Tribute Evening for the Rebbe's Shluchim in the Holy Land

15:54 Speaker 1 I’d like to ask—ask everyone to take their seats so we can begin right away. Thank you. Honored rabbis, the leadership of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, public figures, distinguished guests, my brothers and friends, people of distinction, the Rebbe’s shluchim, the directors and staff of Chabad Houses in the Holy Land, and those who stand beside them—their supporters and helpers, Zevulun alongside Yissachar, together upholding Torah and Chassidus—the wives of the shluchim and their dear parents, honored and holy gathering: It is my pleasure to speak on behalf of everyone and welcome you all to this grand evening of tribute to the large and growing family of shluchim, the directors of Chabad Houses in the Holy Land. Welcome in the name of Hashem. Ladies and gentlemen, honored gathering, the early chassidim used to sing: “How fortunate we are, how good is our portion,” in the revealed powers of the G-dly soul, “and how pleasant is our lot,” in the soul’s hidden powers. We too, ladies and gentlemen, are privileged to join this great gathering of brothers—the shluchim, their families and their supporters together—with the Rebbe’s tallis spread over us all, so that we may be one with them. We too sing, “How fortunate we are.” How fortunate we are to be here, breathing in the pure air of a shliach’s mission, empowered by the one who sent him. How fortunate we are that our eyes can see, with our revealed faculties, the wonders of the tremendous work of the family of shluchim. The signs of the revolution the shluchim are bringing about are clearly visible throughout the cities and towns of our Holy Land. The shluchim work in every area, strengthening the land’s development materially and, above all, spiritually. They establish outstanding educational and Torah institutions and centers that help those in need, and they stand at the forefront of spreading Torah and Judaism. We meet the Rebbe’s shluchim everywhere, at every hour, giving it their whole heart. We meet them at remote IDF outposts and border communities, in development towns and kibbutzim, in medical centers and prisons, in schools and universities, at immigrant absorption centers and police stations, on the roads and at intersections. In all these places, the shluchim act with a sense of mission: to bring joy to every Jew and add meaning to their life. Ladies and gentlemen, we meet the shluchim at work on holidays and on ordinary

19:48 Speaker 1 weekdays, early in the morning and late at night, at times of joy and, G-d forbid, in difficult hours. Every hour, a shliach says, is a good hour for the mission. Ladies and gentlemen, with all their heart, from the heart, for everyone. Walls of iron melt before the warmth and joy the shluchim radiate. Everything they do is done with a smile and with love. Every Jew is welcomed as they are. Every man and woman, every boy and girl, receives a listening ear and personal attention, with kindness and a warm smile. Recognizing the beauty of every Jewish soul—I repeat, recognizing the beauty of every Jewish soul—is the foundation of every shliach and shlucha. As we gather here, everyone can see the power of the one who sent them, the Rebbe, who gave and continues to give of his holy strength to the shluchim and calls them men chosen from among the people, preparing the entire world to welcome our righteous Moshiach. And as more than three hundred of the Rebbe’s holy shluchim gather together and join hands in a chain to draw fresh strength, the strength of each shliach is doubled and tripled. The atmosphere is so full of activity that anyone who breathes it in can almost touch the light, the joy and the Rebbe within it. It recalls what was said of the Mitteler Rebbe during his lifetime in this world: If you had cut his veins, Chassidus, not blood, would have flowed from them. And “blessed above the women of the tent” are the shluchos, the wives of the shluchim, who shoulder the burden with self-sacrifice, modesty and humility. On behalf of everyone here, we salute the wives of the shluchim and say to them: Well done. Here with us at this great tribute are mayors, friends and supporters who have had the privilege of entering the shluchim’s circle and becoming important partners in their blessed work. These supporters help generously with their bodies, their souls and their money. As our Sages said of Avraham Avinu, the father of our people: generous with his body, generous with his soul, generous with his money. Ladies and gentlemen, honored gathering, when the Rebbe spoke about the shluchim he sent to our Holy Land, he cited the Alter Rebbe’s words in his letters about his imprisonment and liberation. The Alter Rebbe said

23:25 Speaker 1 that the merit of working for the settlement and charitable support of Eretz Yisroel—sending chassidim there and sending financial aid—“all these stood by me and by us in the liberation”: his liberation and the liberation of the chassidim and Chassidus. May it be Hashem’s will that this continuing merit stand by us, so that together we may see the great joy of building the great Chabad House, an exalted dwelling, a place for Your eternal abode, with the complete and true Geulah through our righteous Moshiach and the Rebbe, our Nasi, at our head. Amen and amen. Ladies and gentlemen, the event’s organizing committee decided that this evening would have two hosts, as it is written: “And one called to the other and said.” “Called” is singular, while “called before the king” is plural, as it says: “And they were read before the king.” “Called” is an acronym for Avshalom Kor and Naftali Roth, may they live, our hosts. Dr. Avshalom Kor, please.

24:56 Speaker 2 Thank you to Rabbi Naftali Roth. His name, Naftali, tells us that he “offers beautiful words,” and Roth tells us that he is “fair and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.” A rabbi once told the Lubavitcher Rebbe, “I work at bringing distant Jews closer.” The Lubavitcher Rebbe replied, “How do you know who is close and who is distant?” Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new Chabad House at the lowest place on earth, in the Dead Sea hotel district. Its director is Rabbi Shimon Elharar. Elharar—you know what that sounds like? Like a weaver, someone who weaves. And if he weaves, he follows the way of the entire Chabad network: weaving everything together, warp and weft. Rabbi Elharar will open the gathering with the Rebbe’s chapter of Tehillim, chapter 103. It is on the tables before us, and we will also see it projected on all the screens around us. I asked only why chapter 103 in particular. They explained: “Avshalom, this is how it works. Each of us begins the morning with the chapter corresponding to our age plus one, and then, in honor of the Rebbe, the chapter corresponding to the Rebbe’s age plus one.” One hundred and two years have passed since the Rebbe’s birth, so we will read chapter 103. Please rise. Rabbi Shimon Elharar. The Rebbe’s chapter, chapter 103.

