Decade Assembly: Farbrengen of Gimmel Tammuz

00:00 Speaker 1 We open with a blessing and add blessing upon blessing. As our Rebbeim have ruled, this day is an auspicious time to connect to the Tree of Life and receive Hashem’s blessing of abundant life, a good livelihood, and nachas from your children. May Hashem bestow these blessings upon all of you and all of us, through the arousal of mercy that the Rebbe, the leader of our generation, stands and arouses for us every day—for all of us. The Rebbe says to us all, men, women, and children: Stand ready, all of you—your wives, your sons, and your daughters—to receive the blessings he draws down for us all: blessings, success, and deliverance, culminating in the greatest blessing of all, the true and complete Geulah. My brothers and friends, in his letter ahead of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s tenth yahrzeit, the Rebbe writes that, indeed, “the tenth shall be holy,” as the verse states in its plain meaning. And if there are nine, the tenth will become holy on its own. But, the Rebbe says, we can add even more holiness through our work from below upward, drawing holiness into all ten faculties of both souls. The Rebbe continues that on this day we must make an honest reckoning of what has been done over the ten years, compare it with what could and should have been done, and resolve sincerely to make up for what is lacking and keep adding more light. As we stand here at the central farbrengen, with the Rebbe’s words fresh in our minds, this is the place and this is the time to make an honest reckoning, as the Rebbe puts it. Dear brothers, chassidim, let us think and reflect together. We were all there; we are all there. The Rebbe stands for many hours and gives us, time after time, a dollar, a kos shel bracha, along with blessings. The Rebbe devotes his precious time to receiving us all for yechidus, for our benefit and for the benefit of every member of our families, and listens to every wish and request. The Rebbe stands on his feet for many hours at the Ohel to mention us for goodness and blessing. How many of us have been, and continue to be, helped with children, life, and abundant sustenance through the Rebbe’s holy blessings? Before every simcha—a bris, the birth of a daughter, a bar mitzvah, a wedding, a birthday, and more—the Rebbe sets aside

03:55 Speaker 1 a personal, special blessing for us that accompanies us day by day throughout our lives. The Rebbe gives us the privilege of countless farbrengens and guidance, in material and spiritual matters. The Rebbe lifts us up through his holy mivtzoim, through his holy shluchim, through spreading the wellsprings outward, and appoints us to be his shluchim wherever we are. An account was recently published of something Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka a"h once related: One day, the Rebbe returned home from a farbrengen with a look of seriousness and sadness on his holy face. When the Rebbetzin asked about it, the Rebbe replied: “A few days ago, I asked everyone to write on a note how much Nigleh and how much Chassidus they had learned recently.” The Rebbe told the Rebbetzin, “As I passed along Brooklyn Avenue, I thought I would see long lines of people coming to hand in their notes reporting what they had learned. But there was no line. I approached Eastern Parkway, and again there was no line of people. Then I entered my room and received only a little bundle like this.” The Rebbe demonstrated with his two little fingers. The Rebbe continued, “When I distribute lekach, when I distribute kos shel bracha or dollars, the lines are full.” And the Rebbe added with pain, “Everyone comes to receive. But when I ask something of them—and it is truly for their own good—only a few show interest.” Chassidim, children of the Rebbe: The Rebbe gives us strength. The Rebbe cares for us. The Rebbe guides us. The Rebbe blesses us. In what must we, the chassidim, do more and grow stronger as we make an honest reckoning? Surely all of us, each in our own way, are doing everything we can to strengthen our connection to the Rebbe even more, to fulfill the tasks the Rebbe has placed upon us, up to the central task of welcoming Moshiach Tzidkeinu. But, my friends, we must remember all the sichos, all the notes, great and small, that show just how much unity and Ahavas Yisroel matter to the Rebbe—how vital they are for us. At a farbrengen in 5747, the Rebbe says—

07:15 Speaker 1 the Rebbe makes a heartfelt request: Anyone who wants to give me nachas should try to do everything in his power to put an end to disagreements and, on the contrary, to increase Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. Ladies and gentlemen, we have no greater, more refined vessel than this wonderful farbrengen. We have no greater vessel for blessing than this gathering of friends, an active farbrengen filled with Ahavas Yisroel that gives the Rebbe genuine pleasure. There is the well-known story the Rebbe relates about the one whose Geulah we celebrate this month: At his bar mitzvah meal, he asked his father, the Rebbe Rashab, why we say specifically before davening, “I hereby accept upon myself the positive mitzvah of ‘Love your fellow as yourself.’” His father answered that a father’s greatest pleasure is seeing his children act in unity and love one another. And since davening is about asking for our needs, both material and spiritual, the positive mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel was placed specifically before davening, so that we give our Father in Heaven nachas before making our requests in prayer. Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed and holy gathering, as we stand today on the tenth yahrzeit, at the close of ten years, “the tenth shall be holy.” Our faith is firm that immediately we will see the fulfillment of the allusion in the verse from the Rebbe’s chapter of Tehillim, which we say every day: “Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” As Metzudas David explains the verse: “Just as the eagle renews its wings every ten years and returns to the days of its youth, so his youthful days will be renewed with vigor, strength, and health.” That is the end of Metzudas David’s words. Let us all unite as one person with one heart, with a steadfast brotherly love that no wind in the world can overcome. With full momentum and energy, let us carry out and complete, in the spirit of “Do all that you can,” what our father and shepherd has entrusted to us. And when he sees his children acting in unity, loving one another, may we merit, immediately, to see the Rebbe here below, in a body, within ten handbreadths of the ground, and he

