Gathering of 20 Marcheshvan 5748

00:06 Speaker 1 who merited to celebrate the seventh month within the Rebbe shlita’s four cubits—the leader of our generation and the source of our spiritual vitality. Tonight we will draw from the guests’ wellspring and quench our great thirst, in the Rebbe shlita’s words, “to relive those special moments of elevation and awakening, so as to carry them through the entire year.” A special excitement accompanies us all this evening. The holy sicha delivered by the Rebbe shlita this Shabbos, Parshas Vayeira, has particular relevance to this gathering. These holy words are a source of encouragement and strength for all of us to continue and increase our work, and a guide for this conference, this gathering. Dear brothers, the central message and purpose of this gathering must be the Rebbe shlita’s heartfelt call and earnest request: that men, women, and children come together and unite in activities of joy and Hakhel. Every man and woman, from the oldest to the youngest, must engage in Hakhel activities—“Gather the people, the men, the women, and the children,” so that they may fear Hashem. As the Rebbe shlita explicitly requested, we must gather men, women, and children and speak words of Torah to them, including and especially the inner dimension of Torah as revealed in the teachings of Chassidus, where the matter of fear of Heaven is particularly emphasized. And this day is especially fitting: a meritorious occasion has fallen on an auspicious day. 20 Cheshvan is the birthday of the great luminary, the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory. This day was chosen for this gathering of chassidim—to strengthen, encourage, open eyes, awaken hearts, and enlighten minds—and all the more fully, as is especially expressed this year, marking 127 years since the Rebbe Rashab’s birth. As explained in the birthday celebrant’s discourses, 127 years signifies the completeness of one’s work with all the faculties of the soul. Together, we continue to listen without pause, with awe and reverence, to the Rebbe shlita’s unceasing words, including at this Shabbos’s farbrengen, with particular emphasis on the mitzvah of our generation and the demand of the hour: the work of shlichus, whose ultimate aim and purpose,

04:07 Speaker 1 the Rebbe says, is the coming of Moshiach. As we recall, every day, every hour, every moment, the Rebbe’s insistent appeals and unceasing requests, our heartstrings tremble, and a powerful desire and yearning awaken within us to carry out his instructions with the utmost completeness and care. To fulfill these and other tasks, ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered this evening for the 28th conference and gathering: to be among those “mighty in strength who fulfill His word,” to confer and to adopt good resolutions together, in the spirit of “each person shall help his fellow.” We open with a word from the Rebbe: the full, holy, richly worded blessing of the Rebbe shlita to all the participants in this gathering, in a long and detailed letter of blessing. With the permission of the distinguished presidium, the rabbis, and the holy audience, I am honored to invite the chairman of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, who heads its activities throughout the year, Rabbi Yisrael Leibov, to present the Rebbe shlita’s blessing to us. Please.

06:20 Speaker 2 We have been granted a very great privilege: we are connected to the Rebbe shlita. There is nothing greater than that. The Rebbe has just sent a letter for this conference, and, G-d willing, I will read the Rebbe’s letter to the gathering. Every word deserves thought, so that, G-d forbid, we do not misunderstand it or let it slip away, and so that we carry out everything we must. We should pay attention to every letter—but we can only do what we can; at the very least, we should pay attention to every word. G-d willing, we will accept it and put it into practice. Here it is: Boruch Hashem. Wednesday, the parsha of “And I came today to the spring,” 19 Marcheshvan 5748, the Year of Hakhel. Brooklyn, New York. To all participants in the annual gathering of Chabad chassidim in our Holy Land, may they live long and good years: Greetings and abundant blessings. May it be His will that the gathering be a true gathering, bringing true Hakhel and unity to all its participants and, through them, to all those they influence: “to unite the tribes of Israel.” For this is a great principle of the Torah—and more than that, the entire Torah; the rest is its explanation, go and learn. This will benefit them and benefit the world, which was created for the sake of the Jewish people—of each of whom it is said, “A star shall go forth from Yaakov”—who received and study the Torah and observe its mitzvos. Of them it is said, “For a mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light.” May they adopt good resolutions, firmly and in a way that leads to actual deed and practice, which is the main thing. These resolutions should be directed toward the above-mentioned goal: true Hakhel and unity of the Jewish people, through an even greater increase in the threefold work of Torah—both its revealed dimension and Chassidus—and its mitzvos, bringing about Hakhel, unity, and the wholeness of the Torah; bringing chassidic vitality and light into the everyday lives of the entire people, in all their families, bringing about Hakhel, unity, and the wholeness of the people; and particularly throughout the Land, “a land upon which the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always,” which was given as an everlasting inheritance to an eternal people, in its entirety and within all its borders—bringing about the unity and wholeness of the Land, until “Hashem expands your border.”

09:33 Speaker 2 Great is the strength and merit of the many and of the community, especially when they gather and assemble so as to become one great congregation. The word “Hakhel” is in the singular. The explanation given by the birthday celebrant, whose birthday is the day of this gathering, is especially relevant here. It appears in his well-known kuntres, “Heichaltzu Me’itchem Anashim.” May it be His will that each and every one of the participants, shlita, become in practice a living example of “Heichaltzu Me’itchem”—whether man or woman. In our days, very soon indeed, may the prayer and promise, “Gladden the soul of Your servant,” and all who fear Your name, be fulfilled with the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days. With respect and blessings for success and good news. Signed by the Rebbe shlita.

10:37 Speaker 3 Thank you, Rabbi Leibov.

10:40 Speaker 2 Yes, is there a problem?

10:41 Speaker 3 Oh, just a moment.

10:42 Speaker 2 Whichever you can see better.

10:48 Speaker 3 Thank you, thank you, Rabbi Leibov, on behalf of the entire audience. Just as you merited to read the Rebbe shlita’s letter for this important gathering, so may you merit to read the Rebbe’s letters here in our Holy Land always, with the building of the Third Beis Hamikdash very soon indeed. And regarding the Rebbe’s words in his letter—allow me to point out that its closing words were “success and good news.” For the success of this gathering, I appeal to everyone assembled here. Anyone to whom the Rebbe’s words are dear should know that the Rebbe concluded his letter with a request and a blessing that this gathering be a success. Every conversation and discussion at the entrance, and gathering anywhere other than where we should be, detracts from its success. Please, I ask again, in accordance with the Rebbe’s request: there are plenty of seats inside the hall, on the right, on the left, and in the center. Come inside and make every effort to fulfill the Rebbe’s request for the success of this gathering. And once that success begins, there is no doubt that we will also be able to fulfill the second part: to bring good news about the resolutions of this gathering. In keeping with the Rebbe’s words in his letter—“Great is the strength and merit of the many and of the community,” and the explanation of the birthday celebrant, whose birthday is the day of the gathering, on the subject of gathering—we will now study sections 7 and 10 together. As the Rebbe notes in his source references, these sections of his kuntres “Heichaltzu” deal with the subject of the gathering. I am therefore honored to invite the mashpia from Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Baruch Kesselman, to study sections 7 and 10 of the maamar “Heichaltzu” with us. Please, Rabbi Kesselman.

13:34 Speaker 4 In the maamar “Heichaltzu,” he speaks here about intermingling. He discusses intermingling in the realm of chochmah: it is precisely by breaking something down into many details that true intermingling comes afterward. Now he begins section seven: This can be seen in the division that takes place in chochmah, which brings about division within every concept at the beginning of its emergence. At that point, chochmah is a general point, without any division into details. It is only the point of the concept, and so it stands in opposition to another concept that appears to contradict it. Through the power of chochmah and intellect, however, he divides the concept into its many parts and details, including things that are opposites and even contradictory. As we explained in the preceding sections, by virtue of their essence, everything includes its opposite. Likewise, every intellectual concept must contain several different, opposing elements. When he properly divides the idea into its details, each particular aspect of it necessarily takes on several different forms, each with its own reasoning and rationale. Or the same reasoning and rationale may call for both a thing and its opposite, which are no longer in conflict with one another. On the contrary, they reinforce and support one another. In other words, one aspect, through its reasoning, ends up strengthening the other, and precisely through this he grasps the concept very well. [unclear]. In other words, the Rebbe says—what does “in other words” mean here? That the idea becomes more pronounced, and he grasps it from every side and angle. It can therefore connect and become integrated with another concept; they are not opposites. On the contrary, they support one another. And this power within the intellect to divide everything into many parts, so that afterward several opposites can intermingle and come together, comes from the bittul within the intellect,

