Farbrengen 11 Nissan 5761, Kfar Chabad

00:04 Speaker 1 [unclear]

00:09 Speaker 2 Gentlemen, show respect for the Rebbe. Please come inside; guests will be arriving here shortly. It is very important to receive them properly, with the respect they deserve. Please come inside and take your seats so we can begin the farbrengen right away.

00:35 Speaker 1 [unclear] I am appealing to you again.

00:42 Speaker 2 I am appealing to the crowd again. My dear brothers and friends, young and old, please come inside so we can begin the grand farbrengen marking the start of the Rebbe’s centennial year. Those of you standing, come in, come in; there are plenty of seats. Come in, sit down, and say l’chaim. For the third time, I am asking those still at the entrance: don’t delay. Hurry inside so we can dwell together as brothers. And those of you standing, save your strength. Come in and sit down together with everyone else. We’ll say l’chaim, you’ll have some refreshments, and we can begin the grand farbrengen.

02:16 Speaker 1 Enough with the interruptions. Enough.

02:29 Speaker 2 Members of the Chabad community and elder chassidim, students of the Temimim, soldiers of Tzivos Hashem, distinguished and holy gathering: “A psalm of thanksgiving: Raise a joyful shout to Hashem, all the earth.” Tomorrow morning, on the great and auspicious day of 11 Nissan, the Rebbe’s 99th birthday, we will all begin reciting this chapter, chapter 100. On behalf of the Kfar Chabad committee, it is my privilege to stand before you as its representative and welcome you to this grand, central farbrengen. May we fulfill the verse “A psalm of thanksgiving” by thanking the Creator of the world for granting us the privilege of being connected to the Tree of Life and of following the path the Rebbe paved for us and for the Jewish people throughout the world. Among Chabad chassidim, 11 Nissan is customarily called “the auspicious day.” It is said of the first shepherd of the Jewish people, Moshe Rabbeinu, that on the day he was born, the entire house was filled with light. So too in every generation: the day on which the leader of the Jewish people of that generation is born is a day filled with light and clarity. In one of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s sichos, he said something quite surprising. In 5662, the year of the Rebbe’s birth, harsh decrees hung over the Jewish people. Before Pesach, all those decrees were miraculously annulled. The Frierdiker Rebbe added that his father, the Rebbe Rashab, said at the Seder that year that this was the year in which the revelation of Hashem’s greatness began. This was a tangible expression of the words of our Sages at the end of Tractate Sanhedrin: “When a tzaddik comes into the world, goodness comes into the world.” And our Sages said: When tzaddikim come into the world, goodness comes into the world and calamities depart from it. This year, gentlemen, 5761, is a year of special significance. With reverence, with rejoicing and trembling, we enter the centennial year of the Rebbe’s birth, which, in the language of Chassidus, represents a lofty level beyond all concealment and obscurity. As our Sages say in Pirkei Avos, “At one hundred, it is as though one has passed from the world.” Chassidus explains that “from the world” means from concealment and obscurity, for the word olam, “world,”

06:01 Speaker 2 is related to he’elem, “concealment.” And since we are speaking of a leader of the Jewish people, the Rebbe says, this important level extends to each and every one of his chassidim and those connected to him, and to every Jew. My esteemed friends, holy gathering: For as long as anyone can remember, as 11 Nissan approached, many who cherish and admire the Rebbe would send him gifts. The Rebbe made clear many times that he did not want gifts of silver or gold. The Rebbe said: “What will gladden my heart, what will gladden my heart, is hearing that Jews have increased their Torah study and its dissemination.” When establishing Torah and charitable institutions, the Rebbe called on the community to do more and more. The Rebbe also added: “The joy you will give me, the satisfaction you will give me, will come when I see the chassidim strengthening their Ahavas Yisroel.” Everyone knows the Rebbe as the driving force behind a Jewish revival throughout the world, but at his core, as we all know, he was a man of Torah. More than once, he said that nothing gave him greater pleasure than seeing Jews study Torah with enthusiasm. From the time he assumed the leadership, the Rebbe placed strong emphasis on boundless Ahavas Yisroel. Nothing pained the Rebbe more than division among Jews. He spared no time or effort in helping a Jew materially or spiritually. In the small hours of the night, he would forgo sleep to seek relief for the troubles of countless Jews. As he said more than once: “How can I go to sleep when I know that somewhere in the world there is still a Jew who is suffering, or who lacks what he needs, or who has not yet been brought closer to Judaism?” As we all know, the Rebbe spent countless days at the resting place of the Frierdiker Rebbe, his father-in-law, reading letter after letter, pidyon after pidyon, note after note, and pouring out supplications and prayers. Above all, the Rebbe lived every day and every hour with the great anticipation of the true and complete Geulah. He opened our eyes, and the eyes of the entire world, to understand the significance of the time we are living in now, on the eve of the Geulah, and called on us all to prepare ourselves for the great day