10:34 Speaker 1 will redeem us. One of the ways of connecting to the Rebbe is for a chossid to say the Rebbe’s chapter of Tehillim every day. We will open this great central farbrengen by reciting the Rebbe’s chapter, chapter 103. I have the honor of inviting the mashpia of Chabad chassidim in Tel Aviv, Rabbi Shalom Dovber Butman, to recite the Rebbe’s chapter with us. I ask the entire gathering to stand and join in, verse by verse, in the Rebbe’s chapter. Rabbi Butman, please.

11:43 Speaker 2 Of David. Bless Hashem, my soul, and let all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless Hashem, my soul, and do not forget all His kindnesses. He forgives all your sins and heals all your ailments. He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with kindness and mercy. He satisfies you with goodness; your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Hashem acts with righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made His ways known to Moshe, His deeds to the children of Israel. Hashem is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in kindness. He will not contend forever, nor will He bear a grudge for all time. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our wrongdoings. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His kindness toward those who fear Him. As far as east is from west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has mercy on his children, so Hashem has mercy on those who fear Him. For He knows how we are formed; He remembers that we are dust. A person’s days are like grass; he blossoms like a flower of the field. A wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But Hashem’s kindness is forever and ever toward those who fear Him, and His righteousness extends to their children’s children: to those who keep His covenant and remember His commandments to fulfill them. Hashem has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless Hashem, His angels, mighty in strength, who carry out His word and heed the voice of His word. Bless Hashem, all His hosts, His servants who do His will. Bless Hashem, all His works, in every place under His rule. Bless Hashem, my soul. Thank you very much, and yasher koach to Rabbi Shalom Dovber Butman, mashpia of Chabad chassidim in Tel Aviv. And as is the custom of chassidim to open every farbrengen with a teaching of the Rebbe, we will open with a teaching of the Rebbe. I have the honor of inviting the rabbi of central Jerusalem, the senior member of the Chabad Rabbinical Court in the Holy Land, the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Zev Dov Slonim shlita, to open with a teaching of the Rebbe.

15:08 Speaker 5 My honored relative and friend, our distinguished guest Rabbi Grundos [unclear] shlita; honored rabbis and mashpi’im, chassidim and men of action; Rabbi Aharonov, our emcee Rabbi Roth, and all those who took part in organizing this central farbrengen; and all of our fellow chassidim, may they live and be well, who have come to draw strength from this farbrengen. Since people have spoken here, and I see this entire hall filled to capacity, it is fitting to mention words of the Rebbe—a short saying, but a profound one: “Turn it over and turn it over, for everything is in it.” In one of his holy letters, the Rebbe quotes his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe. He cited it in connection with the letter’s subject, but the saying also stands on its own. What did he say? The Frierdiker Rebbe said: When two Jews meet, some good must come of it for a third Jew as well. That is the saying. When we reflect on it, or look at it in light of what the hour calls for throughout the year, and especially on this sacred evening, when not two Jews, not three Jews, but many tens and many thousands of Jews, may they increase, gather together—surely the Rebbe’s words in the name of the Frierdiker Rebbe apply: when two Jews meet, some good must come of it for a third. What is this meeting about? The Rebbe also explains that in one of his sichos, and perhaps it explains this saying. The Rebbe explains that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created people so that, just as their faces are not alike, their opinions are not alike. That is how Hakadosh Boruch Hu created each person, with his own opinion. The Rebbe even adds, in parentheses, that there is no need for one person to tell the other, “Adopt my opinion.” But they do need to meet, as the Frierdiker Rebbe says in this saying. So the Rebbe’s sicha may be an explicit explanation of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s saying. When two Jews meet—what does that meeting mean? It means they unite in one outlook. For what purpose? For the sacred goal. The sacred goal they