16:19 Speaker 4 because every aspect of bittul has this quality. As the Zohar says, “A person should always be pliant like a reed and not hard like a cedar.” Something hard, because of its coarseness and sense of self, cannot bend in any direction. It is rigid; you cannot bend it either way. But something pliant, because it is soft, can be bent in any direction. That is how it is physically. By analogy, we can understand this in the intellect: because of its bittul, it divides every concept and every revelation of light into many parts and details. This is what it means to bend in every direction, even into distinctions that are opposites of one another. Through this, all the opposites become integrated and join together as one. It is known that this is true integration and intermingling: many details intermingle and interweave so thoroughly that no beginning or end can be found. They are interwoven with one another, each receiving from the other, with neither imposing itself on the other. This is true intermingling, in which there are no opposites at all. This intermingling is far greater than the intermingling of the powers as they are included within their essence. There is an intermingling of the powers as they are included within their essence, but there they are integrated only because they are not yet discernible as distinct entities. Why are they integrated there? Because they have not yet become discernible in any form. In essence, though, they have no intermingling or connection with one another. On the contrary, they are opposites, and if they were revealed, they would conflict with one another, as explained earlier. Here, however, they intermingle precisely because they first become differentiated; afterward they intermingle, until no opposites or contradictions remain at all. On the contrary, they reinforce and support one another. So here we have true intermingling. It follows that the division brought about by the intellect is precisely what brings about true integration. Likewise, the fact that, because of the intellect,

18:46 Speaker 4 people’s views differ—in the realm of holiness, they intermingle with one another, as explained. On the contrary, then, there is an added virtue here: many details intermingle and become one thing. This is the unity of the name Havayah, in which the many details intermingle and become truly one, as explained further on. In short, what does it say here? The division brought about by the intellect leads to integration, and this comes from the bittul within it. True integration is specifically when the details are not in conflict; on the contrary, they support one another. Now we will also learn chapter ten. “And behold, the sin of baseless hatred is found most of all, to our great regret, among those who serve Hashem. Each one builds his own approach to Torah study specifically according to his own understanding and intellect, and likewise approaches avodah specifically according to his own wisdom. They do not intermingle or connect with one another at all. In truth, it is a great and fundamental principle for those engaged in Torah and avodah to connect and speak with one another, both in Torah study—‘Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens the face of his fellow.’ For a person cannot say that the truth is necessarily as he understands it. When he hears his friend’s view and they discuss it together in pursuit of the truth, they arrive at the truth of the matter.” That is in Torah study. “The same applies to avodah: they reveal the afflictions of their hearts to one another.” In other words, one person tells the other, and they talk about it, and this brings several kinds of improvement. By speaking with each other, several things can be improved. First, there are some shortcomings a person does not find in himself. On his own, he does not see them. Because of self-love, he does not find his own shortcomings, for “love covers all transgressions”—all the more so flaws in one’s character. Of course he does not find them, because a person’s natural love for himself covers them up.

21:12 Speaker 4 But when he speaks with a friend, his friend calls his attention to them. That is one benefit when two people speak with each other. There is another benefit: when he reveals the afflictions of his heart in speech, telling someone else about them, he feels much more distressed as he speaks than he did before. That distress then brings him to regret all those things that are not good and uproots his desire for them. This is true remorse, and through it much is rectified. This is the idea of verbal confession, the confession one must say, for it is known to bring great rectification to the soul of one who has sinned. When the matter is put into words, it touches him inwardly. In other words, it touches him deeply within his soul, and he feels great distress and remorse. We find an example of this in the verse, “When there is worry in a person’s heart, let him speak of it.” Our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Let him speak of it to others.” We see that while a person speaks about his pain, he feels it more intensely than he did before. Afterward, though, he feels more at ease. Once he has told his friend, the pain lessens; in other words, he feels better. And just as this is true of physical distress, so it is in avodah. Certainly, when he speaks of the afflictions of his heart, he feels more distressed while he is speaking, but afterward he feels more at ease. Why? Because by speaking about them, he removes many of those afflictions and blemishes; speech itself already removes many shortcomings. That is the second benefit. Another is that when they speak together, each comes up with ways to correct the matter. In other words, when two people talk, they find a course of action and make a firm resolution for the future to correct his conduct in such-and-such a way. And the resolution

23:29 Speaker 4 When two or more people make a commitment together, it is far stronger than a commitment each makes on his own. So we see that when those who serve Hashem come together and talk with one another, it is very good in several ways. It has the three advantages we discussed earlier. And all this is when a person has bittul. But when can he speak with another person? When he has bittul and can unite with and draw close to him. But when he is caught up in his own sense of self, he cannot reveal the wounds of his heart to another person at all. What would he tell him? For one thing, he simply cannot reveal that he has shortcomings. Or he considers the other person very lowly—he thinks he is far above him. If so, how could he reveal his concerns to him, and what good would it do? What benefit could he gain from the other person? Most importantly, he cannot truly unite with him. He just cannot. Even in Torah study he cannot join with him, because he insists on his own opinion about everything. He thinks that his view and understanding must be the truth—that what he says is how it really is. He will not even hear the other person’s reasoning and consider it honestly, without bias. His sense of self prevents him from doing that. So, on the contrary, when they discuss intellectual matters together, they grow further apart. When a person is caught up in his own sense of self and knows that only he is right, he sees the other person as being against him. They grow further apart, become more opposed to one another, and it can even turn into hatred. After that he cannot mix with him or unite with him. He speaks with the other person, sees that he holds a different view, and cannot unite with him: he himself says one thing, and the other person says

25:24 Speaker 4 something else. In short, the root of baseless hatred among those who serve Hashem is a sense of self. The benefit comes precisely from the closeness of friends who join together, and from studying together, whether Torah or matters of avodah. That brings great benefit. The cause of separation in Torah study is precisely a person’s sense of self; when there is bittul, people can unite.

26:10 Speaker 5 Thank you and yasher koach to the mashpia from Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Wolf Kesselman, for studying sections 7 and 10 of the maamar Heichaltzu, which relate to the theme of our gathering this evening. A request from the organizers and a request of our guests: Parents, please seat your children on your laps to make room for the many people still standing at the entrance without a place to sit. And to those standing at the entrance: Please come inside, help make our gathering a success, and find a place in the hall. In the Rebbe’s letter we heard that very soon, in our own days, the prayer and promise will be fulfilled: “Bring joy to the soul of Your servant,” and so on, and “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” In the maamar of Chassidus the Rebbe said this Shabbos, the Rebbe emphasizes that joy—not only joy deep in one’s heart, but joy that is openly expressed—has an effect. Its power is so great that joy takes charge of life. And the Rebbe continues: Joy breaks through all boundaries. Ladies and gentlemen, to bring out the open joy of all of us together, we are honored to invite the chassidic musicians: the well-known Reb Zalman Levin, our new musician Reb Yitzchak Lieberman, and Reb Avrom Lider. Together with the entire audience, let us express our joy and break through all boundaries. “Bring joy to the soul of Your servant.” Reb Zalman, Reb Yitzchak, Reb Avrom. Here they come, they’re coming up. Oh, Reb Zalman! And everyone together, with open joy. Please.

28:38 Speaker 6 Yitzchak is coming up this way.

28:41 Speaker 5 Reb Yitzchak.

28:44 Speaker 6 Come on, let’s go.