26:46 Speaker 3 By David. Bless Hashem, my soul, and let all that is within me bless His holy Name. Bless Hashem, my soul, and do not forget all His kindnesses. He forgives all your sins, heals all your illnesses, redeems your life from the pit, crowns you with kindness and mercy, satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Hashem performs acts of righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made His ways known to Moshe, His deeds to the children of Israel. Hashem is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in kindness. He will not contend forever, nor will He bear a grudge for all time. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our wrongdoings. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so mighty is His kindness toward those who fear Him. As far as east is from west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, Hashem has compassion on those who fear Him. For He knows how we are formed; He remembers that we are dust. A person’s days are like grass; like a flower of the field, so does he bloom. A wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place will know it no more. But Hashem’s kindness is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him, and His righteousness extends to their children’s children—to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to carry them out. Hashem has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless Hashem, His angels, mighty in strength, who do His bidding and heed the voice of His word. Bless Hashem, all His hosts, His servants who do His will. Bless Hashem, all His works, in every place under His rule. Bless Hashem, my soul. Ladies and gentlemen, a worthy occasion has come to a worthy day, a day of joy: Purim Katan. This evening, the night of Purim Katan, is remembered and engraved in the heart of every Chabad chossid as a historic day. Purim Katan—a very great and joyous Purim. On this night twenty-seven years ago, the Rebbe sent the third group of shluchim to our Holy Land to encourage Jews to observe the Torah and its mitzvos and to build up the land materially and spiritually, in the Rebbe’s holy words. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the great privilege this evening of introducing and inviting one of the distinguished shluchim from that group. Tonight he marks twenty-seven years of shlichus, having come a long way in a successful and fruitful mission. He began his shlichus as a student

29:54 Speaker 3 Yeshiva. Over the years, he merited to establish a flourishing community of educational institutions and—educational institutions and Chabad Houses in one of the major cities of our land, and today serves as a member of the Beis Din of Chabad Rabbis in the Holy Land. With the permission of the mara d’asra of Kfar Chabad, the capital of Chabad in the Holy Land, the distinguished chossid Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi shlita—Kfar Chabad, where the offices of the Central Office of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad are also located—with his permission, and with the permission of the entire audience, I am honored to invite the Rebbe’s shliach to our Holy Land, the rabbi of the Chabad community in Rechovot and secretary of the Beis Din of Chabad Rabbis, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gluckowsky shlita, to fulfill what we just said: “Bless Hashem, His angels, mighty in strength, who do His bidding, heeding the voice of His word”—to share a word of the Rebbe’s teaching, the voice of the one who sent him, the Rebbe, the leader of our generation. Rabbi Gluckowsky, please.

31:24 Speaker 4 With the permission of the distinguished rabbis, Chief Rabbi Lau shlita, Rabbi Ashkenazi shlita, the mara d’asra of Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Yaroslavsky shlita, secretary of the Beis Din of Chabad Rabbis, the other distinguished rabbis, and this holy gathering. This truly is a great day for me. Twenty-seven years ago, on Purim Katan, the Rebbe sent me with a group of about twenty other shluchim, the Rebbe’s shluchim, to Jerusalem and Tzfas. Afterward, we spread out to different places throughout the country. We joined the shluchim the Rebbe had sent over the preceding three years. Once, I attended a farbrengen of the Rebbe, and the Rebbe spoke about a verse concerning the Exodus from Egypt. It says, “And when your son asks you tomorrow.” What does that mean? Your son will ask you tomorrow what is going on here? You have to explain to him that with a mighty hand, Hakadosh Boruch Hu brought the Jewish people out of Egypt. And Rashi writes about the word “tomorrow”: there is a “tomorrow” that means now, and there is a “tomorrow” that means at a later time. The Rebbe said there are two sons. One son asks questions that are a “tomorrow” of now—substantive questions, seeking to understand, seeking knowledge, seeking to understand the details. There is no generation gap between this son and his father. He is a “tomorrow” of now. But there is another son who asks from a later time, a “tomorrow” that comes later. There is a generation gap between him and his father. His questions are sometimes provocative, sometimes questions of doubt, questions tinged with cynicism—questions that express, and do more than express, that generation gap. The Rebbe said at the farbrengen: You might think you should deal only with the son whose “tomorrow” means now. The son whose “tomorrow” comes later—who wants to deal with him? And then the Rebbe began to cry. And the Rebbe said: He is your son. The Rebbe said at the farbrengen: He is your son. Even that son whose “tomorrow” comes later, even that son with whom there is a generation gap—he is your son. Don’t forget

34:17 Speaker 4 him. We have to care for him too. And this is one of the greatest messages the Rebbe taught us throughout his leadership, instilling in us the feeling that every Jew is your son, your own son. Only then can we begin to understand the love the Rebbe had for each and every Jew, as if each one were his own child. My father once told me about when we lived in Toronto, Canada, and he brought two young brothers closer to Yiddishkeit. One was thirteen, the other eleven. They lived with their widowed mother, and he sent them to a yeshiva in Boston. As Pesach approached, their mother did not keep kosher in a way that would allow them to celebrate Pesach at home. So they planned to travel to New York, to the Chabad center, and stay with one of the families there for Pesach. They wrote to the Rebbe about their plans. The Rebbe immediately replied that they should make sure to spend Pesach with their mother in Toronto, and that they should certainly speak to—and the Rebbe wrote my father’s name—to speak to him, so he would see to it that the house was made ready for them to celebrate the holiday with their mother. My father immediately received a call from the brothers. He went to the family, spoke to their mother, and brought in the rabbi of the Chabad community in Toronto. They took care of things and explained them to her. They made the house kosher for Pesach, and the brothers went home. But our family, with my father, actually went to New York for Pesach, to celebrate the holiday at our grandfather’s, and we stood in line on Erev Pesach. The Rebbe was distributing pieces of shmurah matzah, the matzos mitzvah. He would give each person a small piece for the Seder night, and we stood in line. Hundreds of people were standing there—hundreds, thousands. We reached the Rebbe. My father asked for matzah, and the Rebbe gave him a small piece. I was a little boy, and my brother was there too. Then my father turned to the Rebbe and said, “The Kaplan brothers are asking for matzah.” These were the brothers from Toronto. The Rebbe looked at him. There were