18:12 Speaker 5 both share. The Rebbe’s words at the conclusion of the sicha are that it should then lead to actual practice. In practice, then, there can be two Jews with two opinions, yet they unite because of the practical action, the call to act, and the sacred goal they share. That brings unity between them—to the point that it benefits the third Jew as well. Who is that third Jew? Surely the meaning is simple: another Jew, and another Jew, and the community as a whole, the entire Jewish people. When two Jews unite for a sacred goal, the Jewish people benefit. As we sit here at this moment, this meeting called a central farbrengen brings everyone together, and each of us has one sacred goal: hiskashrus to the Rebbe. That bond unites everyone, each person in his own circumstances, with his own thoughts and intentions. But the central, singular goal that unites and brings everyone together on this evening is, as the emcee mentioned, an honest reckoning. Not just soul-searching, but a reckoning that leads to unity. Each person thinks about himself, and the other person also thinks about the goal; the goal unites them all. I will add just one brief point about the sacred goal, about what we have merited in our generation and what the Rebbe has asked of us. Rashbi was the first to illuminate the world with the light of the Torah, with the inner dimension of the Torah and the Zohar. Everyone knows the words, “Through this work they will leave the exile.” Through the Zohar they will leave exile. And the Zohar adds that the teachings of the Zohar, the secrets of the Torah, will spread throughout the entire world. When Rashbi guided his students and shared the secrets of the Torah with them, they were Rashbi’s students first; afterward, those secrets spread throughout the world. There is a well-known story that the Rebbe cites in several sichos. Once there was a drought, a decree—it is called a decree in the Gemara as well. They declared a communal fast. The sages of the Talmud

21:03 Speaker 5 prayed. When Rashbi was told that there was a decree of drought, a decree that affected human life, as the Gemara explains, he called his students and spoke to them about the well-known verse, “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity,” explaining it according to the secrets of the Torah. After he had explained it, he told his students, “Go outside and see whether it is raining yet.” And indeed, there were rains of blessing. The decree was annulled. So that teaching about unity, together with the light of the Torah and its secrets, annulled the decree. Our generation has merited this, as has the entire Jewish people. Who is the leader of all the Jewish people who fulfilled the Zohar’s words that people would be nourished by its teachings? The Rebbe. He brought the Zohar’s words to fulfillment everywhere. We can enter the most remote place, where Jews are barely to be found and a Jew barely knows a verse of Chumash, and find that this Jew has a sicha of the Rebbe in front of him and is studying it. He is being nourished by it. The Zohar goes so far as to say that when the time close to Moshiach’s coming arrives, even the young ones, the youngest of the flock, will understand the secrets of the Torah. Who has illuminated the whole world? The Rebbe has illuminated it and continues to do so to this day. He brings us closer to the Geulah, so that people are nourished by these teachings in the most literal sense. If Rashbi began revealing the light of the Torah and showed us how unity annuls decrees, then the Rebbe brought that work to completion. As the Rebbe said, the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe, in our generation and in these most recent times, have told us that it is coming now, now, now, and everything is already prepared. The promise that people would be nourished by these teachings has been fulfilled. The light of the Torah in the Zohar has already reached the entire world. The unity of this evening is surely the singular means the Rebbe has asked of us. And at this auspicious time, when the Rebbe is with us on this great evening, as explained in Tanya, all the teachings and all the lights

23:28 Speaker 5 and each of our bonds of faith, through our unity with one another and with the third Jew—until our unity here reaches those outside, and still farther outside. Far be it from us to call a Jew “outside”; yet he is still the third Jew in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s saying. But the light from here will reach the entire Jewish people throughout the world. As the Rebbe promised us, and as we merited to hear him promise: the Rebbe’s Torah, the carrying out of the Rebbe’s instructions, the Rebbe’s campaigns and all his holy directives—they are what bring, and will bring, the complete Geulah very, very, very soon, speedily in our days. Amen.

24:23 Speaker 6 Thank you, and yasher koach to the distinguished scholar and chossid Rabbi Zev Dov Slonim shlita for opening with words of the Rebbe’s Torah. Ladies and gentlemen, it is told that one Sunday during the distribution of dollars, when a government minister came through the line with his children, he asked the Rebbe to bless his two children. The Rebbe looked at the children and said with a note of satisfaction, joy and nachas, “He helped me at the farbrengen,” referring to one of the boys, “with the niggunim, with the clapping.” The Rebbe gave him two dollars. Then the second child came forward, and again, with the same note of joy, the Rebbe said, “He helped me too,” and gave him two dollars. Amid a crowd of thousands, the Rebbe sees each and every person, great and small. With us here, ladies and gentlemen, are the children of Tzivos Hashem, the young children learning Torah, who will help us open the farbrengen with niggunim, bringing nachas to the Rebbe. I have the honor of inviting the Nitzotzot children’s choir, together with Rabbi Danny Finkelman, to open with the Rebbe’s niggunim.