28:45 Speaker 5 I will thank You, Hashem my G-d, with all my heart, and I will honor Your name forever. I will thank You, Hashem my G-d, with all my heart, and I will honor Your name forever. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. Ahhhhhhh! Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. Everyone together! I will thank You, Hashem my G-d, with all my heart, and I will honor Your name forever. I will thank You, Hashem my G-d, with all my heart, and I will honor Your name forever. All the nations You have made—

30:10 Speaker 6 The nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. And everyone listening together, aha—aha—hey, hey, hey. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. Aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, hey. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. Hey! All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. Gentlemen! All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. Aha, aha, aha, hey. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul. Hey! All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, Hashem, and honor Your name. Aha, aha, aha, hey. Bring joy to the soul, the soul of Your servant, for to You, Hashem, I lift up my soul... Yasher koach, yasher koach to the chassidic musicians, and yasher koach to the audience. May we truly merit openly expressed joy, and may joy take charge of life. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps with the help of that joy—I ask you earnestly, and I ask again and again: All the children, for the sake of Ahavas Yisroel and good manners, please stand up and ask your father to take you on his lap. More than two hundred people are at the entrance and downstairs and cannot come in because there are no seats for them. Well, I can already see several

32:55 Speaker 6 children who have begun to do that. Please, once again, young children: Stand up and sit on your parents’ laps. And the dear people still standing at the entrance, please come in and find a place. Ladies and gentlemen, the Rebbe quotes the Tosefta in tractate Sotah and the remarkable point it makes about Hakhel. It says: “At the gathering of Hakhel, the kohanim stand by the fences and at the openings, with golden trumpets in their hands, and they sound a blast, a series of short blasts, and another blast. Any kohen,” says the Tosefta, “who has no trumpet in his hand—people say it seems he is not a kohen.” And as the Tosefta goes on to mention, even a lame kohen, or any kohen who might not otherwise have had to hold a trumpet and sound it. The remarkable point the Rebbe draws from the Tosefta is this: Why such a fuss? If all the kohanim are sounding their trumpets and just one kohen stands to the side and listens to the blasts, surely he takes nothing away from them. No: If that kohen does not sound his trumpet, people say he is not a kohen. And if we take this a little further and ask what the Rebbe shlita adds—what is the Rebbe’s great insight into the Tosefta, the Tosefta on the Tosefta? It is the plain meaning of the verse, a call and an explanation for every person in the Torah’s simplest words. What is it? The Tosefta says that a kohen who does not sound his trumpet is not a kohen. Who is that kohen in our generation? The Rebbe teaches us that today, that kohen is each and every one of us—men, women, and children. Each is called a kohen: “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of kohanim.” So this is the call of the hour, the message and meaning of Hakhel. I am honored to invite Rabbi Dovid Chanzin, a member of the Beis Din of Chabad Rabbis, to speak to us about the meaning of Hakhel. Please. Once again, I ask all the children who have just entered the hall: Each of you, please try to find a place, whether on your father’s lap or along the sides of the hall. But your voices—the children came to Hakhel to listen carefully. I can see that the children are listening carefully to what they are told.

36:29 Speaker 6 Very good. Honored Rabbi, please.

36:47 Speaker 7 This year is the year of Hakhel. At the beginning of Sukkos this year—which the Torah calls “at the end of seven years,” so this year is called the eighth, although it is the first year of the new seven-year cycle—they would assemble all of the Jewish people, men, women and children, in the courtyard, in the women’s courtyard, and the king would read passages from the Torah to them. Now, at first glance, wasn’t that just one day of the year? How can the whole year be named for it? We find the same thing with the Jubilee year. It is called the Jubilee year because on Yom Kippur of that year they would sound the shofar. Then the Hebrew servants would return to their homes, and fields that had been sold would return to their owners. Because a shofar is called a yovel, the whole year is called Yovel. So this year can be called the year of Hakhel. And if the Torah allows it to be called that, then the entire year is a year of Hakhel. In practice, the mitzvah could be fulfilled when the Beis Hamikdash stood. Our Rebbe, shlita, says: The entire Torah is eternal, and its mitzvos are eternal. It cannot be that the observance of a mitzvah simply comes to an end. The substance of the mitzvah is eternal. Even when it cannot be carried out in practice, its substance remains eternal. Take the offerings: when the Beis Hamikdash does not stand, we cannot actually bring an offering, but prayers were instituted in place of the daily offerings. The service of prayer stands in place of the offerings. The same applies to the mitzvah of Hakhel. What is more, the Rebbe shlita points to the Rambam’s precise wording concerning this mitzvah. The Rambam begins the third chapter of Hilchos Chagigah: “It is a positive commandment to assemble all Israel—men, women and children—at the conclusion of every Shemitah year, when they come up for the pilgrimage festival, and to read in their hearing passages from the Torah that urge them to observe the mitzvos and strengthen them in the true faith, as it says, ‘At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the Shemitah year, on Sukkos, when all Israel comes to appear … assemble

40:29 Speaker 7 the people, the men, the women, the children and the stranger within your gates.’” Usually, when the Rambam begins a section of halachos, he states how the mitzvah is performed in practice. Here he goes into considerable detail about the substance of the mitzvah—something he generally addresses at the end of a set of halachos. Only afterward does the Rambam give the details of Hakhel: When did they read? Who read? They read after the first day of Sukkos; the king read in their hearing; and where did he read? In the women’s courtyard, and so on. At first glance, following his usual approach, the Rambam should have begun the chapter with that. From this we learn—and the Rebbe shlita points this out further—that the essence of the mitzvah of Hakhel is not assembling the people. The very substance of the mitzvah, or in the Rebbe’s words, the object of the mitzvah, is its purpose: to instill fear of Hashem in the Jewish people, in every Jew—men, women and children. As the verse says, “Hashem commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Hashem.” The Rebbe shlita says: When you meet a Jew, you need to tell him, “Know that you are a member of a people called a holy people, and so it befits you to conduct yourself as a member of a holy people should.” Even gathering two people is significant, and gathering more certainly is—all the way to assembling whole groups: men with men, women with women, children with children. In other words, every person must gather the Jews around him and instill fear of Heaven in them. Each person is a king in his family; in his surroundings, wherever he can have an influence, he is the king. A rabbi can have an influence in his city, and so forth. Everyone must know that it is his responsibility to instill fear of Hashem in every Jew. The Rebbe shlita dwelt on the verse, “They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I did not keep.” There are groups in Israel that were founded primarily to organize Jews and instill fear of Heaven in them. What has happened? Each group has come to protect its material interests,

44:12 Speaker 7 while the main reason they were founded was to bring Torah-observant Jews together so that, through the strength of the community, they could have a greater and greater influence in bringing Jews closer to Yiddishkeit. That has been completely forgotten and is no longer there. That is why it is so important now to gather Jews, speak with every Jew and instill fear of Heaven in them. The Rebbe shlita said that this time is especially suited to it. Extraordinary strength has been given to every Jew to work on this and even to succeed. If the Rebbe shlita says so, then that is how it is. We should not need to bring proof from experience. It is enough that the Rebbe says it. But we have learned from experience, too: whenever the Rebbe shlita says something, we need to accept it and act on it, and then the people succeed. But let us not speak about the past. Let us focus on this opportunity: this year is a year of Hakhel, and every one of us must do everything within his power—and more than he thinks is possible—to fulfill his responsibility to gather Jews and instill fear of Heaven in them. Every single person can do it. Those who serve on councils alongside Jews whom they think are distant and impossible to influence can influence them. They can, and it is their responsibility to try. On the verse “He shall perceive through the fear of Hashem,” the Radak cites his father’s interpretation of “he shall perceive” as referring to the breath of his mouth, his speech. The verse is about “a shoot shall emerge from the stem of Yishai,” in chapter 11 of Yeshayahu, speaking of Moshiach. So he says that “he shall perceive” refers to the breath of his mouth: he constantly speaks of fear of Heaven. Rashi says something similar: “His spirit is filled with fear of Hashem.” May Hashem help us all strive together to carry out the Rebbe shlita’s words in full: not to neglect any opportunity, but to seek ways to instill fear of Hashem in the hearts of the Jewish people. Fear of Hashem has many levels, from lower fear to higher fear. It also leads to love of Hashem, as written in Tanya. If we succeed in this—and we certainly will succeed if we do what is required of us—then what the Gemara says will be fulfilled: “He shall perceive

48:09 Speaker 7 through the fear of Hashem.” He scents and judges—this is Moshiach. Through the fear of Hashem that we instill throughout the people, we will bring about “He shall perceive through the fear of Hashem”: our righteous Moshiach, of whom the verse speaks, who will redeem us from exile very soon indeed.

