Farbrengen 19 Kislev 5762, Kfar Chabad

00:00 Uzi Landau, may he live. I have the honor of inviting the Minister of Public Security, our distinguished friend, Knesset member Mr. Uzi Landau. Please come forward.

00:01 Mara d’asra. Distinguished rabbis. Honored dignitaries. Chabad chassidim. Esteemed gathering. Citizens of Israel. Once again, it is a great honor for me to join you this evening in celebrating the Festival of Liberation, as I do every year. But at this table of honor tonight, I am missing my longtime neighbor, the distinguished minister Rechavam Ze’evi, Gandhi—may Hashem avenge his blood. He sat beside me at the cabinet table. He shared my outlook, and together, for many years, and certainly in the last year, we tried to advance the need to stand up to our enemies, to struggle and fight them, like the brothers Shimon and Levi, who rose to defend the honor of their sister Dinah. We miss him. Chabad misses him. I miss him. The Jewish people miss him. At occasions like this, you surely remember what he would have said if he were here today. He would certainly have welcomed the government decision made last night, but he would have added that the government must not merely make a decision: it must go out and strike, and keep striking our enemies until complete victory. Yet last night, just before the government’s decision, a major party rose—our brothers, our brothers as a people, though not in opinion—and walked out of the meeting, refusing to decide that Arafat and his associates must indeed be regarded as enemies. That hurts a little. After all, we have been sitting in the government for several months now, and we are paying a heavy price for unity. And unity matters. Unity matters because war lies ahead of us. We learned the importance of unity from last week’s parsha, Parshas Vayishlach, from the account of Dinah. We see the sons of Yaakov answer Shechem and his father Chamor deceitfully, and Rashi comments on the words “the sons of Yaakov answered”: the sons of Yaakov—all of them together. And when all the sons of Yaakov stand together, then even if only two of them act, “Shimon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came upon the city with confidence.” It makes no difference; it says, “And the sons of Yaakov came”

03:37 “upon the slain.” All of them were in the fight to the end. And when we are united, we win. From the weekly parsha before us, we also know how great the price of division and hatred between brothers can be. We see what happens when Yosef comes to his father and speaks ill of his brothers, bringing their father a bad report about them. The response is immediate: “His brothers hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.” And what comes next? “They plotted against him to kill him.” And Yosef was taken down to Egypt. We pay for the sin of division, for the loss of unity, with the disaster of exile—the first exile, the exile in Egypt. We must keep both these lessons in mind today: the price of division and the importance of unity. There must be unity. And I hope that unity will continue, because the confrontation still lies ahead of us, and war lies ahead of us. But unity is also important to our ability to deter our enemies. We find this, too, in the account of Dinah: “They journeyed”—meaning the sons of Yaakov and Yaakov’s household—“and the dread of G-d was upon all the cities around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Yaakov.” When the dread of G-d is upon all the cities around us, they do not pursue us. But they also do not pursue us because we remain the sons of Yaakov. We stand together in unity, and that is why unity matters to our power of deterrence. When Arafat and his associates see us standing as one, united, they will be wary of us. “And the dread of G-d was upon all the cities around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Yaakov.” We are now in the midst of a war. Call it whatever you like. It is a war. As the deputy chief of staff said after the War of Independence, this is the hardest test we have faced. This is the second War of Independence. We need to know what lies ahead so that we know how to meet the challenge. Some people have still not come to their senses. They remain captive to the Oslo dream and do not understand that Oslo is a trap.

06:18 There will be more attacks. And sadly, the price we pay will rise further. But now a different decision has been made, and the government will fight. The enemy will know that we will never surrender to terror and will not stop fighting it. It is important, too, that we not abandon our daily routines. The terrorists want us to change the way we live. They want to instill fear in our hearts. They want us to stay shut up in our homes, not to work, not to go about what a Jew does day by day, wherever he may be. Let us not give them that victory. We will do what we always do, but we will do it carefully, alertly and wisely, while staying in contact with the security forces and with the Israel Police. And I want to take this opportunity, in this welcoming place, among its people and in the atmosphere of this special evening, to send a blessing not only to the security forces and the soldiers of the IDF, but also to the members of the Israel Police and the Border Police, whom I have the special honor of overseeing as minister. Like you, I am proud of these forces of the State of Israel. In the war that lies ahead, we will need to summon our strength, drawing on the spirit of our faith, the spirit of our forefathers, and faith in the eternity of Israel. In this war, with courage, with the spirit of the brothers Shimon and Levi, and with unity, we will win. Good evening, and all the best.

00:11 Speaker 1 Applause. Thank you, thank you. Many thanks and yasher koach to the Minister of Public Security, our guest Mr. Uzi Landau, for the wonderful words we have heard. We wish him success in his great mission to safeguard the Land of Israel and its people. “Behold, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” May the Guardian of Israel accompany him in this great and responsible role, and may we all merit that the entire system—the Border Police, the police, everyone—will be occupied with just one thing: arranging everything to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu very soon indeed, amen and amen. And Minister Uzi Landau will oversee all those arrangements. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor of inviting our dear and distinguished guest, a guest of honor who has joined us at our celebration for decades, encouraging us and bringing us joy: the rabbi of Givatayim, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, the eminent Rabbi Yosef Gliksberg shlita. Please.

