General Assembly 5766, Kfar Chabad

01:42 Speaker 1 We’ll invite Rabbi Chaim Porush to share a Torah thought, and afterward we’ll hear an update from the association and wait for the Rabbi to arrive. Rabbi Porush, please.

01:55 Speaker 2 There are two questions besides the weekly parsha, I see people are asking. Last week we read Parshas Yisro in the Torah. This week we begin Parshas Mishpatim. What is the first thing Hakadosh Boruch Hu chooses to begin Parshas Mishpatim with? The laws of a Hebrew servant. Of all the laws, why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu see fit to give the Jewish people the laws of a Hebrew servant first? The commentators ask: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave the Ten Commandments and now wants to give the Jewish people the Torah, which includes laws. What is so special about a Hebrew servant that this is the first law? Aren’t there other laws? Why begin with a Hebrew servant? Anyone who has studied Kiddushin knows, and Rashi brings it here too, that this is a Hebrew servant sold by the court, not one who sells himself. A person can sell himself only when he has reached the point of having no bread to eat. Someone sold by the court is a person who stole and was sold to repay his theft. In one of the Rebbe’s sichos, he explains that this lets us understand why Hakadosh Boruch Hu began specifically with a servant. At Matan Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu took the Jewish people and made them His servants: “For the children of Israel are servants to Me.” So the whole point of Matan Torah was to turn the Jewish people from people free to do as they pleased into servants of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And among servants there are two kinds: one sold by the court and one who sells himself. The parsha begins specifically with the one sold by the court. Why? When a Jew comes of his own accord and sells himself as a servant, he is not a true servant. A servant who freely chose to be a servant

04:23 Speaker 2 isn’t really a servant. A true servant is one whom the court sold. That is why this parsha begins, “And these are the laws,” with the case of one sold by the court. This also gives us a good way to explain something the Ohr Hachaim says. In Parshas Behar it says, “For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants.” The Ohr Hachaim asks: Why the repetition, “For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants”? Why say it twice? It would be enough to say that the children of Israel are servants. We would know whose servants they are. But now it makes perfect sense: “For the children of Israel are servants to Me” refers to one who sells himself. The Jews came and told Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “We will do and we will listen.” But then we know what Hakadosh Boruch Hu did: He held the mountain over them like a barrel. That is the meaning of “For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants.” I took you to be My servants. That is not someone who sells himself; it is someone sold by the court. And being sold by the court is the fullest expression of this idea with which the parsha begins—the idea of servants. On Purim—sorry, not Purim, but on 19 Kislev 5718. Those who know the background to the sicha the Rebbe gave then, concerning the fundraising appeal for Kfar Chabad... Huh? All right, we’ll continue.

05:55 Speaker 3 No.

05:56 Speaker 2 Or it’s near the train.

05:57 Speaker 3 In Canada, it already is.

05:57 Speaker 2 Yes, and in that sicha on 19 Kislev 5718, the Rebbe said some remarkable things. The Rebbe said: “Generally, I don’t make myself into a collector. I ask; whoever gives, gives, and I’m pleased. Whoever doesn’t give, I’m less pleased. But this time, I’m going to be the collector here at the farbrengen.” Then, at that farbrengen, the Rebbe asked everyone to write on a note how much they were giving. The Rebbe took the notes, looked at the amount written on each one, and turned to one Jew and told him, “Add a thousand dollars.” To another he said, “Add two thousand dollars.” To a third he said, “Add another zero.” There was another Jew he told to add two zeros. And so the Rebbe went from one person to the next. At the end, the Rebbe said: “Know this: Don’t think you’re doing me a favor. Whoever gives is doing himself a favor, because I’m giving you vessels, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will fill those vessels with a great, great deal of light.” Later, on 21 Kislev, there was a continuation of the farbrengen, and the Rebbe added: “I saw that there were Jews who gave wholeheartedly. What is my proof? I received a letter from a Jew who went home and told his wife what he had decided to give. He had started with a certain amount, and the Rebbe told him to double it, so he doubled it. When he got home, his wife said, ‘If the Rebbe told you to double it, let’s double it again now.’ So he writes to the Rebbe, ‘I’m now doubling it beyond what you told me.’” The Rebbe said, “I promise you that you will see blessings many times over.” May Hakadosh Boruch Hu truly help every resident of Kfar Chabad to see blessing and success