27:02 Speaker 7 Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai. Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai. Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, lai. In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound until the moon is no more. La, lai, la, lai. In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound until the moon is no more. Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai. Lai, lai, [unclear]... Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Ah, eh, [unclear]. Ai: ya, ya, ya, yai, ya, ya, ya, 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. Lai, lai, [unclear]. Lai, lai, I will not go down alone to a foreign land. In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound until the moon is no more. [unclear] On a birthday and on Rosh Hashanah each year, lai, la, la, [unclear]. [unclear] Ah, ah, ah, ah, 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, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai.

29:03 Speaker 7 Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay. [unclear]

30:00 Speaker 8 Hear, O Israel. Hashem is our G-d. Hashem is One.

30:19 Speaker 9 Come, let’s fill [unclear].

30:20 Speaker 7 He is our G-d, He is our Father, He is our King, He is our Savior; He will save us and redeem us. Ay, ay, ay, ay. And in His mercy He will let us hear once again, before the eyes of all the living: “Behold, I have redeemed you, the last as the first, to be your G-d.” “Behold, I have redeemed you, the last as the first, to be your G-d.” He is our G-d, He is our Father, He is our King, He is our Savior; He will save us and redeem us. Ay, ay, ay, ay. And in His mercy He will let us hear once again, before the eyes of all the living: “Behold, I have redeemed you, the last as the first, to be your G-d.” “Behold, I have redeemed you, the last as the first, to be your G-d.” You chose us from among all the peoples, from among all the peoples. You loved us and desired us; You loved us and desired us. You raised us above all tongues and sanctified us with Your mitzvos; You raised us above all tongues and sanctified us with Your mitzvos. And You drew us near, our King, to Your service; and You drew us near, our King, to Your service. And Your great, great and holy Name You called upon us, upon us. And Your great, great and holy Name You called upon us, upon us. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, la, la, la, la, la, la. You chose us from among all the peoples, from among all the peoples. You chose us from among all the peoples, from among all the peoples. You chose us from among all the peoples, from among all the peoples. You chose us. You chose us from among all the peoples, from among all the peoples. You loved us and desired us. You loved us and desired us. You raised us above all tongues and sanctified us with Your mitzvos. You raised us above all tongues and sanctified us with Your mitzvos. And You drew us near, our King, to Your service; and You drew us near, our King, to Your service. And Your great, great and holy Name You called upon us, upon us. And Your great, great and holy Name You called upon us, upon us. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.

33:47 Speaker 10 You chose us from among all the peoples.

33:52 Speaker 7 From among all the peoples.

33:53 Speaker 10 There we go!

33:54 Speaker 7 Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, la, la, la, la, la, la.

34:13 Speaker 10 Thank you very much. Just a moment, a moment, a moment—others want to meet you. Many thanks to the Nitzotzos Choir and its conductor, Rabbi Dani Finkelman. Please meet the new choir, the Nitzotzos Choir from Tzfas, made up of friends, children of Tzivos Hashem, dear children from the holy city of Tzfas. The message the children of Nitzotzos have inscribed on their banner is Ahavas Yisroel. We know well that this wonderful choir has developed beautifully of late and performs in many places. And I can tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that this choir performed at the world’s largest children’s parade in the holy city of Jerusalem and was a great success there. We wish the children of Nitzotzos that, from sparks, they grow into great luminaries. For I found that “may the children of Nitzotzos live” has the same numerical value as “great luminaries.” May they merit to illuminate the world with the light of Chassidus. Ladies and gentlemen, [unclear], “Let your eyes behold your teacher.” A chossid, the Rebbe says, should recite the Rebbe’s chapter of Tehillim. He should picture the Rebbe’s face. A chossid should study something from his teachings—a maamar, a sicha or a story. Seeing, the Rebbe says, brings about the birth of something, and “just as his descendants are alive, so is he alive.” And anyone who repeats a teaching in its author’s name should picture the author standing before him. Ladies and gentlemen, let us now contemplate and see—let us watch with our own eyes sacred footage of the Rebbe, the author of the teaching, on the subject of “Just as his descendants are alive, so is he alive,” along with other special excerpts. Sacred footage.

36:41 Speaker 11 You can change the world. You can change the world.

37:13 Speaker 10 [unclear] In a holy place, in a place where we daven [unclear], and in a place where we study Torah. Nevertheless, it is not that every day and every hour we are in that same state and on that same scale. What was depicted [unclear] is connected with something that happened many years ago, thirty-two years ago. [unclear] The very fact that we see it shows that the matter continues. And the very fact that we see it from time to time [unclear] shows that it is not something hidden. On the contrary, it is not a matter of the past, but something in the present. And because it is present, as time goes on it can grow more and more. [unclear] On the contrary, it is a matter of the present, and it can become even more than it is now. [unclear] Thirty-two years [unclear].