48:46 Speaker 8 Yasher koach! Thank you for those fiery words about the meaning of Hakhel that we heard from the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Dovid Chanzin. I ask the children again: please stop walking around here at the front, near the rabbis’ table. It detracts from the occasion and from the rabbis’ honor. Children, please move to the side, near the wall, and keep a little distance from the aisles so the adults can come in. There are still a number of empty seats, and people can come in and find a place. Children, you will set the example, showing through your behavior what Hakhel should look like. I ask again: no child should be walking in the aisle. Well, gentlemen, after hearing Rabbi Chanzin’s words, I think that if anyone still had a question—even hidden deep in his heart—about who needs to go out for Hakhel, or whom the Rebbe meant when he called for Hakhel activities, that question has fallen away. The question is now the opposite: whom did the Rebbe not tell to act on Hakhel? Anyone who was there in Tishrei, the seventh month—and anyone who was not there but heard and took to heart his demands—heard the Rebbe say “Gut Shabbos” and “Gut Yom Tov”: Gut Shabbos, Hakhel; Gut Yom Tov, Hakhel; good morning, Hakhel; good night, Hakhel; [unclear], Hakhel; one-year-old children, Hakhel; six-month-old children—everyone, Hakhel. Who was left out? No one. Everyone has a part in Hakhel. So, gentlemen, if the question is how, the Rebbe says: let each person take a trumpet in hand, go out to the fences and the breaches, wherever you are, and begin to sound it and proclaim Hakhel. And if, the Rebbe says, someone has already started sounding the trumpet, what should I do? The Rebbe says: take the other half of the trumpet. What is a chatzotzrah, a trumpet? The Rebbe says: chatzi tzurah, half a form. That is the trumpet. In other words, I cannot be the one and only person sounding the trumpet and publicizing Hakhel. One half is the one sounding it, and the other half—perhaps the one helping him, who may be even more important

51:47 Speaker 8 These are the people who help carry out Hakhel. At this convention, we have already been privileged to see a great continuation of the extensive work being done on Hakhel. This convention also serves as a review of the activities carried out by Tzeirei Agudas Chabad over the year. That is why we gather each year, as the Rebbe noted in a sicha devoted to this convention: to listen and consult together, so that we can continue, add to our efforts, and learn from one another, in the spirit of “one person shall help another.” I ask the permission of the audience, and of the rabbis and the distinguished presidium, to use this important occasion to congratulate—albeit a little belatedly, but this is our opportunity now that we have all gathered—the director-general, who is no longer new. He was appointed at the end of last year’s convention, and his appointment received the Rebbe’s affirmative response. Today we see the work done over the year, which has gained momentum not merely twofold, but two-thousandfold—and by whatever number we might add. He is our friend, and who does not know him? The director-general, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Aharonov, deserves our congratulations for the wonderful, extensive work done this year. Before I invite him to tell us about the great work carried out over the year through all those Chabad Houses, their branches, and the places where Chabad Houses are about to be established, I want to reveal an important secret. This year, at a time when, as we know, the Rebbe does not generally receive people for yechidus in his room, in the innermost sanctum, Rabbi Aharonov was privileged to go in. Our director-general, who heads all these efforts and this convention, was inside for twenty-five minutes and received the strength for the work whose fruits we are privileged to see this evening. With your permission, I invite Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Aharonov to tell us about the activities of the past year and present his report. Please.

55:09 Speaker 9 With the permission of the rabbis. This convention, the 28th national convention of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, is a convention for all Anash, Chabad chassidim in the Holy Land. After all, every member of Anash belongs to Tzeirei Agudas Chabad and is a partner in the holy activities of the Rebbe shlita. When the Rebbe shlita established Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, he also defined its areas of activity: inwardly, strengthening Anash, the Chabad chassidim; and outwardly, strengthening the many Jews who live in our Holy Land. Indeed, Tzeirei Agudas Chabad endeavors to work in both directions: among Anash, whom it assists and encourages to devote themselves more fully to the Rebbe shlita’s holy activities; and among the Jewish people living in the Holy Land, where Tzeirei Agudas Chabad spreads the wellsprings of Judaism and Chassidus. These days, the organization is working in both directions on the central matter on our agenda this year: the Hakhel campaign proclaimed by the Rebbe shlita, which has already been discussed and will certainly be discussed further at this convention. We must see to it that every member of Anash lives with Hakhel and takes an active part in it—with his person, his resources, and his soul—both in his own setting and by spreading the idea of the Hakhel campaign to every Jew he can reach. This subject is at the center of our convention this evening, in keeping with this year being a Hakhel year. As the Rebbe shlita instructed, this is the primary, special task of the year. The second major subject on this evening’s agenda is the shluchim: both the veteran shluchim and the new ones who set out on their work over the past year. In a sicha devoted specifically to this convention, at the farbrengen this past Shabbos, the Rebbe shlita noted this subject, saying: “One of the main matters at the convention is a special emphasis on shlichus. It begins with the gathering of the shluchim shlita, both those privileged to be appointed in previous years and those privileged to be appointed recently,

58:28 Speaker 9 so that they can consult with one another on how to add still greater energy and strength to their work as shluchim. This includes setting an example that many others will see and follow, joining the work of shlichus themselves.” Those were the words of the Rebbe shlita this past Shabbos. This subject stood at the top of our agenda over the past year, when the Rebbe shlita instructed us to emphasize making every Jew’s home a Chabad House, establishing new Chabad Houses everywhere, and expanding the existing ones. Today we can report with satisfaction that, with Hashem’s help, 125 Chabad Houses are operating throughout the country, from Katzrin in the Golan Heights to Eilat in the south. In effect, they cover the entire country, from end to end. There are still a few places where Chabad Houses need to be opened, mainly in small towns and moshavim, but broadly speaking, we can say that the country is covered. A new direction is already developing: opening Chabad Houses in individual neighborhoods in addition to the central Chabad House operating in the city. Since the Rebbe shlita issued his holy call to establish Chabad Houses everywhere on the last day of Chanukah 5746, about fifty new Chabad Houses have opened or are on the verge of opening. I want to name them at this convention and give them the recognition they deserve. They are: Or Yehuda, Or Akiva, Azor, Moshav Riya[?], Binyamina, Beit Shemesh, Gan Yavne, Moshav Dovev, Moshav Dishon, Moshav Dalton, Zichron Yaakov, Moshav Tirat Yehuda, Yehud, Yokneam Illit, Kfar Yona, Kfar Yaavetz, Mevo Modi’im, Maale Adumim, Maalot, Neve Dekalim in the Gaza region, Moshav Nir Tzvi, Nachalat Yehuda, Moshav Safsufa, Atlit, Katzrin, Kiryat Ono, Kiryat Arba, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Shmona, Karnei Shomron, Rosh HaAyin, Raanana, Sderot, and Ganei Tikva. None of these places had a Chabad House before; one opened there in the past two years. In other places, there was already a Chabad House and an additional branch opened in the past year or two, or there had previously been only

1:01:24 Speaker 9 activity there and now an actual Chabad House has opened. These places are: Ashdod, Ofakim, Bat Yam in the Ramat Hanasi neighborhood, Holon in the Neve Arazim neighborhood, Hadera, Nazareth Illit, Netanya in the Azorim neighborhood, Acre, Tzfas, Rehovot, and Tel Aviv in Ramat Aviv and Jaffa. Chabad Houses are about to open in additional places in the coming days, including Nesher and Mazkeret Batya. The truth is that we ourselves cannot fully grasp the significance of this tremendous development: 125 Chabad Houses covering virtually the entire country, so that every instruction and every campaign of the Rebbe shlita can reach every single place. But it is precisely this tremendous growth

00:02 Speaker 1 The great work is being done by young men who themselves have astonishingly limited resources, yet devote themselves day and night to the Rebbe shlita’s campaigns and activities. Deep in debt, they work with genuine dedication—dedication that knows no set hours, no rest and no pause. And they need our help, gentlemen. The leadership of the central Tzeirei Agudas Chabad... The leadership of the central Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, headed by its chairman, Rabbi Yisroel Leibov, is doing everything it can to expand its activities and help the Chabad Houses throughout the country as much as possible, especially the new ones. But these are enormous expenses that the central organization has no chance of covering, certainly not in its present situation. And so, unfortunately, gentlemen, the main burden falls on the shluchim themselves. This is where all of Anash must step up—with their time, their money and their whole hearts—to help these Chabad Houses, and help them beyond what they think they can afford, because these are the people who are devoting themselves for each and every one of us. I appeal to every person here, and to those who for one reason or another are not here physically, but whose souls are surely here too: adopt at least one of the Chabad Houses operating around the country. Help it financially; help it raise funds. Help, gentlemen, the Chabad House nearest you directly. Give it money, help it raise funds, provide manpower, join the activities it organizes. Let it feel that it is not standing alone in this campaign. Then—and only then, gentlemen, with your help—each of us will be able to fulfill what the Rebbe shlita said this past Shabbos: that everyone is a shliach and must take part in the work of shlichus. When we all become active partners in the work of shlichus by giving real help to the Chabad Houses, we will fulfill the sicha the Rebbe delivered this past Shabbos. Gentlemen, this is no joke. We must step up and help

03:24 Speaker 1 every single Chabad House. May it be Hashem’s will that each of us, and all of us together, always merit to bring nachas to the Rebbe shlita, to remain connected to the Rebbe shlita, and to merit to hasten the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu very soon, at the great Hakhel—now.