01:44 Speaker 2 Honored rabbis, heads of yeshivos, public figures, dear and beloved Chabad leaders, holy congregation. After the minister’s remarks, I thought of telling him before he left that no one in our generation worked for Jewish unity as the Lubavitcher Rebbe did. He was a symbol of Jewish unity. At the same time, no one knew better how to stand firm on his principles and on his truth. We must learn to follow his path—with unity, truth and determination. That is the way. Holy congregation, we are gathered on 19 Kislev. We think about the Alter Rebbe. Who are we? What are we? “The earlier generations were like angels.” But in the parsha it says, “These are the generations of Yaakov: Yosef.” Yosef’s facial features resembled his father’s. That means that even after many, many years, when Yaakov Avinu was no longer there, someone who saw his son could picture what his father had looked like. The Gemara says that Rabbi Yochanan said, “I am one of the beautiful people of Jerusalem who remain.” I remain from among the beautiful people of Jerusalem. Rabbi Yochanan was an exceptionally handsome man, the most handsome of all. The commentators ask: So what? What is Rabbi Yochanan trying to say here? Is he boasting? No. He means that someone who sees him can see what a Jew in Jerusalem looked like, what the beautiful people of Jerusalem looked like. Jerusalem may no longer be as it was, but one can still form a picture. A picture. Someone who sees Rabbi Yochanan has an idea of what the beautiful people of Jerusalem looked like. I say this, my friends: we were privileged. Someone who merited to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe, that great and holy person, can truly take part in 19 Kislev. He has a picture, an image, of what the earlier Rebbeim were like—the earlier generations, the greatest of the great, whom we cannot begin to comprehend. But thank G-d, we merited to see their likeness, their beauty, and that enables us to understand the greatness of this day. We can feel the greatness of the day. The Gemara says

05:51 Speaker 2 that before Rabbeinu Hakadosh passed away, he said that Rav Chanina would sit at the head: Rav Chanina would be the head of the yeshiva, the leading Torah authority of the generation, its leader in Torah. The Gemara asks: But there was Rabbi Chiya, who was greater. Why did he not appoint Rabbi Chiya? In the end, the Gemara says that Rabbi Chiya was busy with mitzvos, and Rabbeinu Hakadosh did not want to burden him with the leadership of Torah. For Rav Chanina had said, “Are you arguing with me? If, G-d forbid, the Torah were forgotten by the Jewish people, I would restore it through my reasoning.” Rabbi Chiya told him, “I will make sure the Torah is not forgotten by the Jewish people at all.” What did he do? He planted flax himself, made ropes and threads, made nets, caught deer and slaughtered them. He gave the meat to orphans, prepared the hides as parchment, and wrote Chumashim on them, as well as what was needed for writing the Mishnah. Rabbi Chiya did all this, and in every town and every settlement he placed teachers, gathered the children and taught them Torah. That is what he did in a difficult generation, a generation of destruction: he made sure the Torah would not be forgotten by the Jewish people. Great are the deeds of Chiya. But there is something very interesting here. Rabbi Chiya was great in his deeds, but what of his greatness in Torah? After all, the Gemara said earlier that Rabbeinu Hakadosh would have appointed Rabbi Chiya the leading authority of the generation. Why did he not appoint him? Because Rabbi Chiya sacrificed his own greatness in Torah for the sake of the Jewish people, for the sake of Jewish children, for the sake of Jewish children in every town and every village. And so, truly, great are the deeds of Chiya. His self-sacrifice included this: he dedicated even his great crown of Torah to the Jewish people and to Jewish children. Great are the deeds of Chiya. I think, my friends, that anyone who merited to see and hear that great man, that Torah genius and tzaddik, who was the Torah giant of the generation, but also the giant of the generation in deeds—such a man, great in Torah,

09:08 Speaker 2 dedicated every hour of the day to every Jew, every boy, every girl, every town and every village in Israel, and made sure the Torah would not be forgotten by the Jewish people. Indeed, great are his deeds. And we understand the fire, the fire of the author of the Tanya and of the Lubavitcher Rebbeim throughout the generations, from which came the great flame that we merited to see in our generation. Fortunate are we to have merited this. A fire stays concentrated in one place, and they say that wind can extinguish it. A flame surges forward. No one can silence or restrain a flame. The very wind that threatens to extinguish a fire makes a flame grow greater and greater, and the flame advances and spreads. So we merited to see in our generation the great flame of Ahavas Yisroel, love of Torah and love of the Land of Israel. That is the greatness we have merited. May it be Hashem’s will that in the merit of the author of the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe, and all the Rebbeim and all the tzaddikim, and in the merit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe whom we merited to know, who was that great flame, the verse be fulfilled for us: “The house of Yaakov shall be a fire, the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Esav straw; they shall set them ablaze and consume them, and no remnant shall remain of the house of Esav.” I add: of the house of Yishmael, too. May it be soon in our days, amen.

11:19 Speaker 3 Many thanks and yasher koach to the eminent Rabbi Yosef Gliksberg shlita, rabbi of Givatayim and member of the Rabbinate Council, for the wonderful words we have heard. Ladies and gentlemen, chassidim gather together at a chassidic farbrengen to be connected to the Rebbe, to strengthen their connection to the Rebbe. One of the ways of connecting—and central to that connection—is studying his teachings and his sichos, and carrying out the Rebbe’s initiatives. As is the custom of chassidim, we will now sing together the niggun before the maamar. Immediately afterward, we will honor the rabbi of Karmei Yosef, the eminent chossid Rabbi Eliezer Brod, who will review a maamar of the Rebbe with us. The niggun before the maamar. Reb Reuven, Reb Meir, and the entire congregation.