37:02 Speaker 4 thousands of people standing there. The Rebbe looked at him and said, “Are they with their mother? Are they together with their mother for the holiday?” My father said, “Yes, yes, we arranged it. The house is kosher for Pesach.” The Rebbe said, “What about the Seders?” My father said, “The first night they’ll be at Rabbi Aharonov’s”—the father of our Rabbi Aharonov, head of the Central Office of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad and chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad here in our Holy Land. His father lived in Toronto. So my father said they would be with Rabbi Aharonov’s father the first night, and with another Chabad family the second night. The Rebbe smiled a smile that cannot be described, turned around, and took a whole matzah. Not small pieces—a whole matzah. And he said, “Give this to the Kaplan brothers.” That is our Rebbe. Standing there on Erev Pesach with thousands of people in line, someone merely mentions the Kaplan brothers, and the Rebbe immediately asks, “Are they with their mother for the holiday? What about the Seder?” A whole matzah to give them. The joy. Not to lose a single Jew. To pay attention to every Jew, to every detail. Leadership for the community and leadership for the individual. Love for each and every person. But the Rebbe also taught us how—how to do it. There was once a small town in Poland, in the Galicia region, where things were very difficult. The town’s economic situation was so bad that there was no money to pay for any of its services. It was a Jewish town. One of the prominent figures in Galicia, the Belzer Rebbe, [unclear][?], came to the town. The townspeople went to him to ask for advice and a blessing: What should they do about their town? They described its difficult situation. The Rebbe listened and said to them: There was once a student training to be a doctor. He completed all his years of study with distinction. He did his internship. He was ready. But one thing remained: an oral exam with the great professor. He went in to see the professor. The professor began asking him one question, then another, describing a condition: What do you do with a patient like this? Suddenly the professor asked him, “What happens if you’re walking down the street and someone falls, cuts himself, and starts bleeding heavily? What do you do?” He answered, “I immediately open my medical bag, or whatever I have, take out a bandage, tie it on, and stop the bleeding.” “And what if you don’t have your bag with you? What do you do then?” The student answered, “I look for a rag nearby and tie it on to stop the bleeding.” “And what if you can’t find a rag?” The student thought for a few seconds. The professor said, “You can go home. You’re not ready to be a doctor.” The student said, “I don’t understand. Eight years of study, honors, an internship, top marks in everything—and you send me home because I thought for a few seconds?” The professor told him, “If you didn’t immediately give the answer you needed to give, you cannot be a doctor.” So he asked, “What should I have answered?” The professor said, “Do you have a shirt? Do you have a shirt? Someone is bleeding heavily? Take off your shirt and tie it on. If you don’t know to take off your shirt, you cannot be a doctor.” The Rebbe told the townspeople, “As long as there is no one here willing to take off his shirt, nothing in this town will change.” The Rebbe taught us by example how he took off his own shirt for the Jewish people, how he gave all his strength and all his soul for the Jewish people. And he taught us, as his shluchim, how much we have to be willing to take off our shirts. That is what the shluchim are: the Rebbe’s shluchim, who take off their shirts and feel that every Jew is your son, your own child, and care for every last detail. That is the mission the Rebbe gave us. It is our mission to bless everyone that, with Hashem’s help, each and every one of us will succeed in his own place, in his own Chabad House,

39:26 Speaker 4 Such a phenomenon. What do you do with a patient like that? Suddenly the professor asked him, “What happens when you’re walking down the street and someone falls, gets cut, and is bleeding heavily? What do you do?” He said, “I immediately open the medical bag I have with me, or whatever it is, take out a bandage, tie it on, and stop the bleeding.” “And what happens when you don’t have your bag with you? What do you do then?” The student answered, “I look for a rag nearby and tie it on to stop the bleeding.” “And what happens if you can’t find a rag?” The student thought for a few seconds. The professor told him, “You can go home. You’re not ready to be a doctor.” He said, “I don’t understand. Eight years of study, honors, an internship—everything top-notch. You’re sending me home because I thought for a few seconds?” The professor told him, “If you didn’t immediately give the answer you needed to give, you can’t be a doctor.” So he asked, “What should I have answered?” The professor said, “Do you have a shirt? Do you have a shirt? Someone is bleeding heavily? Take off your shirt and tie it on. If you don’t know to take off your shirt, you can’t be a doctor.” The Rebbe told the people of the city, “As long as there’s no one here willing to take off his shirt, nothing will change in this city.” The Rebbe taught us by example how he took off his own shirt for the Jewish people, how he gave all his strength and his entire soul to the Jewish people. And he taught us, as his shluchim, how much we need to take off our shirts. That’s what shluchim are: the Rebbe’s shluchim, who take off their shirts and feel that every Jew is their own child, and care about every single detail. That is the shlichus the Rebbe gave us. It is our shlichus to bless everyone that, with Hashem’s help, each and every one of us should succeed in his own place, in his own Chabad House,

41:37 Speaker 4 in his own shlichus, and that we will move forward, bringing the Rebbe’s great message, until we succeed in bringing Moshiach Tzidkeinu speedily in our days, amen.

41:57 Speaker 5 Thank you, and yasher koach to the Rebbe’s shliach in the Holy Land, one of the Rebbe’s shluchim in the third group, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gluckowsky shlita. And as our Sages say, three establish a chazakah. After the illuminating words we have heard, we go forward doubly strengthened. Chazak, chazak, venischazek.

42:23 Speaker 6 Thank you, Rabbi Naftali. What, in fact, is the work of the shluchim? What do they do on the ground? They are involved in every area of Jewish life: education, halachah, and social matters. Representing the shluchim now is Rabbi Mordechai Gal, director of the Chabad House in Ramat Gan. He is also involved in directing and producing educational films. So there are those who are in Hollywood, and there are those who deal only with the holy. Rabbi Mordechai Gal, director of the Chabad House in Ramat Gan.