04:00 Speaker 2 A song of praise and gratitude: thank you for the words, for the deeds, for the ongoing work—for words spoken not merely from talk, but from action. That is what words sound like when they are spoken in the midst of doing. Yasher koach! Fortunate are the people, fortunate is Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, to have such people at the head of the camp. I chose the word “fortunate” because “ashrei” is an acronym for Reb Yosef Aharonov shlita. And now, gentlemen, as we said at the opening—or rather, as the Rebbe shaped the program of this gathering and determined that this gathering, excuse me, is also a welcome for the guests. The Rebbe explained what a welcome means: not just applause, but actually reliving the entire month—reliving it, listening, consulting with one another and making good resolutions together. For that purpose, in a few minutes, or less, we will move to the part where we relive it visually as well, through the device that has been made available to us and allows us to see what took place in the Rebbe’s court, within the Rebbe’s own four cubits. But I just want to say what comes next in the program. Immediately after the video we are about to watch, we have, first of all, an instructive story—stories of breaking through barriers and iron walls in Soviet Russia, told by the visiting chossid here with us, the chossid from Leningrad, Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan. And—I think he truly deserves it as well—and the program also includes a very important segment, the segment on shlichus—on Hakhel in practice. I ask the honored rabbis’ forgiveness and invite them to come down from the stage and make a circuit, half a circuit. Young men will immediately move the chairs forward so the rabbis can watch the video too. So then, let us sing “Vayehi Vishurun Melech.” We ask the rabbis to begin coming down from the stage and move to the front so they can see the video. Please, help us. And Reb Akiva, we will accompany the rabbis to the front with “Ufaratzta

07:27 Speaker 2 ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta—westward and eastward.” Joy in exile. “Ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta—westward and eastward. Northward and southward. Oh, you shall spread westward and eastward. Oh, you shall spread northward and southward. Ay, ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta, ufaratzta—westward, northward, southward and eastward; northward and southward, westward and eastward, northward and southward, westward and eastward, northward and southward.” Everyone together. “Oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta—westward and eastward, northward and southward. Oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta—southward. Northward and southward. Oh, you shall spread westward and eastward. Oh, you shall spread northward and southward. Ahhh. Oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta, oh, ufaratzta—westward and eastward, northward and southward, westward and eastward, northward and southward.”

09:14 Speaker 4 We just... Let us again remind everyone, especially the honored rabbis, that as soon as the video ends they should return to the stage so that the gathering can continue successfully, with good news. And everyone is asked to join in singing—a Chassidic song. Reb Azriel, nu.

11:26 Speaker 5 [unclear] unity, Ahavas Yisroel. No one should stand, because he blocks the view of hundreds behind him, dozens behind him. One person blocks dozens. We will not start, I’m asking you. In front of you—we cannot start while people are still standing. In front of you, excuse me, I’ve been asked not to start as long as people are standing. We cannot start if people are standing.

11:53 Speaker 6 Even all those people leaving here are blocking the view of this whole audience.

11:56 Speaker 5 Everyone standing here by the stage is blocking the view of the entire audience—literally the whole hall.

12:04 Speaker 6 Michael Shvili—Dad, from Kfar Chabad—someone is waiting for you here.

12:07 Speaker 5 Michael Shvili from Kfar Chabad, someone is waiting for you by the entrance. Once again, I ask you very much.

12:19 Speaker 6 They are all standing over there.

12:21 Speaker 5 I can still see the people standing there. Please, look beside me; there is no choice. Those of you standing are blocking the view of everyone seated behind you. Please move a little farther back; there is no choice. You standing there are blocking the view. I’ve received a note saying you are blocking the view. Please, for the sake of Ahavas Yisroel, let everyone see at least half of it, half a figure—but not one person blocking it for all of us. Thank you. We can begin.

12:56 Speaker 6 We ask Moshe Sachs to come to the stage.

12:58 Speaker 5 Reb Moshe Sachs, to the stage, please. Reb Moshe Sachs, to the stage. Moshe Sachs.

13:56 Speaker 7 [unclear]

14:38 Speaker 8 His traditional Tishrei [unclear] for the Hakhel year 5748 is already ready, and everyone is invited to order it. Just a second. Moshe Haddad from Netanya, your daughter is waiting for you here on the stage. Once again, I see the children listening nicely, moving along and clearing the aisle so the rabbis can come back up to the stage. My brothers and friends: “Relive it,” the Rebbe said about this gathering. During these minutes, this half hour in which we all sat riveted—and truly in wonderfully good order—we relived it. But let us remember what the Rebbe says after the words “relive it”: “Relive it,” the Rebbe says this Shabbos, “so as to carry it through the entire year.” And so it is both a privilege and a duty to tell this entire holy audience: for this carrying forward that the Rebbe speaks of, a blessing and an abundance of blessing, in the Rebbe’s words, are being offered to us on a silver platter, through things that are already prepared for us. All that is required of us is to set aside the evening, leave our homes—men, women and children—and go to draw these blessings with large vessels. The Rebbe has been giving blessings for this event for almost half a year already. For six months the Rebbe has not stopped speaking about it at farbrengens—by allusion, explicitly, in a long sicha, right up to this past Shabbos and the latest instructions concerning the Divine Providence that led to the completion of this special Sefer Torah precisely in the Hakhel year. The Rebbe connected it to the Hakhel year. And now, gentlemen, we have merited that in the Hakhel year, close to 28 Cheshvan, immediately after this great Hakhel gathering, everyone is invited to come and take part in the celebration of the completion... excuse me, the celebration of bringing in the Sefer Torah, which will take place, with Hashem’s help—will take place this coming Tuesday in Kfar Chabad at seven in the evening. Everyone knows the special blessings associated with this for men, women and especially children, particularly when it is a Sefer Torah for which the Rebbe has shown such special affection. What is left for me to say? As the saying goes, come, we have come to you. And you children? Did you see the film? Did you children notice

18:03 Speaker 8 What happens there? The children, distinguished audience, “recognized Him first.” The children see the Rebbe; they recognized the Rebbe first, and the Rebbe shows them such great affection. That is why I turn to you, children. I turn to you, children, and of course to the fathers. As soon as the matter arose—when the Rebbe called for, requested, and announced the subject of Hakhel—we gathered, and activists and educators gathered, to discuss and think about Hakhel for children. I do not want to go on at length, because time is short. I only want to convey the general message; the details will appear in the Kfar Chabad newspaper and through every other possible means of publicity, in the press or other media. It was decided, with Hashem’s help, to hold large Hakhel gatherings for children. The main one—the enormous, central, worldwide gathering—will take place, with Hashem’s help, if Hashem wills, on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, in two months, in the large halls of Binyanei HaUma. There will be a gathering for all the children of the Chabad Talmud Torahs and cheders, and children from all over the world are invited as well. The detailed proposal—including a Hakhel gathering, a siyum on the Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvos, and a major quiz on Sefer Hamitzvos and on Hakhel—was submitted to the Rebbe in full. As for the affection the Rebbe showed for this item in a complete report submitted to him, I can only say this: in addition to “I will mention it at the Ohel,” expressions of appreciation, and a blessing for success, the Rebbe circled the item about Hakhel for children, including what I mentioned, and asked to be a partner in this great gathering. When the time comes, perhaps there will be an opportunity to say exactly how that participation will take shape, as the Rebbe detailed in his reply. So this is the moment, this is the time, to say to all of us: not one of our children, not one member of Anash, should be absent from this event. We are all preparing and looking forward to this great and wonderful occasion. And while we are speaking about Hakhel and practical resolutions, I want

