’ll restore all the buses we had. That’s it.

04:49 Speaker 3 The buses?

04:50 Speaker 1 Yes. From the first of next month, they’re restoring them for now. We may demand more, but all the buses we had before the war...

05:02 Speaker 3 But that isn’t enough.

05:03 Speaker 1 If you try to grab too much, you end up with nothing. We had... Do you know how many buses that is? Perhaps another six buses? That’s what I think. That’s a lot of buses. Yes. Moving on. As for the daycare center, which concerns many residents, it’s the same thing again: in our regional council, it goes through the regional council. There’s a procedure for everything. The funds for building the daycare center come through the regional council. We’re the first village that will build one. There’s already a good, substantial plan, and seventy percent of the funding is assured. We’ll make an effort to secure the other thirty percent too. I think the village residents won’t have to contribute as they will for the sewage system. With the sewage system, I said we’d have to contribute; I don’t think that applies here with the regional council. But this is something concrete. How long will it take—a year or two? It’s a major undertaking.

06:03 Speaker 3 To contribute to it.

06:04 Speaker 1 I’ll tell you how major an undertaking it is: half a million lira. You think a daycare center costs seventy or eighty thousand lira? It’s half a million lira. That’s it—it’s a major undertaking. It’s not simple, but it’s already quite concrete: there are plans, and the regional council has agreed to build it and will also finance the missing thirty percent. That’s it. No, the funding. As for the shul, the residents of the housing development wrote a letter to the village committee asking us to allow them to build a shul in the new housing development. That’s what they wrote: to allow them. They didn’t demand anything or ask us for money—just permission. In fact, when we planned the new neighborhood, we included a plot where, with Hashem’s help, a shul will be built in due course. But I have to tell you that now is not the time, even though you aren’t asking for money. Why? There’s a plan for the village as a whole, and we, the village committee, represent the entire village, not one neighborhood or another. They built that shul in the center of the village, where the old shul stood. It’s still under construction. The committee invested a great deal of money in it—hundreds of thousands of lira—and some of that still has to come back to the village committee. Not as loans, but actual cash. This shul, where we’re sitting now, is in the plans for construction. And no one should tell us that building a shul in the housing development won’t interfere with that. We know better than anyone. The committee isn’t strong enough financially to build several shuls at once, so we discussed it in the village committee. The decision was that until this shul is built, we won’t begin building that one. And we don’t see the people who pray outside there, who can’t fit into that crowded shul, coming

08:20 Speaker 1 here to pray in this shul. That doesn’t seem likely at all. Moving on to security: we want to tell you that we have a paid guard with a car for the entire night. It costs us a great deal of money, and no institution reimburses us for it; it comes from village funds. It may well not be enough. But you should know that, first of all, we’ll charge the residents for the cost of this guard. Then we’ll see whether more security is needed—whether, in addition to this guard, we’ll set up a rotating watch among the residents, or whether we’ll need to hire another guard. That will cost a great deal more. A guard costs a lot of money. On the subject of... What other matter did he mention?

09:25 Speaker 4 Enough.

09:26 Speaker 1 No, no, no. Shul, security. Yaakov, what was...? Please? Oh, representation—let’s get to representation. Look, I can’t go into details here because I simply haven’t worked it out fully yet. Clearly, if more members are added to the committee, the proportions can be changed. But first, a decision has to be made here, and that’s something this meeting can decide. The decision could be this: if there are seven committee members today, seven residents, the number can be raised to nine or even eleven. Perhaps not all on one committee—that’s for you to decide. I’m not taking that upon myself, all right? You’ll decide on the committee, elect an election committee, and proceed from there. That’s all. Reuven. Reuven, I suggest you go ahead... You, not me. Ask them if they want to. Call on them, because we need to keep this short.

10:36 Speaker 5 An election committee.

10:37 Speaker 1 Yes. No, no, no. If there are seven, we can increase it to either nine or eleven.

10:41 Speaker 5 Two things. Yes.

10:43 Speaker 1 That’s in [unclear], there in [unclear]. With Hashem’s help, we’ll see.

10:50 Speaker 5 Look, there’s...

10:52 Speaker 1 [Unclear], [unclear].

10:53 Speaker 5 Look, there’s a list here. You know the council appointed a committee for us... a committee for... a committee of...

11:01 Speaker 1 Yes.

11:01 Speaker 5 Can we explain this to the people?

11:02 Speaker 1 Please.

11:04 Speaker 5 By the way...

11:06 Speaker 1 Wait, one moment. One moment. I forgot something important. Security people have already gathered at the regional council, and they appointed a security committee to help us. It’s only there to help. Reb Binyamin will tell you what was decided there. Leave that, leave that.