09:13 Speaker 2 of welcoming our righteous Moshiach. Gentlemen, as 11 Nissan approaches and the centennial year of the Rebbe’s birth begins, each of us can give the Rebbe a great gift in each of the areas we have mentioned. The Hebrew word for “one hundred” has the same numerical value as yigalenu, “he will redeem us.” It is our heartfelt prayer that the efforts we all add, and this farbrengen, will bring the greatest gift of all: to see the Rebbe here, below ten tefachim. And he will redeem us—yigalenu, as we said, has the same numerical value as “one hundred”—in the centennial year of the Rebbe’s birth. We will open with the Rebbe’s chapter, chapter 100, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.” I have the honor of inviting Rabbi Leib Zalmanov of Bnei Brak, mashpia at the Chabad synagogue in Bnei Brak, to lead us in the Rebbe’s chapter, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving,” verse by verse. I ask the audience to stand and join in reciting the Rebbe’s chapter. Let us ask everyone still outside to come in now. We are beginning “A Psalm of Thanksgiving,” chapter 100. Our Sages say that all songs will one day cease except for “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.” Please join in.

11:23 Speaker 5 Serve Hashem with joy. Come before Him with song. Know that Hashem is G-d. He made us, and we are His, His people and the flock He tends. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courtyards with praise. Thank Him; bless His name. For Hashem is good; His kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

12:25 Speaker 2 Please be seated. Thank you, and yasher koach to Rabbi Leib Zalmanov, mashpia at the Chabad synagogue in Bnei Brak, for reciting “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.”

12:37 Speaker 5 The choir will now perform for us.

12:39 Speaker 2 And as we said, “Serve Hashem with joy.” I have the honor of inviting the Tzivos Hashem choir from Kfar Chabad, conducted by Rabbi Shalom Kinori, to open with a farbrengen niggun and the niggun “Serve Hashem with Joy.” The Chabad children’s choir, Tzivos Hashem from Kfar Chabad—let’s welcome them with fitting cheers and applause. Welcome. We will hear the choir perform first a farbrengen niggun, then “Keili Atah,” and afterward “Serve Hashem with Joy” from “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.” Rabbi Shalom Kinori, please.

16:16 Speaker 6 Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay. Ay, ay, ay, ay, oy na na, na, nai. Ay, ay, ay, ay, oy na na, na, nai. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, oy, na, na, na, na, na, na. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, oy, na, na, na, na, na, na. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, oy, na, na, na, na, na, na. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, oy, na, na, na, na, na, na.

18:18 Speaker 7 This next niggun, or next song, is a famous Chabad song that has become known throughout Jewish communities. I think there is hardly anyone in this country who does not know the niggun “Keili Atah.”

18:55 Speaker 8 You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You, thank You, exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You, thank You, exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d. You are my G-d, and I will thank You, thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You, thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, You are my G-d, and I will thank You, thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. You are my G-d, and I will thank You, thank You; my G-d, I will exalt You. My G-d, I will exalt You.

23:22 Speaker 9 But now we want to perform the end of the beginning. We—with the choir’s closing song—

23:33 Speaker 8 Serve Hashem with joy; all the inhabitants of the world, raise a shout. Serve Hashem with joy. Serve Hashem with joy; all the inhabitants of the world, raise a shout. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courtyards with praise. Know that Hashem is G-d; come before Him with joyous song. Hashem is G-d; come before Him with joyous song. Thank Him, bless His name, for Hashem is good; His kindness endures forever. Thank Him, bless His name, for Hashem is good; His kindness endures forever. Serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem. Serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem.

26:26 Speaker 10 His faithfulness endures from generation to generation. His people and the flock of His pasture, for Hashem is good; His kindness endures forever. His faithfulness endures from generation to generation. His people and the flock of His pasture, for Hashem is good; His kindness endures forever. Serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem; serve Hashem with joy. Serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem; serve Hashem with joy. Serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem; serve Hashem with joy. Serve Hashem, serve Hashem, serve Hashem; serve Hashem with joy. Serve, serve, serve, serve; serve Hashem, serve Hashem with joy.