39:34 Speaker 10 [unclear] in that year. The years have gone by, and one looks back on what was done during those years: what people [unclear], and what deeds [unclear]. [unclear] This does not mean, G-d forbid, that one should become weaker, do less or be less active. On the contrary, it should become still stronger: “Just as his descendants are alive, so is he alive”—stronger and greater, both in quantity and in quality, all the more so as more years pass. And his mission and his shlichus should be carried out in practice, with energy and vitality—vitality in spiritual matters and vitality in material matters. His activities, which he carried out with mesiras nefesh, are well known. [unclear] both spiritually and materially. And what does this lead to? That his descendants should be alive: they should occupy themselves with spreading life, spreading vitality in spiritual and material matters, around them. They should not be satisfied with their own achievements, but should seek to grow further and influence others, including their students’ students. [unclear]

42:10 Speaker 10 They should occupy themselves with life—with bringing vitality to themselves and to those around them, in every way. Bringing vitality to a person with whom one comes into contact [unclear], so that he, too, sees himself as a shliach and brings vitality to the people around him. [unclear] It is not something that, G-d forbid, grows old and weak. Rather, as it grows older, it grows stronger. One wants still more growth and still more good deeds. “One who has one hundred wants two hundred,” and after two hundred, [unclear]. As another year passes, and then another year, it should keep growing stronger and more alive, increasing in quantity and quality. [unclear] The Rebbe gives strength from Above, measure for measure, and from that strength one can do still more, both in quantity and in quality. We see this through all the good deeds and through the Torah study one does in every way, from beginning to end. And

47:01 Speaker 3 My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water.

47:21 Speaker 4 La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la, la la la la la la, la la la la la la.

47:43 Speaker 3 Thus I have beheld You in the sanctuary, to see Your strength and Your glory.

47:55 Speaker 4 Thus I have beheld You in the sanctuary, to see Your strength and Your glory.

48:07 Speaker 3 Thus I have beheld You in the sanctuary, to see Your strength and Your glory; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water.

00:14 Speaker 1 My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water. Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay. So I have seen You in the sanctuary, to behold Your strength and Your glory. So I have seen You in the sanctuary, to behold Your strength and Your glory. So I have seen You in the sanctuary, to behold Your strength and Your glory. So I have seen You in the sanctuary, to behold Your strength and Your glory. So I have seen You in the sanctuary. I have seen You, to behold Your strength and Your glory. So I have seen You in the sanctuary, to behold Your strength and Your glory. Sing. Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah, yah. [unclear].

08:13 Speaker 2 And that is it. Ladies and gentlemen, as the Frierdiker Rebbe said: “Every lock has its own key, but a craftsman, an artist, has a master key that opens every lock.” And that is the niggun. Here is the artist, Reb Avraham Fried, the Chassidic singer who came to us especially from the United States to take part in the Gimmel Tammuz farbrengen. Welcome in Hashem’s name. Joining Reb Avraham are the choir of adult Anash from Kfar Chabad and Reb Mendy Jerufi, for the great, central Gimmel Tammuz farbrengen. Ladies and gentlemen, a Chassidic farbrengen can accomplish more than the angel Michael. “A Chassidic farbrengen,” says the Alter Rebbe, “can help and accomplish more than the angel Michael.” We ask everyone, together with the orchestra and the choir, to continue the farbrengen and its niggunim. Please.

09:36 Speaker 3 As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for You, O G-d. As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for You, O G-d. My soul thirsts for G-d, for the living G-d. When shall I come and appear before G-d? When shall I come and appear before G-d? As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for You, O G-d. Oy, as a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for You, O G-d. My soul thirsts for G-d, for the living G-d. When shall I come and appear before G-d? When shall I come and appear before G-d? Yai da da di da da di da. Ay ay ay ra ra ra oy. Yai da da di lai la lai la. Ay ay ay ay ay. Lai la lai lai la lai la. Ay ay ay la la lai la. Lai la lai lai la lai la. Ay ay ay ay ay. La ra ra ra ra. Ra ra ra ra ra. Oy la la la la. Ma ma ma ma ma. Ma ma ma ma ma. Oy lai ay la la lai. Ra ra ra ra ra. Ma ma ma ma ma. Oy lai ay la la lai. Ra ra ra ra ra. Ma ma ma ma ma. Oy lai ay la la lai. Ra yah ma ma ma ma yah. Ay ay la la la lai la. Oy lai la la la. Ma ma ma ma ma. Ma ma ma ma ma ma. Ay ay ay ay ay. Together! Lai la lai lai la lai la. Ay ay ay la la lai. Lai la lai

13:33 Speaker 3 Lai la lai la. Ay ay ay ay ay. Lai la lai lai la lai la. Ay ay ay la la lai la. Lai la lai lai la lai la. Ay ay ay ay ay. Ra ra ra ra ra. Ra ra ra ra ra. Oy la la la la la. Ra ra ra ra ra. Ma ra ra ra ra. Oy lai ay la la lai. La ra ra ra ra. Ma ma ma ma ma. Oy lai ay la la lai. Ra ra ra ra ra. Ay la ra ra ra. Oy lai ay la la lai. Ay ay ay ra ra. Thank you very much.