07:54 Speaker 2 in everything they do. May all who need salvation receive it, and all who need joyous occasions have them, with a happy heart and a cheerful spirit [unclear].

08:09 Speaker 4 With Hashem’s help, however much has been done until today, from today onward it should be done with even greater strength and vigor. Let him speak. Yasher koach, and may the Rabbi live long in his position. Honored Rabbi, honored Rabbi, yasher koach—that’s the best gift for Purim. Of course, it’s the best mishloach manos there could be. Yasher koach, yasher koach. Berke, Berke. A few words, please, Berke. [unclear] Berke, did you catch that?

08:50 Speaker 5 Binyamin, what’s that?

08:54 Speaker 4 Yasher koach to the honored Rabbi, yasher koach, yasher koach. May he live long in his position. Honored Rabbi, honored Rabbi, I have a story I saw today—a story about chassidim.

09:10 Speaker 5 You’re speaking into a microphone.

09:10 Speaker 4 Huh? Yes, yes, yes, there’s a problem, there’s a problem, there’s a problem.

09:16 Speaker 5 One moment, [unclear]. Moishe,

09:34 Speaker 4 Honored Rabbi, a few words. A few words after we get approval.

09:38 Speaker 5 They told me this is the most important of all. The Rabbi enjoyed himself today. Really? What does he say?

09:46 Speaker 4 I got a message from Omer asking me to come there.

09:52 Speaker 5 What’s this? What’s this? What’s this? What is that? Tomorrow. All the photographers are here. What’s happening with it? That was the best part. How do you put it? They searched and searched—that’s exactly it. They say everyone has to hide among the packages and do exactly what there is to do. No, I thought—not to that extent. Never mind, we don’t need any more. That’s [unclear]; it happens every two years.

10:31 Speaker 6 Once already.

10:32 Speaker 5 So again. No, now it depends on what happens this time. Never mind, it’ll happen.

10:36 Speaker 6 Once at home.

10:37 Speaker 5 No, no. Why not today? They’ll hold a vote, or use some formal legal procedure, so that it happens once every four or five years. In any case, may it be successful.

10:50 Speaker 6 Well, then he’s already been chosen. We’ll have some sort of vote next time.

00:04 Speaker 1 Once again, good week, Rabbi. I want to give an overview of the situation in Kfar Chabad over the last two years, and then I’ll ask the Rabbi to say a few words. First, I want to say that, of course, during the two years since we were elected, there were many things that previous committees had started, and we only needed to carry them forward. The construction of the neighborhood is one example: the entire plan, and the neighborhood itself, were planned by people who served on the building committee before us, and they deserve our thanks. During these two years, we made sure to reach agreements with the Israel Land Administration. I think we reached very good agreements at very low cost, and we very much hope that some residents will, with Hashem’s help, be able to move into their apartments by Pesach. It’s no secret that the last two years have been very difficult as far as government funding is concerned. We received less of the funding we had always received. Even at the council, we faced a cut of more than thirty percent. So during these two years, we worked to bring in funding from various donations so that the association could continue to function properly. Everyone can see that it has functioned properly. The association has no debts apart from ordinary bank debt, and, thank G-d, we’ve gotten that under control too. Let me mention a few things from these two years that are worth reporting. We made sure to help many, many Kfar Chabad residents who were having a hard time over the holidays, with amounts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. We tried to reach everyone we thought or knew needed help, and to give each person as much as they needed. During these two years, our main concern was to maintain peace and unity in Kfar Chabad. There were, admittedly, various people from different... who felt the approach wasn’t quite right, but we tried to take a middle path so that everyone could find their place, even though there are people on all