43:21 Speaker 7 Honorable rabbis and public figures, my brothers and friends, the shluchim, the Chabad family. In 5738, 1978 by the secular calendar, I was a student at New York University. After Maariv, late one evening, I sat down and wrote a letter to the Rebbe. It was a sensitive letter, full of questions and doubts. It dealt with general and spiritual matters, but also with intimate, personal, delicate matters that reached deep into the soul. Late that night, the letter was brought to the Rebbe through the secretariat. This was my first—actually, my second—encounter with the Chabad movement, and the second time I had seen the Rebbe at davening. The next morning, early in the morning, I got a phone call: the Rebbe’s secretary told me I had received an answer. It was a little after eight. I’m telling you about my very first, most immediate, clearest impression of the Rebbe. I came to the secretariat and identified myself. To help you picture it, I was a student with long hair—it was the late seventies—and the secretary, Reb Leibel Groner, took out a letter for me. It was the letter I had submitted, and on it the Rebbe had answered me in compact, orderly handwriting, with many marks and subtleties that were explained to me later. He took apart every question and answered each one, every doubt and every inner struggle, with the greatest gentleness anyone could possibly imagine. Now, I was standing in the secretariat and saw mountains of packages, some sealed and wrapped, others open and undone, and piles of letters. I looked over by the door and saw two or three mailbags lying there. I looked at the secretary and asked in astonishment—because my job is to observe—“Tell me, do all these letters go in to the Rebbe?” I looked around to see whether there was a staff, a secretariat, people who opened the letters, sorted them, and brought them in according to some system. The secretary smiled and said, “No.” I

46:23 Speaker 7 looked at the mailbags and asked him, “And tell me, how many mailbags like these arrive?” He said, “Usually two or three, sometimes four a day.” Years passed. That same week, I went into yechidus in the Rebbe’s holy room. The Rebbe asked about my parents in minute detail, about my wife, about the—about the—

00:08 Speaker 1 Years passed, and I had already been privileged to become a shliach of the Rebbe. I had seen the astonishing scope of the Rebbe’s work, the drive behind it, the passion, the faith, the genius. I had no way to grasp that greatness, that sheer power, on my own. Then, years later, I remember sitting in 770 at a chassidic farbrengen late at night, an intimate farbrengen. We had plenty of mashke and herring. One of the members of Vaad Hanachos Hatmimim told a story that brought everything full circle for me, and that is the point I want to share this evening, my fellow shluchim. He described how intense the work with the Rebbe was, how much the Rebbe demanded, and how they had accustomed themselves to sleeping only an hour or two a night. That was what the Rebbe demanded of himself. They would bring the Rebbe a text to proofread, and the Rebbe would correct it that very night. He would mark it up, they would bring it back, and eventually they agreed among themselves not to bring it in again, because the Rebbe would always proofread it yet another time, with tireless diligence. Then he told us that, at last, they had found something wonderful: a machine had been invented for opening letters. An automatic machine. They jumped at the opportunity and brought it to the Rebbe. The next day, the Rebbe returned the machine with a reply: “Thank you, but I cannot open the letters that Jews send me with this machine.” He explained: “Many times, Jews seal their letters with tears that fell as they wrote them, and I cannot open them with an automatic machine.” Dear friends, we know the scope of the Rebbe’s activities. No one can travel the world today, to its farthest reaches, without seeing the scale of those activities, their quality and their passion. But alongside all that, what stayed etched in my mind was the delicacy, the sensitivity. I so wanted an answer that night. Indeed, in that reply, in the care given to every letter—for the hearts that were laid bare

02:23 Speaker 1 there in that room—that is a memory from that winter of 5738 that I will never forget. I think it had already happened—ah, it was before the event I will never forget. In other words, on the one hand we have the one who sent us, the Rebbe, who in effect took the globe, took the course of history and turned it around. After a painful period for the Jewish people, the Holocaust—“Trouble shall not arise a second time”—the Jewish people were confused, scattered, distraught. And the Rebbe, far from following the prevailing impulse to withdraw, protect ourselves and build walls, issued the call of “Ufaratzta”—“You shall spread out.” A Jew has mastery over nature. Nature has no power over a Jew. We are going out; we are the generation that will bring the Geulah to fruition. And where? In every corner of the world. There is no place in the world where a Jew can be found that we will not reach and provide for all his needs. Whether it is a Pesach Seder for travelers in Kathmandu or in Tierra del Fuego in South America, we must reach the Jew in every corner of the world, awaken the Divine Jewish spark within him, and remind him that the crown of the King of kings rests upon his head. That is how the Rebbe saw every Jew. I once tried to understand how the Rebbe, at an advanced age, could stand for hours, watching the lines stretch on, as each Jew came to him with his innermost wish. One was facing surgery, another was about to get married, another was wrestling with the most critical decision of his life. And the Rebbe stood in the same posture, wholly focused, responding to each Jew from the depths of his heart. He could do that only because he saw the crown of the King of kings resting on that Jew’s head, the G-dliness within the Jew’s body, the soul of a Jew. And this great one who sent us, who wants to reach every Jew—that is the goal—uses us, the shluchim, to accomplish it. We have been privileged to serve as the link, to be his extended arm, to be the force that can carry the source,

04:32 Speaker 1 the luminary, to the farthest point. But there is a condition: to be connected to the one who sent us. The condition is to be utterly devoted to him. The condition is to understand the spirit of the shlichus and give ourselves to it, while using all the strengths we have received, all the talents we have been given, and the unique imprint of each one of us. But the condition is to remain true to the intention of the one who sent us. And we see shluchim setting out. Their fuel is the Rebbe’s sichos and maamarim, the direction the Rebbe set, the mission, the goal. A shliach arrives in a city—we all know this—without some terribly complicated strategy, without tactics or extensive training. At the beginning, he simply takes a map and gets to know the city from scratch. But he knows one thing: that the Rebbe is with him, that the one who sent him is with him, that this mission will succeed, that nothing can stand in his way. That is despite the many difficulties: financial difficulties, and often frustration, exhaustion and confusion. You have to use every bit of your personal charm, especially with bank managers, to secure another line of credit here, a few more pounds there, a little more breathing room. But slowly you see a Chabad House established in the city, then another institution and another, another Jew drawn closer. That shliach becomes a point of light and warmth in the place where he lives. Most important, the public begins to recognize the Chabad House as a source of warmth, a place where they can come with their most personal concerns. Shluchim have become doctors, advisers, marriage counselors, companions and providers of interest-free loans. Every skill in the world has been placed on the shliach’s shoulders. But the most wonderful thing that happened to the shluchim is that the Rebbe arranged a circle of people to help them. A shliach who lives the shlichus, with the Rebbe’s spirit beating within him and flowing through his veins—and that person of means, that benefactor, that supporter who has a lofty soul and comes at the Rebbe’s personal invitation—he already