21:08 Speaker 8 to slip in among those resolutions an activity connected with Hakhel that can accomplish a great deal—and has already accomplished a great deal: distributing the Shichas HaShavua leaflet. More than seventy thousand copies, if I am not mistaken, are distributed, and tens of thousands more Jews are eager for it. It is important for everyone to think about how they can bring more copies into their neighborhood. I have experienced this myself: when I leave home for shul with fifty copies of Shichas HaShavua, by the time I reach shul I have only ten left. And you should know that I do not live in a Chabad neighborhood or in Kfar Chabad, but in a fairly central, pleasant area where you have to do a lot to get people interested. Yet people come up and ask for the leaflet. I do not ask them to take it; they ask for it. It has reached the point where people send their children, knowing when I leave for shul, to ask for a copy. There is another way to fulfill Hakhel through this: giving someone a gift subscription to Shichas HaShavua. If I am not mistaken, it costs thirty shekels per subscription; you can, of course, check with Tzeirei Agudas Chabad. And one last, especially dear point for now. I saw firsthand a wonderful activity at an educational institution involving that “trumpet” every child can hold. People asked, how can a child hold a trumpet? I was at the Beis Chana high school. At eight-thirty in the morning, I entered a classroom, and a student raised her hand to ask my permission. What was it about? Since the Rebbe announced Hakhel, they had instituted a practice: every morning, a different student reads or shares a chassidic maamar, a vort, a halachah, or a point about yiras Shamayim to start the day. Imagine what a great Hakhel that is. With very little effort, every child can take a turn each morning, participate in Hakhel, and be the one who gathers everyone by sharing a Torah thought. Those, in brief, are the things I wanted to say after we heard how to relive it and carry

23:34 Speaker 8 it through the entire year. I will ask Rabbi [unclear]... Uh—

23:39 Speaker 9 I didn’t understand. The Rebbe’s right hand? No.

23:54 Speaker 8 The people here—

23:55 Speaker 9 Don’t say “right hand.”

23:56 Speaker 8 The people here should stand here. There is room here; over there they are blocking everyone’s view.

24:01 Speaker 9 No, the people should stand here.

24:02 Speaker 8 Okay, I’m asking you very much: when organizing things, questions sometimes come up. You children, either stand close to the wall or don’t stand in the middle. Well, who is listening? We know that soldiers—children—listen. You see? Wonderful. And you, the audience, I ask those standing here to move a little to the left, if possible. Thank you, thank you, and I’m sorry. And now, ladies and gentlemen, to continue the program: a blessing from an honored guest, a friend of Chabad, the distinguished gaon and dayan Rabbi Eliyahu Abergil, rabbi of the Baka neighborhood, who will bring us the blessing of the holy city of Jerusalem. Rabbi Abergil, please. Sorry—once again, as I was asked, the people standing here should move a little to the left, just a bit farther this way. There is plenty of room. Thank you, thank you. And you children, for the last time, please don’t wander around; take a seat. Wonderful, like that. Sit on the stage. Rabbi Abergil, I’m sorry. Honored moderator, distinguished rabbis, holy and honored audience. Titles were used to introduce me, ladies and gentlemen, and I am moved. I say wholeheartedly that all those titles ascribed to me are thanks to our holy Rebbe, the Rebbe shlita. Let me tell you: I studied in Morocco at a school that, unfortunately, closed down. There was a Torah school in my city, Marrakesh, and it closed. Where could we go? They took us to the Alliance school. And then salvation came. As soon as the Rebbe learned that the Torah school in Marrakesh had closed, the Rebbe shlita sent a shliach, immediately opened the yeshiva, and brought us out of the Alliance school. Baruch Hashem, those students who continued their studies are today true Torah scholars who have built a world of Torah. Some of them are here in this holy place. And it is all thanks to our holy Rebbe shlita. May his name endure forever; amen, may it be so. Ladies and gentlemen, as was said, I bring the blessing of Jerusalem. I want to say just a few words. It is known that Adam did not even guard himself; he stumbled and brought upon the world what he brought upon it. Noach

27:07 Speaker 8 cared only for himself—for Noach and those with him in the ark. “Noach walked with G-d,” but there was still a flood. It did no good for a person to care only for himself. Then Avraham Avinu came and taught us the foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdom: how to sustain the world, to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty. Avraham Avinu fought against the entire world, and that struggle has helped sustain the world to this holy day. Our master and teacher, the mighty gaon, the glory of the generation, the shining light, the Rebbe shlita—this is his approach to perfecting the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty: caring for the entire world. We see how this greatest of Torah scholars, a man of every virtue, reaches down to the children, to the young schoolchildren. That is greatness beyond compare, ladies and gentlemen. That is Avraham Avinu’s path to perfecting the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty. How fortunate we are to have merited closeness to our master and teacher and to draw from his Torah. Our prayer, the prayer of Jerusalem, is that he continue to flourish in old age and merit to spread Torah and magnify it until the coming of the righteous redeemer, speedily in our days. Amen and amen.

28:33 Speaker 10 Thank you, and yasher koach to the distinguished Rabbi Eliyahu Abergil of Jerusalem for those warm, heartfelt words. Dear friends, after hearing so much exposition, after hearing so much of what has been said, after hearing firsthand accounts, we now want to hear suggestions from people in the field. Hakhel in practice. The Rebbe’s shliach, Rabbi Aharon Eliezer Zeitlin, director of the Or Menachem institution in Tzfas, will tell us how to put Hakhel into practice. Please.

30:01 Speaker 11 Today, 20 Cheshvan, the Rebbe instructed that a farbrengen be held everywhere with a shturem. So last night, just as farbrengens were held everywhere, there was also a farbrengen in Kiryat Chabad in Tzfas. I’ll begin with a new story I heard last night from Rabbi Moshe Binyamin Kaplan, Reb Leib Kaplan’s father, who was in Tzfas yesterday. I don’t think this story is known. It’s very interesting, and it has a lot to do with our situation and where we stand now. It’s a story about the father of today’s birthday celebrant, the Rebbe Rashab—the Rebbe Maharash. Rabbi Kaplan related that when he was seventeen, he studied in Poltava. There was a chossid there called Reb Chaim Ber the melamed, who davened at great length every day. He remembers that the bochurim would always wait for him to reach Shema, to see how he recited it with such tears and fervor. Reb Chaim Ber told them this story, which had happened to him. When he was a young man, he had to report for military service, and there was a very serious problem of how to get out of it. It was truly a matter of danger to life. The official in charge of conscription there was a terribly wicked man who always made trouble for Jews, trying to ensure that they would have to report and could not evade it. So, in his time of trouble, Reb Chaim Ber traveled to the Rebbe Maharash for yechidus. The Rebbe Maharash answered him, “Go home. You will not be in the Russian army.” It was a very long journey from Poltava to Lubavitch. The Rebbe said those words to him, and he went home. He was certain: the Rebbe had said it, and with emunah and bitachon, that was how it would be. A short time later, before he had to report, the Rebbe Maharash passed away. He wondered what would happen to the blessing—would the Rebbe Maharash see to it that what he had blessed him with would come to pass?

32:23 Speaker 11 And then the day came when he had to report. There was no getting around it; he had to go there. He arrived at the conscription building. There were stairs, and as he began climbing them, he turned slightly and saw the Rebbe Maharash walking with him. He thought he must be imagining it. He turned again. The Rebbe Maharash was there. He began to tremble violently—and when he told the story, he began trembling too. He took a few more steps, glanced over, and the Rebbe was still walking with him. He was trembling so hard that he entered the examination room in a state of extraordinary fear. They looked at him and said, “Are you crazy? This is who you brought here? Send him home.” This is a story told by the man it happened to, a chossid who served Hashem. So the story is certainly true. The Rebbe walked with him, and he saw it with his physical eyes. We may not see it with our physical eyes, but we believe what the Rebbe tells us. On the first or second night of Sukkos, when the Rebbe spoke about Hakhel, he said that some people go around bewildered, wondering: How can I do Hakhel? What will people say about me? How will it be received? How should I respond? The Rebbe used various expressions for their doubts and questions about how it would be received by someone who does not know what to do. Then the Rebbe said: “Lechatchila ariber.” The Rebbe goes together with every chossid from beginning to middle to end. The Rebbe is not going to go arunter—downward. So even if you don’t want to go ariber, it won’t help: since the Rebbe is going with you, you are already in a position of ariber, of going over and above. Just go and do it. Just go and speak, and see how much you can accomplish. That, too, is Hakhel in the most practical sense.