14:44 Speaker 4 And once again, our thanks and blessings to those leading our farbrengen: the Anash choir with Reb Avraham Fried and Reb Mendel Jerufi. We will hear more from them, and from all of us, later on. And allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to express thanks and appreciation to JEM for producing the wonderful film about the event, and for all the Living Torah films they bring us every week, renewing and deepening our longing, our thirst, to see the Rebbe. Anyone who wishes to purchase this film or other films after the program may do so outside in the corridors. Ladies and gentlemen, with your permission and the permission of the presidium, I am pleased to represent everyone in warmly welcoming, with a heartfelt Chassidic blessing, our dear and distinguished friends, generous-hearted, truly generous supporters of tzedakah and kindness, who have sponsored this great evening. They are the dear brothers Sholom Dovber, Yitzchak Chaim and Eliezer Ben Yehuda, and with them Mr. Betzalel Krikhli. Our thanks, applause and blessings. And with that blessing, I am also happy to complete the welcome with which we began, to all the distinguished guests who have joined our farbrengen and come together with the sponsors to honor everyone here: the rabbis, roshei yeshivos, mashpi’im and dayanim, each with the honor due to him and to Torah. May they all be blessed with every good thing, and may we all merit to sit at the great farbrengen with the Rebbe at our head, this very evening. I now have the honor of inviting Rabbi Meir Barzov, director of the Aliyah Department of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, to say a few words in Russian in honor of our Russian-speaking guests and sponsors. Rabbi Meir Barzov, please.

17:42 Speaker 5 Good evening. Good evening, our dear friends, our guests who have come here and given us this wonderful evening. An evening when Jews from all the countries of the world gather. Welcome! Welcome! We welcome our brothers, our brothers from Russia, who are here with us today. It is rare to hear names like these associated with Russia, but these are names, Jewish names. We welcome the brothers: Sholom Dovber Ben Yehuda. His brother Yitzchak Chaim Ben Yehuda. Their brother Eliezer Ben Yehuda. And their partner, with whom they do many good deeds together, Mr. Betzalel Krikhli. And all their friends: Welcome! Be here with us! Today, people who do much good throughout the world, and especially in Israel, have gathered here. The Rebbe of Lubavitch’s shluchim are here. You are here with us. Welcome! Much success!

19:36 Speaker 6 Thank you, Rabbi Meir. Many thanks to Rabbi Meir Barzov. Thank you to our guests, and thank you to everyone taking part. Ladies and gentlemen, people who cherish and admire the Rebbe have long made a practice of sending him gifts, often gifts of money, gold and the like. The Rebbe made clear many times that he did not want gifts of money or gold. The Rebbe said: “What will gladden my heart is hearing that Jews have increased their Torah study and its dissemination, established more institutions of Torah and kindness, and strengthened their Ahavas Yisroel.” The Rebbe, the head of the Jewish people, whom everyone knows as the driving force behind Jewish revival throughout the world, was, in his very essence, a man of Torah. More than once, the Rebbe said that nothing gave him greater pleasure than seeing Jews enthusiastically engaged in Torah study. Dear friends, I am pleased to invite the great Torah scholar Rabbi David Yosef, rabbi of Har Nof in Jerusalem and author of Halachah Berurah, to speak about the Rebbe’s distinctive approach to halachic rulings. Rabbi Yosef, please.