02:13 Speaker 1 sides who feel they didn’t get everything they wanted. We worked hard to keep things peaceful in Kfar Chabad. I think everyone saw that, and, thank G-d, I think we succeeded. Another health clinic, Meuhedet, opened in Kfar Chabad during these two years. The committee did not oppose its opening. The committee didn’t open it and has no connection to it, but we certainly agreed to its opening. You can see the great change that took place at the clinic already here, Clalit Health Services: they added doctors and extended their hours. That has certainly made things easier for all the residents. Two more classrooms were built at the Talmud Torah. They added to the building and made the road there and the parking bay. Today you can see how important that is, and we succeeded with that too. Beis Geulah opened, with Rabbi Lipschitz donating a large part of the cost. It has a place for women, who come three times a week, and it will also open to men at a later stage. It’s a comfortable, good place to learn. In the Levi Yitzchak neighborhood, we replaced all the water lines. Part of the funding had already been arranged before us, and we added what was needed and managed to complete the whole project there. Those are some of the things I think should be brought up and discussed. There may be other matters as well, but everyone surely knows and remembers what was done. One of the things that needs approval at the general meeting is the committee’s financial statement and budget. Anyone who wishes can review the financial statements for 2003 and 2004. They show a surplus for the association, not a loss, and that the association can operate and, thank G-d, continue. As for next year’s budget, for 2006, it is about 6.6 million shekels in income and expenses. A large part goes to expenses, a large part comes from taxes, and, thank G-d, we can continue. There’s one more matter I want to raise

04:24 Speaker 1 concerning the Kfar Chabad bylaws. The Kfar Chabad bylaws are very old, dating from 1955. They contain a provision on settling disputes, whether a dispute with the association or between individuals. It says: “Any dispute arising from the business of the association between members or former members, or persons claiming through them, or between such members, former members or persons claiming through them on the one hand, and the association, the executive committee or officeholders of the association on the other, shall be submitted to arbitration. Each side shall choose one arbitrator, and the two arbitrators shall choose a third to decide the matter.” I propose that the minutes explicitly state that any dispute in Kfar Chabad between the committee and residents will be brought before Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi for a decision. Does anyone object to that? All right, if there are no objections, then...

05:18 Speaker 2 The Rabbi objects.

05:18 Speaker 1 What? The Rabbi objects? That’s a problem—the chairman of the meeting objects. I... it was at nine. I want to remind you that at nine there weren’t enough people, and then the Rabbi was chosen as chairman of the meeting. [Unclear] Tzvi Igler[?], and we postponed the meeting until after ten so that the votes cast would be valid.

05:44 Speaker 2 There’s confusion here about whether they should change it or not. This has been debated for several hundred years.

05:49 Speaker 1 Going to court costs much more.

05:53 Speaker 2 There are health funds, there are health funds, there are...

06:16 Speaker 1 Regarding the admission of members to the association: what appears on the agenda is not the admission of new members or anything like that. It concerns those people who registered previously and built homes in the Levi Yitzchak neighborhood, and who are currently even renting in Kfar Chabad until they move into their homes. They are considered members of the association. We currently have 580 members. Anyone can come and check whether their name is on the list. We don’t think it has changed from previous years. One last thing I want to ask: with Hashem’s help, there will be elections. I hope the elections will be held soon—this Thursday already. There’s no reason to postpone them. I think that since we just had a quiet Shabbos, we deserve a quiet Shabbos next week too. There’s no need to get involved in all these matters; we need to get through this. In any case, I don’t intend to speak badly of anyone, and I don’t intend to respond to anything. I intend only to follow the good and honest path I’ve followed these past two years, and I hope that any other candidates will conduct themselves the same way. Thank you all very much. One more thing I forgot—I’m sorry. There are homes known as auxiliary holdings, which are neither agricultural holdings nor part of the new neighborhood. The homes are registered in the association’s name, and the people living in them were, in effect, given them by the association. It may be possible in the coming year to transfer them into the residents’ names, once they pay the capitalization fee. The Land Administration’s regulations say that the association may give homes to people only with the general meeting’s approval. We’re talking about the people who have lived in these homes all these years and paid their taxes on time. If they want to transfer the homes into their own names, we’ll attach to the minutes of the general meeting the names of everyone living in them. Then, if they want to approach the Land Administration for the transfer—or if we can do it for everyone together, in which case