11:23 Speaker 5 Ah, about security. Here’s how it is. The regional council appointed three people to the village security committee, as is customary throughout the council’s area. All the moshavim in its area have a security committee. So here, too, they appointed three people: Zelik Haltuiz[?], Yisroel Neferstek, who is also the local civil-defense officer in an emergency, and me, Evyatar Mani. Zusha Rivkin is the security coordinator, of course, but the officer... He’s the security coordinator, yes, and in that capacity he also works on behalf of the Border Police. Now, here’s what I wanted to tell you. The secretary has put together a list of roughly 160 people here who are fit to stand guard.

12:13 Speaker 1 How many, Binyamin?

12:14 Speaker 5 There it is: 160. A hundred and sixty people who are fit to stand guard. We’ll sit down in the next few days, sort through the list, and assign them. Just so everyone knows, we’ll be operating a guard rota here, as they already do in the other communities around here. Whether one person joins the regular guard, Reuven, or two, we’ll see how it works out over the days. There are even regulations for this dating back to... a law that gives the committee the authority. The point is that if the committee requires someone to go, the law obligates him to go, and he can’t get out of it. Of course. Yes? Yes, of course. If the civil-defense officer orders it, it’s just like receiving an order to report for guard duty. Anyone who remembers the village from years ago, before the Six-Day War, will remember that this was customary then. Unfortunately, we need to put it into effect again now. That’s about the guard duty. In a few days, a list will be posted in the shuls, and everyone will know when and how he is to report. That’s about security.

13:30 Speaker 6 I have a suggestion, friends. Without getting into any more discussion, I’m putting this to a vote right now: adding members to the committee. Let’s consider two proposals: nine and eleven. We could also go up to thirteen, but as they say, grasp too much and you grasp nothing. You can’t have that many on one committee. Yes? No, no, no, no. That proposal hasn’t been made yet. There’s also a proposal to reduce it—to how many? Five? Three? All right, that’s beside the point. Friends, don’t be shy. Who’s in favor? Who’s in favor of increasing the number of village committee members from seven to nine? Raise your hands. Reuven.

14:29 Speaker 7 Four and five. Five farmers and four...

14:32 Speaker 6 Four and...

14:34 Speaker 7 Five and two. Five and two.

14:43 Speaker 6 And if it’s eleven?

14:45 Speaker 7 If it’s eleven, if it’s eleven, eight and... eight and three.

15:15 Speaker 6 Who’s in favor of increasing it to eleven? Raise your hands. Now then, who’s against? Who’s against? A great many hands went up—I didn’t even count them, but I saw a great many. There weren’t nearly enough for nine. Who’s against setting the number of members of the village committee at eleven? Raise your hands.

16:02 Speaker 7 We could also have thirteen, fourteen.

16:06 Speaker 6 No, no. I’m not putting thirteen to a vote. That won’t work. You can’t add... nearly double the number on one committee.

16:13 Speaker 7 Eleven. Eleven people.

16:15 Speaker 6 So no one objects to eleven? Good. Reuven, Reuven, write that down: eleven.

16:24 Speaker 7 That’s five farmers and six from the lists.

16:27 Speaker 6 Work out the proportions yourself. It’s a delicate matter, it’s not... no.

16:31 Speaker 7 That’s how it is. Six lists, and after the meeting...

16:36 Speaker 6 The meeting is over. You can’t count.

16:38 Speaker 7 We accept it.

16:39 Speaker 6 I didn’t ask whether we accept it or not. I didn’t ask.

16:43 Speaker 7 Eleven.

16:45 Speaker 6 Eleven. Now we’ll move on to electing the election committee. Please nominate candidates.

16:55 Speaker 7 There’s no one to present them. I was only talking about people presenting candidates. Avraham.

17:08 Speaker 6 Once again: please nominate candidates for the election committee.

17:14 Speaker 7 I have a suggestion. The committee elected in previous years knows the job.

17:21 Speaker 6 No, no, no, no. There’s a proposal that the previous committee—the one that conducted the election—remain in place. That proposal has been made. Who are they? Moshe Aharon Teichman and Moshe Beit[?]. So then... then it elects.

17:38 Speaker 7 Avraham Reizel[?].

17:56 Speaker 6 Vosil[?], Vosil[?]. Vosil[?], Vosil[?]. But Vosil[?], a green slip or a white slip? It’s a green slip.

18:05 Speaker 7 Two, two—two are suspect.

18:06 Speaker 6 What happened?