28:11 Speaker 11 Thank you.

28:15 Speaker 10 Everyone: serve Hashem with joy.

28:28 Speaker 12 “Serve Hashem with Joy,” performed by the Kfar Chabad Children’s Choir, the Tzivos Hashem Choir conducted by Rabbi Shalom Kinori. These are the children, the schoolchildren of whom it is said, “Do not touch My anointed ones.” They will surely bring Moshiach. The Hebrew word “Moshiach” is an acronym for “May the Chabad Children’s Choir live long.” They are the ones who, with Hashem’s help, will bring Moshiach and the complete Geulah. We welcome the local rabbi, the eminent Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi shlita, and welcome Rabbi Alexander Fransdorfer[?], rabbi of the Sanz chassidim in Petach Tikva and son-in-law of the Klausenburger Rebbe. Welcome in the name of Hashem, with the blessing that he may long continue his leadership in goodness, health and joy. And welcome to the chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the eminent Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Grossman shlita. Welcome in the name of Hashem. Two, one—ladies and gentlemen, excuse me. “Anyone who sees two nuns in a dream may expect miracles upon miracles,” our Sages say in Tractate Berachos. Why two nuns? Nun is the first letter of nes, “miracle.” Nissan gives us two nuns, and twice nun is a hundred. This is an evening on which every person must recite the hundred blessings. I am honored to invite our distinguished friend, a friend of the Rebbe’s household, the eminent Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Grossman shlita, chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, to open our series of a hundred blessings with words of Torah. Please.

31:13 Speaker 3 With the permission of the local rabbi; with the permission of our rabbis and teachers, the distinguished rabbis and mashpi’im; and with the permission of this holy congregation. Among the ten verses the Rebbe asked us to memorize, he cites a teaching from Tanya: “Let Yisroel rejoice in his Maker.” A Jew should rejoice in Hashem’s joy, as He rejoices in His dwelling in the lower realms. A Jew needs to be joyful. A Jew has reason to rejoice because he shares in Hashem’s joy. What brings Hakadosh Boruch Hu joy? That He has a dwelling in this world. We rejoice at a Jew’s birthday. The joy is that a Jew has been born who makes this world a dwelling for the Creator of the world. So if we rejoice when an ordinary Jew is born because he makes a dwelling for the Creator, how much more should we rejoice that Hakadosh Boruch Hu had mercy on the Jewish people and brought us the Rebbe on this bright day, 11 Nissan. How many great structures has the Rebbe built for Hakadosh Boruch Hu in this world? Not just one dwelling. The Rebbe transformed this entire physical world, from one end to the other, into a dwelling for the Creator of all worlds. So we rejoice in Hashem’s joy: Hashem rejoices that the Rebbe was born on 11 Nissan and that, through the Rebbe, Hakadosh Boruch Hu was brought into this world. Of the Rebbe one can say: “I will not enter the tent of my house, nor ascend my bed, until I find a place for Hashem.” The Rebbe never rested or paused; he devoted himself completely to finding a place for Hashem, so that in every corner of this world there would be a place for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. On the other hand, I once saw it written: “The righteous one will flourish like a date palm; he will grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon.” A date palm is a low tree, while a cedar is tall. Yet when speaking of the righteous person, the verse mentions both “flourishing like a date palm” and “growing tall like a cedar in Lebanon.” How do they go together? Why is the date palm low? Because it bears fruit. The weight of its fruit prevents it from growing taller. But the righteous person,

35:18 Speaker 3 although he bears fruit, nevertheless “grows tall like a cedar in Lebanon.” Throughout his life, the Rebbe was devoted to bearing fruit, and he continues to bear fruit: that the Jewish people should bear fruit, that Jewish children should grow up saying Shema Yisroel, that chassidim and people of good deeds should grow. And yet he was like a cedar. Who can—who are we, really? Who are we to describe his greatness in every area of Torah, in all the Midrashim, in the Zohar, in the entire Torah? Who can describe it? When we study the Rebbe’s sichos, we see only a little. But who can describe it? Like a cedar in Lebanon: he was in this world, here, but he was in heaven. Even though he was like a date palm, bearing the burden of the Jewish people. “Those who are insulted but do not insult others, who hear themselves shamed but do not respond”—of them the verse says, “His loved ones are like the sun rising in its strength.” What is the connection? What does the sun have to do with those who are insulted but do not insult others? I once heard this explanation: The sun beats down, and people here complain, “It’s hot; it’s unbearable.” But the sun does its work and is not deterred by their arguments and complaints. The same is true of those who love Hashem, the righteous. Like the sun rising in its strength, they are not deterred. The Rebbe was the one person in the generation who was not deterred by anything in the world. This is not the place to mention all the undesirable things intended to cause harm, but the Rebbe was like the sun rising in its strength. And, ladies and gentlemen, today we see that everything the Rebbe said has come to pass. I remember that almost thirty years ago, the Rebbe gave me a mission concerning “Who is a Jew?” and I worked on the matter. I had several missions and even went to various great Torah scholars. No one understood what the Rebbe wanted. There was some person in authority, some lieutenant colonel with a problem involving his wife, or a few such problems. Was that a reason to turn the world upside down? Today we see, ladies and gentlemen, today we see more than half a million people who came here and were registered