08:11 Speaker 1 the cost will be lower—we’ll be able to approve transferring the homes into their names. Homes for professionals. All the homes in Kfar Chabad that are registered in the association’s name: today, if the people living in them want to take out a mortgage, they can’t, because the home isn’t registered in their name; it’s registered in the association’s name. If they want it transferred into their name, the general meeting has to approve it. We want to pass that resolution so it will appear in the minutes. We want to handle it collectively. Yes. Both the association and that. There’s no choice; one of the parties... as with, let’s say, it remains a legal matter. I suggest that if anyone has questions, they ask, and I’m prepared to answer any question. I wanted to say, recently they took it from the Land Administration, and a great deal of money was involved. I’m sure that until now the practice was... It’s very important that every resident receive what they’re entitled to. Correct. Especially because the holding is their home. Not a holding—these are homes for professionals. Yours has already been transferred into your names. Your home, where you live, has already been transferred into your names. You have a contract with the Land Administration, a lease.

09:57 Speaker 3 Good week. It’s Wednesday evening. We’ve gathered here for the general meeting, which takes place every two years, two and a quarter years, or two and a half years. We assemble, and according to the procedure, elect an election committee and then go to elections. I’ll explain why I’m raising this, and I’d like—if you’ll let me finish speaking, anyone with questions can ask afterward. Good week, gentlemen. There have been different periods. Boruch Hashem, I’ve lived in Kfar Chabad for forty-one years, thirty years here in—thirty-one years, and I’ve taken an active part in the general meetings. I didn’t always want to take part. I had to; it was my role. And sometimes I came to meetings with genuine joy and a glad heart. There were meetings I left genuinely happy, thinking to myself: The Rebbe must be getting nachas from Kfar Chabad now. Why? It’s very simple. There were periods of quarrels and disputes, and perhaps there really were things worth arguing about, things that had to be decided. And when a decision has to be made, it isn’t simple. The rav can decide, and the rabbonim can decide, but this really comes down to a decision by the community. It’s generally like a referendum, but it had to be done. On the other hand, everyone understands—and I want you to hear me out. I’m not hinting at anything; I mean exactly what I say. We’re now after Gimmel Tammuz, after people have returned from abroad, and I’m also a little concerned about Kfar Chabad. A person sees only what is before his eyes; perhaps the rav oversees matters, but as the rav of the committee, I—and still, boruch Hashem, we’ve somehow managed to preserve a Chassidic framework for the community. The Rebbe called it “an emeser chassidisher yishuv,” a truly Chassidic community. A community, a community—that’s what the Rebbe called it. That isn’t so simple, and it isn’t so easy. I don’t want to speak at length. Perhaps I can say this here. Maybe I’m being recorded, maybe not,