34:48 Speaker 11 We need to know that the Rebbe goes with us. This is something practical that we need to remember all the time: the Rebbe goes with us and gives us strength. During Tishrei, the Rebbe said several times, “Just try, and you’ll see that you succeed.” He repeated those words several times, and he repeated that every single person is being asked to act in Hakhel. In other words, it is not just an obligation that the entire Jewish people gather together. That is not enough. Every person must take action for Hakhel. When the Rebbe spoke about “before the eyes of all Israel,” he asked: What does “before the eyes of all Israel” mean? Not merely that all Israel should be together. You need to be a Jew of Hakhel before the eyes of all Israel. Whoever looks at you, whoever they may be, should see a Jew of Hakhel. And if they cannot yet see that, you still have work to do. Needless to say, everyone surely knows how much the Rebbe asked and pleaded about this. He used expressions that should shake every one of us. Anyone who is a chossid and holds dear the matters the Rebbe cares about should be shaken by this, and simply not rest or be still until he knows what he has to do. How can he fulfill the Rebbe’s request? Imagine that the Rebbe called you in for yechidus and pounded the table, cried out, pleaded and asked you about all sorts of things concerning you, but you did not quite grasp what he wanted from you. Could you calm down and go to sleep peacefully? You couldn’t. I’m the Rebbe’s chossid. The Rebbe called me, spoke to me and asked something of me. The Rebbe said so many times that this is being asked of every person. And the Rebbe said: This is a primary matter. It is an inward matter. It is a matter of the soul. It is a bodily matter. Where have we heard expressions like that? It matters. The Rebbe once said that it concerns the state of the entire world, and it

37:03 Speaker 11 concerns every person individually. So if we want to be chassidim, even at the bare minimum of what it means to be a chossid—is it enough just to believe and agree with what the Rebbe... with what the Rebbe says? The Rebbe Rashab, whose birthday is today, said: A thief is not someone who can steal; a thief is someone who steals. A scholar is someone who studies, and a chossid is someone who actually puts the ways of Chassidus into practice—the things the Rebbe demands of us. I once heard that someone... ah, the shofar. I once heard that sometimes there is such a thing as a secular chossid. What does that mean? Just as a secular Jew may value Judaism, value religion and value Chabad—“All credit to Chabad! The Rebbe is incomparable!”—but still does not himself keep Torah and mitzvos. Sometimes there is a chossid who treasures Chassidus and treasures the Rebbe. “Someone who does mivtzoim? All credit to him!” But the question is: What are you doing? Sometimes that is a secular chossid. He values chassidim, but the question is what he himself is. In any case, we need not go on about the obligation. Anyone who is a chossid must come away with concrete resolutions about what he needs to do for Hakhel and how he can do it. Some people really do ask what exactly needs to be done. The truth is that it is not so hard; it is quite simple. But because it requires a little work, we have to do something. So the first thing the yetzer hara tries to do is lift it out of the practical realm: it becomes something vague, a little abstract. We don’t know exactly what to do, and we put it off from day to day. It is very simple. The Rebbe said clearly several times what Hakhel is. And the Rebbe said, just as we discussed regarding Chabad Houses—that a Chabad House should be established everywhere, and that was the gateway of the year—now, this year, the gateway is Hakhel, and everything must be permeated

39:04 Speaker 11 With the public. In my own words, as the Rebbe said regarding a Chabad House, you can do it on the largest possible scale or on a smaller scale—and even the smaller scale is something great. What does the largest scale mean? Someone who wants to establish a Chabad House in the literal sense goes to a place that does not yet have one and builds or rents a building there. The Jews now have a new Chabad House. He has done it in the fullest way. But does that mean everyone has to do this? If someone runs a school, a Talmud Torah, a cheder, or a girls’ school, should he leave it and go establish a Chabad House somewhere new? Certainly not. Does everyone in business have to close their businesses and shops and go open a Chabad House somewhere? That is simply not the intention. Rather, someone who can do it that way should do so, and indeed must. A young married man just starting out should certainly go to a new place and open a Chabad House or undertake another holy endeavor there. If you are in business, make your business a Chabad House. If you have a private home, make your home—your room—a Chabad House. In other words, you can do the same thing literally, on the largest scale, or on a smaller scale, which is also something very great. The same applies to Hakhel. Hakhel has a simple meaning: gather men and speak to them about fear of Hashem; gather women and children and instill fear of Hashem in them. That is Hakhel in its literal sense. And certainly, anyone who can do this should and must do it. This is primarily the role of

41:10 Speaker 11 the directors of the Agudas Chabad branches in every location, the directors of Chabad Houses. They need to organize Hakhel gatherings as often as possible throughout the year, in all sorts of ways and forms, on the largest scale possible. That is the literal sense. A school principal needs to do this in his school: gather the children and gather their parents. That is one way of doing it on a large scale. The Rebbe says... The Rebbe says that just as there is Hakhel in its literal sense, there is also Hakhel within each person. The Rebbe explained: There are “men within you,” “women within you,” and “children within you.” The man within you is the part over which you have control. The woman within you is the part connected with running the home. The child within you is the part still being educated. About this the Rebbe says: Be permeated with Hakhel. In other words, gather yourself into a holy place, toward “fear of Hashem your G-d.” So what does that mean in practice? A Jew in this Hakhel year knows that the Rebbe is calling for Hakhel. He asks, “What can I add now in my fear of Hashem?” He thinks about it and is permeated with the awareness that, since this is a Hakhel year and the king is instilling fear of Hashem, he must increase his fear of Hashem. Everyone can find something he can do. We cannot go into many details now. Everyone has the notes to reflect on; if you can do everything, that is certainly good. We are discussing only certain details that the Rebbe mentioned. Each person and his family—that is meant literally. The Rebbe said this several times: the father is the king in his family. Gather your family and speak with them about Hakhel. Have you done that yet? These are not just suggestions. The Rebbe repeated this many times. It is better not to do it while everyone is eating anyway, when it is not so noticeable and does not make much of an impression. When doing something

43:32 Speaker 11 of the Rebbe’s, it should be noticeable and set aside as an occasion in its own right, with its own designated time. At least once a month, gather the family: now we are having a Hakhel gathering and instilling fear of Hashem. When Tzach undertakes something—and Tzach does great things—then certainly, if they ask you to help, you need to go and help, because the Rebbe is calling for Hakhel. What can each person do outside the home every day? The Rebbe is calling for Hakhel to permeate every Jew and reach every Jew. Home visits. Set aside time once a week or once every two weeks to visit families. You enter a family’s home; there are people there, [unclear]. Consequently, this gathering must lead to a real increase in fear of Hashem at all times, every day, in every detail. Before saying something, we need to think. There is a sicha from the Frierdiker Rebbe about how chassidim should speak: words must be guarded. First think whether these words will increase fear of Hashem or, G-d forbid,

46:40 Speaker 11 diminish it. When people gather in a large assembly and someone is speaking about holy matters, matters of Torah, while one person talks to another and makes noise—what does that cause? Does it increase fear of Hashem and respect for what is being said, or, G-d forbid, the opposite? Everything has an effect. There is no middle ground; it is one or the other. We must always remember this. Fear of Hashem: when we are in shul, during the chazzan’s repetition of the Amidah, or in the middle of Kaddish, we need to remember fear of Hashem. Hashem is standing beside you and asking you not to speak right now. It is a command to you personally. After a year like this, a Hakhel year, this should permeate every person. It should be apparent that we are different people. Fear of Hashem should be visible on our faces. That is what it means to conduct ourselves in the spirit of Hakhel. At every step, people should see different conduct. One more point, briefly: the Rebbe’s sichos are what instill fear of Heaven today. They tell you how to look at the world and how to conduct yourself in it. Today, we cannot live by the sichos we learned a few years ago. That is not enough. We need to live with today’s sichos. The state of the world is different today. If you were in the army, for example, would anyone go out to fire based on an order his commander gave two weeks earlier? You cannot conduct a war that way. The situation changes every day, and you need to know what to do today. People used to say, “That Jew? He is still living thirty years ago—or back in Poland.” Today you can say that someone who has not learned the sichos of 5748 is still in 5747. Now every month, every year, brings a new period and new matters. Anyone who studies the sichos knows this. It instills fear of Hashem in him. Then he will know what to discuss with