38:45 Speaker 3 as Jews. Today, anyone living in Israel understands the magnitude of the disaster the Rebbe foresaw then. The Rebbe spoke about the territories and cited the ruling in the Shulchan Aruch that one must even desecrate Shabbos. No one understood why the Rebbe was pointing to the Shulchan Aruch in connection with keeping the Land of Israel whole. Today everyone admits that the population, the Jewish people, was put in danger. What happened just this evening? Shots were fired, and, may Hashem have mercy, a year-and-a-half-old girl is now in danger. Mortar shells were fired at a community in Israel this evening. The Rebbe foresaw it. Nothing the Rebbe said has failed to come to pass. Ladies and gentlemen, the Rebbe said that each of us must do everything we can to bring the Geulah. And the Rebbe said that the Geulah is near and Moshiach is coming any moment. There is no doubt that this is true. We need to take one more action. What gift can we give the Rebbe for this bright day, 11 Nissan? Each of us should resolve to do something to bring the Geulah: bring another Jew closer, take part in the mitzvah campaigns to which the Rebbe devoted himself, spread the teachings of Chassidus—“your wellsprings outward”—take every possible action, and believe that what the Rebbe said will come to pass. May it be Hashem’s will that we see, immediately, the complete Geulah of the Jewish people with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, and that already this holiday, Pesach, we merit to offer the Pesach sacrifice in the holy city of Jerusalem. And this depends, as the Rebbe said, on us—on our uniting together. The Rebbe once wrote me a letter in which he quoted, “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one.” When does the blessing come? When does “Bless us, our Father” apply? When all of us are as one. Let all of us unite to carry out the Rebbe’s will, which is the will of the Creator of the world. With Hashem’s help, this will bring us to the fulfillment of “As in the days of your exodus from Egypt, I will show him wonders.” In Nissan they were redeemed, and in Nissan they are destined to be redeemed, very soon indeed. Amen.

42:12 Speaker 4 Thank you and yasher koach to the Chief Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek and member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel, the distinguished chossid Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman shlita, for the blessings and words he shared with the audience. May he serve for many years to come, with blessings beyond all limits. “Dai,” of course, is part of Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman’s name. Blessings beyond all limits. I want to take this opportunity, gentlemen, from this central farbrengen here at the Beis Menachem synagogue in Kfar Chabad, to address the residents of Kfar Chabad listening to us now on the local channel, the Kfar Chabad channel. Come join all of us in fulfilling the verse, “Come before Him with joyous song.” Come take part with us here in the central farbrengen in honor of the centennial year of the Rebbe’s birth. We welcome His Holiness the Rebbe of Pinsk-Karlin shlita. Welcome in the name of Hashem. And again, I address you, residents of Kfar Chabad who are listening to us now. We are at the central farbrengen here at the Beis Menachem synagogue. Come fulfill the verse from Psalm 100, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving”: “Come before Him with joyous song.” Join us at the central farbrengen in honor of the start of the centennial year of the Rebbe’s birth.

00:10 Speaker 1 Halachah is related to the word halichah, walking: going from strength to strength through all the levels of the soul. We have the honor and pleasure, as always, of welcoming here a great friend of the Rebbe’s household, a great friend of Chabad. Despite the difficulty of leaving his home, he honors us with his participation for the Rebbe’s sake, in honor of 11 Nissan. I have the honor of inviting the rabbi of the Sanz chassidim in Petach Tikva, the father-in-law of the Sanz Rebbe shlita, the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Shmuel Alexander Unsdorfer shlita, to offer his blessing to the farbrengen.