12:31 Speaker 3 but preserving this framework—and I’m not speaking from the standpoint of [unclear]. Boruch Hashem, everyone is beloved, everyone is [unclear], everyone is [unclear]. Sometimes everyone is [unclear], and that isn’t so easy, but we get through that too. But this framework matters from a legal standpoint, with the Israel Land Administration, and with the Interior Ministry—all these things I’ve become a little familiar with through what I’ve been through. It isn’t simple. It isn’t easy. And boruch Hashem, the community is growing. Now another 150 homes and plots are being added, and, with Hashem’s help, they’ll keep building more and more. Kfar Chabad’s very existence as a workers’ moshav, in the eyes of the authorities, is like a balloon that has expanded far beyond the size they’re used to for moshavim like this. But what do we have? We have the Rebbe’s instructions and the Rebbe’s guidance. [Unclear] the Rebbe guided us on how things should be, so we do our best. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes harder, sometimes less hard. We have to preserve this framework called Kfar Chabad. There’s a committee, there’s a regional council, and there are representatives on the regional council. In practice today, ninety percent, eighty percent, or seventy percent—I don’t know the exact figures—of the committee’s resources come from the regional council. So, of course, when there’s cooperation between the people of Kfar Chabad and the regional council, there’s harmony. You can work, continue, and develop. But if it’s only going to create difficulties—like the example we learned in the Gemara of two horses, one pulling this way and the other pulling that way—it won’t accomplish anything. On the contrary. So, in practice, I think that anyone who gives some thought to how Kfar Chabad should be run—and right now I’m speaking about the administration of

14:43 Speaker 3 Kfar Chabad—would see that, seemingly, Kfar Chabad should hold its committee elections alongside the regional council elections, which take place once every five years. There was a Jew named Reb Boruch Binyamin Kaniv[?], a"h. I remember him standing here at a general meeting twenty-five years ago. He had been to yechidus with the Rebbe, during a period that really wasn’t calm in Kfar Chabad. The Rebbe said to him, “[unclear]—elections, elections.” As if you finish one year, and the next year you’re already preparing for the next elections; then you spend a year healing the wounds from the previous elections. It never stops. Think, for example, about building a neighborhood. Building a neighborhood takes years: planning it, getting the approvals, and then the construction itself. It takes several years. To suddenly replace people and change the people involved in the middle of that—I don’t know. I don’t think it’s healthy for anyone. Anyone who understands even a little about this should weigh carefully whether it’s good or not. He won’t want it; he understands it isn’t good. The same goes for relations between the committee and the regional council. So seemingly, that would be the proper arrangement. I’m not saying that someone who was once elected to the committee should stay forever and everyone should always have to put up with him. But there should be a term. If in municipalities it’s four years, here it’s five years. Why, then, in Kfar Chabad, should it be every two years, or two years and three months? Let’s say three months are spent on [unclear], and then every two years we hold elections again, and again there are disputes, and again there’s mudslinging. I, boruch Hashem, [unclear]. It isn’t healthy for us, it isn’t healthy for the children, it isn’t healthy for anyone, for the community, or for any of these things. I don’t think it’s the healthiest course.

16:33 Speaker 3 Chas veshalom, I don’t want to take away anyone’s freedom to run for office. Whoever wants to serve has that right; it’s their legitimate right. But the principle is that since Brit Pikuach decided committee terms must be two years, in practice we’re forced to do this every two years. Otherwise, someone immediately phones Brit Pikuach, and the threat—the threat, the threat—is that they’ll take away the village committee’s authority to sign at the banks. In other words, these elections are then forced on us. But I don’t want to address that right now. The fact is, we have the current village committee. I mean, in the recent period in the village—there were times when there were disputes and unrest, when elections were needed. Then it was easy to judge. But we’re in a period when, boruch Hashem, it seems to me things have been more or less quiet. Quiet—not just politically quiet, but genuinely quiet. There’s no specific issue that makes it absolutely necessary to hold elections right now and rush into them. Boruch Hashem, the committee as it stands—and I mean all seven members; I’m not talking about coalition and opposition—is a committee that represents the village and the community. It has a great deal of experience, knowledge, and connections for running the village. And today I don’t see an eighth or ninth person among the village residents who could come and say, “I can do better than the seven committee members.” That’s self-evident. But for that, must we put the village through a week or two of battles, of posters and mudslinging? And so I thought to myself: Perhaps this time we could try, while we still have this calm, to do something that shows how to—perhaps finish the meeting without mudslinging or slander or without