21:30 Speaker 7 With the permission of our esteemed rabbis and sages, judges, heads of yeshivos, halachic authorities, my teachers and my masters. I’ll tell you the truth: I am not worthy of sketching a portrait of the towering halachic authority of our generation, His Holiness the Rebbe of Lubavitch. But first, I want to speak more generally about the Rebbe’s way of leading. Moshe Rabbeinu was the first leader of the Jewish people. Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu choose Moshe Rabbeinu? Certainly, he was an extraordinarily wise man. He was great in Torah, great in wisdom and great in leadership. But the moment Hakadosh Boruch Hu revealed Himself to Moshe Rabbeinu came when Moshe turned aside to see why the bush was not consumed. “And Hashem saw that he had turned aside to see, and the angel of Hashem called to him.” What does that mean? Hashem called him because he went to look, because he was curious? Our Sages say in the Midrash: “And Hashem saw that he had turned aside to see”—to see the suffering of his brothers. Moshe Rabbeinu left the king’s palace and saw the terrible suffering of the Jewish people. He saw them doing backbreaking labor, oppressed, and he began to cry and said to them, “My dear brothers, I am distressed for you. If only I could die in your place.” And he would put his shoulder to the burden and help each and every Jew. “And Hashem saw that he had turned aside to see”—to see the suffering of his brothers—“and He called to him.” That is the leadership Hakadosh Boruch Hu chooses. Who should be the leader of a generation? Someone who turns aside to see the suffering of his brothers. His Holiness the Rebbe of Lubavitch was one of a kind in his generation: he turned aside to see the suffering of his brothers. Everyone knows that for many years the Rebbe fought against disengagement from the Land of Israel—unilateral disengagement, disengagement. The Rebbe opposed the opposi—opposed disengagement. But many years before that, even before the establishment of the State, the Rebbe had begun his great struggle against disengagement from the Torah of Israel throughout the world. “And Hashem saw that he had turned aside to see, and He called to him”—he turned aside to see the suffering of his brothers. The Rebbe

25:39 Speaker 7 saw millions of Jews around the world who had grown distant from Torah. Who felt that sorrow? Who felt that pain? The Rebbe felt the pain of the Jewish people. My friends, that is no simple thing. Moshe Rabbeinu grew up in the king’s palace. A person who has eaten his fill does not feel the pain of someone who is hungry. The Rebbe grew up in a royal palace—the kingdom of Torah. To feel the lack of Torah among Jews everywhere is no simple thing. And it was precisely the Rebbe, such a towering giant in Torah, who established Torah throughout the world. He brought the Jewish world to its feet. “And Hashem saw that he had turned aside to see”—turned aside to see the suffering of the Jewish people. On the one hand, a giant in Torah. My friends, in recent years, when I began writing my Halachah Berurah books, I became acquainted with the Rebbe’s distinctive approach to halachah. There are subjects—I won’t weary everyone with this, and I won’t go into the details. There are subjects on which I found dozens of halachic authorities discussing the same question, and the Rebbe discusses it too. The reasoning and proofs the Rebbe wrote, I found in no other book. How did the renowned leading halachic authorities of our generation regard the Rebbe? In the responsa Igros Moshe, Maran the great Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the halachic authority of the generation—look at the reverence with which he wrote to the Rebbe: “His Honored Holiness, the great and righteous scholar,” “His Holy and Scholarly Honor.” He returns to those words again and again. What reverence, what esteem. In the responsa Minchas Yitzchak, the great Rabbi Weiss, z"l: “His Holiness, the great and righteous scholar.” He, too, repeats it again and again. With what reverence did he treat the Rebbe’s halachic rulings? My father and teacher, the crown of my head, Maran the Rishon LeZion—look at the reverence with which he writes about the Rebbe. In one of his books, he discusses the Rebbe’s disagreement with several of the leading rabbis of the generation concerning travel by ship on Shabbos. He quotes the Rebbe’s words there and agrees

28:48 Speaker 7 with him, and anyone who reads the discussion sees that the Rebbe’s halachic position was indeed correct. Beyond that, my friends, the Rebbe was deeply engaged in Kabbalah. His halachic rulings show that he did not depart from the path of the kabbalists. At the same time, he also followed the halachic authorities. In our generation there are many great halachic authorities and many great kabbalists. But a halachic authority so great who was also a kabbalist, and a kabbalist so great who was also a halachic authority—we had no one like that in this generation except the Rebbe. The Rebbe instituted daily study of Rambam for all the Jewish people. My friends, I want to tell you that as soon as the Rebbe instituted this practice, my father and teacher, shlita, began studying Rambam every morning after Shacharis. Rambam every day. My father told me: “Rambam is the foundation of the Shulchan Aruch. The Shulchan Aruch follows Rambam; it is built on Rambam. There are disagreements here and there, but in general the Shulchan Aruch is based on Rambam. When you study Rambam, you study practical halachah. You learn how to be a Jew when you study Rambam.” On the one hand, the Rebbe led the effort to ensure that every Jew would put on tefillin, fulfilling the mitzvah of tefillin. But when it came to our own community, to Jews who observe Torah and mitzvos, the Rebbe insisted on following Kabbalah as well and putting on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. Rabbeinu Tam’s view is not a lone opinion; many halachic authorities follow Rabbeinu Tam. According to the kabbalists, Rabbeinu Tam tefillin are even more important than Rashi tefillin. It is to the Rebbe’s great credit that thousands upon thousands around the world put on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin every day. This is, as I said, the combination of Kabbalah and halachic ruling. And beyond that, how many tens of thousands of Jews returned to Torah observance because tefillin awakened the holy spark within them? The Rebbe instituted the campaign for Shabbos candles, to be meticulous about the mitzvah of Shabbos candles. How deeply does this mitzvah, this moment