01:22 Speaker 2 With your permission, my teachers and gentlemen, and with the permission of my faithful friend, the distinguished scholar and local rabbi, Rabbi Ashkenazi shlita. Let me begin by saying that I was deeply moved by a very precious gift: receiving the volumes, mostly collections of sichos of the Rebbe, of blessed memory. May Hashem help him merit to spread Torah and Chassidus in good physical and spiritual health. My teachers and gentlemen, I am not accustomed to speaking in the Holy Tongue. I will do my best to speak so that you can understand me. I am certainly relying on Hashem, with siyata diShmaya, for what I wish to say, so that you will understand and listen to me. Above all, may Hashem help that it be heard in Heaven that we have gathered now in honor of the Torah, in honor of Chassidus, and in honor of a true tzaddik. My teachers and gentlemen, I have come this evening to take part in the hundredth birthday of our holy teacher and Rebbe, who was a light for generations. What is the significance of a hundredth birthday? This evening I looked at the Chasam Sofer on what our Sages said: How do we know that a person must recite a hundred blessings every day? “Do not read mah, ‘what,’ but me’ah, ‘a hundred.’” Our Sages base this on the verse, “What does Hashem your G-d ask of you, but to fear Hashem your G-d?” There are works, including the Maharshal, that discuss what “do not read” means here. But the Chasam Sofer, with his holy insight, explains the Gemara this way: The Mishnah says that the world was created through ten utterances. “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens”—the world was created through ten utterances. The Chasam Sofer says that if you count the numbers from one through nine and add them together, you get forty-five, the numerical value of mah. One plus two is three; plus three is six; plus four is ten; plus five is fifteen; plus six is twenty-one; plus seven is twenty-eight; plus eight is thirty-six; plus nine is forty-five. Thus far are the words of the holy Chasam Sofer. And he adds something that I have just seen in a maamar of the Rebbe, of blessed memory,

05:28 Speaker 2 a maamar that says the same thing. The heavens above and the earth below form one connection. Body and soul go together for one who attains the levels of his soul, from the source from which it was hewn. “One who breathes, breathes from within himself,” as the author of the Tanya, of blessed memory, says. He can therefore ascend forty-five levels in holiness. G-d forbid the opposite: if he walks in darkness, he can descend forty-five levels, going down instead of up. But with this connection, the body too is holy; your whole life is holy. The Chasam Sofer says that together they make a tzaddik. Twice mah—forty-five from above to below and forty-five from below to above—makes tzaddik. And at the head of the tzaddik lies the secret of the hundred: me’ah is a hundred. “Do not read mah, but me’ah.” There is the level of “What is man?” but there is also the level of “How majestic!” Mah has two sides. Mah can express lowliness—“What is man that You should remember him?”—and mah can express “How majestic is Your name!” Both together. Who joins them? The tzaddik. My teachers and gentlemen, this is the hundredth year. I feel that it is a sign of the tzaddik’s eternity. When the tzaddik is in this world, as explained in the sefer Temimei Hashem, as long as we see him in a body, he is like Moshe Rabbeinu with a veil over his face. The veil—the passing.

07:46 Speaker 2 Then Moshe would remove it and speak to Hashem. “He would remove the veil”: when the tzaddik is no longer seen in a body as we merited to see him, he has removed the veil. And what does he do? He speaks to Hashem for the good of all the Jewish people; he prays Above for the good of all the Jewish people. My teachers and gentlemen, about a place like this, I heard from the Sanz Rebbe, of blessed memory, that the Shinova Rav, the eldest son of the Divrei Chaim, of blessed memory, once passed through a village on his way and entered its synagogue to daven Minchah and Maariv. He said that he felt great holiness there. What was special about this place? Who had davened there? Eventually the elders told him that they knew that the holy Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg had once davened in that synagogue more than a hundred years earlier. The Shinova Rav felt the holiness left by Reb Shmelke’s presence in that place. Why am I saying this? With siyata diShmaya, we are approaching the mitzvah of matzah, Hashem’s mitzvah on the holy night, a night holier than any other in the year, [unclear]. My dear friends, “You shall eat matzos in a holy place.” That is the place where we are. This is a holy place. Here we spoke in tribute to the tzaddik, and here his fire burns. Fortunate are you, and fortunate are we, to have merited at least to mention his holy name [unclear]. May Hashem help us. As we say in the Haggadah, “Bring near the day that is neither day nor night.” We need abundant mercy. And this tzaddik—even a simple person like me saw that a sage is greater than a prophet—was almost unique in his generation. More than twenty years ago, he already foresaw this situation. He saw it; with ruach hakodesh, he saw the present day. And we believe that he saw everything, and that he sees us now too, as we wait in fear and distress. So let us believe with complete faith