18:07 Speaker 7 Moshe Butz[?] is disqualified. [unclear], eh?

18:21 Speaker 6 Well.

18:22 Speaker 7 Write down Yekusiel Schneerson.

18:27 Speaker 6 Wait, you’ve been crossed off, Schneerson.

18:36 Speaker 7 But Miki Schneerson is the candidate.

18:38 Speaker 6 Yaakov Edri, Yaakov Edri.

18:40 Speaker 7 And that’s for Kaldos.

18:42 Speaker 6 Yaakov Edri. Yaakov Edri. You already know.

18:51 Speaker 7 And that’s for Kaldos.

18:55 Speaker 6 Yaakov Edri. Write down Yaakov Edri.

18:57 Speaker 7 Wait, [unclear] Schneerson. Schneerson.

19:00 Speaker 6 [unclear]

19:03 Speaker 7 No.

19:04 Speaker 6 Apparently, yes, after all.

19:07 Speaker 7 [unclear] That is, in fact.

19:09 Speaker 6 Schneerson.

19:14 Speaker 7 That’s... that’s Gormash[?].

19:15 Speaker 6 What?

19:15 Speaker 7 That’s [unclear] Gormash[?].

19:16 Speaker 6 [unclear] Gormash[?].

19:17 Speaker 7 That’s... that is, in fact.

19:22 Speaker 6 Hello.

19:24 Speaker 7 Ah, the nominees are Meishe Beitchik[?], Oshiya Stern[?], Zelik Kaldos[?], and Yaakov Edri. Who’s in favor? What?

19:32 Speaker 6 I find it quite fair. I don’t want to.

19:36 Speaker 7 No, none of them wants to. Reb Dovber.

19:38 Speaker 6 That seems orderly.

19:40 Speaker 7 [unclear] Dovber.

19:41 Speaker 6 It seems...

19:42 Speaker 7 [unclear]

19:42 Speaker 6 It seems... that’s certain.

19:43 Speaker 7 Well, well, what are you talking about?

19:45 Speaker 6 I don’t know him.

19:46 Speaker 7 So, so you don’t know him.

19:46 Speaker 6 Bring a proposal from some of the members, how many—

19:51 Speaker 7 No, no, no, no, that’s not for here.

19:52 Speaker 6 No, that’s not for here.

19:54 Speaker 7 Why don’t you... why don’t you understand that it doesn’t belong here?

19:57 Speaker 6 I don’t know.

19:58 Speaker 7 What can you do? Certainly not. That’s... that’s unusual.

20:03 Speaker 6 Anyone who wants an audit committee.

20:05 Speaker 7 Wait, wait. Please nominate more candidates for the election committee. But quickly—why should we sit here until one in the morning? Not that one, not that one. Not that one. Does he have family? Goldstein, Goldstein. What was there before? What’s there? Here it is. There’s no such thing. Never mind, never mind. Who?

20:46 Speaker 8 A committee member.

20:47 Speaker 7 [unclear]

20:47 Speaker 8 Who?

20:49 Speaker 7 Sorry, a committee member. Ah, Reb Moshe.

20:57 Speaker 8 Moshe Tzeva[?].

20:59 Speaker 7 Shmuel, Shmuel Gurvitch. L’chaim!

21:26 Speaker 8 Yaakov Edri. Yaakov Edri. Moshe Tzvusman, Tzvi Strosh[?]. Shmuel Gurvitch.

21:46 Speaker 7 After the election committee is chosen, Rabbi Nachum Trebnik will read out the wording of the letter we’ll write to the Rebbe, and we’ll sign it right away. Ah, elected to the election committee were Moshe Aharon Teichman, Moshe Tzvusman, and Shmuel Gurvitch. Gentlemen, shh. Gentlemen, quiet! Quiet! Quiet. I’ll read you the wording of the letter that will go to the Rebbe. And anyone who wishes can perhaps, G-d forbid... Listen to the letter. In accordance with the Rebbe shlita’s holy letter dated [unclear], a general meeting was announced, and [unclear] participated. It was decided [unclear] Kfar Chabad [unclear] the Rebbe shlita [unclear] to merit [unclear] Kfar Chabad. In this letter [unclear] the two candidates from the Holy Land who came through the [unclear] committee; [unclear]. Whoever [unclear] appoints, we will accept with love, joy, and goodwill. Attached is a list of those who participated in the general meeting, at which the above was decided. Anyone who wishes [unclear]; tomorrow all three [unclear], and every single person should take part, come and [unclear]. Hey, let’s go home, let’s go home. We won’t be going into the homes. I’m closing the general meeting. Good night.