18:36 Speaker 3 Trolling and so on and so forth. And that’s why I’m here—to talk about this now. Here I want to lay out how things happened, because I’ve heard all kinds of rumors from every side, and I want to put things in order. There was no winning side and no losing side. It wasn’t that one side demanded elections and someone else gave in, or that one side didn’t want elections and the other did. This was my proposal from the outset, and I take full responsibility for it. I said to them, “Gentlemen, things are quiet.” I said it to everyone concerned. Why wake up the whole village now? Why get everyone involved? I think most of the people here would agree with me: today there’s nothing to fight about. So why do it? Leave it. Let’s try this once and see how it works. Just once. Again, nobody gets hurt. Everyone stays in their position; everyone stays where they are. We don’t need to start a week of fighting now. Today, boruch Hashem, there’s the internet, and everyone will post things about everyone else. I already saw it last week. If I had been thinking, “Maybe let’s hold new elections”—[unclear]—last week I could already see an election campaign starting here. I’m very concerned that it could take an ugly, disrespectful turn and involve all kinds of things forbidden by the Torah. So why do we need it? Who needs it? What did I think of proposing before the gathering? To say to them, “Gentlemen”—and again, I’m not [unclear]; I’m simply putting forward a proposal, boruch Hashem. The residents are fairly levelheaded and understanding. They know the village, are familiar with it, and live here. They’ve now tried to get a few things going,

20:35 Speaker 3 and they’ve started doing them, boruch Hashem. You know that recently we’ve been through many serious spiritual problems, and it’s been hard to deal with them. We’re trying to deal with them. You can’t say that nobody is doing anything, that people are just sitting around. We’re trying as much as we can to address things, to act, to help. So why did I nevertheless think of proposing to the public that we keep the committee for another term in its present form? The next elections will already be close to the council elections, and then people will decide what they decide. But why make a commotion now? Why start fights now? Why do all kinds of things that might only do more harm? I know there are groups—extremists on both sides—who want, as they say, to finish each other off. But who says we have to let the extremists take over? Boruch Hashem, a good many of us are past sixty now, and I certainly am. Maybe we can look at things a little differently today. That’s what I thought of putting before the public as a proposal. There has been a precedent for it. Who am I to say this? But there was one before, in [unclear], or at some other time. There was the Rebbe’s letter, and the general assembly kept the committee that existed then. Of course, you can’t bring in new members—you can’t add members to the committee without elections. But you can keep this committee as it is. That’s what I thought of proposing to this holy gathering. I don’t deny the public’s authority. The public’s authority is the greatest power there is. If the public decides on our proposal, we’ll accept that. And so I think it’s good for Kfar Chabad, good

22:35 Speaker 3 for everyone, good for the children’s education. Because even a week or two of elections means an uproar, especially today with all the publicity and everything. It’s a chillul Hashem. What greater kiddush Hashem could there be than for a report to go out all over the internet tomorrow morning that a general assembly was held in Kfar Chabad and ended peacefully, calmly, in unity, and with a kiddush Hashem for Chabad? After all, people are criticizing us today from every side. Last week a Knesset member was here. I just want to tell you what I heard about him—Knesset member Litzman. He’s a Charedi Jew who knows many Charedi communities and local authorities. After he came, I heard from people around him who spoke with him afterward. He said, “You know, I had imagined it was a village of animals, of wild people who raise horses.” That was the impression he’d had. Imagine where we’ve gotten to. Where have we gotten to? Where have we gotten to? He was afraid to come here. I don’t know whether they should have brought him; I won’t get into that now. Every hour—every hour—his secretary and his chief of staff called to find out whether there were already barricades, whether people were preparing stones for him or other things to puncture his tires so he couldn’t get out of here. Imagine where we’ve gotten to, what a state Kfar Chabad is in. This was a jewel—the Rebbe’s jewel, which the Rebbe took pride in. People from every circle and every side used to come here and proudly say, “I’ve been to Kfar Chabad.” And now a Jew who had never been here before was afraid to enter, as though he were entering Gaza. [unclear].