16:12 Speaker 4 “He redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me, for many were with me.” There is a maamar on this, delivered by the Frierdiker Rebbe in 5704. In it, the Frierdiker Rebbe dwells on the verse “He redeemed my soul in peace,” and notes that the words “redeemed in peace” imply that there are two ways redemption can occur. There is redemption through battle, and there is a second level, a second way of redemption: redemption in peace. Of this, King David says, “He redeemed my soul in peace”—his redemption was of the kind that comes in peace. We need to understand what redemption means in general, and what redemption in peace means. The verse continues, “For many were with me.” We need to understand the connection between “for many were with me” and “redeemed in peace.” Later in the maamar delivered in 5704, the Frierdiker Rebbe cites the verse, “Great peace have those who love Your Torah, and they have no stumbling block.” Here we find another level of peace: great peace. In other words, there is ordinary peace and there is great peace. We need to understand what ordinary peace is and what great peace is. The verse also says, “Great peace have those who love Your Torah.” Those among the Jewish people who study Torah are described here as “those who love Your Torah.” Seemingly, this needs explaining: Torah study is a matter of understanding and comprehension; one must understand what one is learning. If so, it would have been fitting to say, “Great peace have those who study Your Torah.” Why does the verse say “those who love Your Torah”? What place does love have when we are speaking about Torah study? And the verse ends, “Great peace have those who love Your Torah, and they have no stumbling block.” That is, it emphasizes that there should be no stumbling block. But seemingly, the Torah is a matter of

18:39 Speaker 4 Light—Torah protects and saves. Why, then, is it necessary to rule out the possibility of “nothing causes them to stumble”? And why is this connected specifically with “those who love Your Torah”? The explanation is that the purpose of the soul’s descent into this world is to refine and purify the world. This world, after all, is an olam, a word related to concealment and hiddenness. As the Midrash says about the verse “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”: although man was created in the image and likeness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Torah says “Let us make” in the plural, so that whoever wishes to err may come and err. In other words, the Torah itself attests that the world is a realm of separation, a public domain, to the point that whoever wishes to err may come and err. The task of every Jew is to reveal G-dliness in the world by refining and purifying it and elevating it to holiness. How do we bring about this refinement and purification? Broadly speaking, there are two ways: one through an avodah that takes the form of battle, and the other through an avodah that takes the form of peace. Broadly speaking, these are the two aspects of the avodah of prayer and Torah study. The avodah of prayer is connected with battle, as the Zohar says, “Bread must be eaten at the edge of a sword,” referring to the avodah of prayer. We can see this plainly as well: in prayer, a person asks for his material needs. That is, he comes down into the world, deals with the world and considers worldly matters; he has a connection with the world. And since he has a connection with the world, and the world, as we said, is characterized by concealment and hiddenness, it follows that dealing with worldly matters takes the form of battle. That is why the verse “Behold, a ladder was set upon the earth, and its top reached heaven” is also applied to prayer: prayer elevates things; it is the ladder that lifts up

20:58 Speaker 4 those things that are “upon the earth” and connects them with heaven. So the avodah of prayer takes the form of battle. Then there is the avodah of Torah study, which takes the form of peace. When a Jew sits and studies Torah, he is not dealing with all the obstacles and difficulties in the world. He sits and studies Torah, and as a result of his Torah study, worldly matters are refined and purified. This is the advantage Torah has over prayer. Regarding prayer, too, it is said, “When you go out to war against your enemies”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu promises that when a Jew goes out to battle the worldly things that conceal and obscure the light of holiness, He will help him win. “When you go out to war against your enemies”—he will be above the enemy. Nevertheless, he is still engaged in battle. By contrast, when a Jew sits and studies Torah, his entire avodah takes the form of peace; he has no involvement with worldly matters at all. That is why it is said of the Torah, “Are not My words like fire?” Just as fire cannot contract impurity, so the Torah cannot contract impurity: when a person studies Torah, he has no involvement with matters of impurity at all. That is also why it is said of Jews who study Torah, “All your children will be students of Hashem, and great will be the peace of your children,” and why Torah scholars increase peace in the world. Through Torah study, which is the avodah of Torah scholars, they bring peace into the world—an avodah and a refinement that take the form of peace. That is why the Midrash calls the Jewish people “the Shulammite,” as it says regarding the verse “Return, return, O Shulammite”: the Shulammite refers to the Jewish people, whose task is to make peace between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the world. This is accomplished through Torah study. From this we understand that the redemption brought about

23:06 Speaker 4 through Torah study takes place in a manner of peace, reaching the avodah of “for the many were with me”: even an adversary does not interfere with his service of Hashem or with the holiness in it, because he has no dealings with the adversary at all, and the adversary is incapable of disturbing him. But there is a still higher avodah, that of great peace, which is connected with love—with the avodah of “those who love Your Torah.” As it is said, “There is no service like the service of love.” When a Jew studies Torah out of love for Hashem, he connects his Torah study with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, with his desire to cleave to Him and connect with Him. His Torah study is then on a much higher level: “Great peace have those who love Your Torah.” It does not say merely “those who study Your Torah,” but speaks of study that comes from love—“those who love Your Torah.” In practical terms, when a Jew studies Torah after the avodah of prayer—prayer also being associated with the expression “joining an earthenware vessel,” meaning to join pieces of earthenware together—a Jew connects and binds himself to Hakadosh Boruch Hu through prayer. When he sits down to study Torah immediately afterward, his study comes from love: he brings his love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu into his Torah study and joins the two. This is also the straightforward meaning of reciting the blessing over the Torah: through it, we connect the Torah with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Giver of the Torah. As we say in that blessing, He “chose us from among all the peoples and gave us His Torah.” Even when we study Torah with understanding and comprehension, we always remember that it is His Torah—the Torah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Giver of the Torah, Who has clothed and invested Himself in the Torah that we study. And when the study