11:06 Speaker 2 that the holy Rebbe is here. He joins below to Above and Above to below. The hundred—just as Chassidus teaches—what is a hundred? [unclear] “Bring near the day that is neither day nor night.” [unclear] the greatness of Chassidus, to have merited the name chossid and the name Chabad chossid. [unclear] Hashem, the crown of my head, who helped me. Indeed, we merited [unclear] the true path, “that is neither day nor night,” [unclear]. “Appoint watchmen over Your city.” [unclear] the very holiness guards Your city, [unclear]. A kosher and joyous festival. May we merit the salvation of the King and all Israel, an everlasting Geulah for all Israel. Amen.

12:33 Speaker 5 Thank you, and yasher koach to the distinguished Rabbi Shmuel Alexander Unsdorfer shlita, rabbi of the Sanz chassidim in Petach Tikva and father-in-law of the Sanz Rebbe shlita, for his words of blessing. The entire gathering wishes Rabbi Unsdorfer long years of leadership, goodness, health, and joy. My teachers and gentlemen, let us welcome the distinguished Rabbi Binyamin Adler shlita, a member of the Agudas Yisroel Beis Din and head of its mehadrin kashrus department. Welcome in the name of Hashem. This evening is a farbrengen full of joy: “Serve Hashem with joy.” Let us welcome the chassidic singer Amit Listvand.

13:40 Speaker 6 Ay na na nay na na nay nay. Ay ay ay na na nay nay. Ay na na nay na na nay nay. Ah hey ay ay ay ay. Ay na na nay na na nay nay. Ay ay ay na na nay na na. Ay na na nay na na nay nay. Ah hey ay ay ay ay. Ti na na na nay. Na na na na nay. Ho yo yo yo yo. Ti na na na na nay. Ti na na na.

17:10 Speaker 7 Ay ay, strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; ay, and water came forth. Strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; ay, and water came forth. Hey, ay ay, na na na nay nay, na na nay nay, na nay na na na. Ah-ha ay, ay ay ay ay ay ay, na na nay na na nay nay na na na nay na na nay nay na na nay na nay na na na. Ay, ay. On an oak tree, hop, hop; on an oak tree, hop, hop; on an oak tree, hop, hop; ay, I have water. On an oak tree, hop, hop; on an oak tree, hop, hop; on an oak tree, hop, hop; ay, I have water. Ah-ha, ay ay ay ay ay, na na na na nay na nay nay na na nay na na nay nay nay na na nay na nay na na na. Ha-ha, ha-ha, ho, oy, oy, oy, na na na na nay na nay nay na na nay na na nay nay nay na na nay na nay na na na. Ah-ha ay, oy, oy, oy, na na na na nay na nay nay na na nay na na nay nay ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni, ay hey. Ay ay ay. Ay nay ni nay nay nay nay nay nay nay nay nay nay nay, ay ay. Strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; and water came forth. Strike the rock, hey; strike the rock, hey, hey; strike the rock, hey; and water came forth.

18:56 Speaker 7 Ni, ni, ni, ni, ni, nuni, nu, ni, ni, ni, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai. He is our G-d, He is our Father, He is our King, our Savior; He will save us and redeem us. Ai, ai, ai, ai, again soon, and in His mercy He will proclaim to us before the eyes of all living beings, saying: Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be. [unclear] Ai, ai, ai, ai. Wow! Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, oy, our G-d and our Father and our King, our Savior. He will save us and redeem us. Ai, ai, ai, ai, again soon, and in His mercy He will proclaim to us before the eyes of all living beings, saying: Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be, [unclear]...

21:06 Speaker 8 Ai, ai, ai, ai. When will the Master come? When your wellsprings spread outward. Ai, ai, ai. When will the Master come? When your wellsprings spread outward. Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai. [unclear] When will the Master come? [unclear] Ai, ai, ai, ai. When will the Master come? When your wellsprings spread outward. When your wellsprings spread outward. When your wellsprings spread outward. Oh, oh, oh, ai, ai, ya, ai, ai, ai, ya, ya. When will the Master come? When your wellsprings spread outward. Ah, hey, ai, ai, ai. When will the Master come? When your wellsprings spread outward. When your wellsprings spread outward. When your wellsprings spread outward. Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai,

24:29 Speaker 9 Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ra, ra, ra, ra, ra. Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much.