06:48 Speaker 1 knows that his bond with the shliach is an eternal bond. Often the one who sent him sees to it that the benefactor comes to encourage the shliach and help him materially, while demanding that the shliach run ahead spiritually, do more and achieve more. That is how a bond is formed between the supporters, the friends, the community, and the shluchim and Chabad Houses. Recently, the Rebbe spoke with extraordinary intensity and force about the final mission. Our task is to tell the entire Jewish people and the whole world that we are entering an entirely new era. Entirely new in terms of preparing our hearts, recognizing that we are drawing near to and stepping into the complete Geulah; preparing our minds to be vessels for this tremendous reality; and, above all, feeling the mission to reach out, to make the effort, to make this final push and reach every single Jew. Of one thing I am certain: we have been granted a privilege whose magnitude we cannot begin to imagine—not even the faintest idea of the privilege granted to everyone gathered here, and to everyone whose spirit moved him to devote himself to the Rebbe. And so too with the magnitude of the responsibility. I have no doubt that, ultimately, all the Chabad Houses will come together in the one central and greatest Chabad House of all, the Beis Hamikdash, and we will merit to see the Rebbe’s promise fulfilled, with the entire Jewish people redeemed and the Rebbe at our head in the Beis Hamikdash. And most important, with Hashem’s help, immediately, right now. I would like to steal just one more minute, though they are signaling for me to finish, to speak about the coming period for the Jewish people. I believe this is an important message for us Chabad chassidim, for this great and wonderful family. The Jewish people stand before one of the most important periods in their history, and the focal point is here in Israel. There are painful feelings of anger, frustration, bitterness and helplessness. Dark clouds are gathering, threatening a rift—may it never come to pass—among the Jewish people. We of Tzeirei Chabad, the Rebbe’s shluchim, must stand firm on all the Rebbe’s principles, proclaim the Rebbe’s position loud and clear,

09:40 Speaker 1 cry out, protest and do everything in our power. At the same time, we must not forget that the mission the Rebbe gave us in particular is, first and foremost, the unity of the Jewish people through Ahavas Yisroel. We must not get swept along, must not get swept along or become inflammatory or confused. We are running a marathon, a long race, to mend what is broken, defuse the dangers and be the ones who, in the end, awaken something in every single Jew—even if he is mistaken, even if right now we are angry and pained by that mistake. Our task is to preserve the unity of the Jewish people and Ahavas Yisroel. In this way we will bring true nachas: genuine inner unity both among ourselves and throughout the Jewish people. Thank you very much.

10:43 Speaker 2 I see that the director of the Chabad House in Ramat Gan is not only a film director, but a screenwriter too. “Yehoash was seven years old when he became king.” That is how the haftorah for Shabbos Shekalim begins. I mention it because in a moment a dear Jew, the mayor of Sderot, will come up to the podium. We find the word “sderot” in the description of the entrance to the Beis Hamikdash in that chapter of the Book of Kings, when seven-year-old Yehoash is crowned king: sderot, rows of columns at the entrance to the Beis Hamikdash. The city of Sderot was named because its first residents planted avenues of trees along the approaches to the Negev. And why is the mayor of Sderot a lawyer? Because Sderot needs someone to come and plead its case. But the truth is that we all speak up for the residents of Sderot, remarkable people in their resilience. From here, we send the residents of Sderot a blessing: be strong. Let the people of Sderot’s elected representative come forward—the mayor, attorney Eli Moyal.

12:05 Speaker 3 Good evening, Chief Rabbi Lau, Rabbi Ashkenazi, my fellow mayors, rabbis, Torah scholars and distinguished guests. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet the Rebbe, but I feel as though I have. Sitting in this hall, seeing the people and feeling the energy of Ahavas Yisroel, of the Jewish people—and, I must add something that hasn’t been said here, of the Torah of Israel—I feel as though I too am a shliach of the Rebbe. Especially since I’m Moroccan. You call your emissaries shluchim. The Moroccans among us know that I’m an original shluach. Rabbi Gal said some things I want to devote a few words to. The Jewish people are going through one of the hardest periods they have ever faced. It seems that at moments like these, this people has neither chochmah, binah nor daas. We are at a breaking point. Some of us think one way, some another. Plans are being drawn up and are supposed to be carried out. There is a whiff of civil war in the air, of abuse. And this is where I want Chabad: that calm, that wisdom. If you have a mission, go to the Jewish people and explain what—what Rabbi Gal said. Whatever happens, everything G-d does is ultimately for the good. But one thing must never happen: a Jew must not raise a hand against another Jew in the State of Israel. And you, Chabad shluchim, are here among us. You come to us out of nowhere, asking for nothing, with great love in your hearts, with a smile, with warmth, with your Ahavas Yisroel and your love for people, and you manage to bring us all together as one. It doesn’t matter whether we are secular or religious. It doesn’t matter whether we come from this community or another. Deep inside every Jew is a vibrant Jewish soul that we need to reach. All it takes is Chabad’s patience, Chabad’s love and Chabad’s strength. And now is the time