25:17 Speaker 4 of Torah is done with love, as “those who love Your Torah,” then we are not merely on the level of peace; we reach the level of great peace, to the point of “nothing causes them to stumble.” It is not only that the adversary does not interfere for the time being; the adversary is transformed and itself becomes part of holiness. Through the avodah of “those who love Your Torah,” we prepare for the time when “nothing causes them to stumble” will be fulfilled completely—nothing causes them to stumble. That will be at the coming of Moshiach, the time about which it is said, “I will remove the spirit of impurity from the earth.” Then the entire world will be a world of holiness alone, and everyone will be occupied solely with knowing Hashem. As mentioned, this comes about through our avodah now, before the coming of Moshiach, before the Geulah. Through it, we merit the time of the Geulah, when nothing will cause them to stumble, and the three states of completeness: the completeness of the Torah; the completeness of the people—“with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters”; and the completeness of the entire Land of Israel, “a land upon which the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always set, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” As mentioned, all of this will be complete with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days, amen.

26:45 Speaker 5 Thank you very much, and yasher koach to the distinguished Rabbi and chossid, Rabbi Eliezer Brodt. We say to him, “Great peace have those who love Your Torah.” To Rabbi Eliezer Brodt, may he live and be well, who loves Your Torah: great peace and yasher koach. Ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome with the respect due to him the former Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, the distinguished Rabbi and mekubal Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu shlita. Welcome, and shalom, shalom.

29:18 Speaker 6 With the permission of the esteemed former Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel. Before we invite the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, our friend Knesset member Meir Edri, we are delighted to have a very important guest with us here: the chief chazzan at the Rebbe’s beis midrash, who had the privilege at all the Rebbe’s farbrengens of leading the entire crowd in singing “May the Beis Hamikdash Be Rebuilt.” Let us invite the chossid Reb Moshe Teleshevsky to recite the Rebbe’s chapter, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving,” together with everyone. Rabbi Teleshevsky, please. We ask everyone to stand and join in the Rebbe’s chapter, verse by verse.

30:28 Speaker 7 A psalm of thanksgiving: Raise a joyful shout to Hashem, all the earth. Serve Hashem with joy; come before Him with song. Know that Hashem is G-d; He made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the flock of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courtyards with praise; thank Him, bless His name. For Hashem is good; His kindness endures forever, and His faithfulness from generation to generation.

32:17 Speaker 6 Thank you very much, and yasher koach to the chief Chassidic chazzan, who had the privilege of singing “May the Beis Hamikdash Be Rebuilt” at all the farbrengens, at the Rebbe’s instruction. Later we will also hear Rabbi Teleshevsky sing “May the Beis Hamikdash Be Rebuilt.” Thank you for reciting “A Psalm of Thanksgiving,” the psalm we just heard. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor of inviting our dear friend, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and Knesset member Mr. Yigal Bibi. Please.

33:06 Speaker 8 With the permission of our teacher and master, the leading sage of our generation, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu shlita. With the permission of the rabbis, the leaders of the village, and Knesset member Kleiner, who is now chairman of the caucus for Pollard’s release. Dear friends, holy congregation. Today, 19 Kislev, we remember the great day of the Alter Rebbe’s release from prison—Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. I want to say to everyone here: When we sing “He redeemed my soul in peace,” we should also think of Pollard’s release. And I want to tell you that our teacher and master, Rabbi Eliyahu shlita, visited him in prison four times. I remember that about two months ago, on September tenth or September ninth, our delegation traveled to the United States. I came to the rabbi’s home on Motzaei Shabbos and asked for a blessing. He told me: Do a great deal to secure Pollard’s release. Be a shliach for a mitzvah. You’re meeting members of Congress; speak to them boldly about Pollard. Releasing captives, redeeming captives—fulfill this mitzvah. And the rabbi blessed me that Hashem should protect me and the delegation. I want to tell you that on the eleventh of the month, when the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were struck, the other members of the delegation and I were at the White House. And the fourth plane that crashed had been headed for the White House. The fact that the rabbi made us shluchim for a mitzvah proved that those on a mitzvah mission come to no harm. Every time I remember that moment, when we left the White House and saw the plane fall on the Pentagon, I remember that Motzaei Shabbos when our rabbi blessed us, blessed me, and said we would be shluchim for a mitzvah. You Chabad chassidim are shluchim for a mitzvah throughout the world all year long, and you truly deserve every blessing and every word of praise. I want to tell you that this week I said in the Knesset—you know, people talk about all sorts of things. I stood up to speak words of Torah. All week I spoke about the weekly parsha. “Yaakov sent messengers,” and I called on my fellow Knesset members: Learn from our father Yaakov—gifts, prayer, and war. We gave gifts—

