Dedication of a third room in the "Beis Aryeh" synagogue in Shikun Chabad, Lod

00:13 Speaker 1 Quiet! It’s in Hebrew.

00:29 Speaker 2 Ah, Hebrew, Hebrew.

01:03 Speaker 1 This is a division in the shul. It belongs here; it belonged to the shul before as well, but now they’ve arranged it. It’s divided. What does that mean? It’s a mikdash me’at, a miniature sanctuary. A shul is a mikdash me’at. Every Jewish home is a mikdash me’at, and certainly a shul. What was in the Beis Hamikdash? There were three things there. Torah was there. The Sanhedrin—everyone knows the Sanhedrin sat there. From there, rulings went out. Avodah, too, is well known: the service, the offerings. What else was there? Charity, prayer, charity. What was the charity? Well, teacher? Well, what was it? Think a little. Think a little. That is to say, the main thing to know is that a shul—and a Jewish home too—needs this. It is founded on these three things. These three things are the main thing. This applies everywhere. This is the main thing; this is the foundation. And this is also the whole foundation of what Chassidus accomplished. Many people ask: What did Chassidus accomplish? These things existed before, too. But what was its main accomplishment? The Alter Rebbe was called [unclear]. Everyone knows that. [unclear] And then there is more: the main thing is that the Rebbe was a student, and the central foundation of Chabad teachings, of Chassidus, is prayer and charity. Because in the Alter Rebbe’s letters he explains the whole subject of charity, including shortly before his histalkus. What was the main thing before his histalkus? That here, the main thing is the physical—that this is the whole truth. And if we bring a Jew close, it is because this is the whole truth, and through this the world becomes visible. Now I’ve spoken about a million things, and now we need a little—

03:53 Speaker 1 Sometimes we need to—and must—stir ourselves a little. About what? All of us pride ourselves on being Chabad chassidim, Chabad chassidim. But as we were saying before, that has to mean Torah and prayer, and studying a discourse. There are some who do, but here, Hashem have mercy, the overwhelming majority neither study nor daven. That’s the truth. From the youngest to the oldest, as they should, from the youngest to the oldest. The younger ones learn from the older ones. People can talk in the middle of davening, before davening, and in the middle of davening. That’s how it is in almost every shul. I once heard something about this from Reb Dovid Grodoker[?]. He was among the chassidim; anyone who heard Dovid Grodoker[?] knows. He has a son in Kfar Chabad now, Boruch Grodoker[?]. He put it this way: Someone goes through the Haggadah—almost everyone has their own way of conducting the Seder on Pesach. He begins saying the Haggadah. He begins saying the Haggadah. So what’s the order? How does it go? He starts like this: Kadesh. But he can’t concentrate on any of it, on the whole proceeding. It’s Pesach night and everyone is hungry. So Kadesh means kneidlach, kneidlach. Kadesh means kneidlach. Do you know what kneidlach are? It’s all kneidlach. Karpas—kneidlach. It’s the same here. That’s exactly how he put it. He said: When people come to shul, they talk before davening, talk during davening, and talk after davening.

06:03 Speaker 3 L’chaim.

06:06 Speaker 1 That’s something we need to address.

06:09 Speaker 3 He’s right.

06:11 Speaker 1 Right. Do you agree? Boruch Hashem.

06:14 Speaker 3 Thank you.

06:17 Speaker 1 Every farbrengen should lead to some action. Among the Sephardim, there’s an accepted practice of a taanis dibbur—a fast from speaking—for the whole day. Yes, the whole day. I think they do it during these days, if I’m not mistaken. So we can at least take on a fast from speaking during davening: not to talk. If that comes out of this farbrengen, that will be to its credit. [unclear] May the Rebbe be healthy. Amen. Amen. Long live our teacher and Rebbe, the King Moshiach. Our master, teacher and Rebbe, the King Moshiach. To everything that was said here. And l’chaim. To those who gave you a shoulder to lean on—there were some, there were. L’chaim to those who at least didn’t interfere with you. That’s a big thing too. And to those who didn’t understand—l’chaim. To those who interfered as well. So that’s what I say: [unclear]. This one is for you.