15:19 Speaker 3 when we need you. The Jewish people are divided; it is as though the generation of the Dispersion is at the gates, with people rising against one another and brother hating brother. Go to this people. I believe the Rebbe would ask this of you: prevent this rift among the Jewish people, whatever happens. I believe that, in the end, everything will be for the good. My fellow mayors, those of you sitting here now, I turn to you. We have many organizations in the communities we govern. Many people come to us asking for help and for support in advancing one idea or another, and all kinds of groups depend on us in one way or another. I say to you here and now: give Chabad everything it needs, wholeheartedly. I say this from personal experience—from my limited experience with Rabbi Pizem, who is sitting here. He is a great man who introduced me to Chabad and brought me closer to it. A Jew with kind eyes, a good heart and sound judgment. A magnificent Chabad House has been established in Sderot. You see it there, and everything is done out of Ahavas Yisroel and love for this mission. In that house you see secular and religious Jews, Jews from Ethiopia, Russia, the Caucasus, Morocco and Iran. There is no distinction of origin or any other kind; everyone sits together. Many mitzvos are performed there: helping brides get married, bar mitzvahs and, may you be spared, memorial services too, as well as community activities. None of it is done by force or by making demands, but with humility, with love and with a desire to unite this people. I call on my fellow mayors from here: please, give your hearts to Chabad. Thank you very much, and good night.

17:58 Speaker 4 Thank you, and yasher koach to the mayor of Sderot, Mr. Eli Moyal. Eli Moyal, you spoke with special grace—and “with special grace” is the gematria of your name, Eli Moyal. But you also practice what you preach. Thank you, and yasher koach. Ladies and gentlemen, after those moving and wonderful words from Mr. Moyal, it is my pleasant privilege to introduce our distinguished guests, who support and assist the Rebbe’s shluchim: the mayors, who will be called before the King’s emissaries. I ask each mayor whose name is called to stand and introduce himself, as it is written, “For Hashem has chosen you to stand.” Ladies and gentlemen, let us salute the mayor of Ofakim, Mr. Avi Asaraf. The mayor of Or Yehuda, Mr. Yitzchak Buchbaza. The mayor of Or Akiva, Mr. Simcha Yosipov. And Mr. Roni Mahatzri, the mayor of Ashkelon. The mayor of Givatayim, Mr. Efi Stenzler. The mayor of Tirat Carmel, Mr. Aryeh Fargon. Mr. Tzvi Gov-Ari, the mayor of Yavne. And Mr. Simon Alfasi, the mayor of Yokneam Illit. The mayor of Kfar Saba, Mr. Yehuda Ben Hamo. The mayor of Migdal HaEmek, Mr. Eli Barda. Mr. Yitzchak Ohayon, the mayor of Petach Tikva. Mr. Aviram Dahari, the mayor of Kiryat Gat. And the mayor of Kiryat Malachi, Mr. Moti Malka. The mayor of Rehovot, Mr. Shuki Forer. The mayor of Ramat Hasharon, Mr. Yitzchak Rochberger. The mayor of Sderot, attorney Mr. Eli Moyal. And among the mayors and council heads: the head of the Be’er Tuvia Regional Council, Mr. Dror Shor. The head of the Hevel Modi’in Regional Council, Mr. Shimon Susan. Mr. Binyamin Ben Muvchar, head of the Mevo’ot HaHermon Regional Council. The head of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council, Mr. Chaim Ben David. The head of the Even Yehuda Local Council, Amos Azani. The head of the Be’er Yaakov Local Council, Mr. Nissim Gozlan. The head of the Binyamina–Givat Ada Local Council, Mr. Aryeh Zaytuni. The head of the Gan Yavne Local Council, Mr.

21:40 Speaker 4 Aharon Dror. Mr. Avishai Levin, head of the Ganei Tikva Local Council. Attorney Mr. Eliyahu Butbul, head of the Zichron Yaakov Local Council. The head of the Hatzor HaGlilit Local Council, Mr. Shaul Kamisa. The head of the Yeruham Local Council, Mr. Baruch Elmikayes. Mr. Meir Dahan, head of the Mazkeret Batya Local Council. Mr. Sami Shushan, head of the Mitzpe Ramon Local Council. The head of the Nesher Local Council, Mr. David Amar. The head of the Emmanuel Local Council, Rabbi Yeshaya Ehrenreich. And the head of the Tzoran-Kadima Local Council, Mr. Yitzchak Golbary. And last but not least, the chairman of the Kfar Chabad committee, Rabbi Binyamin Lipschitz. These, ladies and gentlemen, are all leaders of Israel’s cities. Allow me, on behalf of all Chabad chassidim, to bless you, the mayors—the mayors—that in the merit of your sup—your generous support and assistance to the directors of the Chabad Houses, the Rebbe’s shluchim, you merit the fulfillment of the verse in the weekly parsha, “When you raise the heads of the Children of Israel”: may Hakadosh Boruch Hu raise and exalt you higher and higher, to prepare all your cities to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu very soon indeed. My brothers and friends: on 26 Cheshvan 5752, a group of us chassidim stood at the distribution of dollars and overheard the Rebbe speaking to a prominent rabbi. The Rebbe also foretold that he would become a Chief Rabbi of Israel. Among other things, the Rebbe told the rabbi, “May you have people who will emulate you. I don’t know if they’ll be able to, but they will accomplish something.” Ladies and gentlemen, let us listen to the keynote address by the rabbi whom the Rebbe chose as an example and model to emulate, the man who, with the Rebbe’s blessing, was appointed Chief Rabbi of Israel. Our guest of honor, the eminent Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, shlita. Please.

24:49 Speaker 5 Deactivate.