37:24 Speaker 8 They received almost all of Gaza, and millions and billions in money, weapons, and everything else. For peace, we’ve already humbled ourselves far too much. So if they wage war, we must restore the honor of the Jewish people, with Hashem’s help. I spoke about this all week. Our parsha says: It is a known halachah—here, in this week’s parsha—that Esav hates Yaakov, and Yishmael does too. So I hope honor and security will be restored to the Jewish people. But all this will happen if we learn from our grandfather Yaakov, from our father Yaakov. “I lived with Lavan, and I kept the 613 mitzvos.” Look at Yaakov. What does he tell Esav? He doesn’t say, “I have planes, I have tanks, I’m strong, I’m mighty.” Yaakov’s strength was: “I kept the 613 mitzvos. I studied in yeshiva for fourteen years, and every day I made sure to study Torah.” That is our strength, and we need to say it proudly. And boruch Hashem, we believe that studying Torah, strengthening our commitment to Torah—the power of Torah—is what protects us day after day. To conclude, I want to say that on the way here I was listening to the radio. I heard that Hapoel Tel Aviv beat the Russian champions in Russia by three goals. Why did that happen? Not because they’re stronger. And I’ll say this in the Knesset tomorrow too, with Hashem’s help. The Hapoel Tel Aviv players—the team bought them tickets to travel on Shabbos. The players came and said, “We won’t travel on Shabbos.” Maybe it wasn’t for the sake of Heaven; maybe it was for the sake of soccer. But it’s still a mitzvah. Sometimes a person gives tzedakah so that his son will be healthy, or for some other reason. He has fulfilled his obligation; it’s tzedakah. I think there’s a great lesson here. When there is fear of Heaven—even if it’s soccer, even if it’s something like that—we see that players in Israel are now saying, “We don’t want to desecrate Shabbos.” I also said in the Knesset this week: Every Israeli government has fallen because of Shabbos. The Rabin government, the Peres government, when he began forcibly—

40:34 Speaker 8 operating the Knesset building. And I told Sharon that this government’s desecration of Shabbos would cause it to fall. So, my friends, we must observe Shabbos and keep the Torah. And naturally, it is clear to us all that we must heed the Rebbe’s directives: to safeguard the Land of Israel, to safeguard the question of “Who is a Jew?” in Israel, and to safeguard the territories of the Land of Israel.

00:01 He laughs and says to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “Look, even though he already eats on Yom Kippur, he doesn’t lie.” Well, that’s how it is with our fellow Jews: they do keep Shabbos, baruch Hashem, and we must judge all of Israel favorably. We already said last year that Yigal Bibi has the numerical value of chaim—sixty-eight. L’chaim and blessings! Let all the chassidim say l’chaim at this chassidic farbrengen. And with the permission of Maran the Rishon LeZion, I have the honor of inviting our dear and distinguished friend and guest.

00:01 Speaker 1 I have the honor of inviting our friend and esteemed guest, chairman of the Herut movement, Member of Knesset Mr. Michael Kleiner.

00:18 Speaker 2 Honorable Rishon LeZion, Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu; my friend, Member of Knesset Yigal Bibi; Rabbi Naftali Roth; chairman of the Kfar Chabad committee Menachem Lerer; rabbis and friends. Today we celebrate the Festival of Liberation, the liberation of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi from prison. Leaving prison is a liberation—a liberation of body and soul. And this festival falls at a time that may also mark a release from other shackles, another liberation of the Jewish people from terror. What we lack today is leadership: courageous leadership, leadership with faith, leadership capable of saying, “We will do and we will hear.” We will do what is good for Jews, and then hear what the world does and how it reacts. But first of all, we will act. We are always looking for a leader who will rise up and save the Jewish people in a time of turmoil. Sadly, every leader who has come to power—Rabin, Netanyahu, Barak and Sharon—has suffered from the syndrome of “he was afraid and distressed.” In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayishlach, we read about Yaakov our forefather coming to meet his own Arafat, his brother Esav: “Yaakov was very afraid and distressed.” That is what it says. And Rashi explains: “He was afraid that he might be killed, and distressed that he might kill others.” Today we need a leader who believes that the Jewish people’s right to the Land of Israel rests on the words of the living G-d. A leader who will not be afraid that we might be killed in a war with Esav, and who will not be distressed when we rise to kill those who come to kill us. Yesterday’s government decision was a step in the right direction, but even as a declaration, it was not enough. The decision declaring the Palestinian Authority a terrorist entity should have been joined by another declaration, one that would free us and redeem us from the Oslo, Hebron and Wye agreements. Those accursed agreements brought security and economic disaster upon the Jewish people. Those agreements led us to painful concessions—concessions that had no place and made no sense. Concessions born of