32:26 Speaker 7 of lighting the candles, touch the soul and awaken the Jewish spark? One baal teshuvah told me how he returned to Torah observance. There was a Chabad preschool near his home. He was not religious at all, but it was near the house, so he sent his child there. The child came home and began pleading: “Mom! Shabbos candles! We learned about Shabbos candles at preschool.” Again and again. The parents didn’t want to hear it and were already considering moving him to another preschool. The following Friday came, and the child cried and cried: “Shabbos candles.” Finally, the parents gave in and told him, “Okay, go buy Shabbos candles.” The child went to the grocery store: “Give me two candles. They told us at preschool that you light two.” The grocer knew these people weren’t religious—no Torah, no mitzvos. Why did they suddenly want candles? He probably thought they had a yahrtzeit. He gave the child two memorial candles. The child came home delighted, held out the candles to his parents and said, “One for Dad and one for Mom.” They were so frightened, so shaken. That was the moment they decided to return to Torah observance. The Rebbe knew how to awaken the Jewish spark. The Rebbe knew how to reach a Jew’s heart, and that is why he merited to bring tens of thousands closer to Judaism and help them return to Torah observance. My friends, I travel widely, visiting communities around the world. In many different communities I have gotten to know a great many of the Rebbe’s shluchim. This is something no other community in the world has—only Lubavitch. Shluchim in every corner of the world. There are places I visited, of course, many years after the shluchim had begun their work. But when I saw what they had accomplished and began to imagine what it had been like before, I asked several shluchim, “How did you agree to come here? There’s no Talmud Torah here, no Jewish education. How did you agree to come here?” One told me, “What do you

35:19 Speaker 7 mean? The Rebbe promised. Look at the children: they are Torah scholars. ‘All who see them will recognize that they are offspring Hashem has blessed.’ The Rebbe promised, and the Rebbe fulfilled his promise. Boruch Hashem, look at the children I raised in the middle of a desolate wilderness.” Several shluchim told me that when they arrived, they were literally hungry for bread. They had not gone to prosperous countries, but to places in need. The Rebbe sent them, and they struggled against both spiritual poverty and material poverty. True self-sacrifice throughout the world—and today we see the fruits. “See it thus and sanctify it.” In every corner of the world, a Chabad House; baalei teshuvah, Jews putting on tefillin, fear of Heaven. The Rebbe’s path lives on among us. We must all continue on that path of “And Hashem saw that he had turned aside to see”: on the one hand, to be meticulous in mitzvos, including Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, without compromise; and on the other, to fight with all our strength against disengagement—against disengagement from the Land of Israel and against disengagement from the Torah of Israel. May we merit to greet our righteous Moshiach very soon. Amen, may it be His will.

37:08 Speaker 8 To our friend, the great Torah scholar Rabbi David Yosef: for the fascinating and enlightening journey, and for the clear halachah you shared with us, we can only offer you the blessing, “And I will pour out a blessing for you beyond measure”—especially since the initials of the great Rabbi David Yosef spell Shaddai. Blessings and thanks beyond measure. Ladies and gentlemen, how great is the mitzvah of welcoming guests. We are delighted to welcome our friends, the distinguished benefactors Rabbi Natan Aftergood and Bumi Avraham Traub, vice president of the Diamond Exchange, for their tremendous help with the Rebbe’s activities. Welcome. My dear friends, a chossid was once asked why the Rebbe does not come to Israel. The chossid replied in amazement: “What? The Rebbe isn’t in Israel? Everywhere you turn in Israel, you see him. You see the Rebbe in the hundreds of Chabad Houses throughout every city and community. You see the Rebbe in the shluchim who leave their familiar surroundings to spread the light of Yiddishkeit in faraway places, as we have heard. You see the Rebbe in the actions of the women and girls who leave their homes before Shabbos to light Shabbos candles. You see the Rebbe in the wonderful deeds of the children of Tzivos Hashem. There isn’t a corner of Israel where you don’t see the Rebbe. The Rebbe is here, active here and throughout the world,” the chossid concluded, “more so than many people who may live in Israel but whose presence is not felt here.” Ladies and gentlemen, the Rebbe is with us. The Rebbe is with us, continually increasing the light. That is our central message here. I now have the honor of inviting the well-known shliach in New London, Connecticut, an eloquent chossid, Rabbi Avraham Sternberg. The Rebbe is with us, continually increasing the light.