24:22 Speaker 4 Did you hear the ministers, all the...?

24:24 Speaker 3 No, no, G-d forbid. G-d forbid. G-d forbid. The blame lies with... the responsibility is on your heads. What do I want? What do I want? What did I say? Did you hear me say those things? I’m saying the opposite. I’m saying, let’s do things that bring honor to Kfar Chabad, that make a kiddush Hashem for Kfar Chabad. I know that each side—boruch Hashem, there’s a coalition and an opposition here—doesn’t want this. I know they don’t want it. They think that, in their view, they’ll gain much more and do much better in elections. But I think that right now, let’s do something for Kfar Chabad, for peace, for unity. Let everyone stay in their position and let’s carry on for two years. Let’s do that, and if it doesn’t work out, then in two and a half years we’ll hold elections. Actual elections. This too is an election, but in two and a half years we’ll hold actual elections. I hope the public will understand me and accept what I’m saying—not because I’m saying it. I’m certainly not forcing anything; I’m only making a proposal. Still, I have dollars from the Rebbe here. I have dollars from the Rebbe, from when I passed by on 15 Shvat 5748, on Shavuos 5748—ah, it was Shavuos. On Erev Shavuos the Rebbe came out to farbreng for the first time with the whole [unclear] from Simchas Torah 5748. Afterward I passed by for dollars. It was the day after Shavuos. When I passed by, the Rebbe was seated in the room, distributing lekach at a table. The Rebbe wasn’t standing; the Rebbe was seated at a table, and he gave a dollar to each person who passed. When I got there, [unclear] was standing there with a dollar, and lekach was being distributed there. The Rebbe took out

26:35 Speaker 3 a bundle of dollars, held it up to me, and said, “May it be with success [unclear] for Kfar Chabad.” Those were the words the Rebbe said when he gave me these dollars. I have other dollars from various occasions when he mentioned Kfar Chabad. But still, given the situation today, I think this is the right proposal for tomorrow. Of course, people will say to me, “What are you doing? Why are you getting involved?” I care about Kfar Chabad. I want Kfar Chabad to have the best possible name, so that people will see and follow its example. Let them see that we can meet together, sit together, and not fight. Of course there are substantive questions, but the people here are like members of one household, chassidim, one family. We shouldn’t go looking for drama afterward—how to stir things up, how to blow things apart, and all kinds of rumors about what will or won’t happen, whether it will or won’t happen, and what any of it has to do with the matter at hand. In any case, I ask the public to consider this matter. Those who accept the proposal and those who oppose it should raise their hands.

27:51 Speaker 5 I have an idea.

27:52 Speaker 3 Not an idea. We’re taking a show of hands now. Raise your hand.

27:59 Speaker 5 The idea the Rabbi is proposing—we could consider two years.

28:02 Speaker 3 What? What?

28:04 Speaker 5 The idea the Rabbi is proposing: give us two years.

28:09 Speaker 3 You don’t want people to suspect that you support your candidates? So, in any case, you... In any case, you want to call it off. Nothing will help anyway, with all the suspicions. There are people here who suspect that I have some secret agreements with this one and that one and another one. I’m saying publicly, in a holy place and before a holy gathering: I have no agreements, nothing at all. I didn’t even think about agreements. I thought about only one thing: let’s do something with this wording. We’re not harming anyone; we won’t touch anyone. Everyone stays in their position. The only people I’m disappointing are a few Jews who really thought, ah, this time they’d run, ah, get elected. And I’m speaking publicly to some of them whom I contacted. I contacted them on Friday and told them to ask your forgiveness. Maybe you’ve already had a suit made because of me. So I promise you can keep the suit, if Hashem wills it, for the next term. But—but—but right now, I’m asking the gathering to approve this decision. Anyone opposed? No one is opposed. Anyone in favor? Everyone is in favor. In favor. All right.