03:46 Speaker 2 the delusions of the arch-loser Shimon Peres. Sharon must not, must not be frightened by the threats of the Labor Party, the party of losers, to leave the government. They want to leave the government? Let them leave. If they are now a millstone around the neck of the fight against terror, we do not need them. Let them go deal with the rigged ballot boxes. The Labor Party has the face of the loser who wants to lead the country from the disaster of Oslo to the disaster of a Palestinian state. Today the Jewish people want to see an effective fight against terror, not pointless bombings. That cannot be done without retaking the parts of the Land of Israel handed over to Arafat. We must retake all the territories in Arafat’s hands and clean them of his filth. I wish for all of us not only to be liberated from terror and freed from the yoke of the Oslo agreements, but also—it is time—to be freed from the yoke of Shimon Peres. In any sane country... in any sane country, a defense minister who had brought disaster upon it would step aside. Peres and Beilin and the entire left must understand that they have lost their standing. From now on, those conducting the negotiations will be people of the right—the extreme right, the right that is just, the right that is wise, the right that fights, the right that is proud to have stopped the Oslo agreements and prevented the country from sliding into the abyss. The extreme right, whose ranks I am proud to be counted among, will know how to protect the vital interests of the Jewish people. I call on all... on all of you: Be strong and courageous, and do not be dismayed, for the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people by the promise of our G-d, the G-d of the Hebrews, the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Peres will not stand against the power of that promise. Sharon will not stand against the power of that promise, and neither will Bush. No great power can defeat the promise given to our forefathers and to us to inherit the Land of Israel. We must not give up. We must not fall into the trap of being afraid and distressed. We must not fear war. We must not fear for ourselves or be distressed for our enemies. We must go on—go on holding fast to our belief in our right to the whole Land of Israel. And that faith

07:27 Speaker 2 will prevail.

00:07 Thank you, thank you. “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious”—and that goes not only for the wonderful words, but also for the wonderful deeds of our friend, Knesset member Mr. Michael Kleiner, chairman of the Herut movement. He has always fought for the integrity of the Land of Israel, for what the Rebbe cried out about so often. We shake his hand and support him with all our strength, so that he will continue his mission in that great house called the Knesset of Israel: to keep crying out and demanding the three forms of integrity, foremost among them the integrity of the Land of Israel. Mr. Kleiner mentioned the verse, “Yaakov was very afraid, and he was distressed.” I once heard a beautiful thought that connects with what we heard from Mr. Kleiner. “Yaakov was very afraid”—the very fact that Yaakov became afraid—“and he was distressed.” That was what troubled him and caused him distress: he had become afraid and lacked trust in Hashem. All of us must always remember, at every time and in every situation, as the Rebbe taught us, to stand with Jewish pride and make our demands. And the Rebbe said more than once: the more we make our demands without fear or favoritism, the more we will prevail. Ladies and gentlemen, “He redeemed my soul in peace, for the many were with me”—“He redeemed my soul in peace.” This is the verse the Alter Rebbe was saying when they came to tell him of his liberation. And with us at every farbrengen is one of “the many who were with me.” The initials of rabim, “the many,” stand for Rabbeinu Mordechai ben Eliyahu yichyeh, who joins us at the farbrengen every year.

00:01 Speaker 1 And I have the honor of inviting the former Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, the esteemed kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu shlita. Please.

00:15 Speaker 2 Honored rabbis, dear and distinguished rabbis, each of you according to his honor and standing. Honored son-in-law of the Nasi. Our dear emcee, whom we have mentioned several times: when Moshiach comes, we will suggest that he take you as his emcee. May Hashem grant you long, good years and the joy of seeing children, amen. Honored members of Knesset who stand guard over Eretz Yisroel, MK Mr. Yigal Bibi and MK Mr. Kleiner—may Hashem protect them and grant them long life. And I... may they be distinguished for long and good life. I must also mention the MK and minister who was here every year on 19 Kislev. Once, he gave me a lesson in mussar. We were in the Jordan Valley, speaking words of Torah. Then, in the middle, Rehavam Ze’evi, may Hashem avenge his blood, came in—an MK and a minister. They told me that in the Six-Day War he had been a commander in the central region and had conquered the Jordan Valley. So I said, “Here, boruch Hashem, the conqueror of the Jordan Valley has arrived.” He said to me, “Excuse me, Rabbi. Don’t say ‘the conqueror of the Jordan Valley’; say ‘the liberator of the Jordan Valley.’” That is Torah against Oslo. With Oslo, you give it to them, as though you’re doing them a favor. We have the... Nothing here is yours. Not one grain of this land belongs to you; it belongs only to us. And we need to liberate the place. Our Sages speak about “Yaakov dwelled in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.” Yaakov Avinu saw the chiefs of Esav, the chiefs of Yishmael, those who went with him and others, and he began to worry. Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to him, “Do not worry. A spark will come forth from you and burn all your brothers.” Our Sages say something else as well. Of Avraham Avinu it says, “Avraham was old.” From this, our Sages say, Avraham Avinu was an elder who sat in a yeshiva. Of Yitzchak Avinu it is likewise said that he was an elder who sat in a yeshiva. And of Yaakov Avinu it says, “He dwelled”—he opened a yeshiva. If the Jewish people face troubles, we need to establish more communities