48:49 Speaker 11 Others. He knows how to instill fear of Hashem. That is really the foundation of everything we are discussing now. Every chossid simply needs to subscribe to the Rebbe’s sichos. The children and the wife should know: the Rebbe’s sicha has arrived. Boruch Hashem, today we have the privilege of receiving the sichos before Shabbos. You already have the sicha from last Shabbos. You simply cannot live without the sicha; you do not know what is going on. We need to keep up with the news of the day. Then, if we study the sichos, there will be no questions about what to do for Hakhel or how to carry out the campaigns. All those questions will be answered in the sichos. And there is another thing we see when we study the sichos, something that affects our whole outlook. When you study the sichos, you know that the world has no independent existence, and you know that there is nothing besides Him. So when you know that the Rebbe asks things of us, you are not intimidated by anyone. You know that apart from the Rebbe’s words, and the fact that I am his soldier and must carry them out, nothing else matters. And if you do not feel that, that is where the problems begin. That is when you become embarrassed: How can I say it? What will people think? How will it be received? This is what the Rebbe is telling you to do. The Rebbe goes with every chossid. How can we feel that? This is the foundation of the whole matter: we must study the Rebbe’s sichos regularly, and especially the Rebbe’s farbrengens. It simply gives you strength and light to know how to act in the world. We were asked—since we want to inform the Rebbe of a resolution, something practical. The Rebbe writes in a letter that a resolution must be firm, so we want to inform the Rebbe of at least one resolution that the entire gathering has accepted. This will surely give the Rebbe nachas, in addition to everything else. The proposal is that each person undertake to adopt one family: work with them, study with them, and invite them home for Shabbos or on other occasions.

51:07 Speaker 11 When some event takes place, he will invite that family. This is truly Hakhel in practice, reaching a particular family in a personal way. So I was asked to have everyone who agrees to this and undertakes it raise a hand. Then we will be able to inform the Rebbe that the gathering has adopted this resolution. We want to know—is most of the gathering raising their hands? We need more hands, so we can convey even more to the Rebbe. Okay, those in charge can see and will record it. I think we should propose another matter, following what the Rebbe said when he commended all those who came to him during Tishrei in the Hakhel year. The Rebbe also said that those who did not come should be encouraged with redoubled strength: they should have come to the Rebbe for at least one hour. I think every chossid should consider, understand, and resolve to be with the Rebbe at least once during this year, the Hakhel year. If a greater chossid were standing here, he would surely say, with redoubled strength, that one should be with the Rebbe at least twice this year. But once, certainly—and that will surely add a great deal of fear of Hashem. And now, in closing: in Kfar Chabad, we see Rabbi A. A. HaKohen, who writes a great deal in Kfar Chabad. Before I left for here, he told me that there is an allusion to Hakhel in this week’s parsha. When I arrived here, I saw the letter, and it is mentioned in the letter as well. “And I came today to the spring” is connected to Eliezer, who said, “I am Avraham’s servant.” Rashi says about “And I came today” that “the earth contracted for him.” The initial letters of “Hayom kaftzah lo ha’aretz”—“Today the earth contracted for him”—spell Hakhel. So anyone who takes part in Hakhel has the way shortened for him, the earth contracts for him, and he will succeed with Hashem’s help. And here is an example—and with this I will finish. It happened to me personally: I really felt this idea, that the Rebbe

53:23 Speaker 11 —or what the Rebbe said: “Just do it, and you will succeed.” Before I boarded the plane... two details. Before I boarded the plane, a woman came up to me and said she was so happy. That day she had gone to the East Side, thinking to herself: Master of the Universe, the Rebbe has been speaking all month about Hakhel, and she did not know how to do anything about it; she could not bring herself to open her mouth. But she told herself she could not leave the Rebbe without doing something for Hakhel. That day she traveled to the East Side. She bought things there and went into the shops, and there in the shops she said, “I’ll just open my mouth.” So she did. She began speaking, and everyone gathered around her, listened, and wanted to hear more. She was so happy. She said she had truly felt the Rebbe’s words: “Just do it, and you will succeed.” I wanted to say one more thing, and I need to be brief, but it is a practical point I forgot to mention earlier. The Rebbe attached tremendous importance to the card file, to the cards. It is no small matter at all. [unclear] the Rebbe’s attention to the details of the cards. We do not even understand the depth of it; it goes far, far deeper than we realize. The Rebbe specified the dimensions: a handbreadth, or two handbreadths by one handbreadth. The Rebbe wants as many Jews as possible to sign the cards, so everyone should simply sign a card. What does that signature mean? That you are a member of Hakhel. That is the minimum. The moment you sign, a little more fear of Hashem enters you. How can you just sign? Of course that is not enough; you have to go further and further. So have yourself, your wife, and your children sign. When you take your young child and speak to him about

55:10 Speaker 11 fear of Hashem, he too becomes part of Hakhel. That is it. Now I was asked to address the branch directors in particular: each branch director should, for the time being, maintain a separate card file and get as many people as possible to sign. They should report their numbers to the central headquarters from time to time. Later they will receive further notice about when to combine all the towns’ files. May it be Hashem’s will that, by all of us increasing our involvement in Hakhel and becoming permeated with Hakhel, we merit very soon the great Hakhel that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will bring about through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, and that “you will be gathered one by one,” speedily in our days.

56:03 Speaker 3 Thank you, and yasher koach to Rabbi Tzeitlin for the show of hands. I had really wondered what more could be said by way of practical action. After all, we had already heard practical action, and practical action, and practical action. Well, Rabbi Tzeitlin has a special talent—not just this time, but always—for turning words into practical action. And we can say with particular joy and excitement that immediately after the gathering ends, the resolution, exactly as it was made here in the hall, will be conveyed to the Rebbe shlita for his information and joy. The Rebbe blessed us that this gathering should bring good news: good news of action, and of the show of hands in favor of this wonderful resolution to adopt a family during the Hakhel year, in keeping with the mitzvah of Hakhel. It was the Rebbe who set the program for our evening. In his sicha, the Rebbe says that after the subject of Hakhel, there is another central matter for the gathering, another item on the agenda. What is it? Among the principal subjects of the gathering, special emphasis should be placed on shlichus. The Rebbe continues: “Beginning with shlichus, beginning with matters concerning the shluchim shlita—both the shluchim who have already merited it and those who will merit it. This is the subject for them to study, decide upon, and do—to turn it into practical action.” To speak about shlichus, the urgent need for shlichus, I have the honor of inviting the distinguished chossid and scholar, the rabbi of the city of Arad, Rabbi Ben-Tzion Lipker. Please. Lipsker, please. I’ll leave the—announcement I received on a note to say afterward. Please. Esteemed rabbis, ladies and gentlemen, honored gathering: Rabbi Tzeitlin began with Poltava. I too have a special connection to Poltava. The entire Lipsker family comes from Poltava, so I will begin what I have to say with a story from Poltava. In one of the Rebbe shlita’s sichos, he related in the name of the Frierdiker Rebbe something he had heard from his father on 19 Kislev 5667, when his father farbrenged together with Reb Yankev [unclear], the rabbi of Poltava, Reb Yankev [unclear] of Poltava. And then Reb Yankev [unclear] said

59:23 Speaker 3 Poltaver [?] said: “What is a chossid? A chossid is someone connected to the Rebbe.” The Rebbe, of blessed memory, whose birthday we are marking, thought for a moment and then said to him: “A chossid is not someone who is connected only to the Rebbe. What is a true chossid? Someone connected to the Rebbe’s activities.” He explained—and the previous Rebbe explained—that just as the soul is connected to the body through its actions, so it is with a chossid. If he wants to be connected to the Rebbe, it is through the Rebbe’s activities. The Rebbe explained this at a 19 Kislev farbrengen—I think in 5727 or 5721; I don’t remember. What does “activities” mean? If we mean something the Rebbe explicitly told him to do—my brother, we’re talking about someone the Rebbe instructed to do something. Would he not do it? Of course he would. Or take a mitzvah that cannot be done by someone else. Clearly, it is a positive commandment: if no one else can do it, he certainly must. The Rebbe meant activities that others could do, simple activities, activities outside the Rebbe’s own four cubits. Not only the Rebbe’s Torah, not only his thought or speech, but the Rebbe’s deeds far from him—his activities in distant places, completely outside his four cubits. Simple deeds. And only through these activities, the Rebbe says, is he connected not merely to the Rebbe’s thought, not merely to his speech, but to the Rebbe’s very essence. Dear brothers, what is the hope? What is every chossid’s true aspiration? To be connected to the Rebbe. Is there anyone here in this world who would say otherwise?