25:07 Speaker 10 Amit Listvand, yasher koach. May “[unclear]” be fulfilled in you—the initials are Amit Listvand. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, in one of his sichos, the Rebbe speaks about the verse “If you walk in My statutes.” The Rebbe notes that although all the letters of the Ten Commandments were engraved right through the tablets, there were two letters that remained standing by a miracle: the mem and the samech. The Rebbe explains that the order begins with “If you walk in My statutes”: one begins in a natural way and then proceeds in a miraculous way. And mem and samech together equal one hundred—the centennial year. “If you walk in My statutes” in a miraculous way, and we continue to go from strength to strength. I have the honor of inviting our dear and distinguished guest, the eminent scholar Rabbi Binyamin Adler shlita, a member of the Badatz of Agudas Yisroel, to offer his blessing. Rabbi Adler, please.

26:45 Speaker 11 With the permission of the local rabbi, the Rebbes, the rabbis, the great Torah scholars, and the holy congregation: At the beginning of the Rambam’s work, we learn—

27:17 Speaker 12 Excuse me.

27:20 Speaker 11 With apologies to the rabbi. We turn to the entire audience, and especially to you, soldiers of Tzivos Hashem: show respect for the Torah, sit properly, and listen to the rabbis’ words. Thank you very much. Sorry. Regarding the mitzvos of loving and fearing Hashem, the Rambam writes: “What is the path to loving and fearing Him?” How can a person come to fulfill the mitzvos of loving and fearing Hashem? The Rambam says, and these are his words: “When a person contemplates His wondrous and great works and creations and sees in them His wisdom, which is beyond measure and without end, he immediately loves, praises, and glorifies the One Who spoke and the world came into being.” Ladies and gentlemen, when we contemplate creation and a wondrous, great creation—the Rebbe, a giant among men—we immediately come to love and fear the Creator for bringing such a wondrous creation into our world. A creation blessed by Hashem in every way, who left his holy imprint upon the entire world. On the verse “And Hashem blessed Avraham with everything,” Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: “A precious stone hung from the neck of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, and any sick person who saw it was immediately healed.” This seems to have been fulfilled in our Rebbe: not only were those who came before him with physical ailments healed, but anyone who saw him—who saw this wondrous creation in the world—was immediately healed in soul and came to love and fear the Creator. Thus it is said: “Therefore the poets say: ‘Come to Cheshbon.’” Our Sages expounded: The “poets” are those who rule over their inclination. “Come to Cheshbon”—come, let us make an accounting of the world. The tzaddikim who rule over their inclination, rather than letting it rule over them, are not content with what their souls have attained, even when they have reached lofty levels. Instead, they say: Come, let us make an accounting of the world. What must we do for the entire world? Our holy Rebbe, for all his lofty levels, did not rest or remain still until he had shone his light upon the entire world, upon the earth and those who dwell on it. Our Sages said in Kesubos, page 5: The deeds of tzaddikim are greater than the works of heaven and earth. For regarding the works of heaven and earth, it says: “Indeed, My hand—

31:39 Speaker 11 founded the earth, and My right hand spanned the heavens.” But regarding the work of the hands of tzaddikim, it says, “The Sanctuary of Hashem, which Your hands established.” The Beis Hamikdash is the work of human beings, of tzaddikim. Yet it says of it, “which Your hands established”—both hands of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The meaning is explained in the Maharsha and other works. In the creation of the world there were two creations. One was the earth: “Indeed, My hand founded the earth.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the earth with one hand. The other creation was the heavens. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the heavens with His other hand: “My right hand spanned the heavens.” The tzaddik comes and elevates the whole of creation, joining earth to heaven. He makes the earth heavenly as well. That is why the deeds of tzaddikim are greater than the works of heaven and earth: in the works of heaven and earth, the heavens were separate and the earth was separate. Tzaddikim make them one creation. That is why the Gemara cites the verse about the Beis Hamikdash, “The Sanctuary of Hashem, which Your hands established.” The tzaddikim built the Beis Hamikdash—a heavenly reality in which the Creator was revealed on earth. “The heavens are the heavens of Hashem, but the earth He gave to mankind.” Tzaddikim explained: He gave the earth to mankind to make it into heaven. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created “the heavens are the heavens of Hashem,” and He gave the earth to mankind to make the earth into heaven. Our Rebbe demonstrated this interpretation for us and made it tangible in practice. How deeply the Rebbe longed for the building of the Beis Hamikdash and urged it! His great work to bring the Shechinah to rest throughout the world was in that same spirit. May it be His will that, through the merit of his lofty deeds and his wondrous and great efforts, we all merit together the building of the Beis Hamikdash, “the Sanctuary of Hashem, which Your hands established.” And may we merit, this very year, to offer the Pesach sacrifice in our glorious Beis Hamikdash. Many thanks and a great yasher koach to the eminent scholar Rabbi Binyamin Adler shlita, a member of the Badatz of Agudas Yisroel and head of its mehadrin kashrus department, for his wonderful words. And we wish him—