03:25 Speaker 2 and another yeshiva. And the finance minister needs to know that if there is another yeshiva, if there are more yeshiva students, then the budget for yeshiva students must be increased, not cut. That is the strength of the Jewish people, the might of the Jewish people, and the resolve of the Jewish people. We are here today on a day when people hardly mention the circumstances. Why was the Alter Rebbe arrested? What was his offense? He was denounced for his connection to Eretz Yisroel, for sending money to Eretz Yisroel, for supporting the poor of Eretz Yisroel. That was his “crime,” in quotation marks, and that was his greatness. Even in the most difficult circumstances, Eretz Yisroel was dear to his heart. The introduction to Tanya cites the verse on which Tanya is based: “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” As we know, there is thought, speech, and action. When a person wants to perform a mitzvah, he must think; there must be speech, saying “leshem yichud”; and then action. The Chida, of blessed memory, said of a great scholar who once wrote against saying “leshem yichud” that he did not know its virtue. But here the verse says “in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” First it says “in your mouth,” then thought, and then action—and the whole Tanya is built on this. So I’ll tell you something that happened. A great rabbi, a very distinguished rosh yeshiva, came to me, but he was not a chossid. He was from the Litvish world, from the misnagdim. He came to me in tears. He said, “Rabbi, I’ve gone to all the rabbis, and nothing helps me.” “What’s the matter?” I asked. He said, “I open a Gemara to learn, and a thought of idol worship comes into my mind. Nothing I do helps. One gave me an amulet, another spoke with me. Nothing helps.” So I said to him, “Perhaps you have something connected with idol worship at home—a cross? Perhaps there are images of idols on your plates?”

06:38 Speaker 2 He said, “No, no. There’s nothing, nothing at all.” I said to him, “You know what? I’ll give you a segulah, but be careful: don’t tell any of your friends about it. Go to the mikveh and immerse, then take a Tanya and read it without trying to understand it. Just recite the words; just read it. After you’ve read it once, go to the mikveh a second time and begin studying Tanya.” Tanya, as everyone knows—every word, every sentence has layers upon layers of meaning. Fine. So he went and did it. He immersed, read Tanya, and simply recited the words. Afterward he told me, “Boruch Hashem, there’s progress.” It became a regular practice. He said to me, “Maybe we’re finished.” Then he said, “But I want to ask you something: why did you tell me to read Tanya without understanding it, just to recite it? I could read it with understanding, slowly, and come to understand it. Understanding Tanya is a delight.” I told him, “Listen, it says ‘in your mouth and in your heart.’ That is what it says. First read it aloud, without understanding anything. Afterward comes thought, and then...” You would expect it to say “in your heart”—thought, speech, and action—“in your mouth and in your heart.” And then we come to doing it. My teachers and friends, everyone here keeps talking about the Oslo Accords, the Oslo Accords. I mentioned this once, and I’ll say it again: I don’t understand why they call them the Oslo Accords. Call them the Belgium Accords. The... what’s his name? You said it—Peres, Peres. The Beilin Accords, Benny. Oslo—what does Oslo have to do with it? Why bring Oslo into the picture? But then I said: Fine, but I don’t understand how the people believed in the Oslo Accords. What happened? What happened? They fell in love with the idea. A new world. Give them what they want, and there will be peace. Well, we’ve seen what their peace looks like. And not only that. What do our Sages say? They say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu poured out His wrath on wood and stone, rather than on the Jewish people. But with the nations, we must not

09:15 Speaker 2 pour out our wrath on wood and stone—not on airplanes or, uh, other things. Rather, we must deal with the pilots and those who use those airplanes, not just with objects. And I had a thought. The Jewish people left Egypt amid miracles and wonders. A maidservant at the sea saw what Yechezkel ben Buzi the Kohen did not see. What suddenly happened to them? They received the Torah. They saw the Shechinah. Have you ever heard of such a thing? “Has any people heard the voice of the living G-d speaking... as you have heard, and lived?” Something that had never happened in the world. What happened to you? You make a calf? What happened? How could that be? So I calculated that “a molten calf”—let me take the page, excuse me—has the same numerical value as “the Oslo Accords.” And I calculated that “Oslo” has the same numerical value as “forgery.” Right? So apparently, there in the desert, there was someone like Shimon Peres who p-p-persuaded them, and talked and talked and talked, until he turned everything into a molten calf. My friends, our task is “he dwelled.” “He dwelled” means opening more yeshivos, and establishing more communities. That is our task. That is the strength of the Jewish people, the might of the Jewish people. “Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with peace.” If you enter negotiations afraid, they put pressure on us. But if you go with strength—and “there is no strength but Torah”—“Hashem will give strength to His people.” This is very important. It is a great virtue: “In your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” Today, when you go around the world and see menorahs, you see light. Almost two years ago—I think it was two years ago—I was somewhere and was invited to light Chanukah candles. Nearby stood a tall tree with tiny lights put up by non-Jews. Right there where I was lighting Chanukah candles was this tree. I said, “Master of the Universe, what should I do? I’ll be turning my back toward that tree. But what good will that do?” But

12:28 Speaker 2 boruch Hashem, Hakadosh Boruch Hu helped. As soon as we lit the Chanukah candles, the lights on the trees went out. The light of Chanukah shone brighter and brighter. The mitzvah campaigns. “Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility.” What are you doing dwelling in tranquility? Another campaign and another campaign. Not a Selichos campaign—a mikveh campaign, a Shabbos candles campaign. More campaigns. There is no tranquility. Every time, more demands and more demands and more demands. “For the matter is close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” We need to act with speech, thought, and deed. Chabad’s task today is to continue on that same path. After all, he was arrested because of his love for Eretz Yisroel. He was arrested because he wanted to send money to sustain the communities in Eretz Yisroel. And in the second or third generation, they bought... in Chevron, to maintain a foothold in Chevron. The love for Eretz Yisroel was great, and the aspiration was great. And boruch Hashem, the Jewish people have returned to their land. There is Torah; there are yeshivos.