24:56 Speaker 6 My honored brothers and friends, rabbis of Israel, led by the rabbi of Kfar Chabad and the members of the Chabad Rabbinical Council in our Holy Land; the head of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in our Holy Land, who is also chairman of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad; mayors, heads of local and regional councils, and all the friends of Chabad Houses throughout the country. And last but dear to us, the guests of honor this evening, in my humble opinion: the Rebbe’s shluchim throughout the country, together with their wives, their sons and daughters, and all their families. For their sake, in their honor, and with their encouragement, we have gathered this evening to continue carrying the torch lit by the Rebbe of Lubavitch—a torch with which he illuminated the darkness of the world, in all four corners of the earth, wherever the Rebbe’s word reaches, has reached, and will reach. We continue to carry that torch proudly, with our heads held high, with dignity and splendor. First, I would like to say a word about the idea of a shliach, an emissary—the Rebbe’s shlichus. It is worth reminding ourselves: What is shlichus? Who was the first shliach in the history of our people? At a moment so exalted, so sublime, that nothing like it has ever occurred or will ever occur on earth, Hashem calls to him from the flame of fire within the bush: “I am the G-d of your father, the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and bring My people, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt.” The first shliach, Moshe Rabbeinu, receives his mission at the sight of a bush burning with fire yet not consumed. Only when his interest is stirred does he say, “Let me turn aside and see this great sight. Why is the bush not burned?” “Hashem saw that he turned aside to see.” There is attention, interest, alertness, awareness. He is the right person: the shepherd of Yisro’s flock, a man who grew up on the other side of the divide. He did not grow up in a Chabad House. He did not grow up in 770, in Liadi, in Lubavitch, or in Nikolayev. He grew up in the house of Pharaoh, a wicked tyrant,

28:18 Speaker 6 a king who carried out the first selection, before Mengele: “When you see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; and if it is a daughter, she shall live.” Moshe grew up in such a house—and he is the one chosen! “Go, and I will send you”—notice the two expressions. “Moshe said, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt?’” By what right? He uses only one of the two verbs: “Who am I that I should go?” And Hashem tells him, “For I will be with you, and this shall be your sign that I have sent you.” What sign? You see the bush burning with fire, yet it is not consumed, because I am within it. “I am with him in distress.” “Hashem appeared to him in a flame of fire from within the bush,” and that is why it is not consumed. “This shall be your sign that I have sent you.” But did you notice? The first call was, “Go, go, and I will send you.” Moshe says, “Who am I that I should go?” and Hashem answers him, “I have sent you.” Interesting. This is not the only time, just the first. The second is, “And I heard the voice”—Yeshayahu, in chapter 6, the chapter of his revelation. He, too, sees the doorposts shake and the house fill with smoke: “I saw Hashem sitting upon a high and lofty throne, and the hem of His robe filled the sanctuary. Seraphim stood above Him, each with six wings.” And suddenly, I hear a voice. What does the voice say? Notice the same two verbs: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Send, go. And he replies, “Here I am; send me.” He does not say, “Here I am; I will go.” He does not say, “Send me, and I will go”—only “Send me.” And the third time, in the first chapter of Yirmiyahu: “For wherever I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.” Wow. Doesn’t that call for an explanation? Three such shluchim—Moshe Rabbeinu, the prophet Yeshayahu, and the prophet Yirmiyahu. There is being sent, and there is going. Here he is sent; there he goes. What

30:54 Speaker 6 is happening here? What do these things mean? When I look around this hall, I see the simple explanation. A person who has the ability, who has a personality of his own, can go. With Avraham Avinu, the first time it is “Lech lecha—go forth!” And the last time, at Mount Moriah, “Go to the land of Moriah.” A great person can go. “Moshe went and spoke these words to all Israel.” Moshe can go. Avraham Avinu’s whole life, from “Lech lecha” to “Lech lecha,” offers further examples. A shliach, seemingly, sets himself aside before the one who sends him. When you receive a telegram that could change your life, does the personality of the person carrying it matter? When someone receives an emergency call-up order, does it matter who delivered the order, or who signed it? Who sent it? Who wrote the letter? Who signed the document? The letter carrier, it would seem, is unimportant. What matters is who sent the letter, the message. Now everything becomes clear, and this is the greatness of true shluchim like Moshe, Yeshayahu, Yirmiyahu, and all the others. Hashem says to Moshe: Go, go, go. It is like what is written of Gideon: “Go with this strength of yours and save Israel.” Go, go—and if you do not believe in your own strength, “I will send you to Pharaoh.” Be My shliach. Moshe first hears the “Go.” “Moshe said”—notice the words—“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” What? Who am I? What am I? Where did I grow up? In which yeshivah did I study? In which Talmud Torah was I educated? “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” Hashem says: Don’t worry. If you are afraid to go, “For I will be with you, and this”—the bush—“shall be your sign that I have sent you.” You are afraid to go, but you need not shrink from being sent. I am with you. “Whom shall I send?” Hashem asks in Yeshayahu’s vision. Perhaps there is someone who can go for us on his own strength. In his humility, the prophet says: To go,

33:53 Speaker 6 I am not worthy. “Here I am; send me.” And because he says, “Here I am; send me,” he is told, “Go and say to this people.” He is worthy—if only because of his humility, like “the man Moshe was exceedingly humble.” Hashem tells Yirmiyahu: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for wherever I send you, you shall go.” Begin with shlichus, and you will reach the level where you can go on your own strength, with your own personality. Do not say, “I am a youth.” Even if that is how you feel, you can begin as a shliach. If you go as a shliach, you will keep going, and I will be with you. I will make you an iron pillar, a fortified city, a bronze wall—to tear down and to build, to plant and to build. Shlichus is what the shliach feels. Going is what the shliach does. He is chosen because he feels he is a shliach, but he will succeed because he goes. “I will grant you passage among these who stand here.” That is what Hashem says to Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak, the Kohen Gadol, in the book of Zechariah. There are people sitting here in this hall, and I say this to my friends, the mayors and heads of councils, and to all the friends and supporters of Chabad in this country, as well as their friends who are not here. You will tell them your impressions of this evening. Your friend has a friend, and your friend’s friend has a friend. You will spread the message of the shining torches we can see in this very place. Each one feels that he is a shliach, and day and night sees before his mind’s eye the great one who sent him—the one whose picture faces you, whose teachings and personality are always before your hearts. At least that is how it is for me. They feel like his shluchim, but they have also taken action, and the words of King David have been fulfilled in them: “They go from strength to strength, until each appears before G-d in Zion.” Not only are they sent; they go from strength to strength, “for wherever I send you, you shall go.” Because you say, “All I can offer is: Here I am; send me,” you are told, “Go to this people.” Because you make yourself small, you were chosen to be