36:10 Speaker 11 long years in his position, going from strength to strength, in health and joy. Ladies and gentlemen, let us place Jerusalem above our greatest joy. We have the pleasure and honor of hosting a longtime Jerusalemite and a great friend of Beis Chayeinu and Chabad, the chairman of Agudas Yisroel in the Holy Land, Rabbi Menachem Porush shlita. Please.

37:00 Speaker 3 With the permission of the local rabbinic authority, the esteemed Rabbi Ashkenazi; with the permission of the great Torah scholars and men of G-d-fearing character; and with your permission, holy congregation. This generation, and many generations to come, will speak of that extraordinary phenomenon that began a hundred years ago: the appearance of a great light that illuminated the entire world. It illuminated the entire world. It is said: “If a rabbi resembles an angel of Hashem, they should seek Torah from his mouth.” At first glance, must a rabbi reach the level of an angel of Hashem before people seek Torah from him? How is that possible? But the meaning is this: If a rabbi does not content himself with saying “Holy, holy,” but instead “one calls to another and says, ‘Holy, holy,’” then people should seek Torah from his mouth. My friends, let us recall what we witnessed with the Rebbe, may his merit protect us. He truly embraced the whole world—in the fullest sense of the phrase. For fifteen years, I had the privilege of entering his presence twice a year. What can I tell you? “My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You. So I have beheld You in the sanctuary, to see Your strength and Your glory.” I spent hours there. Once I had the privilege of being in his presence for two hours and fifty minutes. He truly embraced the whole world. Whether we spoke of Jerusalem, Russia, Vilna, or any place I had visited, he was familiar with it. He knew the problems of each city and each community, and the concerns of every community, as though he lived there himself. He embraced the whole world. My friends, you cannot imagine how his words illuminated things that others could not see. Who can forget the great campaign he waged because he foresaw, from so far away, what awaited us if, G-d forbid, it was not made clear who is a Jew? He embraced the whole world. My friends, we must strengthen ourselves: “Each shall help his fellow and say to his brother, ‘Be strong.’” In light of what we had—and sadly, we no longer have

41:02 Speaker 3 that privilege. His greatness lay in his understanding, his guidance, and the light he shed on what was happening in every place. I remember once coming from Johannesburg. He knew all the problems of Johannesburg and everything that was needed there. If I came from Mexico, he knew exactly what the problems of Mexico were. That was how he was. He embraced the whole world. Sadly, to our sorrow, very few understood his hints, his remarks, and his guidance. If we had understood what he was crying out about, what he was protesting, and what he was directing us toward, we would be in a completely different situation. Our prayer and our request is that, just as he knew and understood while he was with us and we were with him, so may he now, in the heavens above, be an advocate on our behalf, and may an end be put to all the negative things appearing in our lives. If we follow this path, with Hashem’s help we will merit to continue benefiting from his great light.

42:54 Speaker 4 Thank you, and yasher koach to the chairman of Agudas Yisroel in the Holy Land, a man of Jerusalem, the chossid Rabbi Menachem Porush shlita, for his warm words. May he live long in good health, with nachas and joy. Rabbi Porush mentioned “My soul thirsts for You.” That is the thirst of every chossid on a day like this. “My soul thirsts for You.” In this centennial year, we all thirst to merit seeing the Rebbe with our own eyes, here below, within ten handbreadths, and for him to redeem us. The Rebbe speaks at length in his sichos about the number one hundred: one hundred represents the ultimate perfection, because ten is the completion of a number. The Rebbe says, “When ten is comprised of ten, that is the ultimate perfection.” An evening filled with perfection. An evening when every chossid takes stock of himself: What did the Rebbe ask of us? This farbrengen is taking place here in Kfar Chabad, the very village that spreads Torah, light, and Chassidus fully and in accordance with the Rebbe’s instructions. I am honored to invite the esteemed local rabbinic authority, the distinguished chossid Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi shlita.