00:00 Speaker 1 There is Torah; there are yeshivos. It says that when Yaakov Avinu was afraid, he sent a message to Eisav: “I have acquired an ox and a donkey, flocks, servants and maidservants. I have sent to tell my master, to find favor in your eyes.” So he had an ox and a donkey, flocks, servants and maidservants. What does “I have sent to tell my master” mean? Our Sages say that when the Greeks ruled over the Jewish people, they forced them to write on the horn of an ox, G-d forbid, that we have no portion. What did the Greeks want with the ox? And why did this have to be written on the ox? An ox represents splendor: “His firstborn ox is endowed with splendor.” Yaakov tells Eisav: I have an ox—that is Yosef. And the donkey is Yissachar: “Yissachar is a strong-boned donkey,” sitting and studying Torah. The flocks are the Jewish people: “And you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men.” And the servants and maidservants—as it is written: “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to Hashem our G-d until He shows us favor.” We stand and pray to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: Master of the Universe, we see that weapons do not help, armies do not help, nothing helps. Talk does not help, threats do not help, cabinet meetings do not help, and chatter does not help. Nothing helps. “Our eyes look to Hashem our G-d until He shows us favor.” Master of the Universe, we are the flock of Your pasture. We are the apple of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s eye. We sit and study Torah. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu save us from all our enemies, within and without. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu subdue our enemies beneath us; may their swords enter their own hearts and their bows be broken. And may the Jewish people dwell securely in their land, quiet and at ease, with none to frighten them. Master of the Universe! I once mentioned that there is a disagreement about whether a person can appoint his father as his shliach. We do not need to appoint a shliach. All seven branches of the menorah—the Chabad Rebbes, from the Alter Rebbe onward—stood in prayer before Hakadosh Boruch Hu: Master of the Universe, how much longer

03:10 Speaker 1 will we be a disgrace to our neighbors? How much longer will they laugh at us? How much longer will they shoot at us from Beit Jala and Rajoub come to protect us? How much longer will they shoot at us from Abu Sneina and Rajoub come to protect us? We do not need them. We want Hakadosh Boruch Hu to send us Moshiach Tzidkeinu and redeem us with a complete Geulah. We want the Jewish people to dwell in their land. And what do we want from Moshiach? For the Jewish people to dwell quietly and at ease, as the Rambam says, and sit and study Torah. That is “Vayeishev”—“and he settled.” And let us ask all the Tannaim and Amoraim, from Avraham Avinu until today. It was said to Avraham Avinu: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Eretz Yisroel to Avraham, and not to Yishmael after him, but to Yitzchak. He gave it to Yitzchak, and not to Eisav after him, but only to Yaakov. And we are the children of Yaakov Avinu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him: “The land upon which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.” What does “I will give it to you and to your descendants” mean? I will give it to you—but only your descendants after you have the right to remain in Eretz Yisroel, and no one else. Eretz Yisroel was given to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and to the continuing generations of Yaakov’s descendants. Let us pray before the Creator of the World that everyone, from Avraham Avinu down to this generation—the tzaddikim in the higher worlds—will stand before Him; that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will tell the accusing angel to desist and tell the sword to desist; that their swords will enter their own hearts; and that we will all merit to see the face of Moshiach Tzidkeinu and the building of the Beis Hamikdash, the face of the Redeemer and the building of Hashem’s house, speedily in our days, amen. My teachers and friends, our thanks, blessings and yasher koach to the honored former Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, the great scholar and Kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu shlita, whose holy words and warm heart have stirred within us the concern and the great cry that the Rebbe raised throughout: How much longer? And we, with all our voices and all our hearts, join that cry here at the central gathering for the Festival of Geulah, 19 Kislev: How much longer? And since the Alter Rebbe, upon attaining his liberation, said: “Everyone who celebrates

06:34 Speaker 1 my Festival of Geulah—I promise that I will bring him from distress into spaciousness,” or, in another version, from the material to the spiritual, or, in another version, that he will not know the way to Gehinnom. My teachers and friends, in this time of trouble for Yaakov, this is the moment. With the Rishon LeZion’s permission and in his presence, let us sing... let us play together the Alter Rebbe’s niggun, the Four Stanzas niggun, as a prayer and a cry to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: How much longer? May the complete and true Geulah come. The Four Stanzas niggun, with the entire audience.

14:56 Speaker 2 Thank you very much, and yasher koach. We escort the former Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, the great scholar and Kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu shlita, with blessings for a safe departure. May he reign for many years. Go in peace, with all due honor. And with the orchestra, let’s sing “Padah Veshalom Nafshi”—we haven’t sung it today. “Padah Veshalom Nafshi.” We’ll conclude the farbrengen—before the farbrengen [unclear] this morning—with “Padah Veshalom Nafshi.” Rabbi Lider[?]. Rabbi Dov Rov[?].

23:13 Speaker 3 And our blessings and thanks go, first of all, to the Kfar Chabad committee, headed by Rabbi Menachem Lerer, for organizing this wonderful central farbrengen for the Festival of Geulah, 19 Kislev; to the great chossid Rabbi Moshe Gelfstein[?], who headed the organization and arrangements for this farbrengen; and to all the committee members. Special thanks to Rabbi Reuven Marant[?] and Reb Meir Rosen for accompanying us with music throughout the farbrengen. Thanks to everyone who sang. Thanks to Rabbi Levin for arranging the refreshments, and thank you, honored audience, for being with us. To all of you, a gut Yom Tov, and a good year in the study of Chassidus and in—