36:48 Speaker 6 In the category of one who goes forth: “And I will make you walk among those who stand here.” I said that about the shluchim. I want to say a word to Chabad’s supporters. The first time I merited a yechidus with the Rebbe was thirty-one years ago, this very month, after the Yom Kippur War. I won’t go into the details. I merited to sit with him for two hours and twenty minutes, from 1:30 at night until ten to four in the morning. There are many witnesses among those who crowded outside the door and tried to draw out of me what had happened, what we had spoken about for so long, and so on. It’s a well-known story in Chabad; I won’t repeat it. Eight years later—and I want to mention only this episode, because I’ve never told it before. It’s quite incidental, but important to me for this evening and for the message to the supporters. Eight years later I was invited to New York again, and naturally I made my way to the Rebbe. In 5734, it had been my first visit to the United States in my life, when I came to him as a neighborhood rabbi in Tel Aviv. The second time, I came as chief rabbi of the city of Netanya. As I came through the door, he said to me, “Ah, Yossi[?], you haven’t been to see me in eight years.” It was exactly eight years. We hadn’t corresponded in the meantime. I had only received a warm letter of blessing from him on my appointment in Netanya, a letter about the importance of education, of educating young people. There was a group of friends of a major hospital in Israel. One of them learned there in New York that I was going to visit the Rebbe, and that I would surely be allowed in to see him. They contacted me at the hotel before I went to Crown Heights and said, “Rabbi, we’re struggling to keep the hospital going. It’s about to buckle under the burden of its expenses. We can’t manage to sustain it. We desperately need help so the hospital can continue operating. Many people’s lives are at stake.” I knew the hospital well and firsthand. “We knew that a blessing from

39:26 Speaker 6 the Lubavitcher Rebbe would help, and we’re convinced of it”—and they weren’t Chabad chassidim—“but there’s a long wait to see the Rebbe, and we’ve already been put off several times.” This was before the dollars. People would go in to see the Rebbe, and they had been told, “Come back in a month, come back in two months. There’s a long line. The Rebbe is busy.” “Since you’ve come to New York and we know you intend to visit the Rebbe, let us come along with you. Bring us in under the edge of your cloak. We won’t take more than five minutes of your yechidus with the Rebbe. That’s all we need: to explain our mission to him and receive his blessing. Let us make use of your visit, since you’re close to us, and so on and so forth. Do us this favor.” I told them, “I’ve only been there once in my life. Eight years have passed. I don’t even know how well the Rebbe will remember me. I was a young neighborhood rabbi. If I can get in myself, that will be a great thing; bringing others in with me is another matter. A guest can’t bring another guest. I can’t promise you anything. I can promise you only one thing: I’ll ask whether you can come in with me, if they let me in. I’m supposed to be at the entrance at such-and-such a time. Wait for me at the gate.” Three or four waited; I don’t remember. I remember three. I remember the names of two of them exactly. One is already in the World of Truth and can speak in our favor. I explained—perhaps it was Rabbi Leibel Groner who told me to go in; the first time it had been Rabbi Chodakov. He came out. I told him, “They’re from the Friends of such-and-such Hospital. They’re fighting for its survival and ask whether I can help them get in to see the Rebbe with me. They promise to leave after five minutes at most.” He went in, came out of the Rebbe’s room and said, “Gut.” All right, good, that was

41:55 Speaker 6 [unclear] no more than five minutes, because the Rebbe wanted to speak with me. Incidentally, in 5742 I sat in yechidus for not a minute less and not a minute more than two hours and twenty minutes. The same length of time, different conversations. They went in and told him about the situation, and one of them was on the verge of tears. This was a hospital with no connection whatsoever to Chabad. The Rebbe called Leibel—Rabbi Leibel Groner—and spoke to him about something. I saw him sign a piece of paper. The desk was always piled with books and a great many letters and documents. Then the Rebbe, with the smile you see here behind me—I can see it even behind me—held out a check to them. He had written out a check for eighteen dollars. He gave them the check and said, “In addition to the blessing, I want to give you a personal donation of my own for the hospital.” With an even broader smile and a knowing look in his eyes, he added, “If you want to cash the check, deposit it in the bank and withdraw the money, or put it to any use at all, do as you see fit, and may Hashem bless you and guide you on the path of truth.” To Chabad’s supporters here in the hall, and to their friends outside it, I say: when it came to Tzeirei Agudas Chabad and the work of Chabad Houses everywhere, the Rebbe signed more than one check, and for more than eighteen dollars. Those men understood what that signature meant, and, boruch Hashem, the hospital has since grown from a clinic into a medical center. It surely has budget problems even today—who doesn’t?—but it is flourishing. From 5742 until today, twenty-three years later, thousands upon thousands of people have had their lives saved, and babies have come into the world within those walls, following that blessing and that signature. The Rebbe signed a great many checks here, because every young man who arrived anywhere as a shliach of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

44:47 Speaker 6 brought with him the signature, the seal and the blessing—and, more important, the backing and the funds to cover the check, all resting on the Rebbe’s stature. He had told him, “Go, and I will send you.” And these young men came and said, “Here I am; send me.” I think I know most of the shluchim in the world, among them the first generation of shluchim, names that have become shining stars—“those who bring merit to the many, like the stars forever and ever.” I’m afraid I’ll get caught up listing names, so I speak very cautiously, but these are names of people who brought entire continents to life. A Jew like Rabbi Yitzchok Groner in Melbourne—may he only be well. A Jew like Rabbi Pevzner in France, or Rabbi Garelik in Milan. A Jew like Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, a Jew in Philadelphia. A Jew like Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt—from Uruguay, from Argentina. Later, Jews in Eastern Europe, a much younger generation. The shluchim in Morocco. Eli, you know whom I’m talking about. With what mesirus nefesh Jews stayed there in days when being visibly Jewish seemed like a danger to life itself. And the ember that became a flame in the lands of Soviet Russia, under an atheistic Communist regime that persecuted every sign, every trace and every spark of Jewish life. There they stood with true mesirus nefesh, risking body and soul alike, because the Rebbe had sent them and they said, “Here I am, here I am; send me.” The names and countries I haven’t mentioned are far more numerous than the few I have.